A Visit to Library - II
Disclaimer- I Don't own Naruto, It belongs to the creators.
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February 27, 079 years
The weather has started improving, the chill of the winter now completely gone and temperature now bearable. With all his preparation done, with time to spare as well, Haruki, the canteen chef/waiter was having a very nice day if not for the fact that he had to serve the demon brat from the very start in the morning. Just watching his face happily eating twice the amount of food a regular shinobi does like it is nothing, food better served for others, makes his blood boil. He has lost his father and their shop in the kyuubi attack. And the compensation was barely able for him to sustain his family for a year at best. He was 18 at the time. Too old to even try to be a ninja. He has done work sometimes 18 hours a day to get this far that not only is his house loan completely paid but he has a licensed shop in the prestigious Konoha Library Canteen. He has stayed far away from the boy, never having any time to join those who occasionally group together to curse about how unfair it is they have to suffer having that demon brat in the village. And the boy never came to this place before. So there was never any interaction. But for the last 4 days, the demon has made the library his home, And their canteen his kitchen. To see the smug brat order a ridiculous amount of food knowing that they cannot deny him is just too much. But He can't do anything about it. Nor the other chefs. Even though Konoha protects its civilians better than all the other villages. It also protects its ninjas just as well, and the current Hokage is not like the previous one to let go of any discrimination done against the boy. They would face serious problems if the brat reported anything. And he knows that too. So all he can do is just wait for his time to take his revenge and keep his anger to himself.
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It's his fourth day in the library, by now everyone is used to seeing the blonde ninja sitting in a corner with a horde of elementary books and guides. By usual, I meant the occasional glares and glances full of mistrust. In the case of a particular chef, full of hatred but he has long ago stopped caring about it. Well Naruto did to an extent, but with his apathy it only became more easier. It also helped that understanding the basic principles of being a ninja and their lifestyle is genuinely interesting for his new personality. 'Old Naruto' was ignorant of most of these things but didn't have the patience, while 'the other entity' as he likes to call his personality from previous life has quite a lot of academic curiosity and smartness to balance it off. It also helped that even though his body is of a thirteen year old, his merger also increased the cognitive ability of this body upto his old personality level, thus he does have the intellect of a top of class college genius. It took him 3 days to learn all the theoretical stuff he missed in the academy and understand the reasons for including them in the course. His basic knowledge is better than most genin right now. But knowing that what he covered is just the minimum part and real knowledge is yet to be gained, he tried to use shadow clones yesterday. To be on safe side he made only three and made them study for at least 3 hours. But just as he got the feedback, his brain felt like it just exploded and he passed out inside the library with a sandwich in his hands.
So today he dedicated all his time to studying why it could have happened. And he got some answers as well.
Apparently Memory feedback is directly related to proficiency and reserves of yin chakra of a person, with Naruto in the anime it was not an issue because his chakra composition was very heavily tilted towards the yang part. Almost 90% of his chakra is yang based. So when cannon Naruto created hundreds of clones for fighting or training. Each clone got the same composition, that is roughly 10% yin chakra. Divided by such a huge number, yin chakra quantity per clone was so low that the memory transfer was simply not possible until the original focussed on it from his end. The more clones , the higher the focus required. How does he know that? Because he tried it just now, at the counter with the sneering chef. When he specifically focussed on the clone's memory absorption part when using the jutsu and focusing again when I dispel it, the memory he gained was far more detailed. As for his yin-yang composition. Well there is a nice modified sealing paper just like chakra paper that can describe it by turning the yang part to white and yin to black in the paper when chakra is applied to it. How did he get something like that? Well turns out learning about the chakra composition of a patient is very important for many treatments so it's common to be found in hospitals, restricted access of course, but who can stop you when their boss is your adorable adopted older sister.
So it took him very little persuasion to get his old reports and a new paper.
Don't know why Naruto never used it. Shizune is such a nice girl and resource but never shown much in the anime. The girl may not be Tsunade or upto the level of Sakura in Boruto, but she was still better than entire hospital staffs in Konoha, a Jonin with clearance higher than all but handful of Konoha Shinobi. It doesn't hurt that despite not having much curves she is still quite easy on the eyes and genuinely nice to be around.
Back to the topic at hand, his 'past' body's Yang Chakra composition was so high that using his shadow clones trained his chakra and perhaps even increased the concentration of the clones, but failed to deliver the very purpose the jutsu was made for. A fortune in disguise for the blonde. It also justifies why Jiraiya never taught him much on elemental jutsu. And Naruto never really uses them in canon, except Rasengan.
As any elemental jutsu requires both element and then shape manipulation, the requirement of yin-chakra manipulation is also high in such jutsus, thus usage of more hand seals as well. But Naruto is simply incapable of extracting such a miniscule amount of yin chakra at that particular point, at a particular hand seal movement. The precision required for him will be Kage level.
