Three Body Techniques

P.S.: Happy Lantern Festival!!

And over the past year or so, nearly two years,

Iruka had clearly begun to gradually change his view of Menma's existence. Or, more accurately, Umino Iruka was genuinely a gentle person. With a clear understanding of the difference between Jinchuriki and Tailed Beasts,

he could more easily than most distinguish his feelings toward the two.

Unlike the general public,

who feared, rejected, and even hated Jinchuriki just as they did Tailed Beasts.

As they spent day after day together,

Menma could also sense the gradual change in Iruka's attitude.

This left Menma feeling somewhat conflicted.

Before this, aside from having slightly special feelings for Naruto, his younger brother by blood, and a bit of a past-life filter when it came to Hinata, he had not the slightest favorable impression of anyone else in Konohagakure.

But Iruka's change in attitude gave Menma the faint sense of being "bound." Of course, this might very well have been one of Sarutobi Hiruzen's strategies, just like what he had done himself.

Yet the most important reason Menma felt conflicted was that he could plainly sense the utilitarianism behind Sarutobi Hiruzen.

It was nothing like Iruka.

What Menma felt from him was nothing but sincerity.

The man simply regarded him as a student, a student with a miserable situation who needed care.

From all the signs,

it was almost as though Iruka could empathize with him.

Because they were both orphans!

That was why Menma did not know what kind of attitude he should take toward Iruka now, especially in the future.

After all, Menma was not truly cold-blooded.

He could not completely turn a blind eye to the kindness of others.

He could only take things one step at a time.

Still, Iruka's willingness to pay more attention to Menma and interact with him more was a good thing. At the very least, Menma could receive some one-on-one tutoring from Iruka.

Iruka might only seem to be a Chunin,

but one had to understand that anyone in the Shinobi World who could rise to Chunin already counted as someone with a certain degree of talent.

Not to mention that Iruka had become a Ninja Academy teacher, which meant his theoretical knowledge was certainly very solid.

And the fact that he could guide many young talents from ninja clans, including Menma, Naruto, and Sasuke, was enough to prove Iruka's ability as an instructor.

Konoha was a major ninja village.

Why was Iruka, of all people, assigned to the class Menma was in instead of someone else? That alone explained a great deal.

Therefore, Menma trusted Iruka greatly when it came to foundational training.

After seeing Menma's learning attitude and ability, Iruka was also willing to occasionally give Menma additional guidance outside of class.

For example, the Three Body Techniques that ninja were required to master during their time at the Ninja Academy.

Logically, those should only have been taught to students in later lessons.

But Menma was able to learn them ahead of time.

And Menma gave an excellent demonstration of what it meant to be a genius, especially without Nine-Tails Chakra interfering with him.

In less than a week,

he had successively mastered the Transformation Technique, Substitution Technique, and Clone Technique—the three most basic and important techniques for a ninja.

Of course, "mastered" here only meant that he could barely use them at a basic level.

But even that had left Iruka astonished.

The Three Body Techniques might be called basic techniques, but they were not so easy to learn, and their requirements for the user's Chakra control were far from low.

Back when Iruka had been learning the Three Body Techniques, a single technique had taken him a week or even longer to initially grasp.

The Clone Technique, the most difficult of them,

had taken him even more time.

Now, seeing Menma master all three techniques in just one week,

Iruka naturally found it astounding.

But Menma himself was not very satisfied.

Because—

Bang!

Thud!

Menma was clearly still somewhat lacking in his grasp of the techniques.

Looking at the small log that had landed on the ground,

Menma frowned slightly.

Speaking of which,

the Substitution Technique was the easiest technique to learn among the Three Body Techniques, but also the hardest to use, because its key lay in timing.

The Substitution Technique had none of the characteristics of a space-time technique.

If it really had anything to do with space-time techniques, could it still have become one of the Ninja Academy's foundational techniques?

That would be complete nonsense.

Put simply, this technique was just a trick of the eye.

It was not that it was completely useless in battles between high-level ninja, but achieving a deceptive effect with it was simply far too difficult.

Just like the Transformation Technique and Clone Technique afterward.

They still had their effects and uses, but it all depended on how the user employed them.

Of course, the Clone Technique also had higher-level versions, such as Water Clones, Earth Clones, and even the more overpowered Shadow Clones.

But the Substitution Technique was just the Substitution Technique.

Once the timing was mishandled,

it would become a complete joke.

Menma did not necessarily intend to hone this technique to perfection. Rather, he wanted to use this kind of training

to further refine his control over techniques.

It was killing two birds with one stone.

The same was true for the Transformation Technique. Striving for perfection could never be wrong.

This was not something that could be achieved overnight.

What it required was accumulated time and repeated practice.

It still needs more time. Or perhaps it would work better if I used it in actual combat!

Menma stroked his chin as he silently pondered.

Training was the most direct way to improve one's mastery of techniques and overall strength, but the most effective method would always be actual combat.

Personal training alone would always fall a little short.

Only real battles with real weapons could truly improve a ninja, especially fights at the brink of life and death, which made it easier for ninja to break through their limits.

If I get the chance, should I spar with Teacher Iruka later? Hmm, that should be a decent idea, right?

Just as this thought surfaced in Menma's mind,

"Menma!"

A clear voice rang out, and Iruka's familiar figure appeared before Menma's eyes from not far away.

"Hmm? Teacher Iruka, why are you here?"

The moment Menma saw Iruka, he hurried over and asked.

"I went to your home just now, but you weren't there, so I knew you had to be here. Didn't all your Ninja Tools get worn out before? I bought you a new batch. Don't use those worn-out Ninja Tools anymore."

Iruka smiled faintly, then pulled a Sealing Scroll from his clothes. After forming hand seals with both Hands,

Poof.

A cloud of white smoke suddenly appeared. Once it dispersed,

with a thud,

a slightly heavy bag of Ninja Tools appeared directly in front of Menma.