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Naruto: The Outsider's Resolve: CH_327
🕑 Added 2024-12-10 00:30:05 +0000 UTCNasaki Isato had been working for ANBU for several years as staff and was surprised when Copperhead, a snake-masked ANBU iryo-nin, real name, Sango, told her that one of the new recruits wanted to talk to her. He didn't want her specifically, but a 'competent staff member'. Getting acknowledged as someone good at the job was always flattering to hear.
Usually, she would refuse anyone trying to meet her in her capacity as an ANBU staff member as it was seldom anything good, and she was not allowed to share anything about her job, even with her friends and family, other than the fact she worked at the Department of ANBU. At least she wasn't an operative who couldn't even share their true employment status and had to fake it to almost everyone in their lives.
But the recommendation had come from an operative, and since she was meeting one of the recruits, it made the entire thing inside ANBU, so she accepted the meeting because she was getting a meal out of it.
The next day, she found herself sitting in a nice restaurant she had been wanting to visit for some time after work, facing a kid who couldn't be any older than fifteen. He introduced himself as Takuma. Everything about him, from the gaze in his eyes to how he held himself, suggested he was mature beyond his years.
"So, I've been told you need my help? I'm not sure how I can help you," asked Isato.
"Copperhead told me you're a record keeper for ANBU."
Isato's responsibilities involved maintaining records for ANBU and organising and updating everything for ease of access and compliance with strict regulations. She and her fellow record keepers processed thousands of documents weekly, touching everything from memos to expenditure reports to personnel files. If someone wanted information from ANBU's intelligence archives, they had to rely on record keepers who treated data and information like gold.
"I will be joining a team after I end my training, and seeing how busy everyone is, I want to be of help, so I was wondering if you could walk me through best practices for paperwork in ANBU... I don't want to waste my team's time teaching me and correcting my mistakes—and I thought that learning from someone like you, who maintains the records, would be the best way to learn properly to avoid mistakes."
If Isato and record keepers hated one thing, it was incorrect and improper paperwork. Every day, some team from some unit would submit messy, faulty forms and reports that would be just a lazy or incompetent mess that the record keepers would have to send back to correct. She couldn't understand why they couldn't do it right the first time because it wasted everyone's time, and it wasn't like they learned from their mistakes as everyone kept making the same mistakes as though they were doing it out of spite.
Many people didn't take paperwork seriously and rushed through it, but paperwork was vital because it recorded everything. Over time, people could forget things, conflate facts, and confuse information, but once something was put into writing when it was fresh in the minds, it would never change.
"You are right. Learning from us would be the best," said Isato after dowing her drink to wash away her frustrations. "Do you know which unit you will be joining?"
"Not yet."
"Unfortunately, I don't think I can help you much right now."
Not everyone filled out the same paperwork. Units with different responsibilities had to fill out different forms related to their duties. Even if she wanted to teach him, she couldn't until she knew Takuma's unit to curate what kind of paperwork he would be filling on a daily basis.
"How about some general stuff that everyone deals with? I just want to help, so I will take anything I can learn... Of course, if it's not a problem for you. You must also be busy, and I don't want to take too much of your time."
"No, not at all," Isato hurriedly waved her hand. "Sure, let's focus on some basics. I can even help you with some of ANBU's standard operating procedures to get you more comfortable."
"Will you? Thank you so much," Takuma smiled gratefully.
Isato smiled. She was impressed that a new rookie showed great initiative before being assigned his codename, mask, and unit.
———
.
At the start of the second week of the training period, Takuma received a letter in the mail that he had been waiting for since he got confirmation about his chunin promotion.
He got dressed, headed to the ANBU headquarters, and arrived at the ANBU's jutsu archives because he had just received his special exemption from the law forbidding new chunin not to purchase access to B-rank jutsu before their first year.
"Hello, I would like to buy a B-rank jutsu, please," Takuma said to the shinobi outside the heavily guarded archives inside the headquarters.
The shinobi guard looked up at Takuma for a moment. "Your identification," he asked.
The process from then on was similar to what he had experienced when he visited the general jutsu archives. They checked if he had necessary access, stripped him of any and all of his belongings except his clothes, patted him down and asked him to step through a metal detector, and had another shinobi escort him to one of the waiting rooms.
