The next week went by in a flash. Reiga was still dealing with the whole 'Jashin' issue. So, we were given a break for a couple of weeks. Daigo and Sayuri were training with their respective families on their hidden jutsus.
And in a way, I was doing the same. Elder Kazi was in a better condition now, and he called me to practise the hidden jutsu of our clan.
Human Beast Combination techniques.
The Beast Human Clone technique was the primary technique of the list. Basically, this technique lets your ninken transfer into a clone of your own.
The reason this was created in the first place was to decrease the steep chakra cost required to make shadow clones. But at the end of the day, a ninken still behaves like a ninken. So, it can be easy to identify the real body from the ninken one. To counter that, another jutsu was created.
Imitation Beast Ninja Art.
This technique lets the user behave like their ninken. Their claws grow, fangs grow and overall attitude becomes more feral.
The technique wasn't as easy to learn as I had hoped. Using this technique, not only does the user's behaviour become closer to the ninken, but the ninken also starts behaving similarly to the user.
So, in a way, both their chakra signatures become closely similar to one another.
Which was much more interesting than it sounded. It gave me many more ideas than I had hoped.
Having a similar chakra signature meant having a shadow clone. Without the steep cost shadow clones required.
Which was the main target of this jutsu? But at the same time, shadow clones were much better, as they could use all the abilities of the user. Which isn't the case for this technique.
Although Umbra looked similar to me in appearance when using this jutsu, he couldn't use jutsu like Rasengan.
But it would be so much cooler if he could just come out of the shadows and blast someone away with a 'Paw Rasengan'.
Still, due to the abilities Umbra had due to his compatibility with natural energy, I could think of multiple ways to utilise it in combination.
At first, when I entered the ninja academy, I wanted to learn as many jutsus as I could. But as I advanced in my formal education, I realised that having a combo of a few jutsu was the best course of action.
This is why, even now, I haven't used too many genjutsus on my opponent. It just wasn't efficient.
Also, as you become more familiar with a jutsu and learn how the chakra flows inside your body, you learn to decrease the number of hand signs required. Those with extreme familiarity with a jutsu can even shorten the hand signs to a single unique one.
But my personal target was to use hand signs with only a single hand, just like Haku did. For that, I've been researching one of my favourite genjutsu.
Hell viewing technique.
Although it was only a simple D-rank jutsu, for me it was much more effective. This had something to do with my affinity with Yin chakra.
While genjutsu usually affects someone's brain, I have the ability to somehow affect the target's spinal cord, meaning their reflexes.
This is why the kid used it the first time almost killed himself, and Kurenai almost killed me. And then, the cultist actually was able to kill himself.
Wow, I really do have a bad track record using this jutsu.
I should try to limit its usage.
At the same time, I was really good at it. Like really, really good.
Such a dilemma.
Still, having a good weapon in my arsenal will be better for me in the future. Therefore, I decided to try and shorten its hand sign to only a single hand.
After learning the Human Beast Clone technique, I practised it with Umbra and became more used to how it works.
The week ended, and finally I got a message from the Hokage's office calling me to the southern training ground for a ninjutsu training session with Hiruzen.
It was extremely early in the morning when I and Umbra reached the training ground. We came a bit early to make a good impression. I have also started to carry my sword everywhere since my last mission, and it was kind of growing on me.
Hizuzen entered the ground at the exact time he said he would come. At least he was punctual, unlike Kakashi.
He was wearing his usual Hokage outfit along with the hat, which was weird as hell in my opinion.
"Greetings, master. How was your trip to the fire damiyo?" I asked in a polite tone.
"It was okay. Seems that your first mission was quite an eventful one."
"Yes. It was much more eventful than I would've liked for my first mission. Although the excitement I felt while battling with strong opponents was quite rewarding by itself."
A small smile spread across Hiruzen's face hearing that.
"Enjoying combat is an important part of becoming a strong shinobi. I would not have become as strong as I am right now if I didn't enjoy a good old fight. At the same time, remain careful not to get addicted to it. You don't want to become addicted to the darker side of the shinobi's life."
"I will remember that."
"Good. Let's get started. I can only give you a couple of hours today. What is your nature affinity?"
"Water."
"Hmm. Quite an adaptable element. Do you know the basics of nature releases?"
"Yes, I know the five nature releases and which one is strong or weak against which."
"No, not that. Everyone knows what that is. Tell me how a shinobi can breathe fire or shoot lightning."
"Oh, that. We convert our own chakra to different elements."
"Yes, exactly. Most of the nature releases work that way. But in the case of water release, there is another factor at work. You see, water by itself cannot damage your opponents much. Fire can burn you, wind can cut you, and lightning can pierce you, but water is none of that. At the same time, water is so adaptable that if you have proper training, you can do any one of those."
As Hiruzen spoke, he performed different hand signs to demonstrate his point.
At first, he made water bullets that can pierce through trees, water swords that can slash through them, and, at the end, a water wave that can crush multiple large trees due to the sheer volume of it.
"Okay, maybe not burn you, because that is a fire-exclusive thing. Or in some cases lightning. But you get my point, right?"
I just nodded to show that I understood.
"Another very good thing about water release is that the closer you are to a source of water, the stronger you will be. Because then, you don't need to expend extra chakra to make water. Rather, you are only controlling pre-existing water.
Controlling pre-existing water will come later down the line. For the time being, I'll start with teaching you how to use your chakra to make water. Learning water bullets should be a good start."
"Yes, master."
After that, Hiruzen showed me the hand signs of the jutsu as I started to learn how to flow chakra. This water bullet jutsu was much different than the one the Second Mizukage used. I couldn't exactly shoot bullets through my fingers like him, as my body wasn't made of water like the Hozuki clan.
Rather, I had to shoot them out of my mouth. As I started to learn this technique, I further understood why most nature users shoot stuff out of their mouths.
Basically, it's just easier to do.
Hiruzen really was an amazing teacher. He had precise knowledge regarding the chakra points I needed to use and how to use them to make water bullets.
I wasn't as good at ninjutsu as I was at genjutsu, but the jutsu itself was fairly simple. So, after a few tries, I was able to perform it.
But my water was much slower in comparison, and it had much less volume than what Hiruzen had shown me.
"Good job. Now that you have learnt the basics of it, I'll teach you how to properly utilise it according to the situation."