"You have certainly gotten better."

Takuma blocked a punch from Maruboshi by forcing it off mark using his forearm. The next moment, he grabbed hold of Maruboshi's arm and pulled the older man forward and down while thrusting the elbow of his other arm toward Maruboshi's face.

Maruboshi's other hand grabbed the offending elbow and thwarted the blow. Takuma suddenly felt Maruboshi was as heavy as a boulder, and he couldn't pull him down anymore. Maruboshi straightened up and pushed Takuma's elbow to the side while sweeping his legs— Takuma spun until he was parallel to the ground before kissing the dirt.

"Get up," Maruboshi peered at Takuma, who groaned as he pushed himself off the ground and stood in front of Takuma. Maruboshi walked around Takuma and nodded appreciatively, "Only two fell— you have certainly gotten better indeed."

Takuma didn't have a shirt on and was wearing shorts on the bottom— and stuck on his exposed body were two dozen or so leaves; they were on his face, chest, abdomen, back, arms, legs— everywhere.

Takuma had come a long way since his attempts in the leaf concentration practice to weakly stick one leaf to his forehead. Now, he could stick multiple leaves on various parts of his body and adhere them strong enough that they didn't come off even while sparring. The faint smell of leaves that had become part of his morning that sometimes wouldn't go even after taking a bath was worth it for the progress he had made.

"I think we are ready to move onto the next step," Maruboshi said and took out a 1-ryo coin from his pocket.

Takuma's eyes bulged out, and he immediately raised his hands. "Wait, wait— stop! I want to talk about something with you," he said, and all the leaves fell down from his body.

"Oh, what is it?"

Takuma stared for a moment at the coin, horrified by the implications, before clearing his throat. "The first attempt of my graduation test is coming up soon" — the academy took three attempts at the graduation test and used those three attempts to judge the student's performance. — "they're obviously going to ask us to perform ninjutsu in the test. Can we start learning jutsu... I don't want to embarrass myself in front of the invigilators," he looked up at Maruboshi with a mix of nervousness and discontent.

Maruboshi had stayed true to the words he had once said about priorities, and jutsu had been sidelined to make time for more essential skills required for survival and competence in the field. While Takuma had acquiesced with the decision back then, with the first attempt looming over his head, he couldn't ignore the lack of jutsu in his repertoire.

"Takuma, we discussed this before; jutsu is not important for you right now and—"

"Yes, I remember that conversation, and while I understand and agree with your reasoning— it's also a fact that if I can't perform the jutsu taught in the academy, I will be failed," said Takuma, accentuating his words.

"It is only the first attempt; we can prepare jutsu for the next attempt," said Maruboshi.

Takuma crossed his arms. He asked, "Do you know the grading criteria? Can you say for sure that it's the best out of three and not some form of aggregation?" Kibe had stated that passing any one of the three tests guaranteed graduation— but not once had he said that it was the only criterion. Takuma knew his test results weren't going to reflect an image of an exemplary student, but he still wanted to set himself to score the best he could.

"I... I do not think—" Maruboshi pursed his lips. "No... I am not aware of the grading criteria."

"Survival and competence are important; I'm not arguing against that point. But I also consider my future to be of high importance. If these test scores decide where my life is heading in the short term, then I, one hundred percent, absolutely want to perform the best I can," said Takuma. He shrugged, "I will learn these jutsu even if I have to learn them by myself— but I'd very much prefer to learn from you. The thing is, I'll give learning jutsu a portion of my day; that will cut in on the training regime you have me follow on my own. By agreeing to teach me, you can control the time I devote to learning jutsu for the test."

Takuma stopped. He had laid down his card. It was up to Maruboshi to decide how he would spend his days moving forward.

Maruboshi eventually heaved an old sigh. "I believe you are right. The words you say carry logical sense," he said, but there was a pity in his eyes that Takuma couldn't place. "As you wish, we will include jutsu into your regime, but only the three academy jutsu."

Takuma mentally pumped his arm.

"What do you know about academy three?" asked Maruboshi.

"Henge no Jutsu (Transformation Jutsu), Bunshin no Jutsu (Clone Jutsu), and Kawarimi no Jutsu (Body Substitution Jutsu)," Takuma counted off the three standard jutsu that were taught in the Leaf village's shinobi academy and were synonymously known as the academy three. "Transform the body into someone or something; Create illusory clones; Replace yourself with something or someone to avoid attacks."

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"That is correct," Maruboshi said. "But before we begin learning these jutsus, there is something else we must make ourselves familiar with." Maruboshi joined his hands with his index and middle fingers standing up and pressing against each other. "On the base of every jutsu are the hand seals associated with them."

"Tiger seal," Takuma recognized the hand seal.

"Very good," smiled Maruboshi. "Hand seals allow us shinobi to cast all ninjutsu, genjutsu, and in rare cases, even some taijutsu. You will find that hand seals are deeply rooted in the life of a shinobi as the miraculous mechanism allows us to harness and wield chakra in ways unimaginable without them. They are designed to aid a shinobi in properly invoking and molding chakra necessary to perform a jutsu."