Inside, a shelf of catalogues sat for him to browse. The catalogues had a detailed section on each jutsu inside the archives that he could use to decide what jutsu he wanted. Takuma had spent hours in waiting rooms, reading Water Release and Earth Release C-rank catalogues from cover to cover to find the right jutsu for him.
He planned to do the same when he got his second B-rank jutsu.
He already knew what he wanted as his first B-rank jutsu.
He had no experience with Fire Release and Wind Release jutsu, so he skipped past them. He had a terrible affinity for Lightning Release jutsu, so that wasn't an option as well. He was obviously interested in the Earth Release and Water Release jutsu, but now was not the time to look at them. Mikoto told him there was no use in buying B-rank genjutsu and forbade him from ever wasting his mission points on them, making the catalogue useless.
His finger slid past the spines of all catalogues until he arrived at the last one.
{Non-Elemental B-rank Jutsu}
Takuma pulled out the catalogue and flipped through the pages until he arrived at the one-page spread about the jutsu to learn.
Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu was an A-rank ninjutsu invented by the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama. The jutsu allowed a user to create corporeal clones, which, unlike the basic Clone Jutsu, were physically real and could do real damage. The chakra was split equally between the original and the clones. Because they are visually identical and possess the same chakra as the user, shadow clones are indistinguishable from their original.
The jutsu was classified as forbidden due to the sheer chakra requirement needed to use the jutsu, which put the user at risk of death via chakra exhaustion if used carelessly, and thus, only jōnin were allowed to learn the jutsu.
However, in reality, Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu was a derivative jutsu.
Senju Tobirama first created the Shadow Clone Jutsu, which allowed the creation of only a single clone, with the chakra split in half between the original and the clone.
Shadow Clone Jutsu was not only not forbidden, but it was also a B-rank jutsu.
Even though it was a lower-grade version, in essence, it was the jutsu that helped the world's main character to the heights of shinobi.
"When the clone is dispersed, their experience is transferred back to the original," Takuma read the passage on the page, "making it ideal for intelligence gathering and recon: a shadow clone can be sent into hostile territory, gather information without endangering the user, and disperse when finished, thus transferring what they learned..."
As Takuma expected, there was no mention that the experience transfer could also be used to cut down training time in half.
Perhaps it was not known because not many people learned it because even the B-rank version had significant chakra requirements, and they just didn't realise that it could be used for training.
But Takuma knew about it, so he was going to use it for all its worth.
If he had not been in ANBU, he would not have chosen it as his first B-rank jutsu because buying it meant draining all of his mission point savings and going broke. He would've chosen an Earth Release or Water Release offensive jutsu instead. But because he was in ANBU given limitless, free access to C-rank jutsu—he was going to use the training exploit to learn new jutsu to expand his jutsu arsenal.
He was sacrificing short-term gains for long-term ones.
In the future, he expected this investment to give him compounded results.
Takuma sighed. He was about to go broke and had no idea when he would get the next chance to learn another B-rank jutsu.
It all depended on his performance.
Fortunately, Sango had given him another gift other than connecting him with Nasaki Isato.
———
.
Tapir sat in his office, reading a file on Takuma, the youngest recruit in the latest batch. He was beginning to understand why they had recruited him. It wasn't just because of what he did in the war or his accomplishments in the Police Force.
He looked at the optional tests Takuma had given in the second week of the training: lock picking, horse riding, voice modulation using chakra, radio operation, field first aid certification that was two levels beyond the ANBU recommendation, physical disguise, and chakra masking.
Then there were skills they hadn't tested, like surveillance, pickpocketing, electrical and plumbing, cartography, leather work, tailoring, shorthand transcribing, bookkeeping, computer skills, hunting, foraging, and more things he didn't even know how to test.
The kid knew so much that Tapir felt he was making up half of the things. But Takuma had passed all his tests, which gave him the benefit of the doubt.
Tapir heard a knock on the door. Takuma was standing at his threshold.
"Come in, Takuma," said Tapir, closing the file and putting it in his drawer. He wasn't surprised because Takuma had requested the meeting beforehand. He was not in the mood for small talk and cut right to the chase. "So, what do you want to talk about?"
Takuma didn't immediately speak. "I heard that the Master Instruction decides where the recruits will be assigned," he said.
