[Hajime POV]
Before we started, Yasaka asked a question that was to be expected.
"Hajime, since you're teaching us, why aren't you teaching Tsubaki and Akeno? Wouldn't they benefit from such knowledge?"
"They would, but they can't. Remember the seals I had you test a few days ago? They were made with chakra, which is also the basis of any ninja techniques I have. Unless they gain access to chakra in some way, they'll be unable to learn it.
Besides, I'm not even sure if it would be possible to teach you any techniques. Sealing has similarities to rune magic and ofudas, but unlike those, seals require the use of chakra. These techniques, likewise, require chakra to use, but I don't know if the techniques will transfer the same way the seals did," I explained.
Kunou subsequently raised her hand with enthusiasm. "Oh, oh! Hajime! What techniques will you be teaching us?!"
"Well, I plan to teach you both the same techniques, but I plan to teach a special one to Aunt Yasaka first, so she can keep participating in these lessons.
After that, I can teach you the other, simpler techniques that exist."
-----
[Third Person POV]
Hajime began to explain the premise behind the shadow clone jutsu, and needless to say, Yasaka was desperate to learn it.
If there were an enemy that most faction leaders would agree deserves to cease to exist, it would be paperwork.
Paperwork was the primary reason Azazel wanted to relinquish his position as Governor General to Shemhazai, and he delegated his work to Shemhazai, Baraqiel, and Penemue.
Azazel only ever desired to work on sacred gear, so he would always choose to neglect paperwork rather than ignore his passion.
The same was true for others, such as Sirzechs, Serafall, and Michael.
Yasaka was also one leader burdened by paperwork.
The biggest issue with it wasn't even the work itself, but the amount of it.
Yasaka had sometimes disappeared for days at a time whenever a diplomatic incident occurred. Even when things were fine, she still spent most of the day cooped up in her office signing her name on all sorts of files and ordinances and any other nonsense that landed on her desk.
She had tried to change the amount of paperwork reaching her, but it somehow never did.
Eventually, she gave in, realizing the paperwork would never cease.
Hearing that Hajime had a technique that would allow her to complete her work in a fraction of the time, albeit at the cost of a minor headache, made her ecstatic.
For someone of her level, the consequences of such a technique were negligible, especially compared to the usefulness of such an ability.
Aside from paperwork, there were three reasons she wanted the technique.
First, personal time. Work, far too often, would force her to work from dawn to dusk. Although she knew Kunou understood, she still felt guilty about having to ignore her daughter on some days for minor issues, but that was the life of a politician.
With this technique, she could work while spending time with her daughter. She could also enjoy some much-needed personal time whenever Kunou was being educated.
How long had it been since she had a day completely to herself? No work, no business, just her relaxing.
The second reason was that she could take time to strengthen herself and the yokai faction. She possessed centuries of knowledge that would be useful for any younger yokai seeking to strengthen themselves, as did most of her associates. Unfortunately, almost all of them were constantly busy, leaving the magic school they had staffed by younger yokai, a good portion of which had only seen war once, if even.
This led to a significant power disparity between generations.
In most factions, there was always a divide between generations, with the older generations being more powerful, but there were always exceptions.
Sirzechs and his friends were the best example of this. They were several centuries younger than the previous ruling class, yet their power surpassed that of most of them. All factions had people like that, who surged in power, growing stronger than the generations before them, but the yokai lacked these people.
While the heirs to the major yokai clans would do better than most, they still ended up stagnating.
The current heir of the main Oni clan, for example, was almost 40 years old, and yet, while he was stronger than everyone in his generation, reaching peak high-class, everyone over a century in age could beat him.
If you didn't have raw power, it was hard to compensate for a lack of experience, which was the biggest weakness the younger generation faced.
Yasaka was glad wars had become almost non-existent, but she knew it would affect their future.
With the shadow clone jutsu, however, she'd be able to give personal instruction to a new generation, something no other faction could do.
Sure, sparing a day or two out of the year to teach was possible, but most only ever stuck to a few high-profile individuals.
But with a technique that works based on the amount of energy you invest, while connected to a near-infinite energy source? She could make dozens of clones to teach every class in the school herself if she wanted!
The last reason why she wanted the technique, though, was much more personal. With it, she could finally leave Kyoto.
Not fully, obviously. Her body was metaphysically connected to the leylines. But mentally? She'd finally get to travel wherever she pleased.
