Chapter 22

Sunagakure
Ryoma, Jonin

“Last week I gave an overview of all the facilities and systems available to take advantage of in the village. We also went over basics about navigating the bureaucracy of ninja work and constructive mindsets. I see a few new faces in the class who weren’t present last week- either see me after class or ask one of your classmates if you want a review of what was covered in specific.”

“Show of hands, who took advantage of at least one of the things I mentioned last week? The daily rations, your clearance in Intel, and so on.” He called out over the class, once more rolling out scrolls upon the desk. Unlike last week, these weren’t dummy scrolls used to make him look more prepared than he was, these were actual scrolls full of actual preparations.

About half the kids in the class sent hands up, which was a relatively good sign. The other group of kids looks distinctly bashful about having a lowered hand. Ryoma nodded. “Alright- keep your hand up if you took advantage of at least two of the things I mentioned last week. Everyone else, drop them.”

Seeing everyone except two people sheepishly drop their hands was more in line with his expectations. It looked like mesh-poncho boy and blue-hair red-kimono girl were the two who were actually the most serious about this whole ninja thing. He gave another little nod and pointed at poncho boy.

“Poncho, what did you take advantage of and why?”

Poncho-boy frowned at that, before dropping his hand and answering. “I started picking up daily rations and went to the Intel building to ask about available Jutsu- they told me I need to be a Chunin to get anything above D-rank from them.”

“That’s the standard clearance regulation I mentioned.” Ryoma explained with a nod. “Jutsu will be available based on rank, D-rank for Genin, C-rank for Chunin, and B-rank for Jonin. A-rank and higher jutsu are only available at the behest of an official master or by lease of the Kazekage.”

“That sucks.” Poncho boy complained with a groan, ignoring the slightly scandalized looks from the genin around him. “I was hoping to get something good.”

Ryoma gave a little amused huff. “That’s another lesson to lead into I suppose.” He turned his head to address the entire class. “Who here knows what the rank of a Jutsu actually means?”

A few moments of quiet consideration before the pink-haired boy spoke up. “Power, ain’t it?”

“Nope.” Ryoma shook his hand in denial. He was about to tell the kid to raise his hand next time before giving up on that. It was their own time they were wasting if they were all clamoring at once.

“Difficulty to learn, right sensei?” That kid who wanted to be a wind-specialist spoke up, short brown hair, brown eyes, and bulky goggles around his neck. He scratched his neck as he answered.

Ryoma shrugged. “More or less correct. More specifically it refers to the level of skill required to shape the chakra correctly for the Jutsu to function. Many jutsu of E or D rank require a great deal of technical, physical skill to perform but don’t involve enough chakra manipulation to rank them any higher.”

“All of you should be capable of the three basic genjutsu- Clone, Transformation, and Substitution-“

“Ah-” The girl with blue hair and a red kimono made a noise at that. She hadn’t dropped her hand from earlier yet either, so Ryoma just raised a brow and waited for her to continue. She made a sheepish expression before steeling her resolve and speaking. “Sensei, aren’t they classified as ninjutsu? I thought that genjutsu was strictly limited to jutsu that insert chakra into a target’s system to manipulate their senses?”

Ah, right. That was a thing wasn’t it? Ryoma gave a little wiggle with his hand. “You are technically correct, but adhering to technicalities is not particularly useful in the field, in my experience. Genjutsu. Illusionary Techniques. If the image of a person you see is produced by a clone or a genjutsu, nothing much changes. You are still seeing an insubstantial image an enemy has used chakra to produce in hopes of distracting you.”

He shrugged. “They’re functionally identical save for your means of freeing yourself- either by cycling chakra or by attacking the clone. That’s a coin you’re going to have to flip every time you’re in that situation anyways, so saying one isn’t a genjutsu is just being pedantic. If it produces an illusory thing, it’s probably safe to treat it as a genjutsu.”

“In fact- you know what the easiest genjutsu in the world is?” Ryoma asked with a little smirk.

She shook her head.

“It’s the E-rank Genjutsu : Lying.”

There were a few laughs, a few giggles, and a few looks of enlightenment at that. Ryoma raised his hands and gave them a ‘hold on now’ gesture. “I’m being rather serious here, it’s probably one of my most reliable techniques. I’ve taken down people I shouldn’t have stood a chance against with that one.”

He snapped his fingers, remembering that he was on a tangent. “Which brings me back to my previous point- The rank of a Jutsu has nothing to do with how useful it is.”