While Rasengan is pure yang chakra manipulation. So for naruto it was basically using 90% of his chakra instead of all 100%. And it still took him a month to learn that too with the help of shadow clones. For anyone else it is simply a nightmare.
It also clarifies why not many use such a jutsu. Aside from the information not readily available, most of the konoha clans have high yin-chakra composition. So even if such shinobi have high chakra reserves, their yang chakra reserve is still pretty low to learn it. That's why Sasuke never bothered with Rasengan in the cannon. For him, creating a single rasengan requires reserves comparable to using chidori six times. And it took him a whole month to learn the chidori, a jutsu of an element he has high affinity for, along with full supervision of its creator himself.
Canon Sasuke at 13 simply cannot learn it, something Kakashi must have told him after their fight on the hospital roof.
However, now his Yin-chakra has increased by such a huge amount. So Yang- based Shape manipulation might get a little harder to master for him, but elemental jutsus also got just as much if not more easier to use.
Speaking of which, the merger not only changed his chakra composition but his affinities as well. cannon Naruto had Strong Wind affinity but now I also have milder earth affinity as well. A change unexpected but welcome. Earth is the second highest affinity in Konoha, after fire of course. So learning about Earth Manipulation training is not that hard. It's also about time he went to see Iruka-Sensei as well. He has not met the man after the first day he woke up, just like he did not meet Kakashi. Unlike the lazy bastard, Iruka had to be genuinely busy with mid term exam results and placements. Wishing to see one of the few kind hearted people in this cold village. Naruto got up from his seat and went to the counter to report his departure.
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Ino knew that she would never be a taijutsu specialist or even good enough to depend on it in battle. Her body was not built for that. Her clan specialises in mind techniques so Taijutsu styles or close battle tactics was not something they prepared for. So she relied on her academy style taijutsu which is quite unsuitable for her. Asuma-sensei has said so himself a couple of times, but the lazy prick had yet to do anything about it. Well he did offer to ask Gai-sensei for help. But she would rather die in battle than ever train with that freakish man!!
So she should find the alternatives and best supplement to taijutsu weakness are weapons. Again, not anything her clan specialises in, sadly. They are really useless for other stuff, aren't they?
So she asked her sensei what kind of weapon would suit her. His reply was just as enthusiastic as a sleeping boar. Get a sword. Just that. What kind, what material, nothing. Honestly she should not be surprised, her sensei could match any nara in terms of laziness. And since most of their practice is often in their clan techniques there is little for him to teach us beside teamwork. That too is quite easy as all three of us have grown up together watching our parents doing the same for years.
Not getting any useful response, she decided to look for something more niche, and then it clicked her. Senbons.
She has seen kunoichi use them for genjutsu. Being a yamanaka, she doubted her father would have any hard time learning how she did that, and then there was their Team's encounter with the Ame ninjas. Using senbon as well. But the most appealing part for her was how it can be used with poison. She had heard Sakura brag about strong rogue ninjas of their age they got to battle in their wave mission, how he used senbon to put zabuza and sasuke in death like state. Couple that with poisons.She would become a lethal kunoichi. So with a new direction in mind, Ino decided to visit the Library.
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As I pushed open the door to the Konoha Public Library, I was greeted by an unexpected sight: Naruto Uzumaki, lounging against the entrance, his bright blonde hair a stark contrast to the dull, academic surroundings. It had been a week since the failed Sasuke retrieval mission, and I'd only caught glimpses of him from afar during his hospital stay. She did not have the guts to go near after watching his bloodied body with a hole in the middle. That view still gave her nightmares. She thought with a chill. But now, standing before me, was a Naruto I'd hardly recognized. He'd grown - more than a couple of inches, easily - and his frame seemed broader, more defined. The hospital gown had hidden it well, but now it was unmistakable: Naruto was rapidly becoming a young man. My eyes widened in surprise as I took in his new form, and I couldn't help but feel a pang of nostalgia for the scrappy, pint-sized Naruto I once knew.
How is this even possible ? He looks way too different than the Naruto she saw couple of weeks ago. Before she could ponder , he was standing before her.
"Hey, Naruto," I said casually, trying to sound nonchalant despite my internal astonishment. "What brings you here?" Naruto's eyes lit up with his signature enthusiasm, and for a moment, I was transported back to a time when life was simpler. But it was gone soon and she could sense that behind those eyes was somebody with much more awareness than Naruto ever had before. Soon we exchanged compliments and then chatted. I couldn't shake the feeling that Naruto had grown in more ways than one - his voice deeper, his gaze more introspective. My original intention to research poisons for my mission was momentarily forgotten, replaced by a genuine interest in catching up with her new friend. Yes, Ino Yamanaka now openly considers Naruto Uzumaki one of her true friends. As we talked, I found myself wondering what other changes lay beneath his surface, and what secrets he might be hiding behind those sparkling blue eyes.