It was like a child being grounded to their room, so they keep their feet touching the inside while trying to move as far from the door as possible.
Technically, Yasaka would never have left Kyoto, but could still experience the rest of the world.
It would allow her to see the changes made to Japan and the rest of the world over the centuries, something she had always been curious about, but her duty to her people came first.
The best part, though, was the message it sent to others.
Being stuck in Kyoto meant most people knew there was a line they couldn't cross. If someone like Kokabiel went around Japan, slaughtering any yokai he saw, at most, it would strain relations between the two factions.
After all, Yasaka was the biggest threat the yokai had, and she was locked to Kyoto. The major factions just needed to send their leader to deal with it, and nothing could be done. No other yokai would be strong enough to deal with them.
Now, though?
Even if the clones were weak, few would be capable of damaging them to dispel them. And even if they did, the clone would likely be able to release a deadly area attack before then.
It would completely reverse the situation.
If any transcendant-class wanted to leave, they practically had to guarantee a good relationship with the yokai, otherwise they would be stuck in their territory as a deterrence.
Yasaka's biggest problem was the fact that she could never leave Kyoto, meaning she didn't deter major factions from starting something.
The difference between the supreme and transcendent classes is enormous. A supreme class could deter some people due to their strength, but transcendent classes would actively shift politics just by existing.
Since there are so few people in the transcendent class, it's officially the strongest class, encompassing the strongest, Great Red and Ophis, and the weakest, Michael and Ra. Despite that, the difference between even two transcendent classes means that there are transcendents that are weak enough to be beaten in one hit by the stronger ones.
The more Yasaka thought about its uses, the better the shadow clone jutsu sounded.
Listening carefully to Hajime's instructions, she tuned out everything else to focus on this life-changing technique.
-----
As Hajime moved on from the description of the required chakra flow, he proceeded to a physical demonstration to illustrate how it worked.
Yasaka, an experienced mage, was able to sense how the technique worked when it was activated.
Slowly, she mimicked the technique as much as she could.
Unfortunately, even after a few hours of practice, she was unable to create a clone.
Though she did feel it would be possible, given a few more days of practice, Yasaka realized her earlier dreams of using it were based on what she'd seen Naruto do with Kunou.
Since he learned it in seconds thanks to the scroll of seals, she assumed it would be trivial to learn.
Now, though, she remembered that this was a technique from another world, meaning that she was learning a new branch of magic and starting from one of the most complex spells possible.
Still, that didn't deter her.
Yasaka knew she'd get it in a matter of time, so all that was left was to practice.
Kunou was doing worse.
Though she was paying more attention now than she ever did in her education sessions, she wasn't experienced enough in magic to understand the intricacies of the technique, like Yasaka could.
Hajime helped her, step by step, but by the end of their training session, she felt defeated.
Seeing this, Hajime and Yasaka decided to treat Kunou to some sweets.
Sitting disguised in an ice cream shop, Kunou was enjoying her ice cream, while the two of them each had their own.
As they ate, they talked about Naruto and what jutsus he knew and would teach them.
Hajime, though he had access to a large amount thanks to Jiraiya's importance to Konoha, didn't plan to teach them everything, at least, not in person.
The only jutsu he was guaranteed to teach them personally was the shadow clone, but after that, he planned to leave a clone to teach them whatever they wanted while he worked on other things.
If they wanted, he could teach them dozens of jutsus, including the rare and forbidden ones.
The ones he planned to focus on first were the body replacement, clone, transformation, and mystical palm techniques. Mystical palm, though more complicated, was undeniably one of the most useful techniques Yasaka could have.
Her large reserves would mean she could heal anyone given enough time, and without worrying, she'd need to stop.
Though some injuries were untreatable by the jutsu, most were, and that was enough.
Even just using the jutsu to heal muscle damage and speed up physical training was a good use for it.
Aside from that, he'd probably give them a list of his jutsu and let them pick what they wanted to learn.
Eventually, since it was getting late, the trio went back home, with Yasaka and Kunou dropping Hajime off at his place.
Over the next few days, Yasaka spent whatever time she could, training the shadow clone jutsu before she finally created a wonky-looking clone four days later.
It wasn't perfect, and after leaving alone for a minute, she only got a fraction of the memories, but it was an incredible feeling.
She was confident that in a few more days, paperwork would no longer be an issue.
__________
Author's Note:
Thanks for reading; I'll see you next time!