B-Rank Ninjutsu: Shadow Clone

Xing Ran felt like giving up. This old woman had a peculiar personality. If it weren't for Hai Yi's strong recommendation, would she even be able to teach anyone well based on how she's acting?

He went through the routine of cultivating his mental strength using Hai Yi's method. The next morning, feeling refreshed, Xing Ran arrived at Grandma Qiu's shop. He didn't have much time to waste here. With the Infinite Tsukuyomi less than ten years away, he had no intention of repeating the "apprenticeship at Shaolin Temple" scenario from his past life, where it took over a decade just to be introduced to the basics by his master.

"No need to be busy today. Take this book and read it. Memorize everything inside as quickly as possible," Grandma Qiu said as soon as Xing Ran entered. Without waiting for him to greet her, she tossed a thick, brick-like book at him.

Is this the dawn after a long night?

Your school charges a lot and you don't learn anything. Xing Ran swallowed the thought back down just in time. With great perceptiveness, he entered "good student mode" and began devouring the book titled Where Are the Magical Herbs?

Speaking of the ninja world's myriad of Summoning Beasts and Ninja Beasts, is there a book called "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them"?

Grandma Qiu created a few Shadow Clones to handle business while her main body reverted to its usual reclined form.

The book documented various herbs, including their habitats, effects, pros and cons, and precautions. Some herbs were accompanied by illustrations, while others only had descriptive text.

This was a reference book, like a dictionary. Grandma Qiu probably wanted to enrich her own knowledge first. Building a solid foundation was like sharpening a knife before chopping wood; Xing Ran understood. It was time to show his true skills.

Swish, swish, swish—

Since the shop had just opened for business, there were no customers yet. The sound of flipping pages was almost comical.

Grandma Qiu sat up from her recliner, her sunken eye sockets glaring, her face a mask of utter disbelief. I can be wrong sometimes too. What is this descendant of that clan? Did he come here for volunteer work for half a month just to have fun?

Xing Ran sensed Grandma Qiu's astonishment. In the midst of his reading, he even had time to wink at her, putting on a face that suggested he never took his studies seriously.

Grandma Qiu was speechless. She rolled her eyes and decided she couldn't be bothered with Xing Ran anymore. She'd just send him away once he finished the book.

Time slowly crept towards noon. Xing Ran had been flipping through the book for nearly three hours. The last customer had left half an hour ago, and there likely wouldn't be any more business. At this point, Xing Ran finally turned the last page of Where Are the Magical Herbs?

He let out a deep sigh, smacked his lips, and felt a pang of regret. Poor underdeveloped child. In the original story, Superman only took five minutes to read all published medical books, mastering knowledge that would take a normal person ten years to learn.

Although his memory was good, his brain's processing power couldn't compare to the original plot. For a book of nearly fifteen hundred pages, he took about ten seconds to memorize each page.

"My learning ability still needs strengthening!" Xing Ran put down the book and let out a mysterious sigh.

Hearing his sigh, Grandma Qiu couldn't even be bothered to roll her eyes. She was about to bid him farewell forever.

Xing Ran could easily guess Grandma Qiu's thoughts. The reason he showed off his rapid reading earlier was to deepen her impression of him as a genius. If he didn't display his potential while learning, Grandma Qiu might not realize his capabilities and treat him like a gifted student stuck in a slow class, where he'd be taught things he already knew repeatedly. This would only be detrimental to him.

Without waiting for Grandma Qiu to dismiss him, Xing Ran began reciting the entire text on his own.

Grandma Qiu's expression was a rollercoaster, shifting from disdain to surprise, then to shock, and finally to contemplation. However, Xing Ran's attempt to impress didn't fully succeed. Thirty minutes after he started reciting the entire text, Grandma Qiu interrupted him.

"You have photographic memory?"

"Something like that."

"It seems you'll learn quickly. That's good. Come with me."

Grandma Qiu's words were always concise. In Xing Ran's opinion, she preferred action over words. Even now, she hadn't explicitly said she would take him as a disciple, but she was already contemplating how to teach him.

He followed Grandma Qiu to the small backyard of the shop, which was where she lived. Ever since Xing Ran gained control of his X-ray vision, he had maintained his moral boundaries and didn't pry into other people's affairs. This was his first time seeing Grandma Qiu's backyard.

The main hall was a small room, with bookshelves filling most of the space. Despite the large house, only a small room remained for sleeping.

Grandma Qiu opened the door to a room on the south side of the courtyard. It was filled with bookshelves—her collection.

"Start with this room today. It all contains beginner-level content to build your knowledge base. When you're finished, you can move on to the next stage of learning." Grandma Qiu likely had no other valuables in her house. After opening the door, she left Xing Ran there and returned to the front hall, to her recliner in the fish shop.

Xing Ran had anticipated having to study many books. After all, when he watched the anime in his past life, Tsunade's room was always filled with bookshelves. He figured learning Medical Ninjutsu wouldn't be easy, but he hadn't expected to have to read so many books at Grandma Qiu's. It was clear that ordinary people couldn't become qualified Medical Ninjas. Only prodigies like Sakura, or those with Kaguya's bloodline like Tsunade, could reach Kage-level status relying solely on Medical Ninjutsu.

Suddenly, Xing Ran had an idea. Instead of immediately diving into intense study, he went back to the fish shop with a fawning smile. Seeing Grandma Qiu seemingly asleep again, he stood by her side, smiling sheepishly without saying a word.

"What is it now?" Grandma Qiu asked, unable to truly sleep with him staring at her like that.

"To learn knowledge faster and better, I want to... learn the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique first."

In the past, when he first awakened his abilities, he had limited skill books, and they were all simple things he learned instantly. Xing Ran never felt the urgent need to accumulate a large amount of knowledge in a short period. But now, it was different. He was here in the ninja world to experience an exciting life, not to be a scholar. With the issue of knowledge acquisition solved, he needed to digest this information quickly so he could have more time for growth in other areas.

However, how could an old woman like Grandma Qiu, who had limited capabilities, perform the extremely chakra-consuming A-rank forbidden jutsu, the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique? Grandma Qiu had only ever used the B-rank Shadow Clone Technique.

The Shadow Clone Technique wasn't too difficult. After spending ten minutes with Grandma Qiu understanding the chakra circulation method for Shadow Clones, Xing Ran returned to the backyard and had already created four clones of himself.

To be continued

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