"Good morning, Zi Xu."
"Morning, Hatsumi. Chino's here too. Good morning."
After making plans together yesterday, the three of them now shared a secret. Their relationship had quietly grown closer, and even Chino, who was always cold and distant, seemed a little warmer toward them. Still, whether it was their imagination or something else, the atmosphere on the streets had felt strange on their way in. The adults around them also seemed odd, and there was always a sweet, peculiar smell in the air.
"Remember what we discussed yesterday?" Zi Xu asked in a low voice, seeing that Takeshi Goda still hadn't arrived in the classroom. He pushed the strange feeling to the back of his mind.
Hatsumi had lost her usual timid expression and nodded solemnly. Chino clasped her hands together and picked up where Zi Xu had left off:
"Until we can free ourselves from Konoha's control, we should act as we normally do. The village's restraints won't be undone overnight, and it'll be difficult to find a solution inside the village. We'll have to look outside for a way to remove them. Of course, there's an easier method: deal with the person controlling the Caged Bird Curse Seal... But that's basically impossible for us right now." Chino had never given up on finding a way to remove the seal, not since the moment it was placed on her. Though she still hadn't found a solution, she had no intention of giving up.
"You're right. At the Ninja Academy, we're only taught some non-lethal techniques and general subjects. It doesn't do much to improve our strength. If we want to get stronger, we have to learn more powerful techniques." Zi Xu had long felt the Ninja Academy system was unreasonable. It spent years subtly shaping children's values. Given Konoha's current situation, the policy was certainly effective. But Zi Xu wasn't really a child. After a few months of observation, he'd already learned nearly everything the academy had to teach. Staying any longer wouldn't teach him anything useful.
"That's true. But the Ninja Academy decides whether students can graduate based on their performance. Even so, they have to study for at least three years before they're allowed to graduate."
"But this is also our chance to get stronger. Just because the academy doesn't teach a technique doesn't mean we can't learn it." At Chino's words, Hatsumi understood what she meant and spoke up.
"The techniques I've learned all require bugs, so I can't teach them to you. But my clan has a technique that uses bugs to absorb Chakra and then release it again, purifying it and making it more concentrated. There's also Bug Body Refinement, which uses bugs to gnaw at the body and improve its constitution. I can use both on you."
"The Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist is at its most powerful when used with the Byakugan, but you can still learn it as a purely physical fighting style. There's also Konoha's Shadow Clone Technique. I don't have much Chakra yet, but perhaps your Uzumaki Clan constitution will make it easy for you to use, Zi Xu. And according to my father and the others, if you master the Shadow Clone Technique, you can learn the Multi Shadow Clone Technique. That technique consumes so much Chakra that it's been classified as a forbidden technique, but it seems naturally suited to the Uzumaki Clan."
"Bug Body Refinement and the Shadow Clone Technique? I don't have anything useful to offer in return, but I'll do my best to find a way to remove your Cursed Seals." Zi Xu hadn't expected to receive such unexpected help from these two children. He was a bit of a coward, but he always repaid a kindness. He meant what he said.
Chino and Hatsumi thought Zi Xu was joking. If only finding a solution were that easy. Even they knew the odds of removing the Cursed Seal were slim to none. But the whole point of forming the beginnings of this group was to keep from losing hope. Chino had seen too many of her clanmates lose hope and choose either to end their own lives or become dogs of the Main House. She wanted neither fate. She only wanted to be a bird free of its cage, soaring wherever it pleased.
Maybe the power of a Demon Fruit can counter the power of a Cursed Seal. I could treat it like breeding poison against poison. A Demon Fruit is definitely a higher tier than a Cursed Seal. But I'll have to wait until I've tested whether my clones can gain the power of a Demon Fruit... Zi Xu's mind was filling with fanciful ideas again. If ordinary methods couldn't remove the seal, why not try fighting poison with poison? Couldn't a greater curse overwrite a lesser one?
Even so, he was delighted when Chino offered to teach him the Shadow Clone Technique. The Clone Technique taught at the Ninja Academy was just an illusion with no physical form, incapable of doing anything. The Shadow Clone Technique was different. According to Chino, it had been developed by the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju. Unlike ordinary clones, it could withstand a certain amount of damage. Normal clones could take very little and vanished as soon as they were hit. The Shadow Clone Technique was so impressive that it had spread throughout the shinobi world and become one of the essential techniques every Ninja had to learn.
What made it even more valuable was that, after mastering the Shadow Clone Technique, one might be able to learn the Multi Shadow Clone Technique. According to Chino, as long as you had enough Chakra, the technique could theoretically create an infinite number of clones.
"If the Multi Shadow Clone Technique is so powerful, why not just use it to overwhelm your opponent in battle?" Zi Xu asked, puzzled. If the technique really was that amazing, wouldn't it be unbeatable? There had to be some drawbacks.
