Clone Cheat

"Shadow Clone #1, go practice Water Release and catch some fish while you're at it."

"Main body, why should I be the one to catch fish?"

Shadow Clone #1 had quite the personality, directly protesting the arrangements made by Umino Sasuke, its main body.

Umino Sasuke immediately retorted, "Then, do you have a stronger metabolism than me for the food you consume?"

Shadow Clone #1 was rendered speechless. Possessing the same memories, it naturally knew that, just like Uzumaki Naruto's shadow clones, it could eat food and use the restroom. However, the food it consumed only provided a sense of fullness and could at most restore a little stamina. It was difficult to completely replace the main body's advantage in flesh and blood digestion.

Let alone shadow clones, even wood clones couldn't replace the main body's advantage in flesh and blood.

"Hmph!" Shadow Clone #1 snorted coldly. It knew the main body had a point, so it could only go practice Water Release and catch some fish.

"Finally, I've learned the Shadow Clone Technique. I can use it to boost my training."

Umino Sasuke's heart surged with emotion, feeling that the Shadow Clone Technique was incredibly useful. Not only could it be used to detect traps and gather intelligence, but it also provided extra helpers, making it excellent for combat coordination and handling various chores.

More importantly, it allowed for the accumulation of memories and training experience, boosting training.

If one had enough Chakra and a strong enough constitution, they could release a large number of shadow clones and train like Uzumaki Naruto, essentially cheating.

"Main body, you're still eating? Hurry up and deal with these fish on the shore, or they won't be as delicious when they die."

Shadow Clone #1 tossed nearly a hundred pounds of freshwater fish, bound in a Water Prison, onto the shore. Seeing the main body leisurely eating dried fish jerky, it felt indignant, like a workhorse rather than a shadow clone.

Umino Sasuke had just finished eating a large amount of dried fish, and the Chakra consumed within his body quickly recovered.

"Shadow Clone Technique."

Umino Sasuke immediately formed hand seals and released another shadow clone.

"Shadow Clone #2, practice your swordsmanship and deal with this catch while you're at it."

Umino Sasuke unbuckled the Fish-Cutting Sword from his waist and tossed it to Shadow Clone #2. At the same time, he took out a small barrel of salt from a Sealing Scroll.

"Yes, main body."

Shadow Clone #2 had an extremely cold personality and didn't say much. It took the Fish-Cutting Sword and immediately began practicing swordsmanship.

Under flashes of sword light, the freshwater fish were cleaned and processed, and the fish meat was salted and cured to make salted dried fish jerky.

"Whoa, another workhorse."

Shadow Clone #1 felt much more balanced upon seeing a new companion assigned the task of gutting and smoking fish.

"Continue!"

After eating another ten-odd pounds of salted dried fish jerky, Umino Sasuke, who had been feeling a bit weak, felt revitalized and released another shadow clone.

In the next few minutes, after consuming a large amount of food, he successively released several more shadow clones, reaching a total of nine.

It wasn't that he couldn't release more shadow clones; he was considering the fatigue impact from the memories and experience gained upon the dissolution of the shadow clones, which he assumed would be significant. Otherwise, the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique wouldn't be a Forbidden Jutsu.

He was self-aware. He wasn't like the carefree Uzumaki Naruto, who had a special physique and was a Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. Nine shadow clones were likely close to the limit of what an ordinary person could endure.

Of course, with increased use and proficiency in the Shadow Clone Technique, along with future increases in Chakra, he should be able to create more shadow clones. Thousands like Uzumaki Naruto were unimaginable, but reaching a hundred should be achievable.

If he could make breakthroughs in core technology in the future, perhaps he could create a high-tech helmet that could shield against the fatigue impact of dissolving shadow clones. Then, even dissolving tens of thousands of shadow clones simultaneously would be bearable.

With nine shadow clones now, he could resume intensive training in multiple areas such as the Three Basic Jutsu, Tool Manipulation, hand seal speed, and Chakra control.

Of course, the shadow clones' primary training now focused on three Water Release Ninjutsu and various shape transformations of Water Release.

The main body, on the other hand, was primarily responsible for digesting food, replenishing Chakra and stamina, and practicing Taijutsu.

"As expected of dietary therapy, this is much better than Nara Secret Medicine."

Although Umino Sasuke hadn't extracted his own cells for comparative research in a laboratory, the subtle sensations he felt throughout his body told him that all his cells were approaching saturation, and their activity was slowly increasing.

This meant that the physical depletion caused by years of excessive training with Soldier Pills had been largely replenished, and his cells were now in a saturated state, showing a tendency for further development.

With the nourishment from the energy of large amounts of food, the activity of all his organ cells would inevitably increase in the future, and his physical strength would continuously grow.

"Fortunately, I'm in the Land of Rivers. The rivers here have an inexhaustible supply of aquatic products. If I were in Konohagakure, even if my body could handle this training method, my wallet might not."

He hadn't realized it until he calculated.

In just one hour of training, he had consumed nearly fifty pounds of fish. A bowl of ramen in Konohagakure cost nearly a hundred Ryo. Fish, being a precious meat, would only be more expensive. Even if we assume a price of one hundred Ryo per pound, fifty pounds of fish would cost five thousand Ryo.

If he trained for ten hours a day, that would be fifty thousand Ryo per day, or 1.5 million Ryo per month.

"Hiss..."

Umino Sasuke gasped.

This was far too expensive!

A C-rank mission only yielded ten thousand to fifty thousand Ryo. His patrol duty on the front lines for one cycle of ten days, equivalent to one C-rank mission, would earn him over twenty thousand Ryo as the captain taking the larger share.

Three C-rank missions in a month would bring in sixty thousand Ryo, and seventy-two thousand Ryo annually.

Earning seven hundred and twenty thousand Ryo a year, he was considered high-income, enough to buy a house in Konohagakure.

However, in comparison, the money earned from risking his life for a year wasn't even enough for half a month's food expenses. This was a sobering thought.

No wonder those fat Akimichi clan members, despite their considerable strength, good relationships, and many allies, weren't very high-profile and were quietly accumulating wealth. It seemed their strength was built on money.

If he hadn't mastered the Infrasonic Radar Technique, allowing him to obtain vast amounts of fish at almost no cost, this training method would surely be unsustainable. He would go bankrupt after half a month of training.

"However, eating only fish for extended periods won't do. I still need to supplement with plenty of carbohydrates and vegetables, otherwise, my nutrition will be unbalanced and my body will definitely have problems."

Vegetables are manageable. In these desolate mountains and wild lands, wild vegetables are everywhere. As long as I create a Shadow Clone, I can easily take care of that. But when it comes to getting carbohydrates, it's a bit difficult.

Spending money to buy food is out of the question; I'd rather die. The price of food at the front lines is outrageously high, only double that of Konohagakure. That's a testament to the merchants who don't value the lives of Traveling Merchants, and it also ignores the difficulties and hardships of escorting supplies to the front lines.

"Forget it. At worst, I'll use Sealing Scrolls to carry some smoked dried fish and trade them for food."

During the Ninja Wars, food was a hard currency. I'm sure these smoked dried fish will fetch a good price at the front lines.

Thinking this, Umino Sasuke's eyes immediately lit up. He quickly realized this was a good idea for wealth management, so he immediately ordered the six Shadow Clones practicing Water Release to catch all the fish in the river while they were training.

The main idea is to practice what is called "fishing the pond dry."