8 First Lesson (continued)

"First is the most common basic application of the Clone Jutsu, which involves guiding the Chakra Flow and transformation through hand seals."

Under everyone's gaze, Natsuhiko placed his hands in front of his chest, neither slow nor hurried, forming seals so that everyone could see clearly.

Ram-Serpent-Tiger

After the simple sequence of three hand seal movements.

With a "peng" sound, smoke exploded beside Natsuhiko, revealing a silhouette exactly identical to him.

This is the clone created by the Clone Jutsu.

Although it looks remarkably lifelike, it is, in fact, an illusory shadow without substance.

"Everyone learns this type of Clone Jutsu at the Academy, no problem, right?"

The young ninjas nodded like little chicks.

"Although Clone Jutsu is only an E-Rank Ninjutsu, as one of the three Ninjutsu designated by Second Hokage Tobirama-sama for Ninja School, it naturally holds significance."

"In the Three-Style Jutsu, Clone Jutsu represents the Ninjutsu type related to releasing chakra outside the body. Its Ninjutsu principles can be applied to most of the Ninjutsu. So, don't underestimate this Jutsu."

"Yes—"

The young ninjas answered with prolonged tones, showing that these words had been repeated by other sensei, and they were getting tired of hearing them.

Seeing no questions, Natsuhiko continued.

"When we completely master this Jutsu, we can attempt various variations. For example, reducing the number of seals and trying to control Chakra's Flow and transformation directly through instinct."

"If we gradually reduce the number of seals like this, the ultimate goal is... no-seal Ninjutsu."

While saying this, Natsuhiko opened his hands, showing everyone that he hadn't performed any hand seal movements.

Without any warning, smoke burst beside him again, and a second clone appeared.

"Wow!"

The young ninjas exclaimed in surprise.

Although it was just a simple Clone Jutsu, Natsuhiko managed to perform it without hand seals, refreshing their worldview.

Obito couldn't help but complain softly, "Why didn't the other sensei mention this?"

If he had known, he wouldn't have bothered practising those troublesome hand seals.

Nohara Rin, sitting next to him, covered her mouth and explained to Obito in a low voice, "Actually, the sensei mentioned it in Ninjutsu class, but only briefly—because this is not a Ninjutsu we can learn at our current level."

"Oh, I see." Obito scratched his head, looking disappointed.

It seemed that his plan to impress Kakashi after learning non-seal Ninjutsu had been thwarted before it even started.

Natsuhiko in front of the podium continued his explanation.

"In theory, all jutsu can be cast without hand seals by directly controlling chakra. However, it's obviously very challenging. That's why people in the past developed various methods to assist in casting jutsu, and hand seals are one of them."

Natsuhiko paused for a moment to let everyone digest the information before continuing.

"Besides reducing the number of hand seals, we can also try the opposite—increasing the number of hand seals."

"A top-notch ninja in battle will make subtle adjustments to the jutsu using this method , based on the situation. For example, condensing more chakra to increase the jutsu's destructive power or further shaping the form of the jutsu with seals."

"With an increase in the number of seals, the jutsu becomes more complex, undergoing a qualitative change through a quantitative change, eventually evolving into a completely new Ninjutsu. This is the most common approach in Ninjutsu development."

"Nowadays, the Ninjutsu passed down in the Ninja World has undergone numerous improvements through generations, gradually becoming what we use now."

The young ninjas showed expressions of sudden realisation.

They had gained new knowledge.

So, this was how the Ninjutsu they used was developed.

But the main focus was yet to come.

Natsuhiko continued to introduce, "If we go one step further and continue to increase the number of hand seals, even breaking down each seal into smaller ones until it cannot be further broken down..."

"At this point, if we record the smallest units of these 'seals' on a carrier like paper, we'll discover an astonishing fact—they are remarkably similar to the runes used in Sealing Jutsu!"

Some students, upon hearing Natsuhiko's words, couldn't help but inhale sharply.

The hand seals used in Ninjutsu and the runes used in Sealing Jutsu.

Two things they thought were unrelated unexpectedly connected here!

Natsuhiko nodded slightly with a smile, saying, "It seems that some students already understand what this means."

"This means that for the same jutsu, we can completely use a series of rune techniques to replace the function of hand seals."

