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"Hey, Noburi."
He jumped and stared exaggeratedly at Hazō. "Oh god. Last time you used that tone, you made me
kill a poor squirrel for science. That thing had family, Hazō!" The science hadn't worked, of course.
"In my defence, it attacked us," It had, but he responded before thinking.
They both winced. Before, that joke might have flown fine.
He went over what he was about to say in his head one more time before moving on. Can't stop to think about it right now. "Anyway: Do you know if the Wakahisa ever tried to quantify chakra?"
Noburi spoke through his thoughts, "Well… maybe? I'm not sure -- I can tell chakra levels on a relative basis as it is just by draining someone, so I haven't seen much need for it."
"I was considering that it might be possible to determine exactly how much chakra techniques use. If they always use about the same amount, then we could develop a standard like number-of-clones or something like that so that we could determine exactly how much chakra we have and better optimize combat efficacy -- I mean, imagine what Kei could do if she knew exactly how much chakra we all have and how much it takes to use our techniques?"
They both paused for a moment, before mutually shuddering at the thought. "...Still probably worth trying."
---
Shikaku stared at the two shinobi in front of him, one eyebrow quirked just slightly, but did not speak. He'd worked long and hard on that expression -- just quizzical enough to express 'Why should I use my time with you?', just patronly enough to say 'I care for what you say even if it is a poor use of my time'. Perfect to optimize for the amount of time subordinates take to express what they need to -- even the shy and nervous would strive to please.
They stirred uncomfortably.
Body language was something Shikaku had learned through long, tiring effort to use effectively -- for non-Nara it was among the only ways to get across the subtleties of language. Although -- the Kurosawa had been publicly -- for anyone of his position, at least -- expressing interest in learning their sign language. Were it not that Jiraiya had sunk his claws so deeply into the child, Shikaku would have been glad to welcome such a creative, open mind into his clan just as well as his teammate.
Wakahisa cleared his throat -- interesting, it seemed that he would be taking the lead in their present endeavour -- and spoke, "Sir, we're here to make a formal request of you in your capacity as Jounin Commander to provide us with documentation regarding the use of the following techniques by enemy -- and allied, though we understand reticence in that regard -- ninja." He slid a piece of paper over, briefly showing both sides.
It was a pity that these young ninja showed him more respect in letting him see the sheet was not sealed than many of his clan did.
His eyes ran over it. Yes, most of the techniques they knew, several others added in to try to throw him off. It seemed they were experimenting on chakra quantification. To his knowledge, the Wakahisa hadn't experimented as thoroughly as they intended to on it before, so he would be curious to know the results.
"Alright, I'll give you what you want under the condition that you share the results with me before anyone outside of your clan." He paused, eyes sliding to Kurosawa. "Or those that may be part of it in the near future."
---
"So as you can see, Hazō can use ten Transformations before he passes out from chakra exhaustion." Noburi nudged his teammate's body, passing over a vial of his water to Akane to administer. She did so as he continued talking, leaving Hazō to sputter as he stirred blearily.
"We've done other experiments too -- it seems techniques use close enough to the same amount of chakra every time a person uses them, and while not exactly the same amount person to person, close enough to make proper estimations of chakra pool size. For instance, he can also use the basic Clone technique twenty times, whereas I can do so well over a hundred. This indicates that Clone uses about half as much chakra as Transformation."
Akane helped Hazō up and as Noburi glanced at her, "I served as an intermediary between them and the data you provided, stripping the individuals they investigated of their name and assumed-rank."
Shikaku was not afraid to admit he was impressed at their thoroughness. Not many thought to eliminate their own bias as a factor from research they did.
Keiko chimed in, "We were able create a standard for measuring chakra, which we called Chakra Points. Using the mathematical techniques of yo -- our clan, I was able to collate the data they gathered, and determine the approximate amount of chakra each enemy combatant had.
With this data and our own experimentation were able to determine how much 'CP' it cost to boost one's capabilities. We have determined that an absolute beginner at a technique or skill may boost it 'once' for five CP. It proceeds linearly from there -- as someone gets better at a skill or technique, they are able to boost it further for an additional five CP for every 'level' of boost. With this, we have been able to quantify skill levels relative to the amount of chakra it takes to boost, and in comparing this to combat effectiveness," Both of the boys winced slightly, "I have determined that it is governed by this formula:"
She slid across a piece of paper with a line of elegant writing.
(your luck - their luck) / (your skill + their skill)^0.65