"Why? Do you want me to send you to a certain unit?" asked Tapir with a smirk. The information wasn't a secret. It wasn't a surprise that he found out about it after two weeks.
"Not at all, but I was wondering where you plan to send me."
Tapir wondered why he was asking that. As far as he knew, Takuma had no connections inside ANBU. There was one connection to Weasel through his mother, but if the ANBU Captain wanted to use his position to influence Tapir's decision, he would've already shown up.
"Are you wondering why am I asking?" asked Takuma.
"I do," Tapir said straightforwardly.
"I want to use this training properly, so if I know where I will be working, I can focus my efforts to be better suited for the job. I heard that ANBU is stretched thin because of ROOT, so I want to do a good job and pull my weight right from the beginning."
Tapir narrowed his eyes. He didn't buy that reason. Maybe Takuma wanted to know about his decision before it was too late to change and try to shift it to something to his liking.
"I will respect your decision," Takuma smiled.
"Huh?"
"I am just excited to work that I'm willing to exit training in eight weeks."
Tapir raised his chin. The kid is trying to negotiate with me! He said 'willing' instead of 'going', which meant he was open to reducing that time if he got something in return.
Takuma understood that ANBU wanted the recruits to exit training as soon as possible, and that put pressure on Tapir, who, as the Master Instructor, was expected to make that happen—but he couldn't force the recruits—he did not want to force the recruits.
"Six weeks," Tapir said.
"Seven weeks," Takuma countered.
"Six," Tapir shook his head.
"Okay, six," Takuma nodded, "but you let me choose from a few options."
"I thought you were going to respect my decision," Tapir glared.
Takuma simply smiled.
Tapir clicked his tongue. "Alright... I haven't decided yet. Give me a week before I present you with some options—but you have to choose from them!" he glared.
"Of course," Takuma smiled. "Now, on to the next topic."
"Next topic?" Tapir asked, cautious about what else Takuma was planning.
"Master Instructor, please suggest some D-rank jutsu that would be useful to me as an ANBU-nin... I was serious when I said I wanted to focus my efforts, and who better to get advice from you, the Master Instructor."
Tapir could only gaze as Takuma pulled out a notepad and pen.
———
.
A/N: HAT-TRICK! 3 for 3!!!
Comments
Barney The Dyno
Honestly even doubling his speed of learning is huge for ninjutsu plus it allows him to practice other things while he puts emphasis on his physical training after all clones can train the mind but not the body
Jordan
I honestly fully expect us to at one point never know whether we are looking at a clone or not
Tay Rob
Wad surprised Takuma went for Shadow Clones. Most fics try to exploit it right the gate or constantly try to ignore it. Tak becoming the master of utility jutsu and paperwork is a fun idea. That is a good way to get into the good graces of his team by taking up the work no one really wants. Likely a good way to speed up his path to Captain if he already good at the tedious aspects of the job.
Marcin
Not many... Fiction mentioned hes gonna nerf the XP gain from shadow clones.
Javier Ricaurte
Water Clones also have a level of sapience, and unlike Shadow Clones they don't dissapear when the original sleeps and could arguably be held indefinitely, and yet they have no problem doing menial tasks or working as suicide bombers. If anything, since their experience and memories pass on, Shadow clones would have less fear of death since in a way all they are, and what are we if not the sum of all our memories and experiences, will continue to live on through the original body.
Jai Behl
4 for 4?
Focus Armstrong
I'm hoping Takuma learns the Water Prison, and Hiding Like a Mole or at least grows adept enough in his Tremor Sense and Burrowing to mimic it. Additionally I'd like to see him create new/refine his current jutsus with shape & nature transformations, i.e. water armour from his tentacles and how he applied genjutsu through touch Regarding Shadow Clone, I don't believe its going to be as monumentally broken for Takuma as it was for Naruto *when it comes to Ninjutsu. It'll definitely be a buff but I image its greatest benefit will come in letting him learn non-chakra skills and refine his taijutsu.
Corvus
Learn, sure, but that's not what Takuma wants, he wants to master it, what's the point of knowing a jutsu if its not helpful in a time of need? That's why I'm thinking he's gonna focus on D-ranks and average mastering one D-rank jutsu per week.
Lucaman_P
how many Justsu takuma can learn per day with shadow clone come in play ? i would say he can learn 2-3 D-rank justsu or 1 C-rank justsu per day.
