New routines

The next day

Today as I expected was different from usual days, but after the discussion of yesterday evening it's somewhat predictable that finally, I have free reign on my training or as close to it as I'll get in this period

After the discussion, I cajoled and generally being inviting ensured that all of the audience stayed for dinner and most importantly ensured that my clique would know that I would be back ' better than ever ' and I damn well ain't going back on my word.

So before sleeping I broached the subject of being taught the basic shadow technique that every Nara clan and their fans know, the famous Kage Mane no Jutsu (Shadow Imitation Technique)

Father was surprisingly okay with it actually the only requirement being that I exhibit the fact that I had enough chakra that I wouldn't slip into chakra exhaustion as soon as it was executed

But while I knew that I had the chakra needed to pull it off without being exhausted I wanted to make sure that I would also be above average when I performed it in front of them, I reckon I can pull off an Itachi here

So I practiced hand signs till I slept and trained with Skiadrum on Umbrakinesis for another 7 hours, I may not have made the breakthrough to another level but I'm still better than before.

So after I washed and all that I was accosted by my father to see if I did indeed have the chakra capacity for what we intended to do and once again I was made to do the shadow field thing as long as I could which to my surprise has risen from the 3 minutes to 3 minutes and 27 seconds

' Sure it's only 27 seconds but that's still great, it's not like it would magically become self-sustaining after yesterday's situation after all '

I know that maintaining the field for 3 minutes itself seems hardly draining on the reserves and that would be the case if all I was doing was just making shadows on the ground but I'm affecting the light in the field as well and that's something that has a lot of potential for the future, hell the field itself has a lot of potential for the future as both a jutsu and a training method

Most of the Nara techniques are precise to ensure that chakra cost is minimal and that's why they're not that effective against open warfare when singled out

The thread while it can be split or dug into the ground or things like that can be evaded if one is fast enough to realise its path but a field ensures that the enemy can come within the said radius of the person unless they're confident of overpowering said shadow hold on him at which point the Kage mane is useless anyway

And so far I maintained the field as best as I can and did it five times straight before my father asked how I felt, after informing him that I could do that at least 5 more times he believed that I wouldn't drop dead on performing the technique

I was so hyped that I would learn my official first technique and my excitement rubbed off on pops too as he was looking eager but unfortunately, we hadn't had breakfast yet, something that Mother is not okay with and thus here we sit

I'm wolfing down the food because I have waited long enough and it's a shame because breakfast as always is tasty and I can't slow down and enjoy its flavor

' But I can't wait any longer damn it. I want that technique now! '

After much internal screaming in my head as my father's excitement had rubbed off and was eating slowly again to my annoyance.

Finally, he finished eating and all three of us came outside the house where we had our own little training space as apparently ' training in the place where every visitor can see is stupid if you're planning to hide your strength '

And once again I'm thankful that I'm a clan heir because I don't think that everyone in a clan will have that feature. But it's not like our home is that big, actually only the space we have is different, the architecture is pretty much the same everywhere in the clan

Regardless of that, I'm thankful all the same as I stand and my father initiates the technique to me while explaining it and as soon as his hand performs the iconic sign and his shadow makes its way to the dummy on the ground and wraps around the pole it's tied

" After forming the needed hand seal, the clan member is able to manipulate their shadow along any surface. By using other nearby shadows they can further extend the reach of their shadow, however they are limited to the surface area of the original cast shadow. Once the clan members' shadow reaches the target shadow, it will attach itself. While attached the target will be frozen, only able to replicate in mirror form the actions of the clan member. If the clan member is low on chakra, the Kage Mane will falter and the shadow will return to its normal form and that's pretty much the gist of it " This is said in a way that seems like it's a textbook answer and I kinda get it as it tells what the jutsu does bluntly

But that doesn't change the fact that I'm being taught what's basically my first clan technique and that's something I can't help but be proud about

