Causal

Of course in the next moment, I felt my connection with the shadow strain incredibly to the point that I was reminded of how I was at the beginning of the shadow field training, just blindly hoping to voluntarily make my shadow do something

No matter how much I didn't want them to worry about me on this, I still stumbled when my connection to the shadow was lost. Fortunately Father steadied me as I took deep breaths because while I didn't feel like I was about to keel over I certainly felt moderately exhausted

" You did good Shikamaru. What you just did just now is amazing for your first attempts at the technique "

" Your father is right on that, but don't let it go to your head! "

While hearing Father praise me is always welcome to my ears the warning from Mother no matter how disheartening can't be dispelled

But while I could be sad I was more occupied with opening the status to see what's changed and there in the section below techniques a new one was listed

•

Name: Shikamaru Nara

Title: Nara heir

Age: 5 year

Stats:

Strength: D

Speed: D

Dexterity: D

Intelligence: D+

Stamina: D-

Wisdom: D

Luck: D+

Chakra: D

Chakra control: D+

Haki:

Observation haki: D

Armament haki: E+

Conqueror haki: E

Skills:

Strategic Level 5

Sleeping Level 5

Language Level 7

Calligraphy Level 7

Hiding Level 5

Killing intent (resistance) Level 9

Dungeon admittance Level Max

Umbrakinesis level 2

Techniques:

Leer Level 4

Scary face Level 2

Shadow binding Level 1

•

' All that and the technique is still at level one? What the hell is its max level gonna do? Trap a damn meteor or something? '

Maybe I shouldn't get that excited, I mean I have no idea what the max level is for any of the techniques so perhaps this one might be lower than the others. That's a legitimate reason why the steps feel so easy to me, maybe the whole technique will never really be a real signature technique

But I shake my head and get rid of these thoughts as in reply to Mother out loud

" I couldn't hold the form I wanted it to take, I may have gotten the dummy but I didn't get it the way I intended and as such, I have no reason to be that prideful, yet "

At my words father and mother just share a smile and nod like I'm being difficult but then again I might be

" So how do we usually train this technique? "

" Well usually once a clan member can activate the jutsu we mainly train their duration and speed of the technique. This is done because we're not that much of an attacker ideally and our priority is to ensure that we can restrain our enemy more than kill them, of course, if you can kill an enemy you should always kill them but if you aren't strong enough for that you need to have the stamina to restrain the enemy till backup arrives "

That was informative and all but it still

" So like I was asking how do we usually train? "

At this Mom just chuckles at me and dad while Dad just rubs his forehead again

" Mostly we use the shadow on something stationary first then we do it on a non-stationary one, we begin with large objects and eventually lower the target size to train the accuracy of your technique and this is all done while still training your stamina "

" So I should use it on leaves on trees or things like that? "

" That doesn't sound advanced to you? "

" Do I sound like I care? "

" That's enough cheek out of you, young man "

" Dumb questions get dumb answers "

" I said that's enough "

" Should I come at another time? "

And it's only when we turn around that we see the voice that interrupted us and there looking like we were or instead I was personally picking on him was Ensui

' Note to self: promote awareness for lazy geniuses '

Because this is just sad, it's like slipping into bed only to hear your parents call you into the living room.

" Ah Ensui come, Shikamaru he will be the one watching you while you train when we're not present "

" Sounds like trouble "

" Oh believe me, I'm not exactly thrilled about this either " A deadpan voice and a good comeback tell me that as long as he stays out of annoying me, we will get along just fine

Anyway, after ensuring that I would behave and shit both left, dad left for the office which I have to visit sometime and Mom just went back home

But I think that's enough slice of life for today so I clap my hands once to garner Ensui's attention and speak

" Alright let's get started, Ensui how is your shadow binding technique? "

And that draws a slow "good enough" from him, gee this man needs some good coffee or energy drink or at the least a damn pillow

" Then bind me "

" You want me to bind you? "

" Listen you don't want to be here more than I want you to be here. So let's pull this off as soon as we can so we can all be happy "

" While I agree with the sentiment I don't quite understand the purpose of me binding you when it should be you binding me "

" Ok then how about this, his long does a Nara usually take to master the technique for them to train alone "

" Normally two months, three months at maximum and that's just if they don't put effort into learning "

" And if they are jumping around at the chance to learn it and have the intelligence to do it "

" A month and a week is the record your father holds I believe "

" That's interesting. How long does one have to hold it for one to be considered experienced in it? "

" An hour would be good if we're talking about live opponents "

" Give me a month "

" Excuse me? "

" You heard me! Besides if the training doesn't work out I'll do it the traditional way, but I have to do this "

At this ensui just scratches his head and looks at me and I add an " it will be completely safe " for him to finally nod and he was all for it even more when I revealed how I wanted him to bind me

I came up with a way that would appeal to him as much as it would appeal to me and my solution was simple

He would lie down and force me to lie down with him while I would familiarize myself with how it feels and try to break out of it

And as soon as I gave him the word his shadow connected with me and as he slowly sat down and laid down I could spy a lazy smirk on his face

But I was more interested in feeling the hold he had on me, his shadow connected with me and I followed his actions to the end, even the tilting of his head

I tried to see if I could overpower him which as I suspected could not happen yet then I tried to see what I still had control over and I could feel my haki still unrestrained.

I'm sure if I activated conquerors haki he would be startled enough to drop the technique on his own but that seemed like a waste of time and a cheap way to do this. But I could still train my observation and I immediately brought it up so I could feel what was happening better

If I could manipulate my own shadow and overpower his then it's a valid way to train step three alongside my willpower and increase my stamina and chakra at the same time

So I immediately tried to visualize step three while envisioning my shadow straining against his and nothing happens

' That's alright. Just cause the bunny was below the jackfruit tree once doesn't mean it's going to always stand there and let the fruit fall on it ' (that's a local saying by the way, it says don't always expect to be lucky)

And I suddenly wondered if this changed my status and I opened it to see another welcome addition

•

Name: Shikamaru Nara

Title: Nara heir

Age: 5 year

Status: restrained

•

' Fuck that's gonna be helpful, I need to see if that works on poison and Genjutsu and if it does boy is it gonna be useful. '

It's at times like this I'm reminded that there might be more hidden gems I'm currently missing in the gamer cheap version and life in general

But just cause I want to find it out doesn't mean it'll magically pop into my head, there isn't a damn help menu after all

So all I can do is sigh and hope that one day I will be able to achieve its maximum potential and hopefully my own

Still even as I strain against ensui I'm coming up with other ways I can train at home and boy did I get a good idea

And it's a really simple plan, remember how we used to read in the novels how people could write seals and all that while fighting and that's what I'm going for. I know that I can't do that at this point so we'll start small

We start as we always do when we learn how to draw first we master shapes and then basic letters and then refine, repeat till you can paint a damn good sunset by yourself

Of course, if I can do this with shadow I would have to figure out how to lower the intensity of shadow in some places just to do something of that scale, but that's another way to grind so that's okay too

And since I've given ensui a deal I should live up to the deal and I will live up to it. And so this month is devoted to Skiadrum and this jutsu in the lobby, I reckon that's more than helpful to get to that point

And there's really not that much time to waste so I take a deep breath and try again and again till I can't at which point I relax and gather my strength and like that a whole week passed quickly

————————————————————

Once again I am thankful that you're reading my story, I hope I haven't disappointed you with my writing and as always every piece of advice is appreciated and I really thank

True_Mercury, snorlax_shiny, Jade_Dragon, LifelessMan and hiiamme123 for giving this story it's power stones I'm really thankful for your support

And as always I hope you stay safe, happy and have a great day