Multiple Shadow Clone Technique

Nearby.

Believing that turning himself in would earn him leniency, Shinki stepped forward. "Sorry, Lord Hokage... I was already trying to control it, but I didn't expect it would still..."

The Third still refused to believe it. His eyes sharpened as he looked at Yamato.

"Yamato, you even taught this child to take the blame for you?!"

Yamato: ヾ(༎ຶД༎ຶ)ﾉ

So no matter what I say, it's my fault?!

The real culprit has already stepped forward, and you still won't believe him, old man.

Don't you know what I'm capable of?

Even if I worked at it for another thirty years, I might not be able to produce even a fifth of this sea of trees!!

"Lord Hokage, it really was me..."

Shinki spoke up in Yamato's defense.

"Yamato-sensei told me to use the technique at full power to test my understanding of Wood Release. I couldn't control my power for a moment, and that's why..."

By now, the Third had begun to reconsider.

A sea of trees this vast... it seemed, appeared, looked like Yamato really wasn't capable of it...

ヽ( ຶ▮ ຶ)ﾉ!!!

No... no way!

It really was Shinki!

By now, the Third was seventy or eighty percent convinced that Shinki was telling the truth.

The shock was so intense that the Third Hokage, who had governed Konoha for decades, felt his breath catch!

What did Shinki just say...?

He had already been trying to control his power, yet he still caused destruction on this scale!

In other words...

This sea of trees that lifted all of Konoha wasn't even Shinki's full power!

This little guy was actually holding back!

No, that doesn't seem to be the most important point!

It's only been about two days since I told Yamato to teach Shinki Wood Release!

In two days, this kid actually learned Lord First's Deep Forest Emergence?!!

And he used it with such tremendous power!!

(ｷ｀ﾟДﾟ´)!!

"Hiss~~~"

The Third Hokage drew a sharp breath.

This child is terrifying!

Having thought of that,

the Third suddenly found himself much less angry, though he didn't know why!

He was even a little happy. What was that about?!

After all, if Yamato and Shinki were telling the truth,

the next God of Shinobi might very well be born in Konoha!

A God of Shinobi who could rival or even surpass the First Hokage!

Still, as an old hand who had governed Konoha for many years, the Third Hokage hid his shock and excitement well, putting on a stern face before Shinki.

"Shinki, do you know how much trouble you've caused?"

Shinki lowered his head, too afraid to say a word.

꒦ິ^꒦ິ

He could already imagine how miserable the coming decades would be in prison!

The Third continued to scold him.

"I already told you last time not to use large-scale destructive Ninjutsu in a village full of people."

"And now look what you've done. You've gone and lifted the whole village!"

"You should be glad that only a few people were grazed by the trees in this incident, and no one died."

"Otherwise, you'd be spending the rest of your life in Konoha's prison!"

Shinki's heart leaped with joy when he heard the Third Hokage's last sentence.

Judging by Lord Hokage's tone, he probably wouldn't have to spend long in prison.

So he quickly replied, "You're right, Lord Hokage. I'll be careful from now on. Ծ ̮Ծ"

The Third rolled his eyes.

"You think there'll be a next time?"

Shinki shrank back.

"No, no! I'll never use Ninjutsu in the village again!"

"All right, hurry up and see if you can think of a solution."

The Third's face was dark as he spoke.

Shinki looked thoughtful.

As he saw it, he could blow up all of Konoha first, then use Wood Release to rebuild the houses.

But if he suggested that, the Third would definitely give him a beating...

Yamato reminded him from the side, "Wood Release creates real trees. Once they've been produced, they can't be taken back."

"The only way now is to mobilize the villagers to cut down these extra trees, then organize the rebuilding..."

"For now, that's all we can do."

Helplessness showed in the Third's eyes.

After saying that, he fixed a grave gaze on Shinki.

"You, don't think this is over. Copy the Ninja Rules ten thousand times!"

Hearing that, Shinki was so excited he nearly laughed out loud.

He had caused so much trouble.

He had thought he was bound to end up in prison, but Lord Hokage had unexpectedly let him off lightly, merely telling him to copy the Ninja Rules a few times—a trivial punishment.

For Shinki, who knew the Clone Technique, nothing could be easier than copying things out.

The Third had probably realized that Shinki would try to slack off, because he continued, "No using clones. Every time I catch you, I'll add another hundred thousand copies! (눈益눈)"

"Okay!"

Shinki nodded solemnly.

The Third Hokage let out a long sigh and waved Shinki away, telling him to go home and sleep.

He did want to have Shinki thrown in prison for a while.

The child had caused him plenty of trouble over the past two days!

But it was only a thought. The Third Hokage was merciful and couldn't bring himself to do it.

After Shinki left, Yamato had a miserable time.

The Third angrily berated him for failing to do his job, scolding him well into the night.

Elsewhere.

Only after Shinki returned to Naruto's home did he discover that his Deep Forest Emergence had lifted it up too.

The little house sat atop a tree canopy, and Naruto was nowhere to be found.

Only now did Shinki fully realize how much trouble he had caused this time.

Shinki did have some sense of responsibility.

When he thought about how his mistake had left the village in this state,

he decided to do something to make up for his mistake.

Shinki's gaze grew resolute as he formed hand seals.

"Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!"

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."

Shinki sent out over a thousand Shadow Clones to help Konoha with its post-disaster reconstruction.

Elsewhere.

The Third Hokage, who was furiously scolding Yamato, saw a Shinki clone passing by, and his eyes filled with relief.

It seemed he hadn't misjudged him.

Shinki really was worth nurturing!

All the attention he'd given him hadn't been for nothing!

"This child really has a promising future."

Yamato spoke from the heart.

"Cut the nonsense and hurry up and help with the reconstruction!"

The Third Hokage kicked Yamato in irritation.

Yamato made a quick getaway.

The next day.

All of Konoha was actively working on post-disaster reconstruction.

The Ninja Academy had been destroyed by the giant trees, and with final exams approaching, the students couldn't stop attending classes.

So the teachers moved the classes to an open area in Konoha.

The students on the grass were all talking.

"I wonder what happened. All these trees suddenly sprang up in Konoha," Sakura said.

"My guess is that a ninja with Kage Level strength used a Wood Release Ninjutsu!" Shikamaru said.

"Come on. Ever since the First Hokage died, there hasn't been anyone in Konoha who's inherited the Wood Release Kekkei Genkai for years, much less someone who can use Wood Release at Kage Level."

Kiba Inuzuka said.

(Ordinary students didn't know of the Anbu member Yamato's existence.)

Passing Ninja said, "No one has inherited Wood Release? You only think that because you aren't qualified to access information at that level yet."

"Wood Release is so powerful that the village wouldn't give up on it easily."

"I heard that years ago, before Orochimaru defected from the village, he secretly organized experiments on Lord First's cells... The person who used Wood Release this time is very likely a test subject Orochimaru created!"

Hearing the other students' wild speculation, Shinki noticed something unusual.

Wood Release was a Kekkei Genkai that only the First Hokage possessed, so why could he use it?

Shinki searched through all of the original owner's memories but found nothing related to it. He couldn't help growing suspicious of his own identity.

He had thought he had merely transmigrated into an ordinary weakling ninja, but it seemed this ninja possessed an extraordinary bloodline?!

The students were in the middle of an intense discussion.

Iruka-sensei came over carrying a stack of test papers and called out, "All right, everyone, stop talking for now. We're having a test today."

"Another test?"

The students immediately wilted like frostbitten eggplants.