'What about Rasengan?' thought Takuma, but didn't raise it out loud— he wasn't supposed to know about one of Fourth Hokage's signature jutsu; he hadn't found any records mentioning the Rasengan, much less Fourth Hokage using it.

"There are twelve hand seals that are universally considered to be basic hand seals that every shinobi must know. A combination of these twelve hands seals allows a skilled shinobi to cast every jutsu there exists under the sun... with only the rare exception here and there," said Maruboshi.

Takuma immediately asked, "By basic hands seals, do you mean there are more of them? Also, what are these exceptions?"

"Curious one, aren't you," Maruboshi chuckled. "The answer to both of those questions is partially connected. Do you know of kekkei genkai (bloodline limits), young Takuma?"

Takuma nodded. "A kekkei genkai is an anomaly of the DNA that allows the wielder to use unique jutsu. They're passed down between generations of a clan and thus are hereditary in nature." He looked down at his feet, "Our village is the host to the Uchiha and Hyuga, the possessors of the dojutsu kekkei genkai— Sharingan and Byakugan, respectively. I have an Uchiha in my class."

Takuma knew of the exceptions that existed to the hereditary rule in this very village in the form of the Copy Ninja of a Thousand Jutsu, Hatake Kakashi— but Takuma was yet again not supposed to know that.

"Correct yet again," said Maruboshi. "The twelve hands seals are not the limit. The shinobi who belong to shinobi clans possess special jutsu that require hand seals outside that of the basic twelve to activate; these special hand seals are mostly seen used by shinobi with a kekkei genkai. The clans have developed those hand seals to release their jutsu, and these types of special hand seals won't do anything for you as you don't possess the special bloodline."

"Does that mean I can possibly invent a new hand seal?" asked Takuma.

Maruboshi laughed and ruffled Takuma's hair. "If you work hard in learning and discovering the mysteries of chakra, then yes— there is no reason why you couldn't discover a new hand seal."

Takuma licked his lips before posing a question he was most interested in. "What... What about not using hand seals? Can a shinobi cast jutsu without hand seals," he asked tentatively. Takuma had seen how, as the manga had progressed, hand seals had faded into near non-existence— he wanted to know if that was simply the author's folly or had that translated to this very real world somehow.

"... It is possible," Maruboshi nodded softly, "but it is extremely difficult. Casting jutsu without hand seals is a feat of skill so extraordinary that seeing someone capable of it is to be in the presence of greatness. I myself do not possess such a skill. Understand, young Takuma, in the heat of battle, when one's life can end the next moment, hand seals are the heavenly aid that takes the burden of invoking and molding chakra in a precise and specific manner required to release a jutsu off a shinobi— they don't do the job for you, but the help they provide is... it can't be discounted. Eliminating hand seals requires a profound understanding of chakra and an ungodly skill for the jutsu. Shinobi capable of doing so only appear once in a generation."

So it was possible. That came as a surprise for Takuma. From Maruboshi's words, though, it sounded like not using hand seals was a feat of legends.

"However, I will describe eliminating hand seals as a journey," said Maruboshi.

"... What?"

"One does not go from using hand seals to no hand seals in one swoop, young Takuma. That is not how it works. Hands seals stimulate chakra in your body, but as we know from the leaf concentration practice, we can manipulate chakra without a hand seal," Maruboshi showed his palm, and the 1-ryo coin was stuck to it. "If you someday obtain a greater understanding of chakra and develop some skill in chakra, you will find that you can mimic the effects of hand seals on your own— and that will allow you to -reduce- the number of hand seals."

"Reduce?" Takuma tilted his head in confusion.

"Jutsu are cast by executing a combination of hand seals in a particular order. Every hand seal in that combination means something; it has some function— a function that, with skill, can be replicated," said Maruboshi. "Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu (Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu) requires a shinobi to weave a total of forty-four hand seals in quick unbroken succession to activate," Maruboshi sighed with a smile as a faraway look of nostalgia overtook his eyes and face. "But, did you know the Second Hokage only required a single seal to activate the same jutsu. He had become so proficient in the jutsu that he could mimic the exact function provided by a complex combination of forty-three hand seals."

He looked at Takuma, "In no way can everyone achieve that level. But if you work hard, you can eliminate a number of hand seals from long combinations. Even a sliver of saved time can turn the tide of a hard-fought battle. But all of this is in the far future for you; right now, you should focus on the basics like chakra control."

Takuma opened his mouth, but Maruboshi cut him off.

"Yes, we are still learning the academy three."

Takuma heaved a sigh of relief and nodded happily.

"But, I won't have you disregard chakra control training. The leaf concentration practice was only the starting point," Maruboshi raised the 1-ryo coin. "We will start over again with one coin and then move from there."

A cold shudder shook Takuma's leg as he felt a sick feeling climb up from his stomach. "I... I-I," he stuttered. For the first time, Takuma didn't feel excited at seeing new money.

The feeling was... pure dread.