Takuma rested his temple on his palm as he flipped through the thick pages of an old binder in front of him, reading the small font that populated the page.
He knew choosing a jutsu would be difficult, but spending three hours flipping through D-rank jutsu catalogs in the jutsu archives for the last four days hadn't been part of his plan. Ninjutsu divided into five elemental categories, the various jutsu that didn't fit in the elemental categories, and genjutsu— there were so many choices to pick from. While not unlimited, there were double-digit jutsu in each elemental release, the same with genjutsu and the miscellaneous category.
The freedom of choice was paralyzing.
Only if the timing had been different. His initial plan of relying on Maruboshi's rich shinobi experience had fallen on its head when he went to Maruboshi's house only to be told by the neighbor that Maruboshi had left for a mission last week and wasn't scheduled to return for the next couple weeks.
Takuma groaned. If only the mission points had arrived a week earlier, he wouldn't be having this problem. 'I should've prepared for my first jutsu the moment I knew about mission points,' but Takuma didn't have that foresight.
He pushed the binder away and pulled in the pocket notepad to add another jutsu to his shortlist list. Not all D-rank jutsu priced similarly, and with the mission points he had, he could only get those within his price range. Seeing the more expensive D-rank jutsu made him want to hold back on the purchase and maybe try to get more before buying one, but knowing that wasn't a choice, he was grateful that his poverty had restricted his choices— if not, he would be visiting the archives for weeks trying to pick one out.
He flipped through the tiny pages, each featuring a jutsu that interested him. Earth Release, Water Release, ninjutsu that fell under the bukijutsu category, genjutsu, and many others that served defensive or offensive purposes.
Takuma stared at the list for who knew how long before he got up and placed the catalog binders in their place on the shelves. The jutsu archives were separated by grades E- and D-rank jutsu were placed in the same library, while C- and B-rank were stored in other locations. He was curious to know if there was even an A-rank library, as those jutsu were considered in the same category as precious treasures. According to Taro, even jonin had difficulty raking up enough mission points to purchase A-rank jutsu.
That's why it grinded his gears to think there existed a clan that could just copy jutsu by seeing someone performing. He could understand why Orochimaru was so obsessed (read_as: horny) for Uchiha's Sharingan. Choosing his jutsu really put the Sharingan's cheat-like abilities into perspective.
'If I knew something would happen, I would've read the Rasengan training chapters until I was dreaming about them,' Takuma regretted not being a massive Naruto fan. If he knew how Rasengan worked, not only could he learn it without forking out mission points, he would have a powerful B-rank jutsu or whatever rank Rasengan was considered— if it was good enough for the protagonist and the Fourth Hokage, it was more than good enough for him.
He moved deeper into the archive until he arrived at the section in the back with a small counter. The counter was embedded into the wall and was made from heavy steel. Takuma looked at the shinobi standing behind the counter through the glass that was lined with a chain-link fence.
"I would like to exchange my mission point for a jutsu," Takuma said.
"... ID," said the shinobi after staring at Takuma for a few silent seconds.
Takuma slid his shinobi registration card through the semi-circular cutout in the glass where it met the steel counter. The shinobi took it and, without looking at it, passed it to someone behind the wall. He tried to lean his head to check but couldn't spot anyone. He assumed it had gone for verification of some kind.
The shinobi and Takuma stared at each other for the next two minutes. Takuma was sure the shinobi was playing the staring game with him because the man hadn't blinked once since the start.
When Takuma's ID returned, the shinobi said, "Which jutsu would you like to exchange for?"
"Raiton: Shokku," Takuma announced his choice.
As the name suggested, Raiton: Shokku (Lightning Release: Shock) was a lightning-type jutsu. It was a simple jutsu that sent out a lightning bolt that caused light shock damage and stunned them for a moment. It was a Pokemon move if Takuma had seen one. But that wasn't the reason he had chosen it. Of course not. The jutsu had a simple enough usage that it could be used in a variety of situations, whereas there were jutsu that would only work when certain conditions were met.
Like the immortal guy in Akatsuki (whose name Takuma couldn't recall even if his life depended upon it) used the strange jutsu that required the target's blood. It was super powerful, but it wouldn't work in the absence of a blood sample.
Takuma preferred if his jutsu had a simple use case that he could spin it in any situation. Thus his choice. Shooting a lightning bolt was as simple as it could get.
There was another stare down as the shinobi behind the counter handed a slip of paper to the person who Takuma couldn't see. This time Takuma didn't try to blink, but he lost midway through. His opponent was too formidable and stoic.
