The Secret of Hand Seals (Part 2)

So the power of a ninjutsu mainly depended on your chakra. Different techniques used different proportions of chakra inside the body, and the chakra flowed through different pathways, which was why they produced different effects.

That meant that in the Naruto World, different methods could achieve similar effects. It was a lot like computer programs: chakra was the source code. You decided what you wanted the source code to do, then wrote a program to produce that effect.

Learning another country's ninjutsu was like learning someone else's software. Of course, that was only an analogy. There were two ways to do it. One was for someone to give you their source code—in other words, to tell you the hand seals, how to extract the chakra, and the order in which to put it all together. Then you could use it right away.

The other way was to crack it. If you were a powerful enough expert, you could crack it completely and might even add some of your own source code, making it better than the original. Naruto's Rasengan, for example, had been taught to him by Jiraiya, but Naruto added his own touch and turned it into the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken. That had surpassed the original Rasengan, hadn't it?

Then there was the case where you could only crack it, without adding anything of your own. You could still learn the technique, and that was what it meant to crack it completely. The ninjutsu would have the same power, like techniques copied with the Sharingan. If a technique copied by Itachi was stronger than when its original user performed it, that wasn't because of the technique. It was because of the person, all right? It was like running the same program on a Pentium CPU versus running it on the national-level Galaxy supercomputer. The results would definitely differ—the latter would be much faster, at the very least.

Finally, you might only manage to crack part of it, leaving some of the core source code beyond your reach. Then you had to find another way. Could you use your own method to achieve a similar effect? Without the core code, you could only imitate it. It wouldn't be as powerful as the original, but the effect would be similar. For people who didn't know the difference, a pirated copy that did the job was good enough. You didn't have to use the original, did you? Of course, the original was better, but what if you couldn't get it? Then this was your only option.

Take the Water Clone Technique. Kirigakure's clones could reach one-tenth of the original's strength. If I couldn't manage one-tenth, then one-twentieth or one-hundredth would do, right? Their appearance wouldn't give it away, anyway.

Kirigakure and Amegakure were both fairly skilled in Water Release, like two software companies making the same program. Their source code might be the same, or it might not. Either way, their programs' speed and ease of use would differ to some extent.

Take the Water Clone Technique again. Clones from Amegakure and Kirigakure could both reach about one-tenth of the original's strength. But Kirigakure also had a Water Clone Technique that could reach half the original's strength, while Amegakure didn't. That was because Kirigakure had the latest version of the technique, and someone might update it at any time. Amegakure didn't have that luxury. The people who could make updates were all dead, so the technique couldn't be improved. That was one reason Amegakure had gradually declined, though the real situation was surely more complicated.

That was the difference between ninjutsu. Hand seals were the steps for performing a technique, like the way you used software and the way it was encrypted.

Different hand seals were different methods of performing ninjutsu, just as different programs had different ways of being used. But hand seals could also involve encryption, so you had to learn them if you wanted to learn someone else's technique.

Knowing the hand seals made it faster to learn another person's ninjutsu. It was like wanting to use someone else's software when it was encrypted. If you knew the hand seals, it was as if you had the password.

Even for the same technique, different encryption methods could mean different hand seals. Kirigakure and Amegakure, for instance, used different seals for the same Water Clone Technique.

Experts could optimize hand seals. That was why they could perform the same technique faster than an ordinary ninja. It was like software code. The code might seem essential to you, but I could be a skilled hacker and delete some of it—just as a ninja could omit hand seals while performing a technique. That was what people called a hand-seal-less technique.

Sometimes, though, I couldn't delete any of the code. If I did, the program wouldn't work. But I could still improve it by removing unnecessary code, just as I could reduce the number of hand seals needed for a technique. If I used fewer seals than you for the same technique, I'd perform it faster. That was why I thought Itachi was so quick at using ninjutsu: he was good at improving techniques.

