When Shadow Clones Gained Consciousness

Night.

A group of people warmed themselves by a fire inside a cave blasted out by force.

Chiba had blocked the cave entrance with rocks to keep the cold wind out. He had left a small gap, though, to make sure they had enough air.

"...You have to remember, you weren't possessed by a demon. Your Take Over Magic awakened, and you absorbed that demon. You just couldn't control its power, so your arm turned demonic."

Sitting by the campfire, Chiba explained this to Mira.

"If the old man were here, he'd definitely be able to solve your problem."

Beside him, Mira gently held out her demonic arm and murmured, "Really...?"

"Would I lie to you?"

"I..."

"Go to sleep. We still have to travel tomorrow." Chiba had already laid out the bedding where the tent was.

"Mm..."

Mira took her younger brother and sister to sleep on the bedding.

Chiba wrapped himself in a blanket, leaned against the wall, and casually closed his eyes.

But once Chiba's breathing became steady, Mira quietly sat down beside the campfire.

She held out her right hand, then brought it close to the flames.

Her demonic arm gave off a faint sizzling sound as the flames burned it. The girl's delicate brows knitted tightly, and pain appeared on her pretty face, but she still didn't pull her hand back.

If it weren't for this hand, if it weren't for the demon...

I don't want a demon's power... I just want to live happily with my brother and sister...

But the faint sound woke Chiba. When he saw that Mira was trying to destroy her right hand this way, he immediately yanked it out of the flames.

"I..." Mira froze as tears slowly streamed down her face.

"Idiot." Chiba gently pulled her into his arms. "Why would you do something so foolish?"

"I... I don't want... to be like this... Even I hate this hand. You... you won't like it..." she sobbed, her eyes blurred with tears.

"That's not true! No matter what you become, Mira, I'll always love you!"

Lisanna rushed over and threw her arms tightly around Mira.

"Me too. You're not a demon, sis. You're human. No matter what you become, you'll always be my sister," Elfman said, clenching his fists.

"You two..."

"See? No one's going to hate you over something like this." Chiba smiled faintly. "I'll take you to a mages' guild and find a professional mage to teach you Take Over Magic, so you can control that power freely. So... don't do anything this brain-dead again. A perfectly fine young woman, but your brain doesn't work... honestly..."

"You!" Mira laughed through her tears, then gave him a light punch and pouted. "Then... it's a promise. You'll take me to a mages' guild when the time comes..."

"Yeah!"

A few days later.

The snow had stopped. Though the sky was still overcast, it was much better than a heavy snowfall. Without the biting wind, traveling was much easier.

For the past few days, they had been heading toward the nearest town. With the heavy snow, there were no wild animals or anything else they could eat, so they had been living on the dry rations in their packs. Though... Chiba was so sick of them he was about to throw up.

They walked along a mountain path, surrounded on all sides by mountains and a dazzling expanse of white snow. This place rarely saw visitors to begin with.

But according to what Chiba had seen on the map, monsters appeared frequently in this area.

"Rustle..."

The faint sound caught Chiba's attention.

"Rustle, rustle..."

The sound grew more frequent.

There was no wind at all right now, so there shouldn't have been any other sounds apart from their footsteps in the snow. Unless...

There are other creatures here...

"Everyone, be careful. Something's moving!" Chiba said in a low voice.

The three of them froze for a moment, then stopped.

Chiba slowly drew Winter Water, a Ninja Blade like cold water, and gripped it tightly.

"Awooo!"

A wolf's howl suddenly rang out, followed by howls from every direction, rising and falling in succession.

Then snow-white wolves emerged all around them, every one of them baring a vicious expression, their animal eyes filled with savagery and greed.

Chiba's expression turned grim. His weakness was showing itself now. Although he possessed Chakra, the Sharingan, and several Ninjutsu techniques, he was already a very competent ninja when it came to direct combat.

But when it came to stealth, assassination, and awareness of his surroundings, he was truly hopeless. So many snow wolves had surrounded them, and he hadn't noticed a thing.

"Shadow Clone Technique!"

He immediately used the Shadow Clone Technique in serious mode, creating nine Shadow Clones. Chiba tossed each of them two Kunai to use as weapons.

"Um... I want the one in your hand."

One of the Shadow Clones pointed at Winter Water in the original's hand.

Chiba was utterly dumbfounded.

Fuck, why are my Shadow Clones just like Naruto's?

He knew Shadow Clones had independent minds of their own, but... weren't Naruto's the only ones in the original story who were this cheeky?

The other Shadow Clones joined in. "Yeah, why do we get these short little things while you get the long one? That's not fair!"

Chiba nearly coughed up blood. "I've only got one, and there are nine of you, guys!"

"Kid, you might be the original, but there are enough of us Shadow Clones that we're not afraid of you."

One of the Shadow Clones spoke with an extremely arrogant air.

Chiba: "..."

What the fuck have I created?

"Cut the fucking crap! Those beasts are coming, so get out there!"

He kicked that Shadow Clone in the ass, sending him stumbling forward.

"Fuck! Brothers, chop these beasts to death!"

The Shadow Clones scattered around Mira and the others, Kunai gripped tightly in their hands, just like a bunch of Chiba's sons.

The snow wolves roared and charged, clashing with the Shadow Clones.

Mira and the others huddled together, their faces somewhat pale, not daring to make a rash move.

"Squelch!"

After killing a snow wolf with one stroke of his blade, Chiba looked at the endless stream of wolves and felt a slight chill in his heart.

He had already killed more than a dozen, but the wolves seemed endless.

The Shadow Clones were still fighting bravely.

Now that these Shadow Clones had minds of their own, Chiba felt like the captain of some ninja squad, leading his teammates down the road to their annihilation.

"Oh, boss, I'm done for!"

A snow wolf's claws pierced one Shadow Clone's body, and he immediately vanished.

"Brother, see you in the next life! I... urgh... fuck..."

Before the drama queen of a Shadow Clone could finish speaking, a wolf twisted his head off.

Chiba: "..."

He couldn't blame them. The enemy was simply too fierce.

Seeing the Shadow Clones being taken out, Chiba gritted his teeth and formed the hand seal for Ren again.

"Shadow Clone Technique!"

"Poof, poof, poof, poof..."

After a series of sounds, another nine Shadow Clones identical to Chiba appeared around him.

One Shadow Clone looked bewildered at first, then realized what was happening.

"Oh, shit, wasn't it supposed to be halftime? Why the hell am I out again?"