" I'm guessing you know about the requirements of hand seals in a technique and this particular technique is done by the use of only one hand sign of rat which as you will come to learn is something that can really help. "

I nod at that because that's something that no one can argue against, I mean there's a reason that people consider doing techniques without shouting or making hand signs an indicator of their mastery of the technique

I prepare myself for either being awesome or being disappointed as father asks me whether I want to see what the hand sign looks like and If I want to see the technique again but I stop being scared of it and pretty much snap into action

My hand performs the sign I was practicing all night and while it could be better I'm pretty sure it's far better sight than what's expected of a boy my age and perhaps the third year from the academy

And to my happiness and general amazement, the technique worked on my first try even if it wasn't the most traditional variant of the technique and I smiled as my father ruffled my ear and speaks

" Well that's not the weirdest looking shadow bind so that's all right "

Mom chortles at that and both our mouths curl upwards

' Yeah right '

To be fair it wasn't that bad, the output is the same, the only difference is that my father's looked like a thin thread and mine looked like a literal beam of shadow on the ground compared to his

' It's kinda like the difference in brushes, he's using a super thin one that's used to draw people while I'm using the one used to paint the wall '

" I may not be an original dad, but I'm a limited edition "

" Whatever you say, son "

' And that's one of the 'things that I want to say list' right there '

But I want to see how far I can push it so I stop the jutsu and do it again and try to hold it for at least two minutes, I held it easily and that's one of the benefits of the shadow field

At this point, both dad and mom are sitting down while I practice and I do that again and again another 3 times just to make sure that I can execute the technique without any problem

So naturally, I began to screw with the method after I affirmed that I can deploy the technique now without any issue. I want to check whether I can pull it off if I use only one hand to form the sign and I've broken down the ways I want to check in mainly three parts for this

First- Drop one hand after you've successfully performed the technique on something and note the effects on its duration if it's still stabilized

Second- Do the technique with only one hand from the beginning and note the changes

Third- Do the technique without using any hands and note the changes

Fourth- See if it's possible to use both hands and perform two kage mane independently and if successful note the changes

' I'm pretty sure that I don't have a snowball's chance in hell for the third and fourth ones but I'm hopeful for the others '

So to the shock of my parents who believed that I was just mindlessly practicing the technique again and again I dropped a hand after my shadow wrapped around the dummy, Which of course elicited a response from them

" Shikamaru! "

" You stop that- "

And father's words trail off as to both their surprise and mine to be honest, the shadow holds the same without any difference and I thought that the technique would stop soon but to both of our surprise and an audible " what the hell?? " from mom it continues to hold and I don't feel any strain as I hold it for the same duration as I normally would

" That's not normal, right? " Mom questions Dad and I'm listening in because that feels easy, and Murphy isn't that kind to me usually

But Dad just replies negatively while rubbing his forehead

' Huh, so that happened '

So immediately before they can stop me I drop the technique and do the former method again to see if the first step is truly that easy to do

' And that's it, I guess I can do it with one hand now ' and this thought is accompanied by a smile on my face as father chides me

So I try to put it behind me and try the second step and I take a deep breath and concentrate my mind on what I want my shadow to do, I envision it stretching from my shadow to the pole and eventually binding it, so let the breath go and calm myself and activate the technique with only one hand

And I thought it was just my illusion that I was seeing my shadow do the same thing as before but my mother's gasp behind me proved it was real

And there it was my way of kage mane without any visible changes from my successful attempts before, I don't know why the inefficient and frankly mathematical way of shadow beam that was binding the pole seemed so amazing to me

" Please tell me you're stopping at this point! " My Dad deadpans behind me while mom is still in shock but unlike step 1 where I felt more comfortable despite reaching the two-minute mark I felt a little strain in step 2

But I can reach the time all the same so once again I ensure that I can repeat and see whether that strain was a one-time thing and to see if this was also a success like step 1 and the next two attempts assure me that while the strain remains the duration is also reachable so far