"Check your details and sign the form if you consent for the mission points in your account to be deducted in exchange for receiving Raiton: Shokku," said the man, pushing a form and pen from the hole in the glass. "Please know that the transaction will be finalized once you sign this form. You can't return the jutsu scroll afterward with the excuse that you'd like to exchange it with another one."
"I understand," Takuma gave his verbal confirmation and checked the form before signing it.
The shinobi checked the form before finally pushing a light lime green scroll through the hole. Takuma checked the scroll name and registration number unique to Raiton: Shokku as he was instructed on the first day he came to the archives.
"Thank you," Takuma said as he stared at the scroll in hand.
Was his choice correct? He honestly didn't know. Only time would tell if he would come to regret his decision.
"Congratulations, Team-5, you were number one last week on the leaderboard," said Yoshio first thing on Monday morning.
"Oh, come on!" Takuma all but yelled at the announcement.
Yoshio's eyes sharpened as he glared at Takuma. "Do you have any problem with my decision, Takuma? I can revert my decision and give the points to another team," he said, raising his steel baton.
"Sir, no, sir!" Takuma said loudly as he felt Ai pinch and twist a point in his back. The girl was a glutton for mission points.
"That's what I thought," Yoshio said. Then told Takuma to do thirty pushups with Ai sitting on his back.
After the pushups, the group went for their daily run around the large running grounds. There Ai elbowed him in the side and hissed, "Are you mad? What would you've done if he took back our points?!"
"Sorry, I already said I'm sorry," he said. "I just feel like an idiot."
Takuma felt like crying. "I went to the jutsu archive yesterday and exchanged my points for one," he said. He would've waited one day if he knew they would be number one in the rankings. He would've had so many more choices if he had waited. "Why did we win so suddenly?!"
"Why're you complaining," Ai elbowed him again.
"The tree-walking practice challenge," Taro chimed in his flat voice. "The next team took two more days. I thought it was obvious we were going to win." Taro's two competitors in tree-walking practice weren't able to get down without falling for two more days.
"Why didn't you tell me?!" Takuma felt like not running anymore and just drop to the ground and go to sleep to escape the frustration he was feeling.
"I don't dream about that you wanted to know... stupid," said Taro.
The conversation ended there. Takuma knew that no one was going to talk about their jutsu. Secrecy and the element of surprise was a powerful tool. They were friends and training teammates, but they fought each other in sparring and everyone wanted to win; thus, keeping the secret gave them an advantage. Even if it only lasted only one fight before people started to strategize against the jutsu.
After the conditioning start of the day, Yoshio told them to gather around to start the first sparring sessions. Unlike the academy, there was no fighting circle. Yoshio calling the fight and submission was the only way to reach the end of the battle.
"Takuma and Kameko," Yoshio announced.
'Shit,' Takuma clicked his tongue as he got up from where his team sat and made his way to Yoshio. He glanced to the side and saw a girl with a bob cut dressed in a white and lavender skirt-kimono with a sword scabbard attached to her hip.
Taketori Kameko from the Taketori clan was the second one to complete the tree-walking practice challenge after him. She was in his academy classroom, and one of their class's better fighters. Given that she was in the Genin Corp, her jonin sensei had failed her. But from what Takuma had seen, she was definitely not Genin Corp material— she should've been in a jonin-led team.
"You know the rules. Get started," Yoshio said before walking away.
Takuma made the Seal of Confrontation, and he swore Kameko's usually cold and stoic eyes were glaring at him as she mirrored him.
'Shit.' He had noticed that look since the day he had completed the tree-walking practice challenge. It wasn't overt, but anytime their eyes met, Takuma knew she was bothered by him completing the challenge before her.
"Start." The moment Yoshio's word sounded, Takuma jumped back to make some distance between them because he knew that was the best decision from the spars he had seen since Yoshio's unrestricted combat announcements.
*Shing* Kameko put her hand on the sword hilt and unsheathed her katana. The sharp blade shimmered under the sun.
The "better" fighter in the academy had been a Taketori clan member who wasn't allowed to use a sword. Taketori literally meant bamboo cutter and was a shinobi clan specializing in their special swordplay that revolved around—
Kameko stepped forward, and suddenly Takuma felt cornered even as he jumped back as the girl in front of him erased distance faster than he could create.
Takuma put his kunai in front of him as he saw the shorter girl breach his personal space, and before he could even put on his guard, she swung her sword at him.
— revolved around speed.
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