Clone Technique

Clone Technique

Konoha, August, Year 60. Ninja Apartment.

"I can feel it! Chakra!"

Lin Ke, a transmigrator barely seven years old, leaped off the bed in wild delight.

Seven years had passed since he transmigrated here. Did anyone know how he had spent those seven years? His mother had been caught in the midst of a war while pregnant with him, suffering severe injuries during a mission and nearly miscarrying. He had been frail and sickly from birth. Thankfully, Medical Ninjutsu was miraculous enough to preserve his little life.

His mother died of old injuries when he was two. At three—three years old, when he had only just learned to run, jump, sing, and rap—his father had made the little boy train his body diligently every day. He was exhausted to the point of collapse every day, yet after returning home, he still had to force himself to memorize and learn all knowledge related to ninjas.

Compared to the happy childhood he had enjoyed on Earth in his previous life, it had simply been hell! Yet that painful life had not lasted long. Just two years later, when he was five, his father, an Anbu member, died in the line of duty after the Uchiha clan massacre...

He had no time to grieve, because he was already five years old. Born deficient and without any cheat golden finger, let alone becoming invincible, he had not even refined chakra.

Konoha had only one Ninja Academy where one could become a ninja and change their fate. The best qualifications for passing its entrance exam were—

Being of the right age and being able to use ninjutsu—that is, being able to refine chakra and possessing chakra control.

In Chapter 672 of the manga, Might Guy failed his entrance exam in a flashback. Kakashi believed that those who could not use ninjutsu could not enter the Ninja Academy. In the end, Might Guy was admitted as a reserve candidate; the same went for Rock Lee.

That was why his damned old man had trained his young child like a madman.

"Finally... I refined chakra before reaching the final age limit." Feeling the chakra inside him, Lin Ke jumped off the bed and immediately did two backflips on the floor to celebrate.

He could not help being happy. From the age of three until now, he had spent four years training his body desperately just to barely meet the standard for refining chakra. Though he had long given up on the transmigrator dream of "I don't eat beef," he still did not want to live out his life as a mediocrity.

Well, maybe he would not even get a full life. Everyone knew how dangerous the Naruto World was. He might die at the hands of bandits, robbers, rogue ninjas, or people like that at any moment.

There were two ways to become a genin in Konoha. One was the Genin Certification Exam. As long as one could refine chakra and perform the widely circulated Three Body Technique, they could pass the exam. The other was to enter the Ninja Academy and pass its graduation exam.

But those two paths were completely different. Ninja Academy graduates could form three-man teams with their classmates after graduating and would have a jonin or Special Jonin teacher leading them. Those who studied on their own and passed the Genin Certification Exam would...

What was more, entering the Ninja Academy came with extra subsidies, training from chunin teachers, and the chance to learn more advanced ninjutsu from one's squad leader after graduation.

It could be said that in every respect, the Ninja Academy was the equivalent of a top-tier university.

As for self-studied genin?

They did not even count as junior college graduates. At best, they were distance-learning correspondence students.

"Konoha's polarization is way too severe. Either get into a top-tier university, or go for distance learning. They need to pay attention to the lower-tier market, the lower-tier market."

Lin Ke muttered in his head. Who knew whether someone might be eavesdropping? The so-called Ninja Apartment was housing for poor-ass ninjas and ninja orphans. None of its residents were ordinary people. What if someone heard him saying that?

He took a few steps to the desk, pulled open a drawer, took out a large scroll, and spread it across the tabletop.

The contents recorded on it were simple. He had long since memorized them thoroughly. They were merely several ninjutsu.

Namely, the most widely circulated Three Body Technique, the Body Binding Technique, and Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique.

Do not think it was shabby. His cheap father had not known that he would die in an era of peace. This scroll had been a memento left behind before his mother died of illness.

As for ninjas, there were actually extremely complicated things to learn. During those two years of study, he had learned, including but not limited to, basic knowledge about chakra and ninjutsu, how to refine chakra, how to use chakra to strengthen the body, how to perform ninjutsu, techniques for throwing ninja tools, stealth techniques, rope escape techniques, anti-interrogation training...

Note: Chakra refinement techniques varied in quality. Knowing how to do it, being average at it, and being good at it were vastly different things. They required study and cultivation.

That enormous amount of material, enough to terrify even a Hengshui High School student at a glance, was only a very small part of it.

The Ninja Academy also taught astronomy—people in the Naruto World knew about planets—geography, physics, chemistry, biology, tactics, formations, combat drills, teamwork, and more.

Lin Ke looked at the contents of the scroll with a complicated expression, silently reviewed them once more, then opened his eyes.

Ram—Snake—Tiger.

He formed the hand seals quickly and with full concentration, attempting for the first time the simplest of the Three Body Technique: the Clone Technique.

"..."

Nothing happened, but chakra had been consumed.

"Did I fail?" Lin Ke sighed. Sure enough, he was no genius. Performing—

Thud!

"?"

His right hand pressed down on the scroll as he wanted to take another look. His right arm relaxed and dropped instinctively, and then he discovered that his arm had fallen onto the floor.

What the fuck! Lin Ke's mind was full of question marks and panic as he bent down to pick up his arm.

Thud! Thud!

Well, that settled it. No need to panic anymore.

He was probably dreaming, or else he needed to find a Time Machine.

Because his head had fallen off too, bouncing once before rolling into the corner.

"???"

Lin Ke watched his headless body bend down and pick up the left arm on the floor. Most horrifying of all, the left hand even clenched and unclenched.

The severed part was smooth and rounded, as though it had been born that way. It looked somewhat like the flesh-colored paw of a certain robotic tanuki.

After a brief bout of mental chaos, years of ninja training allowed him to calm down quickly. He soon discovered that both his body and arms were still under his control, whether they were separated limbs, his torso, or the head lying on the floor.

If he wanted to reattach them—

He controlled his body to stand upright—because staying bent over was tiring—then brought his arm to the smooth gap at his shoulder.

Pop~

It reattached perfectly, without any problem at all!

Lin Ke moved the arm that had returned to its normal place, intending to walk over and pick up his head—

Thud!

His headless body tripped and fell sideways, his fingertips stabbing hard into the floor. "Hiss~" The pain made him bare his teeth and suck in a sharp breath.

All right, controlling his separated body was still somewhat difficult. Mainly because the direction his head was looking in differed from the direction he was actually walking. What should have been a simple walk forward became his left foot veering slightly right and his right foot veering slightly left under his control, so he gloriously fell over.