“Wait what?”
“Really?”
“That doesn’t sound right.”
“Huah?!”

The kids were a riot, huh? He raised his hand and waited for them to settle down. After a few moments, they stopped having dramatic reactions to his declaration and gave him the quiet he needed to speak again.

“I personally know five D-rank jutsu.” Ignoring for a moment he learned one of them right before this lesson. “Body Flicker, Sand Transformation, Air Convection, Dust Cloud, and Explosion. Body Flicker allows for rapid overland movement making it ideal for tactical repositioning. Sand Transformation layers the body in sand and lets you change its color, serving as both basic armor and a disguise. Air Convection cycles the air around you to protect you from heat, airborne hazards, and slightly weaken incoming projectiles. Dust Cloud throws up a great deal of sand and dust into the air around me, granting visual concealment. Explosion generates an explosion on a point I focus upon.”

“All of these are merely D-rank techniques, any of you are cleared to head down to Intel, pick up a scroll, and start learning them. They have collectively saved my life on numerous occasions.”

There was a nice, ambient aura of interest in the classroom as he spoke. He tilted his head to the side as he continued. “During my most recent mission, I used four of them almost constantly, in all the ways that I just mentioned. I predict that I’ll still be using them by the time I retire from active service, simply because they’re so useful to me.”

“Are they super difficult to learn? No. Are they flashy ninjutsu that wins a battle on their own? No. Are they secret techniques carefully hidden away? No. They’re fairly standard techniques that do particular things, but can be devastatingly effective in competent hands- They’re like Kunai, if you want to think of it that way.”

“S-sensei- which one do you use most often!?” The girl with the ‘Frosty!’ sash asked with a nervous but determined look on her face.

It was hard to remember all these names. “Sand Transformation.” He declared confidently, reaching up to tap at his vest. “I’m a firm believer in defense. I’m currently under two layers of armor right now, this vest, my bracers, and greaves, and-” He unzipped the vest a tad and pulled away at the white scarf around his neck and lower face to reveal his upper chest. The layer of mesh armor, thin steel wires sewn into a cloth shirt and pants. “-this mesh armor. I normally enter battles with a layer of sand covering my body as well.”

He was currently wearing a white scarf to hide his lower face- he’d head over to the ANBU HQ and ask if it was okay for him to keep wearing the veil later. No reason to not be safe about it, and all that.

The classroom looked pretty interested in his mesh armor, glancing back and forth from him and poncho-boy. Ryoma zipped up his flak vest again and returned his scarf to where it had been before continuing. “As you might be able to imagine- many attacks cease to be effective against you when you’re wearing as much armor as I am. Most ninja need to pull out massive weapons or special jutsu to do much damage.”

“Sensei- doesn’t it make more sense to just dodge the attacks? If you’re wearing armor, aren’t you slower and taking more hits anyways?” Orange haired girl asked curiously, leaning forwards on her desk.

“The ideal amount of armor is always ‘as much as you can carry without slowing yourself down too much’.” Ryoma declared confidently. “I’m a little bit less agile than an unclad ninja, sure, but the amount of agility I lose is marginal compared to the amount of durability I gain.” He shrugged. “You might decide differently as a ninja, it’s up to the individual to determine how much they want to sacrifice mobility in exchange for armor- I’m not your dad after all.”

“Waow~ you’re not?!” Pink haired ‘seduction specialist’ let out at that, a mock-surprised tone and giggles in the back of her throat. Ryoma rolled his eyes with an amused huff as the class laughed.

“I’m not old enough to be your dad, joker.” He waved a hand dismissively. He then remembered that he was doing a thing and pointed at blue-hair, red-kimono. She had been diligently keeping her hand up this entire time. “Serious girl. You used two of the things I mentioned from last week- what were they and why did you use them?”

Finally, with a relieved slump in her arm, she dropped it and answered. “Yes sensei. I first went to the armory and salvage division to exchange my old weaponry for a new set.”

Very sensible. He nodded and rolled a hand for her to continue. She then reached up a hand and scratched her cheek before continuing. “I then went to Intel to request information about you, sensei.”

He raised a brow. He supposed it was normal to be curious about the person teaching you. She probably could’ve just asked though.

“Most of the information was above my clearance but…” She hesitated for a few moments, before blurting out. “A-are you really a Jonin at only fifteen, sensei?!”