278-How to make a Jutsu
Kushina leaned back, folding her arms with a slight smile. "We just need to alter the jutsu-shiki," she said as if this was the simplest solution in the world.
Renjiro's eyebrows shot up even higher, and he crossed his arms defensively. "Wait, you can do that to ninjutsu too?"
Ever since he'd begun his lessons in fuinjutsu under Kushina's strict guidance, he'd believed the jutsu-shiki—the seal formula—was limited to sealing techniques alone.
They had delved into the intricacies of designing seals, and how each stroke, angle, and brushstroke could dictate the flow of chakra in astonishingly precise ways. Renjiro had come to respect jutsu-shiki as the core of fuinjutsu, a sacred aspect of their craft. And now, Kushina was casually suggesting it could apply to other forms of jutsu?
Kushina raised an eyebrow, leaning in with an intent look. "Renjiro," she began in a slow, measured tone, "what is jutsu?"
The question threw him off guard. He blinked. "Why?" Renjiro wondered why she would ask such an elementary question, yet her eyes were expectant, urging him to answer. He hesitated before responding,
"Jutsu is the mystical arts or techniques that shinobi use."
"Correct," Kushina acknowledged with a nod.
"And the main types of jutsu are…?"
"Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, and Genjutsu," he replied confidently. It was the most common sense in the shinobi world.
Kushina gave him an amused look. "You've already been to Mount Myoboku, haven't you? So why did you forget Senjutsu?"
Renjiro inwardly cursed. 'Darn it, Minato. So much for being a shinobi who can keep our mission details private. This is exactly why I hate couples.'
He muttered under his breath, "Yes, there's also Senjutsu."
Kushina smirked, her tone growing more playful. "Exactly. Now tell me, what is jutsu-shiki?"
Renjiro sighed, looking off to the side as he considered his answer. "It's… the sealing formula."
Kushina raised her hand and began waving her index finger at him in gentle admonishment.
"No, that's where you're wrong, Renjiro."
"What—" Renjiro started, but she cut him off.
"It's in the name, Renjiro," she said, leaning forward as if imparting a great secret.
"Jutsu-shiki! It's not called Fuinjutsu-shiki."
Renjiro's eyes widened in realization. The word choice was deliberate, wasn't it? Jutsu-Shiki wasn't bound solely to fuinjutsu; it could apply to any jutsu—ninjutsu, genjutsu, even senjutsu. His mind spun with the implications.
'Wait, if this is possible… could I modify the jutsu-shiki of senjutsu to make it accessible to me?'
He made a mental note to experiment with this idea, excitement bubbling up inside him. It was a loophole he hadn't considered, a crack in the wall that had seemed impenetrable.
Kushina observed him with a satisfied smile, her face glowing with the warmth of someone who had just passed on a valuable piece of wisdom.
Passing knowledge to someone, especially someone she saw as family, filled her with a unique sense of joy and fulfilment. She saw Renjiro not just as a student, but as one of the last Uzumaki, at least she thought he was, a part of her extended clan line, and it gave her a deep sense of purpose to guide him.
Renjiro broke the silence with a furrowed brow, his mind still churning. "But… if what you're saying is possible, then how can you translate that to other forms of jutsu? For instance, ninjutsu?"
Kushina inclined her head, pleased with his curiosity. "Renjiro, how do you make a jutsu?"
It wasn't like her previous questions. This one caught him off guard, for he'd never really thought about the process in such detail. His intention had been to try modifying a few ninjutsu here and there—an experiment to test the waters before he took on the challenge of creating something entirely his own. Yet here he was, forced to confront the question.
He took a breath and answered, half-confident and half unsure. "By moulding your chakra in a particular way."
Kushina gave a small nod but held up her hand. "That's partly true," she said, her tone carrying a note of encouragement.
"You also need to consider the nature and properties your chakra will adopt for the jutsu. The amount of chakra, the paths it takes through your body, all contribute to the final result. It's a complex and often convoluted process. Of course," she added with a slight smile, "this only applies when someone is creating a jutsu from scratch. When someone is simply learning a jutsu, things are much simpler. I'm sure you know how."
Renjiro nodded slowly, sensing her hint. "Through hand signs. We learn to use hand signs to master jutsu… I suppose they're a simplified version of the whole process?"
Kushina smiled approvingly. "Exactly. For ninjutsu, genjutsu, and sometimes even taijutsu, the hand signs serve as the jutsu-shiki, a shorthand that channels chakra in pre-determined patterns to achieve a desired effect. By changing the hand signs, you're essentially modifying the jutsu-shiki."
Renjiro's mouth quirked up as he thought. 'What a roundabout way to say I just need to change the hand signs to modify a jutsu,' he mused inwardly, but he kept that observation to himself.
Kushina continued, her tone more serious now. "But there's more to it than that. A jutsu-shiki is like an equation, a formula that captures everything a jutsu is meant to do. Changing it isn't as simple as just switching hand signs randomly." Her gaze became thoughtful, and she leaned back, looking off into the distance as if searching her memory.
"You can alter the nature of a jutsu by adjusting the equation—the jutsu-shiki—behind it. But if you're not careful, even small changes can have… unpredictable effects."
Renjiro absorbed her words, feeling both awed and daunted by the challenge. "So… in essence, it's a mathematical problem?"
Kushina nodded, smiling. "Exactly, Renjiro. Think of it like that. You want to find a new equation, or at least modify the one you have, to yield a specific result. You're just using chakra and hand signs instead of numbers and symbols."
Renjiro took a deep breath. This was starting to make sense, though the idea of jutsu as a kind of equation was still new and required him to reframe everything he knew. It made him wonder how much more potential was hidden in the jutsu he already knew, waiting for him to unlock it by tweaking the jutsu-shiki.
"Jutsu-shiki can be seen as the framework that holds a jutsu together, yes?" Kushina clarified, her tone warm and patient. "For fuinjutsu, we use written seals; for ninjutsu and genjutsu, we rely on hand signs. The end goal, however, is the same."
Renjiro nodded, mentally piecing her explanation together with his own experiences. He remembered times when he'd accidentally altered hand signs in training, and the resulting jutsu was either weaker, more volatile, or did something entirely unexpected. Back then, he'd chalked it up to mistakes. Now, he realized they were changes to the jutsu-shiki, albeit unintended ones.
Kushina tilted her head, watching his face shift as he considered this revelation. "It's like speaking different dialects of the same language, isn't it?" she offered, as if reading his thoughts.
"Yeah…" Renjiro replied, his voice distant as he lost himself in thought. "I suppose that's a good way to put it. One little change, one slip in pronunciation, and suddenly you're saying something entirely different."
Kushina chuckled, nodding in agreement. "Exactly! Which is why you need to experiment with caution. You never know what kind of disaster a poorly formed jutsu-shiki could create."
Renjiro shifted, leaning forward with a small grin. "So, let me get this straight: I just need to experiment with the hand signs to get the effect I want?"
Kushina shook her head, an amused smile playing on her lips. "Not quite. While hand signs are the jutsu-shiki for ninjutsu and genjutsu, they're not what we need to focus on in this case. Think of jutsu-shiki as an equation to a specific jutsu. If we want to create—or in your case, modify—an equation for a jutsu, we need to simplify it." Her eyes sparkled with a mischievous glint.
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