The Three Basic Techniques

The week passed quickly. After a week of grueling training, the boys were both exhausted and exhilarated.

A month had passed since they began their physical training. After a month of exercise and practice, the boys had changed considerably in both appearance and spirit. They were leaner and more muscular, but the greatest change was in their overall bearing.

When they had been homeless orphans, they hadn't all been sickly and gaunt, but many had been malnourished. A month of care had finally restored them to the condition boys their age should be in. The disheveled air they'd carried from their days on the road had been replaced by vibrant energy. With Jiraiya protecting them, they no longer lived in constant fear. Their courage and confidence had gradually returned.

The boys looked completely different now. They had long since changed out of the protective clothing they'd worn while wandering, replacing it with brand-new ninja uniforms. To Yuehua Ai, the outfits had no sense of style or beauty whatsoever, but the material was quite good: durable, lightweight, and ideal for ninja training and combat. Compared to their old protective clothing, there was simply no contest.

There was truth to the saying that clothes made the man. The boys no longer looked like homeless children at all. They now looked like the kind of outstanding young ninja you might find in a ninja village.

At noon, Jiraiya had tested how proficient they were at Hand Seals. After a week of countless repetitions, the boys had already made the twelve hand signs second nature.

The results were ideal, but the process had been anything but easy. They had forged this instinct through sweat and blood. Over the past seven days and nights, the boys had spent all their time practicing Hand Seals except when they needed to eat or sleep. They practiced while exercising, while meditating, while walking, and even while taking care of their bodily needs. The skin on their fingers had worn through from all the repetition, and at times their hands had even become uncontrollable. Jiraiya had taught them to nourish their fingers with chakra and care for the meridians in their hands, but even so, they often suffered uncontrollable spasms. It wasn't just physical pain—it was a mental ordeal, too.

Fortunately, they had practiced together, keeping one another in check and encouraging one another. That was how they had managed to persevere.

Hard work always paid off. Seeing how much effort they'd put in, even Jiraiya had been secretly astonished. Luckily, chakra existed in this world, allowing them to recover quickly from fatigue and injuries. In his previous life, training in Hand Seals this intensely would have left their hands crippled in less than three days, let alone made the movements instinctive.

The boys had successfully met Jiraiya's requirements for Hand Seals, and that afternoon, he began teaching them the combat techniques used by ninja.

"Today, I'm going to teach you the Three Basic Techniques. They're part of the foundational curriculum at the Konoha Ninja Academy, and every ninja must master them. Once you've mastered the Three Basic Techniques, you can apply to graduate from the Ninja Academy. If you pass, you'll advance from student to a true ninja—a Genin."

"All right, enough of that. First, I'll explain exactly what the Three Basic Techniques are."

"The Three Basic Techniques aren't the name of a single technique. They're a collective term for three basic ninjutsu techniques: the Clone Technique, the Substitution Technique, and the Transformation Technique."

"The Clone Technique uses chakra to create an image of yourself. This clone can't move; it's only an afterimage, and its main purpose is to confuse the enemy during battle."

"The Substitution Technique is already a more advanced skill. It lets the user switch places with an object nearby, mainly to dodge attacks and create openings."

"To learn the Substitution Technique, you first need to practice the Transformation Technique. As the name suggests, it lets the user transform into something else, whether a person or an object. In terms of difficulty, the Transformation Technique is the hardest, because it requires precise control over chakra. Of course, some people with an abundance of chakra find it easier to learn, too. Like I said earlier about Ai's spiritual energy, quantity can make up for quality. They might waste more chakra, but the results aren't much different from those achieved through precise control."

Jiraiya smiled when he finished, then glanced at Nagato.

"Of all of you, only Nagato can learn the Substitution Technique without precise control. He has the largest chakra reserves of any ninja I know. Even I can't match him in the amount of chakra I have."

"Don't get too pleased with yourself, Nagato. You may be talented, but you still have to learn precise chakra control. After all, you'll be dealing with far more than just the Three Basic Techniques in the future."

When Jiraiya mentioned Nagato's chakra reserves, Yahiko couldn't help pursing his lips, looking envious. Nagato smiled in response, clearly rather proud of his chakra. He was still a boy, after all, and now that most of his inner turmoil had eased, his youthful nature was beginning to show.

Like Yahiko, Yuehua Ai couldn't help envying Nagato's extraordinary chakra reserves. He knew they came from Nagato's Sage Body. As descendants of the Sage of Six Paths, the Uzumaki Clan had inherited the Sage Body, which gave them vast amounts of chakra and incredible vitality. To be honest, Yuehua Ai had always wanted to study Nagato's physique. To a biomedical prodigy like him from his previous life, the Sage Body had an irresistible allure. He desperately wanted to uncover the secrets hidden within Nagato's body.

Unfortunately, he was still just a little kid. He had no decent research tools or suitable environment, so all he could do was think about it.

