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~ I'm planning to increase the number of advanced chapters to +18 this weekend!
~ I've edited some of the previous chapters to remove anything you might consider "cringe" or "unnecessary." I'll continue reviewing them from time to time!
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Slowly surging up at the expression of his chakra, a single clone made of water grew out of each of the rock bowls and quickly stepped out, allowing Naruto to repeat the jutsu again.
"Why water clones?" Iruka asked after a moment of surprise.
"I found the scroll in TG13 last month." Naruto shrugged. "It still takes too long to form a clone, but I'm gonna practice until it gets up to standard."
"That's a good plan." The scarred chunin nodded and undid his own hitai-ate before handing it over to Naruto. "Just like I promised, my hitai-ate. Wear it proudly as a ninja, Naruto."
Naruto took it carefully and smiled wildly enough that it was a surprise the top of his head didn't suddenly fall off. It had been an old promise between the two of them that when Naruto graduated, Iruka would give him his hitai-ate.
Waiting through the long (not to mention boring) after exam lecture was a pain in the ass, but Naruto bore through it. After class was dismissed for the day, with an admonishment to come back in on Monday for team assignments, Naruto ran pell-mell back to his apartment and sat down on a seat, taking off his new hitai-ate and used [Observe] on it.
[Konohagakure Legacy Hitai-ate]
Forehead Armour
A hitai-ate handed down from Umino Iruka to Uzumaki Naruto. It is old, but well maintained and cared for. While there are numerous designs for hitai-ate, this one is the general type designed to be tied over the forehead in mimicry of the cloth hachimaki that bore clan symbols during the Warring Clans Period.
Requires Class [Genin] and Minimum Level of 15 to be worn in combat.
+10 Armour to covered location.
5 Fūinjutsu slots (Empty)
This was something he had discovered once his [Fūinjutsu] skill had reached LV5; each piece of clothing or armour had a set limit to how many seals you could place on it. Some, like typical civilian clothing, couldn't even have a single seal on it, while hardy shinobi clothing could have up to ten!
A good example would be the [Lesser Fūjin Set] of clothes. The seals already present on them to give them their useful effects took up four slots, leaving a single free slot for another piece of Fūinjutsu, although Naruto couldn't add any at the moment. This was mainly because the cloth armour seal he had required two slots to fill. Until he found a way to either increase the number of slots a piece of clothing possessed or reduce the number of slots that the cloth armour seal needed to take up, that is.
His selection of supplementary Fūinjutsu, that is Fūinjutsu that wasn't a trap seal, an explosive tag or a storage seal, was a grand total of one right now, so that was something he was gonna have to brush up on once he was assigned to a team and had clearance to the Shinobi Library.
'Then again, I may be able to get some Fūinjutsu from whoever my Jonin-sensei is.' Naruto hummed thoughtfully, even as his eyes strayed to the sword rack that he'd been given for free when he'd picked up his sword.
It was a beautiful weapon. A kodachi, with the tell-tale ripple of a master forged blade along its edge, as well as all of the little tricks that Higurashi Tatsuhiko had forged into it. The name that the blacksmith and his wife had suggested had sounded cool so Naruto had gone along with it.
[Kogetsu Kyūshiki]
Forged from the purest of chakra metal by the combined skill of the Higurashi family of Weaponsmiths, the name of this blade is twofold; it can either mean 'Arc Moon Type Nine' or 'Fox Moon Type Nine' depending on how you translate it. The Type Nine part of the name is in reference to the nine special features that Higurashi Tatsuhiko designed and implemented into this weapon. If mastered, the wielder will be very close to unstoppable in close combat.
LV20
Mastercrafted, Short Weapon, Chakra Weapon, Custom Made, Evolving
Durability: 300/300
Piercing Damage: Sx2-10
Slashing Damage: S+35
Bludgeoning Damage: S+5
Special Abilities: 1) [Back Blade]: On the reverse of the tip of the blade is a small bladed section that can be used for a reversed cut. (Skill Undiscovered) [0/1]
2-4) [Hidden Hilt Weapons]: By rotating the lower half of the hilt of the Kogetsu, one of three optional weapons become available to be unsealed; a short blade intended for a sneak attack, a chain and moon-shaped blade to entangle the enemy or a compact launcher that can fire a small cluster of senbon at the enemy. (Skill(s) Undiscovered) [0/10/15/20]
5) [Serrated Form]: Grants the blade a serrated edge to deal more damage. (Skill Undiscovered) [0/25]
6) [Blunt Form]: Removed the edge completely in order to be used in sparring. (Skill Undiscovered) [0/30]
7) [Fukki (Reversion)]: Reverts the Kogetsu Kyūshiki to its base form, undoing any transformation that the blade and hilt are under in the process. (Skill Undiscovered) [0/35]
8) [Kogetsu Chakraha (Crescent Blade Chakra Wave)]: Allows the user to launch a wave of pure chakra at the enemy to deal damage. 5 Minute cooldown between uses. (Skill Undiscovered) [0/40]
9) [Kyūjin Rendan (Nine Blades Barrage)]: The blade splits into nine tendrils that lash out and strike the nearest enemy. Damage is halved against armoured locations. (Skill Undiscovered). [0/50]
The sword royally kicked ass and Naruto had sworn to examine the Fūinjutsu of the thing until he could replicate all of it; just examining it casually and trying to read the seals had given him two levels in [Fūinjutsu] already!
The [Evolving] part confused him a bit, but it seemed that his [Gamer] power had interfered with his sword somehow and made it so he had to kill a certain amount of enemies, be they human or chakra mutations, before he had access to the skills of his sword. Presumably, he had to kill them with the sword too.
Naruto caught sight of the clock and cursed. He had to meet Iruka-sensei at Ichiraku's in a few minutes! Leaping up and running to his bedroom, he changed into a fresh set of clothes. Hesitating for a moment, he walked out into the living room and reverently laid his new hitai-ate in front of his sword stand before heading out.
Later
Ichiraku's Ramen Stand
"Ahhhhh~!" Naruto placed his third bowl of ramen down and sighed in satisfaction. Ramen was truly the Food of the Gods! He would accept no blasphemous substitutes.
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