With a flip of his hand, Natsuhiko revealed a rectangular piece of paper between his index and middle fingers, covered with densely packed demonic talismans.

"As an example, the talisman commonly used by Yin-Yang Masters is a good one."

As soon as he finished speaking, Natsuhiko casually tossed the talisman.

The talisman floated forward before suddenly exploding.

After the smoke cleared, another Natsuhiko clone appeared in the same spot.

"This is a talisman I replicated based on historical records. It contains the rune technique formula to cast the Clone Jutsu. As long as you infuse chakra, you can achieve the same effect as a regular Clone Jutsu."

"Therefore, I call this Jutsu the Rune Clone Jutsu."

At this point, Natsuhiko had a clone in front of him, one on the left, and another on the right.

"Hand seal Clone Jutsu, non-seal Clone Jutsu, Rune Clone Jutsu," Natsuhiko said softly. "These are the three uses of the Clone Jutsu."

Clap, clap, clap, clap!

The young ninjas below suddenly erupted in enthusiastic applause.

Although most people still didn't quite understand the significance of Natsuhiko's actions, it didn't stop them from deciding to go home and show off to their parents: "Do you know the three uses of Clone Jutsu?"

After waiting for a moment, Natsuhiko patted his hands to quiet everyone down and concluded:

"From the demonstration earlier, you can see that by instinctively controlling chakra, controlling chakra through hand seals, and controlling chakra through runes, these three methods are interchangeable."

"This also means that the Ninjutsu we commonly use can be completely cast using runes."

At this point, Natsuhiko couldn't help but express his emotions:

"Typical Ninjutsu training involves practising hand seals and controlling chakra to increase hand seal speed and reduce the number of hand seals. Essentially, it's subtracting, steadily approaching the 'one' controlled by instinct."

"On the other hand, the rune system's approach is different. It breaks down the jutsu into individual runes. Mastering them one by one requires a lot of wisdom."

"These two paths are not divided into high and low, they might have different routes but have the same destination."

"Because..."

"One is all, and all is one."

As Natsuhiko spoke, he realised that all the young ninjas below had their mouths slightly open, looking like they were listening to some profound scripture. He understood that he had delved too deeply, and they might not comprehend what he was saying.

Lacking teaching experience, Natsuhiko lightly tapped his forehead with his finger, organised his words, and explained in simpler terms that the young ninjas could understand:

"What I wanted to say is that everyone has different innate talents."

"If you find your innate talent is average in training regular Ninjutsu, then try another path."

"Perhaps in the field of runes, you'll discover your strong points."

As for those who don't have innate talent in either path...

Natsuhiko suggested that becoming a ramen apprentice was also a promising career.

The little ninjas naturally didn't know that Natsuhiko had added a sentence to his thoughts. Many average students were getting excited.

"Yeah!"

It's not that they didn't work hard, but they just didn't choose the right path!

Maybe if they chose a different track, they could still overtake and defeat those so-called geniuses!

"Natsuhiko-sensei, so the Ninjutsu you used before actually involved rune?"

At this moment, Nohara Rin raised her hand and asked.

Everyone just remembered that Natsuhiko used Clone Jutsu to demonstrate, explaining the principles of the technique.

Natsuhiko nodded, "Yes, the projection technique I just used is indeed a type of rune Ninjutsu."

"Compared to hand seal Ninjutsu, the biggest advantage of rune Ninjutsu is that it can construct very complex techniques."

"Because hand seal Ninjutsu requires on-the-spot hand seals, considering the pre-movement... hand seal time, which determines that the number of seals cannot be too many."

"For example, the famous Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu requires forty-four seals. It's already a kind of flashy skill, and it's probably the limit of the number of hand seals."

Many students were shocked by the forty-four seals mentioned by Natsuhiko, tactically looking up.

How long would it take to perform those hand seals? They might get killed before finishing the seals.

"Are there really fools using such complex Ninjutsu in actual combat?" People couldn't help but whisper.

Natsuhiko smirked a bit, regretting that Kakashi didn't attend this class.

He coughed twice, drew everyone's attention back, and continued, "As for rune Ninjutsu, it's generally prepared in advance by recording the rune technique formula on a specific medium. So, as long as you can write it, have enough chakra, and the medium can withstand the runes, you can draw as many runes as you want."

