Chapter 8 – The Three Basic Jutsu
When Natsuri got home, she tossed the scroll of the Three Basic Jutsu onto the table. Next to it was a chakra paper she'd picked up on the way back.
She picked up the paper first and pushed her chakra into it. In seconds, it split clean down the middle while the part still in her hand crinkled up.
"Wind and lightning, huh?" Natsuri nodded. Not exactly surprising. Her father—who she'd never even met—was apparently a wind-style user. Her mom, Sinai, had once mentioned she used lightning style.
So, Natsuri had inherited both elements from her parents. Not bad at all. She couldn't quite remember if there were any Kekkei Genkai created from wind and lightning, but as far as she knew, there wasn't one. Not that it mattered—she had no intention of going down that road anyway.
Trying to force a Kekkei Genkai was basically a death sentence. If it were that easy, they wouldn't be so rare and special in the ninja world.
In Natsuri's opinion, most Kekkei Genkai probably came from freak accidents—lucky mutations or odd coincidences. Unless you were born with a cheat bloodline like Naruto's, had someone like Tsunade to back you up, and a monster body like Might Guy… only then would it be worth trying something crazy.
But really, if she had all that, why even bother chasing a Kekkei Genkai? Just brute force your way through everything.
Still, wind and lightning were a solid combo. With those, she'd meet the elemental requirements for jutsu like Rasenshuriken and Chidori. Of course, Rasenshuriken needed ridiculous chakra reserves and Sage Mode, while Chidori required top-tier dynamic vision.
Without that vision, you either stab the enemy and hurt yourself in the process—or just miss entirely.
Sage Mode was definitely on her long-term goal list, but it was way too early for that. As for dynamic vision… unless you were born with a Sharingan or Byakugan, good luck.
And no, she wasn't planning to go stealing eyes. Implanting a Sharingan would just drain her chakra like crazy and slow her down. Byakugan might be easier, but she didn't want it either. Too much hassle.
Still, she had a thought—if she ever got Sage Mode, maybe it could help cover Chidori's flaws. If it could enhance her perception, she might be able to pull it off. Something to test later.
For now, though, it was time to study the Three Basic Jutsu.
She unrolled the scroll and started reading.
It wasn't hard. In fact, Natsuri breezed through the contents, including all of Iruka's extra notes scribbled in the margins.
The Three Basic Jutsu were: Transformation (Henge no Jutsu), Clone (Bunshin no Jutsu), and Substitution (Kawarimi no Jutsu). All of them were simple, but surprisingly useful.
Transformation only required one hand seal. Clone needed three. Substitution? Five. And naturally, the more seals, the harder the technique.
Just as she'd suspected, hand seals were more like training wheels. They helped guide the chakra, but the real secret to using jutsu was the chakra transformation pattern itself.
Each jutsu had its own unique chakra flow. So even if you memorized the seals, it didn't mean you could actually pull off the technique.
In theory, if you truly understood the chakra flow, you could probably skip the hand seals altogether. Just like the pros later in the series who clapped their hands once and threw out a massive jutsu...
Anyway, Natsuri planned to learn all three. But her priorities were different. Transformation? Just needed to get it smooth. Clone? Could practice more if she had time. Substitution, though—that one was serious business.
It was insanely practical. The only problem? The five hand seals took her almost two seconds to complete. In a real fight—especially against a speed-type ninja—that was way too long. She needed to get it down to under a second.
Alright, time to try it out.
She gathered her chakra, formed a single seal, and visualized a figure in her mind.
"Henge no Jutsu!"
Poof! A puff of white smoke appeared, and when it cleared…
There stood a petite, graceful girl with a cute and charming face.
Natsuri blinked at her reflection in the mirror. "Tifa?"
Her cheeks turned red. She quickly canceled the transformation.
Wow. She didn't think it would work on the first try.
Maybe she needed to practice this one a little more. Ahem.
She glanced around the room to make sure no one saw, then let out a sigh of relief. One-hand-seal jutsu? Good enough for now.
Next, she got to work on the Clone and Substitution Jutsu.
One by one, various figures began appearing in her room—each more detailed than the last. Small at first… but improving.
Yuuki Asuna. Misaka Mikoto. Akame...
Time flew by, and by the time her mom got home, Natsuri could already use both Clone and Substitution Jutsu. Surprisingly, it had all gone smoother than expected.
Unlike the Transformation Jutsu, Clone and Substitution required her chakra to transform faster than she could manage at first. But that wasn't a big deal. Just meant more practice.
Still, being able to perform all three on her first try?
Yeah. She was starting to think maybe she really was talented.
"So I'm actually a genius, huh?"
Just then, the front door opened.
"I'm home!" her mom's voice rang out.
Natsuri stepped out of her room and into the living room.
"Ta-daaa!" Sinai greeted her with a grin, holding up a scroll. "Guess what this is!"
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu," Natsuri answered flatly.
Sinai pouted. "Ugh, yeah, it is Kage Bunshin… but couldn't you at least pretend to be excited?"
"I am excited," Natsuri said with a small smile.
Sinai sighed dramatically and handed her the scroll. "Here, my little young master. I stopped by Sensei's place and picked it up. Though, Sensei said this jutsu might not suit you."
"I think it'll be just fine." Natsuri's eyes lit up as she took the scroll.
"Yeah, yeah, I knew you'd be stubborn, so I went ahead and got it anyway. Lucky it's only Kage Bunshin. If it were another B-rank jutsu, I probably wouldn't have been able to trade for it."
"Oh? Why not?" Natsuri asked, curious.
Sinai shrugged. "Well, Sensei said even though Kage Bunshin was developed here in Konoha, it got leaked ages ago. Now even other villages have their own versions. So it's not super top-secret anymore. But other B-rank jutsu? Still classified. They don't hand those out to just anyone—especially folks like us who might pass them around."
Natsuri nodded thoughtfully. That made sense.
Anyway, she had it now. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. Her next target to master.
"Oh yeah, Mom—I won't be eating dinner at home tonight," Natsuri added, remembering her promise to Iruka.
"Huh? Don't tell me you're already tired of Mama's cooking?" Sinai immediately pulled a fake pout, dabbing at imaginary tears.
"Of course not." Natsuri quickly explained about her dinner plans with Iruka-sensei.