"Teacher Jiraiya, when we played ninja games, I heard that the Three Basic Techniques included the Body Flicker Technique and the Shadow Clone Technique!" Seeing that Jiraiya had paused, Yuehua Ai couldn't help asking.

To be honest, he hadn't been much of a Naruto fan in his previous life and didn't know the details very well. He'd thought that the Body Flicker Technique and Shadow Clone Technique were among the Three Basic Techniques.

"Uh..." Jiraiya paused in surprise, then burst out laughing. He reached out and ruffled Yuehua Ai's hair.

"You said it yourself—that was a ninja game. Stories get distorted as they spread. Since Ai brought it up, I'll go ahead and explain the Body Flicker Technique and the Shadow Clone Technique, too."

"Let's start with the Shadow Clone Technique. It's an advanced version of the Clone Technique. Unlike the Clone Technique, which only creates an afterimage that can't fight, the Shadow Clone Technique creates a real, tangible clone. It possesses all the abilities of the user, including the same combat skills, and it can even use the user's ninjutsu. The Shadow Clone Technique is fairly advanced, and its only drawback is that it consumes too much chakra. The chakra in the original body is divided among all the clones. If the original doesn't have much chakra left, neither it nor the clones will be able to use ninjutsu. That's why an ordinary ninja can manage only two or three Shadow Clones at most. Any more, and they'd be useless in a fight—or even become a burden. The Clone Technique doesn't have that problem. After all, its clones are just afterimages, so as long as you have enough chakra, you could make hundreds or even thousands."

"It wouldn't be wrong to call the Shadow Clone Technique one of the Three Basic Techniques, since it's an advanced version of the Clone Technique."

"Is the Body Flicker Technique an advanced version of some other ninjutsu, too?" After hearing Jiraiya explain the Shadow Clone Technique, Konan couldn't help wondering if the Body Flicker Technique worked the same way.

Jiraiya shook his head. "The Body Flicker Technique is different from the Shadow Clone Technique I just explained."

"The Body Flicker Technique is indeed one of the Three Basic Techniques, but not the foundational Three Basic Techniques I mentioned earlier. If we had to give it a name, we could call it the Advanced Three Basic Techniques."

"In ninja villages, the advanced Three Basic Techniques are generally taught only to powerful ninja or those in special divisions. Like the foundational Three Basic Techniques, they consist of three ninjutsu techniques: the Body Flicker Technique, the Immobilization Technique, and the Invisibility Technique."

"The effects of the Immobilization Technique and the Invisibility Technique are self-explanatory: one immobilizes the enemy, and the other makes you invisible. They're easy enough to understand, so I won't say more. I'll focus on the Body Flicker Technique."

"The Body Flicker Technique isn't one specific ninjutsu. Any technique that can achieve instant movement can be called a Body Flicker Technique. That includes Space-Time Ninjutsu, high-speed Taijutsu, and even the Substitution Technique I mentioned earlier."

"Techniques that can be called Body Flicker Techniques aren't just useful—they're powerful, too. Aside from the common, practical Substitution Technique, the others are extremely rare and precious. In a battle between experts, Body Flicker Techniques are often more decisive than large-scale destructive ninjutsu."

"All right, you only need to know about these for now. At your current level, it'll be a long time before you can learn them. Don't get ahead of yourselves. I'll teach you the foundational Three Basic Techniques first."

After hearing Jiraiya's explanation, Yuehua Ai and the others finally had a clearer picture. They were eager to learn the advanced Three Basic Techniques, but when they heard Jiraiya was going to teach them the foundational ones in detail, the boys all sat up straight and listened intently. Teacher Jiraiya was right: the Body Flicker Technique and the rest were still a long way off. They didn't need to think about them yet. For now, they were happy just to learn something new from him.

The rain fell silently. Within this little world, the sounds from the wooden house drowned out every other stir.

"The Hand Seals for the Transformation Technique are Sheep—Snake—Tiger. The Clone Technique uses just one, the Tiger seal. The Substitution Technique's Hand Seals are... All right, memorize the sequences first. Next, I'll explain the speed and rhythm of chakra flow that must accompany each seal. That's the most important part..."

"Ouch... Teacher Jiraiya, why did you hit me?" an annoyed voice rang out.

"Hey, hey, you idiot, Yahiko! The Transformation Technique starts with the Sheep seal and ends with the Tiger seal. You idiot! I know those two hand signs look alike, but that's no excuse for getting them wrong. I'm only hitting you on the head this time. If you mess up again, I'll hit you with a Fire Release jutsu and roast you like a fish!"

"Ah, no! That's too cruel!" Yahiko groaned.

"Hmph, you call that cruel? Just wait. Someday, I'll show you what a nightmare really is!"

Jiraiya narrowed his eyes and chuckled, then looked around at the others sitting beside him.

"Ai, Konan, Nagato—you'd better not laugh, either. If you make a mistake, you won't fare any better than Yahiko!"

"Uh..." The others had been secretly delighted to see Yahiko get scolded, but now they fell silent, suddenly wary.