(May, year 53 AK)
During the first month of the second year Yuta finally was able to learn the three basic academy jutsu: Clone, Substitution and Transformation. At the start of the new academy year Mamoru explained in detail each of the three jutsu and demonstrated it.
Although Yuta was only familiar with genjutsu by that point, and the three ninjutsu was quite different in terms of the steps requirements during building up chakra and molding it during each hand seal, but still, having a good amount of experience with performing jutsu in general, Yuta was managed to learn them on his first day without much problem.
Later that day when he went to train after the academy, although with some struggle, he performed each jutsu a few times.
'As I expected, the Clone jutsu is the easiest one for me to perform, as it didn't have any tangible impact on the world, it's just an illusion. Now I see why Shisui said that this jutsu could be categorized as genjutsu as well as ninjutsu, it has many similar aspects to it.' Yuta analyzed.
'After some practice I would be able to quickly get proficient in it, it requires a little chakra and relies heavily on the precise visualization and chakra control, almost identical to genjutsu, except it didn't require to affect anyone's chakra network, the illusion is created in place and not in someone's mind.'
'It has an advantage over the regular genjutsu in this aspect, as it will be visible to everyone's present, and can't be dispelled normally like a regular genjutsu. But it also has a downside compared to a regular genjutsu – while regular genjutsu could create similar illusion inside someone's mind, it also could integrate that illusion into person's senses seamlessly, unlike Clone jutsu that could be discovered as an illusion because it has no mass and it didn't stomp the grass or leave tracks of its presence.'
"Still, it could be quite useful." Yuta said thoughtfully and continued his analysis, 'Shisui had integrated Clone jutsu into his signature jutsu with Shunshin(Body flicker), so it definitely has a good potential.'
'Although this jutsu was mainly being used in the anime by Sakura, and only at the beginning of the series as far as I remember. Now that I think about how she used those clones, and later on when she became Tsunade's student, was she really that useless as I thought of her before? More likely she was just unlucky to end up on the team with two monsters and was compared to them all the time.'
...
'Damn, now that I put the anime events into perspective of my current self, with my current real-life experiences with all the shinobi stuff, those two really are monsters, aren't they?'
'Sasuke, for example, went all the way from a normal fresh Genin after the academy with some extra techniques like perfect shurikenjutsu and Fireball jutsu, to the level of Jonin, most likely, just in a few months. And all it took is one near-death mission when he fought Haku, and one month of intense training by Kakashi when he learned Chidori and managed to get to the level of speed previously displayed by Rock Lee after he dropped his leg weights...'
...
'This is crazy... Rock Lee probably spent many years of borderline insane training to get to that level of speed, and Sasuke done it in just one month...'
"Monsters..." Yuta mumbled, feeling pressured.
...
'To hell with them! I'm not inferior to any of them with my Time Control ability. I already have theoretically infinite amount of time to train and to master all sorts of jutsu, and I'm also nearly immortal with it as well, I don't need to be a genius or to have excellent talent, with my special ability I can achieve everything by myself, with my own efforts.'
After reaffirming his beliefs after being pressured due to him comparing himself to Naruto and Sasuke, Yuta returned to analyzing the other two jutsu.
'Substitution and Transformation. Both jutsu are much harder for me than the Clone jutsu due to them being quite different in nature from the genjutsu in general.'
'Substitution is a basic lifesaving jutsu, but it requires to go through a series of hand seals and to concentrate on the chakra molding steps, it can't be performed at the moment's notice. To use it in combat, I have to start performing Substitution jutsu way before I will be hit, meaning I have to predict the exact moment I will be hit and start performing the Substitution jutsu before that, precisely calculating the time.'
'Also, the hand seals is a dead giveaway of Substitution jutsu, the enemy could recognize the hand seals and start paying close attention to the following movements, tracking my next position...'
'Yea, learning the jutsu is one thing, but to use it in combat efficiently is a different matter altogether.'
...
'If I remember correctly, this jutsu was often being used by more experienced shinobi without any hand seals... If I could do that too, it would be a game changer for this jutsu, as of now it only could be used if the enemy's attention is distracted at the moment of me performing the Substitution jutsu, as it might be pointless otherwise.'
'The jutsu involves fast switching of places with an object and creating a brief illusion over the object so it would be seem as me for a split second, diverting the enemy's attack from me to the object that looks like me, while I will be moving at a fast speed to a different place.'
'Normally it would be hard to accomplish this sequence of actions, but the jutsu itself make it possible and does most of the hard work, creating a substitution on my previous location and allowing me to quickly appear at the different location, switching places with some object, mainly a log since we are living in the forest. This quick movement could be seen through even by less experienced shinobi though, so the diversion is necessary for it to go smoothly.'
...
'Transformation jutsu. It allows me to change my physical form for a period of time. It requires precise visualization and chakra control, in these aspects it's quite similar to a genjutsu, but on that the similarities end. The change of form itself is not an illusion, it's quite real. The jutsu somehow allows me to change my form into something else, I could even become taller or shorter, or even become an inanimate object, this is quite mind boggling.'
'Although, the change is only temporary and could be easily dispelled if I'm to be hit or distracted. And the more severe the change is, the more difficult it is to perform and maintain the Transformation jutsu. It's mainly used as a disguise for reconnaissance.'
'The interesting part of this jutsu is that it could allow me to change mass, as well as to add some attributes like hardness or sharpness to my body if I'm to be transformed into something like a kunai. Although, maintaining such attributes would be hard, especially when my transformed into a kunai body would hit a target. With any hit or pressure, the transformation could be undone.'
...
'And they say Naruto is dumb, huh, he managed to come up with some good usage of this clearly non-combat type jutsu in the middle of the fight with Zabuza, and he used it multiple times in combat after that as well. Well, he might be dumb most of the time, but his creativity in combat is quite impressive, I should learn from that.'
...
After Yuta practiced for a while with the three basic academy jutsu, he decided to focus on his genjutsu for the time being.
For his first original technique, Yuta wanted to create a genjutsu, that would allow him to divert the enemy's attention at the very least, or make the enemy ignore his existence entirely, if that would be possible.
As for why he wanted to start with such genjutsu, it's all because he needs to have means to keep the enemy away from him and to not let the enemy to engage in a taijutsu fight against him, as taijutsu remains Yuta's main weakness.
Right now, Yuta's best shot against any enemy would be Hell Viewing genjutsu, but if the enemy would be able to resist and dispel it, then it's all over for him at that point. Sly Mind and Interrogation is not combat oriented genjutsu, and the academy three jutsu is still new to Yuta, and he is not ready to use them in combat at all.
Sure, he could throw a shuriken or a kunai, and even be precise with that, but without much speed and strength behind that throw it won't be very useful in combat as long as enemy is paying attention to him.
And although the three basic academy jutsu could be quite useful in combat, they are very situational and demand a clever and timely usage to be effective, so if the situation when Yuta could use them is never presented itself, then it would be the same as not having those jutsu at all.
'I'll master these three academy jutsu eventually, but it is not on my priorities list for now. I should master them and learn how to cleverly use them in combat, sure, but they won't make me much stronger, only more versatile, but if I focus on genjutsu then it would be a different thing altogether.'
...
'Genjutsu for the win!' Yuta thought half-jokingly and resumed his training.
--- AN ---
Don't expect me to explain where the logs for Substitution jutsu are coming from, I'm not stepping on that minefield. Even Kishimoto dodged that bullet, he was onto something I tell you.
Thanks to Loalola, Krishna_Razz, LLI, Hastyar_Hyper, waltersaaron16 and ParadoX691 for the power stones.
Next chapter will be posted 48 hours after this one.