Chapter 7
Three Weeks Until Team Assignments
"Whaddya mean 'seal-less jutsu'?" Naruto asked whilst scratching the top of his head, his face scrunched in confusion.
Yuugao frowned, as he saw yet another example of Naruto's lack of basic education. The theory behind seal-less jutsu had been covered in the fourth year of the Academy. Whilst Naruto had been catching up at an incredible rate, he was still mid-way through the third year of the curriculum. An incredible feat, considering he had only been at it for a week.
Admittedly, his success was partially down to a little-known fact about the shadow clone that was one of the reasons the technique was so chakra intensive. The clones the technique produces, have a single-minded focus on the task given to them by the creator. The clones Naruto had been created, lacked Naruto's short attention span and poor concentration.
"You've covered chakra memory, correct?" Yuugao questioned, already knowing the answer.
"Yeah! It was really boring though, it took my clones a whole day to understand everything in the books."
"Well, it is a rather tricky concept, even at a basic level. Anyway, seal-less jutsu work using chakra memory. You see, you don't actually need hand-seals to perform ninjutsu. They are a time saving technique, as well as meaning that shinobi don't have to perfect mastery over their chakra in order to perform jutsu. First, you have to concentrate on the way your chakra moulds as you form the seals. You need to concentrate on exactly how it feels as the chakra moulds. You follow me so far Naruto?"
The blonde nodded slowly attempting to process the information he had been given. He had improved in his knowledge over the week, however his practical comprehension of the knowledge needed to be improved. After all, it was one thing to read about doing something; but another thing to actually do it in real life.
Finally, Naruto nodded more firmly to indicate his understanding, before asking a question.
"Yuugao-sensei, what's the difference between chakra control and chakra mastery?"
Yuugao's smile grew slightly as Naruto asked his question, not only did him asking indicate he was taking in what she was teaching him; but it told her he was understanding it, at least as well as any other Genin would.
"Good question Naruto. Essentially, chakra control is one aspect of chakra mastery. I don't think there has ever been a shinobi with complete mastery over their chakra, even though some attain near perfect chakra control. Chakra control itself is how efficiently we use our chakra. Using only what we need with no waste."
Naruto nodded once more, already understanding the concept of chakra control from his studies.
"However chakra mastery, is the ability to manipulate your chakra at will. Moulding chakra internally with no effort or seals; or using it externally as a weapon. With perfect chakra mastery, in theory, it should be possible to mould chakra in ways that hand-seals could never achieve, meaning that jutu could be created with almost limitless possibilities."
Naruto was positively star-struck, as Yuugao explained chakra mastery in more detail. It sounded awesome.
"It is said that the your Father, the Yondaime, reached an incredibly high level of chakra mastery. So high that he was able to project seals externally using just his chakra."
Naruto gaped at that. He was no expert on Fuuinjutsu, the Academy basics covered storage scrolls, and exploding tags. He also knew, after some extra reading, that his Father held the title of Sealmaster. A prestigious shinobi title that was recognised all through the elemental nations, on par with Sannin, and even Kage. The Yondaime had developed a way of utilising the more powerful seals in mid-battle, without the use of scrolls or ink, an unthinkable feat.
"Obviously, practising to perform jutsu without hand seals, is a small step towards developing such a high level of chakra mastery. It will be a long while before you can utilise techniques on par with the Yondaime."
Naruto grinned at the former ANBU, looking ever confident and assured.
"Yeah, but I gotta start somewhere right?"
"Of course. Now form some Kage Bunshin. Use only two or three, but use far more chakra to create them than usual, that way each Bunshin will be able to use Kage Bunshin in order to ty and get the feel of how the chakra moulds. You'll need to replace the first set of Bunshin regularly, as they will be expending their chakra incredibly fast."
Naruto nodded in understanding, before Yuugao continued.
"You will only practice this for a little while, as it will deplete your own chakra incredibly fast." She continued, making sure Naruto wasn't about to start complaining about having his training time limited, before going on. "As for you and me, we'll be moving on from basic taijutsu into beginning work on the first stages of your new style, beginning with the stances."
The blonde's eyes widened in excited anticipation. He was finally gunna start work on his own style.
Naruto grinned at the Chunin standing in front of him, who was wearing a rather proud smile of his own.
"That's thirty Naruto! On the final day as well..."
"Eat that Iruka-sensei! You owe me a jutsu!" Naruto exclaimed allowing the ping-pong balls to drop to the floor all at once, allowing them to spill away in multiple different directions.
"Hehe I guess I do." The Chunin replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head in a way incredibly reminiscent of the blonde standing before him.
"And I think I have something in mind, watch very carefully Naruto, this is one of my favorite jutsu. It's a C-rank Raiton technique. But despite it's fairly low ranking, it is incredibly useful when used in combination with Suiton techniques."
Iruka flashed through hand-seals, as Naruto leant forward in unconcealed anticipation.
"Raiton: Kaminari Muchi!"
Still havn't revealed anything about the taijutsu style yet, which is intentional. It's specifics will be revealed just before the team assignments. I've also introduced a concept that will hopefully define some of Naruto's abilities in the future, in chakra mastery. Hopefully I explained it in way that you can understand. As well as this, I've already started broadening Naruto's jutsu range, beyond canons Kage Bunshin + Rasengan = Success!
notgonnasay09: I myself am really dissapointed with that scene. I should of done so much better with it, but I had gotten quite fed up with writing (I had just written out a 2000 word history essay) and just wanted to put the chapter out. I'll definately be looking at revising that chapter. UPDATE: You will of course notice that this scene has been changed, I hope you like it better than my first go at it.
T00STr00nG: No wave mission I'm afraid! Naruto may encounter Haku and Zabuza later, but you'll notice my timeline (I think) has already missed the start of the wave arc. But Jiraiya and Naruto will be taking missions as a pair, and with other Konoha nin.
I will include a jutsu summary next chapter, as Naruto will learn a couple more ninjutsu. I'm trying to use a fair amount of original techs, as it gives me a much larger pool of jutsu to pull from when I need to.
UPDATTTEEEE: This is an update as of 22/1/11. If you would care to look back over Chapters 6 and 7, you may happen to spot a few changes. This means that I have of course decided to update these chapters. The biggest changes are the names of the mysterious enemy shinobi group, and the fact that Jiraiya has not yet agreed to train Naruto. He will, it will just take some prodding; probably from Naruto himself! It also means that I am now ready to push on with the meat and potatoes of this thing. Keep an eye out on Monday and Tuesday, and I might just have something for ya.
UPDATE 2: As of now, the three OC villains introduced in this chapter have been removed from the story, which is the reason for this chapter's length. This is part of a series of revisions being done to the story before I continue it. Thanks for your guys' patience.
TRANSLATIONS:
Jutsu
Name: Doton Ishi Yari (Earth Release: Piercing Lances)
Rank: A-rank
Description: Stone lances erupt from the ground at almost indiscernible speeds, piercing targets in non-lethal locations; thus capturing them.
Name: Kyouki no Me: Tamashi no Kokuhaku (Insanity's Eyes: Souls Confession)
Rank: ?
Description: There is no available information about this technique.
Name: Raiton: Kaminari Muchi (Lightning Release: Lightning Whip)
Rank: C-Rank
Description: Lightning extends from the users arm, forming a whip. Depending on the use of chakra, can be used to strike or restrain an opponent.
Other
Chikyū no Terāzu (Terrors of the Earth)