And sometimes I couldn't improve it at all. Not a single line of code could be removed, or the program wouldn't work. It was the same with a technique: leave out one hand seal, and it failed. I couldn't delete or improve anything, but I could still optimize it another way. I could rearrange the code so it suited me better. It was like performing hand seals: if none could be omitted, I could still change their order. But I'd only rearrange them if doing so benefited me. If nothing changed, there'd be no point. For example, if the code was arranged in two rows, I could put it all into one column instead. Performing a technique that way was called one-handed hand seals.

After hearing all this, Ye Wuji thought, Maybe this is how it's supposed to be. When he compared what he'd seen in Naruto in his previous life with what he'd just heard, he realized that it really was true.

Yahiko had taught all of this to Konan, Nagato, and Ye Wuji. Of course, Ye Wuji had added some of his own understanding, especially the parts about hand seals and computer programs. He didn't even know how to write programs, but this lesson was what had led to his later achievements. Without Yahiko's guidance, Ye Wuji would have taken countless wrong turns and might never have figured any of this out.

Ye Wuji had always felt a little conceited because he'd come from another world. It wasn't obvious at first, but he knew how certain events would unfold and had some idea how to create ninjutsu. He figured he could learn techniques like the Rasengan and the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken himself.

But after hearing Yahiko's explanation, Ye Wuji finally felt he truly understood ninjutsu. It didn't do much for him right now, but it would be immensely useful later. Until now, he'd thought ninjutsu was just hand seals and chakra, and he'd only had a vague grasp of everything else. After all, he hadn't been born in this world. It was only natural that there were things he didn't know.

Ye Wuji looked at Yahiko differently now, with a hint of admiration. Though he'd spent time with the three of them, he'd mostly talked with Konan or learned origami from her. Otherwise, he'd gone to chat with Nagato. He'd rarely sought out Yahiko.

After all, Ye Wuji had watched Naruto, and Yahiko had only appeared in a few flashbacks. He hadn't appeared very often, and he'd died early. Though the series had called Yahiko the leader of Akatsuki, even after his death, when Nagato fought Hanzo, Hanzo had said, "So you were the real leader of Akatsuki all along."

From that perspective, Yahiko seemed like little more than a supporting character. His only purpose had been to let Madara use him to provoke Nagato; otherwise, he would have been killed long ago. If Madara hadn't needed him to stir Nagato into willingly summoning the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path with the Rinnegan, he probably wouldn't have let him live so long.

Why had Madara given Nagato the Rinnegan? Besides using Nagato to revive him, he needed him to summon the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. At first, Ye Wuji had thought Madara's main reason was to have Nagato bring him back to life. It was only later that he learned this was just one of Madara's aims. Some people might ask, "Isn't summoning the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path easy? Obito and Madara could both do it later, so was having the Rinnegan all it took?"

It wasn't that simple. In the Naruto storyline, Konan had once stopped Nagato from summoning the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. If anyone could summon it at will, she wouldn't have tried to stop him. Yahiko had just died, and they were about to avenge him, yet Konan had still tried to stop Nagato. That was because summoning the statue would cost Nagato his life. The reason he was left crippled was that he had summoned it.

That was exactly why Madara had given Nagato the Rinnegan. Neither Obito nor Madara would sacrifice their lives to summon the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. Without the statue, the so-called Eye of the Moon Plan could never be carried out.

Think of how easily Masked Obito summoned the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path later, or how Madara could control it at will. They could do so because Nagato had summoned it first.

The Demonic Statue of the Outer Path was actually the Ten-Tails' husk, and the Sage of Six Paths had sealed it on the moon. What force could bring such a massive thing from the moon down to the planet of the Naruto World? The only answer was life itself. Nagato had survived afterward, but that had just been luck. In truth, Masked Obito and Zetsu had expected him to die after summoning the statue. That was why they had gathered so many children with all chakra natures, ready to find a new vessel for the Rinnegan.