"Like the projection technique I just performed, although it's fundamentally the application of Clone Jutsu and Transformation Jutsu, with the help of runes, it can present extremely complex scenes."

"What? The technique just now was actually just the application of Clone Jutsu and Transformation Jutsu?"

The little ninjas only understood the last sentence and showed expressions of disbelief.

"If that was Clone Jutsu and Transformation Jutsu, then what have we been learning before?"

The little ninjas began to doubt their life choices.

"Don't you understand? It's the magical runes at play!" Some students started to show strong interest in runes.

"Wait! Didn't the sensei mention that this is the content for our future lessons?"

A clamour erupted in the classroom.

Everyone quieted down suddenly, looking at Natsuhiko with expectant eyes.

Natsuhiko nodded with a smile, "Mastering the basic runes required for this Jutsu is indeed the content of our future lessons."

Whether you can learn it or not is another question.

"All right!"

The classroom erupted in enthusiastic cheers.

Many girls had dreamy expressions on their faces.

They were already imagining creating their own stories after learning this Jutsu.

Kurenai Yuhi, from the Genjutsu Aristocratic Family, was thinking deeper.

She was contemplating the differences between this projection technique and traditional Genjutsu, and what chemical reaction would occur if the two were overlaid.

Obito's eyes sparkled. If he learned this Jutsu, he might be able to defeat that scoundrel Kakashi. Well, it served him right for not choosing this class.

Although he still didn't know how to use this Jutsu in combat.

Ebisu, with sunglasses, didn't know what he was thinking. Suddenly, he started to bleed from the nose, skillfully pulling out a red handkerchief to wipe it.

Natsuhiko's talk about the technique made many students drool, and their enthusiasm for the Sealing Jutsu class reached an unprecedented high. They eagerly raised their hands to ask various questions.

Natsuhiko welcomed all the questions and answered each one.

For example, someone asked if it was a mistake not to teach Sealing Jutsu in the Sealing Jutsu class.

Natsuhiko's answer was, "If you only study Sealing Jutsu, considering the time allocated to Sealing Jutsu, it would probably take two to three years to successfully perform the simplest Sealing Jutsu. But if you study the projection technique, most people can produce results before the end of this semester."

"And personally, I believe that letting everyone explore other uses of runes can help ignite enthusiasm for this course."

"At the same time, the rune technique formula needed for learning the projection technique can also be used in various Sealing Jutsu. By the late stage when we truly start learning Sealing Jutsu, it will yield twice the results for half the effort."

"This is what we call the shortest shortcut is the longest way around."

The little ninjas were convinced by Natsuhiko's words, expressing their firm obedience to Natsuhiko-sensei's arrangement.

Later, seeing there was still some time, Natsuhiko completed the group assignment as mentioned earlier.

A subplot emerged when Obito, who had defected to the girls' camp earlier, was now shunned by the girls due to his low ranking.

Even Nohara Rin could only express her helplessness.

The boys also refused to accept this traitor.

For a moment, Obito found himself in a situation where nobody liked him. Tearfully, he looked towards Natsuhiko for help.

Out of a mischievousness, Natsuhiko ultimately assigned Obito to the girls' group.

Finally, Natsuhiko looked at the clock in the lower right corner of the system interface and, seeing that the time was almost up, knocked on the podium to quiet everyone.

"I believe you all gained a lot from this class. So, today's homework is to narrate the history of Sealing Jutsu in your own words. Focus on analysing why the Yin-Yang talisman system declined, whether there are areas for improvement, and make it no less than two thousand words. Due till the next class."

Natsuhiko was precise with time, and the moment he assigned the homework, the dismissal bell rang.

In his previous life, he hated it when teachers dragged out classes, so he naturally wouldn't do the same.

Natsuhiko picked up his textbook and walked out of the classroom. A moment later, a wave of complaints echoed in the classroom.

Although Natsuhiko-sensei's class was interesting, the amount of homework was too much!

A two-thousand-word essay, due the day after tomorrow, felt like they were being asked for their lives!

The little ninjas had mixed feelings of love and hate for Natsuhiko.

Sarutobi Biwako, sitting in the back, had initially planned to discuss the class content with Natsuhiko after class. However, as she stood up, she was surprised to see Natsuhiko running away like a streak of smoke. She couldn't help but shake her head and smile.

(End of this chapter)

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