My Name Is Naruto Namikaze

CHAPTER WORDS:- 1134

Chapter 11: The Three Basic Jutsu

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The first year at the Ninja Academy primarily involves the study of basic theoretical knowledge and physical training. At this stage, students do not yet delve into ninjutsu or genjutsu, and their taijutsu training is limited to laying a preliminary foundation.

Only children capable of extracting chakra are eligible to enter the academy, meaning those unable to do so are filtered out during the enrollment process and cannot attend.

Among these children, only a small percentage hail from ninja clans.

Before joining the academy, these clan children often already succeed in extracting chakra. With the guidance of their clan's Chūnin or Jōnin, they begin training early, including learning family secret techniques immediately upon mastering chakra extraction. In theory, such children benefit more from training within their clans than attending the academy.

However, since the establishment of the academy system by the Second Hokage, all clan children of appropriate age—even from the prestigious Uchiha and Hyūga clans—are sent to the academy by the age of five or six.

For these clan children, training is rarely a concern for academy instructors. Historically, the academy primarily trains civilian ninjas or members of ninja families who lack access to substantial resources.

Differences in innate talent and environment create distinct disparities within the academy.

The most apparent difference is that most clan children begin training with chakra and honing their skills before enrolling, whereas civilian children typically start with theoretical knowledge. Those with ninja parents—regardless of their rank—have an advantage from their upbringing, but civilian children without any ninja background face the greatest challenge.

The first year is critical for these children, as they must understand the essence of being a ninja, learn what chakra is, and figure out how to extract and use it effectively.

Among the three core ninja skills—ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu—taijutsu is the easiest to grasp initially. For children who have yet to comprehend chakra manipulation, practicing ninjutsu or genjutsu is infeasible and postponed until later stages.

Even the "Three Basic Techniques" (Transformation Jutsu, Substitution Jutsu, and Clone Jutsu) are introduced much later in their curriculum.

For Naruto, who has only been at the academy for just over a year, there is no official instruction in ninjutsu or genjutsu yet. However, this does not deter him. By portraying himself as an exceptionally well-behaved, clever, and diligent student, Naruto has earned Iruka's admiration as a bright, cheerful, and sensible child.

When Naruto approached Iruka on a school break to ask for lessons in the Three Basic Techniques, Iruka was initially hesitant. However, after considering Naruto's potential and talent—on par with children from ninja clans—he relented. While Naruto's status as the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki was common knowledge among Konoha's ninja, not many knew about his high Chakra reserves, expect the Hokage, the Elders, Danzo, and kakashi.

With these factors in mind, Iruka ultimately decided that teaching Naruto the basics of the Three Basic Techniques was reasonable.

Iruka taught Naruto the hand seals and key principles for the techniques. Yet, just like in the original series, strange results followed.

For Transformation Jutsu and Substitution Jutsu, Naruto managed to learn them almost immediately. Mastery was simply a matter of practice and familiarity, and Naruto was confident he could refine these techniques further with time.

However, Clone Jutsu proved to be a significant obstacle.

Despite learning the theory and principles correctly, Naruto could not successfully perform the Clone Jutsu. This was consistent with the original series, where Naruto failed repeatedly at this technique, even causing him to struggle in his graduation exams.

Months passed.

From the moment Iruka taught Naruto the Three Basic Techniques, three months had gone by. Transformation and Substitution Jutsu were mastered within a day, leaving only the Clone Jutsu, which continued to elude Naruto's grasp.

This unexpected roadblock disrupted Naruto's training plans. His initial goal was to improve his physical conditioning and then persuade Iruka to teach him one or two additional ninjutsu or genjutsu techniques. After all, as a Chūnin, Iruka should know at least a few C-rank jutsu or genjutsu techniques.

However, plans often fail to keep pace with reality.

The inability to master Clone Jutsu triggered Naruto's stubbornness. He resolved to conquer the technique no matter what. Even if Clone Jutsu seemed impractical, Naruto believed that mastering the Three Basic Techniques—deemed the foundation of all ninja skills—was crucial.

On this day, after his morning taijutsu training and a quick lunch, Naruto began another afternoon of intense practice. He warmed up by refining his Transformation and Substitution Jutsu. To Naruto, Substitution Jutsu was the most practical of the three, as it could be useful even in high-level battles.

Finally, he turned his focus back to Clone Jutsu.

"Clone Jutsu!"

Poof!

A burst of white smoke appeared.

As the smoke cleared, it revealed Naruto standing at the center. Beside him were two lifeless, grotesque, lump-like clones sprawled on the ground. The sight of the writhing, misshapen forms was both disturbing and grotesque.

Naruto couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth as he stared at the failed clones.

"Release!"

With a sigh, Naruto formed the hand seals to dispel the jutsu.

Poof!

The malformed clones vanished instantly.

"Damnit Kurama!" Naruto muttered, sitting cross-legged on the ground. Today marked yet another series of failures, and he was starting to grow frustrated.

"Could it be a chakra control issue? Or is it a matter of chakra volume?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head, muttering to himself in frustration.

This was something he couldn't quite figure out. If it were a chakra control issue, that didn't make sense.

Take the Three Basic Techniques (Henge no Jutsu, Kawarimi no Jutsu, and Bunshin no Jutsu). There's no reason why controlling chakra for Bunshin no Jutsu would be harder than for Kawarimi no Jutsu or Henge no Jutsu. In fact, Naruto believed Kawarimi no Jutsu was the hardest among the three. You had to consider the replacement object and the timing.

By comparison, Bunshin no Jutsu should be simpler—it's just creating a non-corporeal clone. 

And besides, Naruto had already completed Tree Climbing and Water Walking chakra control exercises.

As for chakra volume?

That made even less sense.

Whether in his past life or his current one, Naruto had never heard of Bunshin no Jutsu being affected by chakra reserves. This wasn't some high-level jutsu that required an enormous amount of chakra to activate. It was one of the most basic techniques. Even so, Naruto had tried varying his chakra output—less, more, in between—experimenting with every possibility. He had even asked Iruka for advice.

The result?

even if Kurama were to disrupt Naruto's Chakra Control, why was he able to use Transformation Jutsu, and Especially Substitution Jutsu, something that needed more delicate Chakra control than The normal Clone jutsu.

(End of Chapter)

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