Clone Technique

After a brief pause, Tomohisa Ishikawa smiled and continued, "I'll teach you a ninjutsu."

"Teacher Tomohisa, are you serious?"

"Yes! We finally get to learn ninjutsu!"

"Teacher Tomohisa, what ninjutsu is it?"

The moment Tomohisa Ishikawa finished speaking, the entire class instantly became noisy. Veigar, too, looked up at Tomohisa Ishikawa on the podium with eager eyes.

The most exaggerated of them all was Takayama Keiichi. He stood up again, raised his clenched right fist, pumped it upward excitedly, and shouted, "Teacher Tomohisa, hurry up and teach us! I'll definitely be the fastest in the class to learn it!"

Looking at the noisy classroom that was getting a little out of control, Tomohisa Ishikawa put on a stern face and shouted, "Quiet!"

"And Keiichi, sit down."

His fiery voice instantly silenced the entire class. Takayama Keiichi, whose name had been called directly, was so startled that he quickly sat back down.

Seeing that the classroom had calmed down again, Tomohisa Ishikawa turned to face the blackboard on the podium and wrote three characters.

Wei - Si - Yin.

When Veigar saw those three characters on the blackboard, he realized they were the sequence of Hand Seals. Then he heard Tomohisa Ishikawa say, "The ninjutsu I'll teach you today is called the Clone Technique."

"The Clone Technique is one of the Three Basic Ninjutsu Techniques mentioned in the Book of Ninja. The three characters I wrote on the blackboard are the Hand Seal sequence for the Clone Technique."

"Next, I'll demonstrate it once for everyone. Watch the teacher's Hand Seals carefully."

With that, Tomohisa Ishikawa began demonstrating the Clone Technique, deliberately slowing the Hand Seals to their absolute slowest.

"Wei."

"Si."

"Yin."

"Clone Technique."

"Poof!"

With only three Hand Seals, Tomohisa Ishikawa's demonstration took a full five seconds or so.

After completing the Hand Seals, following Tomohisa Ishikawa's shout, a cloud of smoke suddenly appeared beside him with a "poof," and another Tomohisa Ishikawa, identical to him, appeared on the podium.

The sudden appearance of another Tomohisa Ishikawa immediately drew cries of surprise from the classroom.

"So amazing! There are actually two Teacher Tomohisas!"

"Wow, this ninjutsu is incredible! I have to learn it!"

"If there are two Teacher Tomohisas, does that mean we'll have to do double the homework from now on?"

That came from a student who did not want to do homework.

"Which Teacher Tomohisa is stronger? Will they fight?"

That one was clearly just trying to stir up trouble, as though he could not wait for Tomohisa Ishikawa to fight himself.

Listening to the buzzing noise, three black lines slid down Tomohisa Ishikawa's forehead.

"Takayama Keiichi, come up and demonstrate the Clone Technique the teacher just used for everyone."

Takayama Keiichi, who had been the most lively, was called out by Tomohisa Ishikawa again.

"Yes, Teacher Tomohisa."

However, Takayama Keiichi was not stage-shy at all. Instead, he looked full of confidence as he calmly walked onto the podium.

"Alright, begin. Let the teacher see your Clone Technique."

After canceling the Clone Technique, Tomohisa Ishikawa saw that the class had quieted down and spoke to the confident Takayama Keiichi.

"Teacher Tomohisa, watch closely."

Takayama Keiichi shouted energetically.

"Wei - Si - Yin, Clone Technique."

"Poof."

Takayama Keiichi took just over two seconds to complete the Hand Seals, then shouted once he was done.

However, dreams were beautiful, while reality was cruel. Barely half a second later, booming laughter erupted throughout the classroom.

"Hahaha..."

"Pervert!"

Several female students even flushed red as they muttered curses under their breaths.

It turned out that Takayama Keiichi's Clone Technique had actually stripped the clothes off his body. He stood on the podium almost completely naked.

Takayama Keiichi, who had thought he would surely succeed at using the Clone Technique, now wished he could disappear into the ground. Red-faced, he covered his lower body and quickly hid beneath the teacher's desk.

The laughter in the classroom only grew louder.

Even Tomohisa Ishikawa, standing on the podium, nearly burst out laughing. The slight twitch at the corner of his mouth betrayed what he was feeling.

"Put them on!"

However, as a teacher, Tomohisa Ishikawa still had to maintain his bright, positive image. After picking up the clothes from the floor, he handed them to Takayama Keiichi beneath the lectern.

Before long, Takayama Keiichi, fully dressed once more, returned to his seat amid laughter.

"All right, stop laughing."

"Now, I'll explain the essentials of using the Clone Technique."

With Takayama Keiichi's failure as a warning, everyone listened with rapt attention, afraid of missing any key points Tomohisa Ishikawa was about to mention.

Soon, one class period had passed, and Veigar had gained a thorough understanding of the Clone Technique. Even the parts that were somewhat difficult to grasp had been written down in his notes.

Clones created with Chakra could only be used to confuse a ninja's vision. They had no physical substance and no attack power. Even someone who was not a ninja could easily destroy and disperse them.

"That's all for this lesson. Remember to practice the Clone Technique I taught you today after you go home, and master it as soon as possible."

"All right, class dismissed."

After Tomohisa Ishikawa announced the end of class and left the classroom, Veigar closed his notebook and began preparing for the next lesson.

The day passed quickly, and the Ninja Academy was soon letting out.

After leaving the academy amid the crowd, Veigar headed alone toward the forest.

At the same time, he kept recalling the Clone Technique he had learned in class that day.

After arriving by the river, putting away his catch, and killing all the fish, Veigar did not head straight home as usual. Instead, beneath the fading glow of the sunset, he began practicing the first ninjutsu he had learned—the Clone Technique.

"Goat—Snake—Tiger, Clone Technique."

Bang.

Standing on the riverbank, Veigar practiced the Clone Technique for the first time.

As he formed the Hand Seals, the Chakra within his body was swiftly separated from him. A clone made of Chakra, eighty to ninety percent similar to Veigar, flopped limply onto the ground.

"Failed."

"Again..."

As expected, Veigar, who lacked extraordinary talent, failed during his first attempt at practicing the Clone Technique.

However, all of this was within Veigar's expectations. Knowing that he did not possess exceptional talent, he had already prepared himself to nurture it with sweat and effort.

If once wasn't enough, then twice.

If twice wasn't enough, then three times—countless times...

Effort might not necessarily bring rewards, but without effort, there would definitely be no rewards.

On the riverbank, young Veigar's shadow was stretched long, long by the setting sun.

Failure after failure did not make Veigar shrink back. Instead, each one gave him enough experience for the success that might come the very next moment.

"Clone Technique..."

"Clone Technique..."