A Contest Between Geniuses!

The administrator quietly observed Shinji for a while. Seeing his furrowed brow, he smiled and shook his head. "Hmph, young man, how could a B-rank ninjutsu be so easy to master?"

On Shinji's side.

Though he appeared troubled on the surface, he had already begun trying to gain a deeper understanding of the principles behind the Shadow Clone Technique.

Being able to perform a ninjutsu and thoroughly understanding one.

Were two entirely different concepts!

This was especially apparent with ninjutsu such as the Transformation Technique and Shadow Clone Technique, which placed extraordinary emphasis on details.

If one did not understand a ninjutsu deeply enough, or lacked sufficiently refined Chakra control, then the Shadow Clone Technique they performed could not truly fool perceptive and experienced ninja.

Conversely, if an elite performed the Shadow Clone Technique, even ninja with Dojutsu Kekkei Genkai would find it difficult to distinguish the real body from the clones.

In the original timeline, Naruto had still been able to flaunt his Multiple Shadow Clone Technique before all kinds of powerful Bloodline Ninja with dojutsu during the later war. That was precisely why.

Suddenly.

A set of footsteps echoed through the quiet archives.

Disturbed by the noise, Shinji looked up and discovered that the owner of the footsteps was Sasuke. He had come to borrow a ninjutsu scroll as well.

Sasuke quickly noticed Shinji too.

Their eyes met, and both saw the surprise in the other's gaze.

After glancing from afar at the Shadow Clone Technique scroll on Shinji's table, Sasuke turned to the administrator. "I want to borrow the Shadow Clone Technique."

The administrator looked at Sasuke, then at Shinji. His expression immediately became strange as he handed another Shadow Clone Technique scroll to Sasuke.

Taking the scroll, Sasuke sat at a table not far from Shinji and began reading.

"This guy..."

Shinji was somewhat speechless.

Then he noticed that Sasuke's brow now carried a spark of spirit. He seemed to have emerged from the despair of the Night of the Massacre.

Clearly.

Having mistakenly believed that he was the one who had subdued the Nine-Tails, Sasuke was no longer as listless as before, driven by his desire for revenge.

Shinji suddenly felt that this was not so bad.

But just as he was about to continue studying the Shadow Clone Technique, another set of footsteps sounded in the archives.

This time, Shinji and Sasuke looked up together and found that the newcomer was Neji.

Upon seeing Shinji and Sasuke, Neji was visibly taken aback. Then he walked up to the administrator, pondered for a moment, and said, "I want to borrow the Shadow Clone Technique scroll."

The administrator's expression instantly became delightful. He looked at the three of them, then smiled and handed the Shadow Clone Technique scroll to Neji.

Seeing that Neji had also chosen the Shadow Clone Technique, Sasuke shot him a provocative look, his expression rather unfriendly.

Neji did not yield either. Meeting Sasuke's gaze head-on, he directly found an empty seat and sat down.

"Do you know why I'm learning the Shadow Clone Technique? It's right here in this scroll!"

Shinji became even more speechless.

He was learning the Shadow Clone Technique to prepare for his upcoming plan. He had never expected these two guys to start competing with him the moment they arrived.

Before long, quiet returned to the archives.

However, while Shinji was genuinely studying the Shadow Clone Technique, the others devoted half their attention to watching everyone else.

Whether it was Sasuke or Neji, both occasionally pretended to casually glance at the others, secretly evaluating their progress.

When the archives closed at noon, the three returned their ninjutsu scrolls one after another.

None of them revealed their progress. They all silently left the archives.

Walking last, Shinji grumbled inwardly, There wouldn't have been much attention on me learning the Shadow Clone Technique, but now that these two have gotten involved, who knows how much attention this will draw? Looks like I'll have to "fail" at learning it this time.

Just as he was lost in thought, something suddenly happened ahead.

A Root ninja abruptly appeared and blocked Sasuke's path.

Immediately afterward, an ANBU appeared and helped Sasuke block the Root ninja.

As the two sides faced off, Danzo emerged from one side and strolled over to Sasuke. "I have everything you want here. Join my ranks!"

The ANBU hurried forward. "Lord Danzo, Lord Third has ordered that Sasuke cannot leave the Ninja Academy for the time being."

Danzo's face darkened. Then, as he turned and walked away, he said, "Remember, only I can help you obtain what you desire."

"Same old routine. Doesn't Danzo have any new lines?"

After mocking him inwardly, Shinji glanced at Sasuke.

If Sasuke joined Root, it would not be good news for him. If Danzo got Sasuke, his attention might shift to Shinji.

However, just as he was beginning to worry, Sasuke curled his lip. "With these Sharingan eyes of mine, there's nothing I can't obtain!"

Shinji's face darkened. "All right, my worries were unnecessary."

Neji also felt disgusted and turned his face away.

Not far away.

Danzo, who had left earlier, was now listening to the report of the Root ninja who had departed later.

After hearing it, anger flashed in Danzo's eyes. "Did he really say that?"

"Yes."

The Root ninja nodded.

Danzo muttered, "It seems the one who stole Fugaku Uchiha's Sharingan last time really was that brat!"

The Root ninja asked, "Sir, Sasuke Uchiha has ANBU arranged by Third protecting him at all times. Do we still need to continue monitoring him?"

Danzo said coldly, "Continue monitoring him. We must find out where he hid Fugaku Uchiha's pair of Sharingan. Those Sharingan must be hiding some secret!"

"Understood!"

Over the next few days, Shinji, Sasuke, and Neji came to the archives every day to study the Shadow Clone Technique.

Just as Shinji had predicted, as long as something involved Sasuke now, it immediately drew attention.

Before long, rumors spread throughout the village that the Uchiha family's genius and the Hyuga family's genius were competing to learn an advanced ninjutsu.

Just imagine it: three Ninja Academy students of seven or eight years old competing to see who could first master a B-rank ninjutsu that was supposedly only within the grasp of Jonin.

What an enormous gimmick that was!

Not to mention that it involved the Uchiha and Hyuga, two Dojutsu Bloodline Elite Families, as well as Sasuke Uchiha, Konoha's most celebrated prodigy of late.

Thus, some bored people opened betting pools, wagering on which of the three would be the first to master the B-rank Shadow Clone Technique.

And while everyone was inquiring about the three's progress, Shinji, who had secretly mastered the Shadow Clone Technique long ago and had even practiced it in private for quite some time, decided to begin a new round of action.

In his apartment, he bit his finger and summoned Meiqiu. Then he handed it a piece of paper and instructed, "Do what's written on this!"

The second update is here! Everyone, send over some recommendation votes and monthly votes!