" Maybe you should stop for a while son "

" Not yet "

" Not yet? What the hell are you trying next? "

To this, I don't speak and honestly, at this point I'm at a loss myself because

' Step 1 fine I guess I'm a genius but step 2 is not possible without proper practicing and I haven't practiced the damn technique, this should not be possible for a person who doesn't have the original gamer version or didn't choose ultra comprehension as one of his picks, so what the hell is going on? '

At this point, despite not showing it outward I'm as shocked as my parents are but this training has now turned into something else, I have to find where it leads and I have to find its limits

So I initiate step 3, I envision what I want my shadow to do and activate the jutsu mentally but to my surprise, nothing happens, I think that I found my limit for now but I'm systemic if nothing else so I try again a second time and the result is the same as my shadow remains at my feet without any change

It's at this time that Father steps in with his advice he clasps my shoulder and slowly straightens me up from the slumped position I had unknowingly been in while nudging me towards the ground again while smiling at me

" Don't you think that you should practice it more? Certainly, we're surprised by your strength, again but practice makes perfect Shikamaru so try again until you can hold the bind for more and more time "

' I guess that's what it looks like to those who don't know that I'm attempting step 3, after all from the outwards all I'm doing till the shadow moves is standing and staring at the target '

But still, I felt like I missed something. I didn't feel any strain when I attempted step 3 and my chakra didn't churn at all, is that the usual way to know that the jutsu failed? I mean in the show most of the jutsu shown that failed did something

Like Naruto's failed academy clones or his Rasengan even Sasuke's training montage of Chidori showed the technique would show signs visually or is that something I'm overthinking about

' Or is the change because I'm attempting yin release without the usual way? Is my lack of experience the obstacle? '

Because at this point I just see step 3 as the step I need to reach to move on to another technique besides I never thought I would pull off step 3 anyway

' Or can I? The earlier steps were simple to do so why can't I do step 3? The shadow field completes all three steps after all '

So I take a deep breath and get ready to do the technique one last time in step three but I change my thought pattern on this attempt

Instead of overcomplicating it, I'm dumbing it down so I concentrate deeply but this time I don't think about steps at all, all I have in my mind is that my shadow binds the dummy

So I take a breath and close my eyes to visualize it

My shadow stretching itself

Another breath inhaled

The shadow reaches the dummy and binds it

And I exhale slowly and open my eyes to see the results and the thing I see is something that is concerning in some ways

And father clamps down on my shoulder firmly as he turns me around slightly to stare at me

I can read the confusion and apprehension in both my parent's eyes as they meet mine for a short moment before looking back at the dummy again

Father's tone also indicates slight disbelief as he speaks to me

" Shikamaru how are you doing that? "

Because the most important thing wasn't that step 3 succeeded, it was the way it was achieved that was intriguing

Because the beam which so far had seemed so relatable to paint brush now looked jagged around the edges and the ones that were winding the dummy looked like the fingers of the damned slender man

As I had no idea why this was the way it is, I returned to the default mode which was automatically in bullshit mode

So I replied tonelessly

" I told you pops I may not be an original but I'm a limited edition " and that brought enough time to gather myself and to sell the fact even further and caught up in my feeling of accomplishment I look at both of them again so I say what I'm determined to make it my catchphrase regardless of how arrogant, entitled and chuunibyou it makes me look

" Besides I wanted to do it, so I did it "

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So this was quite a long chapter but I am satisfied with how I wrote it, I'm sure many could do better but I make do with my best.

As always I thank each and every one of you for reading my story and I appreciate and welcome your comments and thoughts

And I especially thank Multatuli, Muiyuki_Snowfall, Juex, Bunny_4Fun, The_Rune_Raven, Joshua_Welsh, User_404, Muktars_Game for giving my story their precious power stones

And more importantly I hope you guys stay safe, have a great day and be happy