"Let's start with the Shadow Clone Technique. Its clones have physical forms, but you can't make too many at once. The Multi Shadow Clone Technique can theoretically make an infinite number, but your total Chakra remains the same. Say you have a hundred units of Chakra. If you create one Shadow Clone, you and the clone each get fifty. Likewise, if you create nine clones, each gets ten. The more clones you make, the less Chakra you have yourself, because it's divided evenly among them. If someone without enough Chakra uses the Multi Shadow Clone Technique, they'll most likely have all their Chakra drained right out of them." Chino explained it thoroughly, making the drawbacks of both techniques clear.
"Because you're from the Uzumaki Clan and naturally have an enormous amount of Chakra, you should be able to master even the Multi Shadow Clone Technique. But it's a forbidden technique, and all I have right now is a scroll for the Shadow Clone Technique. So you'll have to figure out how to master the Multi Shadow Clone Technique on your own." Chino took a small scroll from a Sealing Scroll and handed it to Zi Xu.
"Thank you." Zi Xu accepted the scroll and thanked Chino. Hatsumi took two pairs of bugs out of her backpack. One pair looked like rhinoceros beetles. They were slightly small, with horn-like projections on their heads and thoraxes. Three small bumps were arranged across the raised center of each face, and a T-shaped groove ran down the middle of the front of the thorax. Their backs were rather dark and rough. Their three pairs of legs looked powerful, each ending in a pair of sharp claws. They seemed well suited to climbing. At that moment, the bugs were in Hatsumi's palms, lifting their large horns and gently nudging her hands.
The other pair resembled longhorn beetles. They had long, cylindrical bodies with slightly flattened backs. Their antennae grew from bumps on their foreheads, allowing them to turn freely and fold back over their bodies. Their claws had comb-like teeth, and they clung to Hatsumi's fingers, their antennae probing ahead without pause.
Hatsumi handed the rhinoceros beetle-like bugs to Chino and Zi Xu, then explained:
"The Horned Beetles are used to refine your bodies. They'll keep pounding your skin with their horns. Since the blows are blunt, they won't make you bleed, and they'll release Chakra to heal any injuries. This helps your Chakra blend into your body and makes it easier to control. It can also gradually improve your constitution. But they draw the Chakra needed to heal you from your own bodies, so keep an eye on how much Chakra you have." Zi Xu watched the Horned Beetle on his hand repeatedly prodding him with its little horn and started worrying for its safety. What if the little thing hurt itself because his skin was too thick?
Hatsumi carefully placed the small longhorn beetles in their hands. One of them seemed reluctant to leave, rubbing its comb-like claw against her finger before finally letting go.
"These are Refining Bugs. They're very docile. They can absorb the Chakra in your bodies, purify it, and then return it to you, improving the overall quality of your Chakra. The two kinds of bugs can work together. The Refining Bugs will give the purified Chakra to the Horned Beetles first, so they can train you as effectively as possible. All you have to do is pour your Chakra into the bugs." Hatsumi explained patiently. It was clear she cared deeply about her bugs and knew them well. Being around them seemed to help her relax.
"Um, thanks." The two of them accepted the bugs Hatsumi had given them. After all, these were training secrets of the Aburame Clan, so they were bound to be useful.
"Only Zi Xu has a chance of learning the Shadow Clone Technique right now, but anyone can learn the Gentle Fist." Chino immediately began teaching them the fundamentals of the Gentle Fist. She had no affection for the Hyuga Main House. If the Gentle Fist didn't require the Byakugan to reach its full potential, she would have spread it everywhere and broken the Main House's monopoly on its techniques.
"The Gentle Fist techniques the Branch Family knows include the Pressure Point Strike and Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm. You can both learn those. Without the Byakugan, your accuracy will be much lower. As for the secret techniques passed down by word of mouth in the Main House, I've never seen them use any, but I'll try to learn them if I get the chance." After giving them an overview of the Gentle Fist techniques, Zi Xu had the vague feeling he'd seen them somewhere before. The sense of familiarity puzzled him.
Wait, aren't these the Eight Trigrams Palm, Tai Chi, pressure-point strikes, and strikes that send force through the air? I should've studied martial arts properly back then. Maybe I could've combined them with Chakra and founded my own school. He grumbled inwardly. With his constitution, if he combined martial arts with his abilities, his attacks would surely be devastating. After all, a defense pushed to its limit would inevitably give rise to tremendous offensive power.
"Big Tiger's here. We'll talk after class. I'll teach you the Gentle Fist this weekend." Chino pointed to Takeshi Goda, who had just entered with a stern look on his face.
They immediately stopped talking. But none of them knew that Takeshi Goda was about to bring them some very grave news.
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