Chapter 3 - The Transformation Technique

"Alright, Iets head out, we've been here for long enough," Haru said. "Nononono, I'm full of motivation, I want to forge something!" Ryu said with his eyes sparkling. "That's not happening, you need to read the human anatomy books. I'm testing you tomorrow, after all," Haru said. "Wait what? You can't announce a test and only give me a day to re-read the books!" Ryu complained. "That would be a valid argument... If I didn't tell you two weeks in advance, now go prepare," Haru retorted.

"B-but this isn't fair! You can't show me how to forge a sword that can 𝐟𝐥𝐲 and then tell me "Yeah, now go read"! This is bullshit, you did it to spite me!" Ryu protested. Seeing Ryu complain, Haru trembled as he tried to suppress his laughter. After finally calming down, Haru responded, "Well, in my defense, it was funny." Ryu charged at his father as the latter finally broke down in laughter.

"You're too easy, Ryu," Haru chuckled as Ryu tried to tackle his father to the ground, before giving up and kicking his shin with a Chakra-enhanced kick. "Ouch! Ryu, that hurt!" Haru yelled in pain as he jumped around on his right leg. "Talk shit, get hit," Ryu replied as he turned around gleefully.

"Ouch... Oh, I almost forgot! Before you go, What was, in your opinion, the key to the technique I showed you?" Haru questioned his son with a serious face. "Um... Well, honestly? I don't know" Ryu admitted as he stopped and turned back to Haru.

"I see... Well, let me put it this way. What can a regular blacksmith do, what can an expert do, and what can only we do?" Haru asked again.

Ryu pondered the question for a bit before answering. "Technically speaking, every blacksmith can match the rhythm of their strikes to yours, or copy your technique. I suppose that the same thing goes with Chakra, though you'll need to be an expert to pull it off successfully, so that leaves only the Transformation Technique!" Ryu answered with a lightbulb turning on in his head. "Honestly, I thought it'd be more obvious seeing as I made the sword with, like, four arms. I mean do you see anyone else do that?" Haru chuckled. "..." Ryu facepalmed at the obvious answer.

"Following that train of thought, why do you think we're the only ones who forge this way if it allows us to create legendary weapons? While it's our family's secret technique, it's not something that's difficult to imitate, is it? After all, it's only the Transformation Technique, a Jutsu they teach to kids at the Ninja Academy," Haru continued. Ryu couldn't answer his father's question. He thought about it, but the longer he thought, the more confused he got.

"I'll tell you why," Haru continued, "It's because we also double as medical family. Kind of. You see, the Transformation Technique allows the user to transform into other things, living or not, but the depth of the transformation only goes as far as the user's understanding of the matter he transforms into.

For instance, if you can picture someone with four arms in your head, but you don't understand the theory of the human body, you'll have two more arms, but they'll be useless. However, if you do know your way around the human body, you can modify your transformation to make your arms functional. After all, the structure of our body that prevents this modification normally can simply be changed with the Transformation Technique. This is just the tip of the iceberg, though. The more you understand something, the more effective the transformation will be. Now, go read your anatomy books," Haru explained.

{This is a mix of what I read on the wiki and my interpretation of the technique (mostly the wiki though). I hope that my explanation makes sense}

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Ryu thought of all the books he'd need to read, making him already feel the headache coming 'I guess I'll pull an all-nighter' Ryu thought. In truth, he read all the books in the library several times over, since Haru was very insistent on it.

After reading those books over and over for years, Ryu knew almost everything one could know about the human body. Be it Cells, Tissues, or Organs, he knew it all from memory. But that wasn't all he knew. After all, they didn't have only Anatomy books. Ryu was well-versed in several other subjects, mostly chemistry. He liked to experiment with the Transformation Technique and to find out which elements are easy to transform into.

However, Haru's tests were notorious for being difficult, and you couldn't pass them by only memorizing information and regurgitating it on the test. The Transformation Technique demands thorough understanding to be used to its full potential, not just memorizing, so Haru made his tests fit for that goal and then some.

Ryu stepped foot in the shack once again, before preparing to enter the house and study. However, not a second after he exited the cave, two men appeared beside him. Ryu screamed, but they covered his mouth before any sound could escape it.

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How's it going? Did you enjoy the chapter? What do you think of my interpretation of the Transformation Jutsu? I'm curious so please leave a comment with your thoughts.