Chapter 5.2- One Thousand Hands

XXXXXX- SHORIRAMA SENJU

Gather the chakra, spin it to create rotation, add density to create power, and then contain it all in a stable shell. The rasengan that formed in his palm was perfect. Of course it was. He’d “invented” the jutsu while still in the academy. He never got the chance to even consider hiding the discovery or his training. Chakra training was dangerous, and the heir to the Senju clan wasn’t even allowed to dream of training on his own without some sort of supervision. Even worse, his supervision ended up being a member of Hyuga clan more often than not, and if you managed to hide anything from the Byakugan, then you’d need an award of some sort.

He’d decided that it was better to just come clean with it and practice it with plain sight. That also meant that he had to engineer a lot of unnecessary trial and error into the jutsu creation project, but that had ended up being for the best. He probably understood the rasengan better than everyone not named Minato Namikaze. Considering he hadn’t even joined the academy yet, Shorirama was the uncontested master of all things rasengan. It had also come with a lot of resources. The fact that Uncle Tobirama had given him access to a bunch of resources and treatises on the nature of chakra and stuff that would be useful in creating techniques that he’d either written on his own or inherited from his grandfather meant that Shorirama had spent more time studying than training the last few years, but that was worth it.

It was worth it because the sphere in his hand began to shift in shape, blades shooting out from the edges as he manipulated the shape and form of the jutsu. He lifted it above his head as it took the form of a spinning shurinken the size of a windmill shuriken above his head. No wind release, yet. But he’d been able to prove his theory that the rasengan could be made throwable as a pure shape transformation technique. Anything else would be subordinate. It also meant that he was one step closer to completing Project Quincy.

He tossed the technique into the mini forest that he trained in and it mowed through a few trees before it lost its consistency and disappeared. It would kill a man just as good as any technique, but it did lack a lot of the more explosive properties of a proper Wind Release: Rasenshuriken. “So what are you going to call that one, young master” He heard the voice from behind him and he forced a smile on his face before he turned to look at the Hyuga branch member that had been sent to follow him today. The same person that was sent with him on most days, he knew. If only he could ever manage to remember the man’s name. He was certain he’d never been told, but also not completely certain. It wasn’t impossible that he’d forgotten the man’s name. It would also be highly embarrassing if he asked and found that he’d already been told.

“Rasenshuriken, Hyuga-san” He said, not for the first time being thankful for how much the Hyuga clan remained sticklers for traditions and old fashioned etiquette.

“A fitting name, young master” The man replied and it was all Shori could do not to gag at the blatant arsekissing. Sure, he knew that that was probably the man’s nature, but he still felt a bit awkward whenever the man began going on and on about how skilled Shori was, or how much of a prodigy his superior Hyuga genes made him. The man seemed intent on ignoring Shori’s conspicuously brown eyes and their very noticeable pupils. He’d been tested multiple times across his childhood, and everyone had finally been forced to accept that he would never get the Byakugan after he turned 8.

“Thank you. But we have to leave. I have a mission to get ready for, after all” He said, and began making his way back to clan compound. Perhaps his teammates had failed to see it, but he was certain that there was something else behind their Sensei’s sudden switch in tactics. Everything he’d seen from Hatake Sakumo so far had told him that the man was not the type to give up merely because something was hard. He’d made the decision not to go on any missions with them until they mastered teamwork, and Shorirama was certain that he would live up to the threat.

Shorirama had even banked on it. Constant sparring sessions against an opponent far above his level had taken his skills to new heights at speeds that felt frankly unfair. He’d have gotten a big head about how much progress he was making from sparring with Sakumo if he couldn’t see that Toshiro was gaining just as much, and that Uchiha Uzume and her cheating eyes were learning even faster than he was. She’d already used a few of Shorirama’s own jutsu against their sensei and while he wasn’t offended since he hadn’t invented those jutsu himself, he was a bit peeved at her progress outstripping his. Only the fact that the original gap between them had been so large had kept him still ahead of her.

Hopefully, the equalisers he was working on would be enough to widen the gap when necessary and ensure he was ready for what he knew would come in ten years.

“Yes, young master. I have taken the liberty in ensuring that your equipment would be packed and prepared” He said.

“And my bow?”

“It is assumed that Young Master would not intend in taking the instrument with him on a mission outside the village’s walls” Shori smiled wryly.

“Please have it included. It is a key piece of equipment, after all. I’d hate to not have it and need it” He replied. He’d found it funny ow virtually every adult shinobi tried to get him to give up on the bow. It was his own bit of rebellion against the establishment. And bows were cool af.

A/N; Let’s plop along, yeah