GN
It is strange. As they will also have specific training after they join their respective teams
Javier Ricaurte
Now for the Million Dollar question: "How many clones can Takuma make?" I'm assuming by the description that he, at least at the start, can only make 1 clone with half of his chakra at a time, but then he and that clone could use the jutsu again to each make another clone to have 4 Takumas with 25% Chakra, and then he and those 3 clones make another one and have 8 Takumas with 12.5% Chakra each and so forth. Aside from Naruto (and that one time with Kakashi during the Wave Arc, but he himself called that a bluff, so it was probably just regular clones) we've never seen anyone do more than, like, 3-4 clones at a time, but those were in combat situations (where each would need a decent amount of chakra to make them last since only Naruto could use them for a rush tactic), if they were used to just train, or even just do stuff that doesn't require Chakra like reading or taking a theoretical lesson, they could probably do more. We know Takuma has really big reserves, and they're only going to get bigger the more he trains his body, so, taking into account some Chakra is lost in the expense, I think he could probably do at least 7 clones to train, so that's 8 Takumas with around 10% of chakra each, which thanks to his water clone, which has that same amount, we know is still good for a shinobi. So he could probably sent a clone to the classes (as long as they're not doing anything too intensive that might pop the clone), sent the other clones to practice jutsus, and then with his real body focus solely on physical training using the weights Guy gifted him to fix his imbalance.
Fucking Shracc
The training is likely just not worth it unless you have massive chakra, if you can train at 100% effort for 3 hours without clones then with a single clone you would only get 1 hour of training because the jutsu is likely not 100% efficient. Naruto can compress years of training into a day, normal people will lose training time.
samuel
I believe he has chunin level it was stated when working for police force
Paradoxez Novel Reader
Maybe shadow clone having physical body makes them even more sapient/self-aware than other jutsu and that lead to the existential issue where the clone didn't want to train for the original body when they're going to die within a couple hrs or sth ( hence requiring ninja with certain attitude towards death)
Ao
tftc
Horan
Takuma, the ninja off the thousand "officially and lawfully learned" justsu. Kakashi is such a pirate.
Horan
To be fair , we know it works for training as we have seen narito and his 20000 clones doing it. And achieving obvious results. Now for the average ninja, a 50% decrease in chakra is crippling and so the jutsu might just be used only for misions and not really for convenience. Also most people dont have perdect memory so the clone wouldn't have it. The experience from just one clone training might not be as noticeable or useful or worth the inconvenience of the chagra penalty. Lets say the clone keeps 95% of its experience, is that really worth you traing half the time ? (as you lost 50% of chakra). You technically lost 5% training time. Would you actually notice the increase Especially compared to normal ? The jutsu is only useful to learn new things or stuff you wouldnt have trained it. Who would bother wasting a rare B rank opportunity on a justu that only helps to train at the same speed and gather info instead of a justu that immediately helps Its only useful to takuma has he plans on learning a buch of new techniques (because he has unlimited access), and gather info. Its op to naruto because he has thousands AND they work in group study And naruto has the chakra capacity to rotate them. Because letsbnot forget you and your clone working the same thing is useless. Because the clone would advance just like you , think like you and progress like you. His contribution is when he dies. If you both work the same you'll just have the memories of doing the same thing twice.
Dodgy
4 for 4? 🥺
LOOKOUT
I like this idea that He can "sacrifice" his choice for another B-rank in exchange for near unlimited training of different C-ranks.
LOOKOUT
How much chakra does takuma have overall? As we know that shinobi cannot access 100% of their reserves (or they risk death) though if we ignore this who would he compare to as we see that he has at least above average reserves.
MaliMi
I do not buy it that the increased learning from shadow clones is not known. Perhaps not for Genin and most Chunin, but I would bet it is an open secret and fairly common in ANBU.
yosef melul
Love the shadow clone being used to speed up training and I like how your keeping it to just 1 for now so he can’t just spam it to become OP
Willskys
Thank you!
Horan
He has the hack. Its over, hell just work ambu at half full and will send hisbshadow clone to learn all the justus
Lazerate
I wonder what stops Takuma and others to finish right now. Cause as far as I understood half of them already passed all needed tests. It'd be good to see if they still have to complete something or they all just decided that though they are not gonna waist all three months, they will allocate some time to train.
