Jutsu Training, Three in one shot. 1500 words.

Out amongst the trees Coal felt most at home when training new techniques. She'd spent most of her life in Konoha, and the training grounds were still there to remind her of times both better and harder. She grew up in times will relatively less peace, but the lull in action was no reason to go lax on practice. Always the busy bee she'd spent as much time organizing the scrolls as she had researching and developing jutsu of her own. Her creation today was purely her own, and she was curious just how well the new string of techniques she'd developed would pay off well enough.

Preparations were easy enough; the jutsu wasn't a difficult one to cast. It was much like Kage Bunshin, in that it just summoned a clone, but it had some slight, but noticeable differences. After forming a simple hand seal and focusing on it, she conjures not an image of her self, but what looks to be a real live bird. The bird is a roadrunner, which fits in well enough with her own theme, and for all purposes it looks quite genuine. It's covered in tangible feathers, and even manages to chirp out a pair of 'meep meeps' as it looks around. Oddly enough, inside of this bird it was much more than a simple illusion. Like a shadow clone, Coal's own consciousness and will remain fixed inside of the small bird's body. She controls its wings and feet and tail, and in short order manages to take off into the air and fly away.

As coal watches the bird fly off, she does her best to contact it. The numerous seals that appear over her frame are integral in her own physiology and make up. Though many of the seals had been in place on her body from the very beginnings of her life, the altered shape of the bird stopped any of them from maintaining their effect. With none of the seals present, Coal was unable to communicate with the bird, but that was alright. It was still part shadow clone, and if all went well, she wouldn't need too. She watches the bird fly off and prepares for her next jutsu. The single shadow summoned bird flies fast and true, just trying to get as far away as possible, as quickly as it could.

Coal forms a dog seal then a tiger seal, then another bird appears in her hand much as the first had. Like any other shadow clone it simply appears with a small puff of grey smoke, while unlike most shadow clones it is small enough to fit in her hand. The bird is only about seven inches tall, and only a little bit longer. It was big, for a small bird, but tiny compared to hawks, eagles, or even crows. With a casual hop it moves from her hand and lands on the ground. It furls its feathers and rises its crest, then dashes off for the tree line. Coal only smiles with satisfaction.

The bird that had previously taken to flight was one on a mission, and one which was easy enough to accomplish. It was seeking out some empty space, just exploring the area from the sky. When it found what it was looking for, it simply vanished. Like other clones the thing simply pops, and vanishes in a small cloud of smoke. In an instant all the bird had seen was refreshed into coal's mind, as well as the mind of her clone. The land bound sprinter makes a turn for the east and heads for the single tree the scout had found. In short order the purpose of the second clone she made would be much more obvious.

This jutsu she'd made was a three layered deal, depending on how much focus and chakra one wanted to spend on the summoning. Like other shadow clones they had substance and contained chakra, and could be used for many of the purposes normal clones were able. The easiest tier of this new jutsu involved only creating a clone that could fly. It could scout like other shadow clones, and easily enough transfer its acquired memories directly to surviving clones. The second level, however, infused much more chakra into a bird, and well over energized its physical pattern. The thing may seem real enough, but it simply pulses with energy on the inside.

As the speedy little bird finishes its mad dash to the tree the scout had found, it chirps happily. Much like the first bird, its job was over, and the clone was more than happy to be finished with its job. The summoned bird hops onto the tree and a moment later all of its memories return to coal. She can't help but to smile much brighter, the memories arriving just as the cloud of smoke tears out through the landscape. The ensuing explosion created by the exploding clone tore a great gash in the countryside, and even from a distance was a rather thrilling sight to behold. After a few moments the sound of the explosion and a light breeze over took her, the after effects of the moderate blast.

Two jutsu down, and only the most difficult of them all. Coal takes a few moments to compose her self before continuing. The theory behind the last level of this jutsu was something she was still working on, and was testing herself quite eagerly. The multi clone jutsu was not something she had never had her eyes on before, and basing her work off of Hokage from the past, she was able to come up with a weaker approximation that could form the simpler shadow summons much more rapidly than it could a fully complex human clone. Standing on the shoulders of giants helped, but in the end none of it would have been possible without her perfect chakra control.

After calming her mind, she draws forth a large amount of chakra. Two full S ranks of chakra piled into the jutsu, more chakra than any of her other jutsu calls for, and she forces it outside of herself physically. Like a shadow clone she manages to form a great deal of physical chakra, but instead of shaping the chakra into a human, the bulk forms into what looks to be two birds. This transformation is something that's done in the blink of an eye, the speed of the shaping and the force of the physical form suddenly filling in normal space causes the small pop of smoke, however this jutsu is much different from normal clones. Within that pop of smoke, as the misshapen pair of birds are almost formed, the entire jutsu is split in half. The two become four before their split in half again. In the instant of summoning most of the chakra is split over and over until the clone forms as a full flock of birds.

Thirty roadrunners fill the area she'd been standing in, far to many for a region already crowded with trees. Her grin of success shifts to one of discomfort as bird are literately standing on the branches, the ground, and even coal herself in the close confines of the scenery. Two and a half dozen roadrunners suddenly turn the small grove from peaceful, to loud and full of various peeps, cheeps, and meeps. The birds begin scampering too and fro, confused by the great number for a moment, then eventually all managing to get some space to each other. Groups and patches then take for the sky until after a few moments all have flown off.

Thirty birds. Coal smiles quite happily once the birds have all gone. They scurry off in all directions; most sticking to the skies, but some dashing along the ground with more speed than a bird was due. The roadrunner was quite the remarkable animal, a bird that was actually more adept on the ground than in the sky. Coal takes a seat and sighs just a little, now quite drained from the exertion of summoning so many clones. The multitude of birds contained a full half of her chakra supply, and summoning them had been no easy feat.

The thirty birds fly off in all directions, clearing a great amount of distance as they do. Each keeps a sharp eye out on its surroundings, though most sees little more than the thick tree tops, and a few buildings. Regardless, all had a short duration in mind, because this was little more than an experiment. Coal did her best to prepare herself, but most of the clones simply disperse in unison. The memories of each one fill the poor woman’s mind, and over the course of about twenty seconds, her mind suddenly works to process some three hours of total visual input. In an instant the fiery lady is floored, and rendered all but unconscious. Her mind floods with information, and for the next while she'd be left a rather shaken mess, trying to process it all.