Yahiko's explanation of ninjutsu, chakra, and hand seals had made Ye Wuji see him in a new light. No wonder Yahiko was Akatsuki's leader. In this respect, Nagato couldn't compare. He'd make a good fighter, but he still seemed a little short of the mark as a leader. That was only Ye Wuji's opinion for now.

Ye Wuji stared fixedly at Yahiko. Yahiko was talking, and when he noticed Ye Wuji staring without even blinking, he thought something was wrong with him. But after looking himself over, he couldn't find anything amiss. He turned to Ye Wuji and asked, "Ye, why are you looking at me like that?"

Hearing Yahiko's voice brought Ye Wuji back to his senses. He'd actually been so absorbed that he'd spaced out. He hurriedly said, "I didn't know you were so amazing, Big Brother Yahiko. You're really incredible." As he spoke, Ye Wuji nodded enthusiastically. Since he was a child, the gesture looked adorable, and Nagato and Konan burst out laughing.

Ye Wuji ignored their laughter, tilted his head, and said to Yahiko, "Big Brother Yahiko, you're so amazing. When you grow up, you'll be a really, really powerful ninja." He tried to speak like a child, but the words truly came from his heart. He really hadn't expected Yahiko to be this impressive.

At first, Ye Wuji hadn't understood just how remarkable Yahiko's explanation was. But after thinking back over the Naruto storyline, he finally realized how remarkable Yahiko was. As far as Ye Wuji could remember, nobody else in the entire series had such an impressive understanding. Most ninjas only worked on increasing the speed of their hand seals. Even the Hokage tended to talk about how fast this or that person could form them. As for one-handed hand seals, Haku seemed to be the only one. Ye Wuji wasn't sure whether Itachi was fast because of his hand seals or because he concealed them. And he couldn't recall anyone using hand-seal-less ninjutsu, though Kekkei Genkai techniques and other special jutsu didn't count. Gaara's sand and Naruto's Rasengan were examples.

Yahiko had spoken purely from a theoretical perspective, but how had nobody noticed what a treasure he was? And not just anyone—were Madara and Yahiko both idiots? Ye Wuji silently cursed the two fools.

Hearing Ye Wuji praise Yahiko, Konan smiled and said, "Of course he is, Ye. Do you know what Yahiko's full name is?"

Ye Wuji froze. I really don't know Yahiko's surname. Nagato seems to be an Uzumaki, and I have no idea about Konan's. That was what he thought, but he still had to speak like a child and say what a child would. If this keeps up, I'll end up like Conan.

Ye Wuji said aloud, "Big Brother Yahiko is just Big Brother Yahiko. Who else could he be?"

With a smile, Konan walked over and patted Ye Wuji on the head. "Your Big Brother Yahiko's name is Fuma Yahiko. Remember that, okay? When you grow up, you have to help your Big Brother Yahiko."

Why does everyone like patting me on the head? Minato does it, and so does Konan. Then there are Yahiko and Nagato. Are they trying to kill me? Ye Wuji thought, and he was just about to pull Konan's hand away.

But then he heard Konan's words and froze. Fuma Yahiko—so Yahiko was from the Fuma Clan. That made him a descendant of a distinguished family. The Fuma Clan, Hanzo, and the Sarutobi Clan—those seemed to be the three clans mentioned in Naruto. Except for the Sarutobi Clan, the others had all declined. Some of Orochimaru's subordinates seemed to belong to the Fuma Clan, whose ninjutsu was rather unusual.

"Oh," Ye Wuji said, pretending to be confused. Seeing his expression, Konan continued, "Remember, the Fuma Clan is a great clan of ninjas, and your Big Brother Fuma Yahiko is an even greater ninja. Got it?"

"Got it." Seeing the situation, Ye Wuji could only nod.

As he spoke, Ye Wuji quietly watched Yahiko's reaction. He noticed that Yahiko seemed rather dejected when he heard the name of the Fuma Clan. Is it because his clan has fallen into decline? Ye Wuji wondered.