Chapter 69: CHAPTER:69 Tatsuhiko
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Thanks to his ability converting defeated enemies into money, Naruto didn't really need a nest egg, but it was best to not let anyone know about that part just yet.
"It's OK. I have a lot saved up." Naruto drew out Gama-chan, which was literally stuffed full of Ryo notes, to the point of looking like a balloon, "Besides, better to have it on hand in Konoha than Kami-sama-knows where if you need the metal."
"A point." Tatsuhiko gave a grin, "Alright, Uzumaki-san. I shall make your weapons with all of my skill. This I do so swear. Would you prefer the kodachi made first or the tantō?"
"Errr…what'll be quicker?" Naruto asked.
"Making a pair of tantō is fairly simple. If you pick the same blade design, I can have them ready for you by next month." the smith replied.
"Huh?"
Tenten, recovered from her shock, explained, "There're different designs of blades for tantō. Here, take a look at this display over here."
She pointed at the rack next to the counter, which had twelve different tantō mounted on it, all unsheathed. They all looked very impressive.
"I…don't know. What would you recommend?" Naruto asked, feeling a bit out of his depth.
"Hmm…as you're just starting out with 'em, I'd recommend a pair of Hira-blades." Tatsuhiko mused, "They're one of the more common designs for Tantō. Hira is the one at the top, the plain one."
The design was indeed plain, but it looked deadly nonetheless.
"Sounds good." Naruto decided, "I'll leave it with you then. Err…do you sell practice versions?"
"Sure." Kanae said, "Ten-chan, go and get two of the Hira-variant practice blades from the back. Grab a kodachi one as well."
"Hai, Kaa-san." the bun-haired kunoichi replied as she dashed off to fetch the requested items.
"That will be seven-thousand, five-hundred Ryo." Kanae said with a professional smile.
Fishing out the cash from Gama-chan, Naruto handed the notes over to Kanae, who nodded her thanks.
"Here you go Naruto." Tenten said as she handed over a pair of dull and blunt tantō and an equally blunt kodachi, "These simulate the weight and balance of the real thing, so you can use them to get used to wielding them. I made all of them, so they're all of good quality and can take a beating. Just don't break them, 'kay?"
"Not in a million years!" Naruto agreed hurriedly as he sealed the practice weapons into the scroll. The last thing he wanted was an experienced Genin out for his blood! Speaking of which…
[Aspiring Weapons Mistress]
LV20 Higurashi Tenten
[Master Blacksmith]
LV17 Higurashi Tatsuhiko
[Assistant Blacksmith]
LV15 Higurashi Kanae
Tenten was very high-level for someone who had only been a Genin for a year, so either she had killed some powerful opponents or she had been doing some insane training. Possibly both.
Even her parents were, he noted as he and Iruka bid the three Higurashi's goodbye, above the usual level he had seen for civilians. Iruka-sensei had mentioned that they were retired Shinobi, so shouldn't their levels be higher than that? Or did retiring from a profession to take up another reset your levels somehow?
"Naruto?" Iruka asked in concern. The usually rambunctious boy had been quiet ever since they had left the weapon shop. It was slightly unnerving.
"Hmm? Oh, sorry." Naruto said as he snapped himself out of his pondering, "I was just wondering where I'm going to get a Nitō Ryū Tantō style and a kodachi style. Does the Shinobi section of the library have anything like that?"
"Highly likely. I'll have a look for you." the Chunin-sensei promised, "Which reminds me. I completely forgot to train you in another Clone Jutsu that I was supposed to. Up for a lesson?"
"Hell yeah!" Naruto cheered.
Dojo Room, Amekage Apartments
"Now then Naruto," Iruka began in his 'lecturing' voice, "The jutsu I am going to show you is highly advanced, well beyond the basic Bunshin no Jutsu and the Iwa Bunshin. It is called the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."
"…does it have anything to do with the Nara Clan?" Naruto asked cautiously.
"Good guess, but no." Iruka chuckled. Everyone thought the Nara had something to do with the Shadow Clone Jutsu at first. "No, the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu was invented by the Nidaime Hokage, Senju Tobirama. It creates a physical copy of the user using only chakra. No elemental medium whatsoever."
Naruto frowned. His studies with Sakura-chan had only briefly touched on the theory of chakra control, but he did know one thing. "That means the chakra cost is through the roof, isn't it?"
Iruka nodded. "Exactly. The general rule is that creating a Shadow Clone uses about half of a Jonin-level Shinobi's chakra reserves, but that is just a guideline. Nevertheless, the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu is classed as a Kinjutsu, so if you learn it, you are not permitted to knowingly teach it to someone with insufficient reserves. Understood?"
Naruto nodded. "Hai, Sensei."
"Good. Now, unlike other Clone Jutsu, you only use a single handsign in order to use the Shadow Clone Jutsu and it is called the Clone Handsign." Iruka said. Catching the look on Naruto's face, he added, "Hey, I didn't name the handsign. Blame Nidaime-sama for that."
"Sure, sure." Naruto rolled his eyes.
"This is the Clone Handsign." Iruka continued after glaring at Naruto for a moment. He formed a cross in front of himself using the index and middle fingers of both hands.
"The Shadow Clone Jutsu doesn't require much in the way of chakra control. In fact, the more chakra you have, the better." Iruka continued, "Ordinarily, I would advise experimenting to see how much chakra it takes to form a single clone, but given that you have so much chakra, you should just keep trying until you can form any number of clones."
"OK!" Naruto cracked his knuckles, and then formed the same handsign as Iruka, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
A blast of smoke filled the room, making both of them cough. Once the smoke dissipated, a faint outline of a Naruto clone flickered and vanished.
"Uh-huh…well that's odd." Iruka remarked and unrolled a scroll, "I'd better check the jutsu scroll…ah, here we are…'In the event that the room fills with smoke upon execution of the technique, attempt to create as many clones as you can rather than one or three as it is clear that either your chakra control sucks or you are being lazy'…Very blunt, Nidaime-sama."
"Wait, is that…?" Naruto asked in surprise.
"A copy of Senju Tobirama's original scrolls regarding the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, copied by the Sandaime Hokage himself." Iruka replied, "He copied it out especially for the sake of teaching you this jutsu, so work hard!"
"Yosha! Let's try this again!" Naruto declared, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
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