Projection Magic Shows Its Might

The next day was the first day of school.

Early in the morning, Natsuki went to register for Third Grade Class A.

After greeting Uzumaki Kushina, he went to find Orochimaru.

"Sensei, I want to learn the Shadow Clone Jutsu."

Natsuki got straight to the point.

"Very well."

Orochimaru nodded slightly. "After learning the Shadow Clone Jutsu, you'll have more time to train."

"Thank you, Sensei."

Natsuki had thought he would need to spend quite some time persuading him, but Orochimaru agreed right away.

"Nawaki, you'll learn it as well."

After a brief moment of thought, Orochimaru spoke.

"I've wanted to learn the Shadow Clone Jutsu for ages!"

Nawaki perked up and said excitedly.

"Sensei."

Natsuki suddenly thought of something and asked, "Can we change the targets of the missions we take next?"

"What targets?"

Orochimaru looked at him and asked.

"Water Release and Sword Technique ninja."

Natsuki answered, "I'm good at sword technique, and Senior Nawaki is good at Water Release. I think we should get more experience fighting ninja of the same type."

Most of their previous targets had been Genjutsu and Fire Release ninja.

At the time, Natsuki had used Uchiha Mikoto as an excuse, wanting to gain more experience fighting Genjutsu and Fire Release ninja.

"I'll keep an eye out."

Orochimaru agreed without thinking much about it.

To him, it made no difference who the mission targets were.

Since Natsuki had such an idea, he naturally could not refuse as his teacher.

"The Shadow Clone Jutsu is a B-rank ninjutsu. At your age, it won't be easy to learn."

Orochimaru began explaining the Shadow Clone Jutsu.

In the blink of an eye, December arrived.

The second semester of Third Grade Class A was drawing to a close.

At the Ninja Academy training field.

Everyone from Third Grade Class A had arrived, because today was the Combat Exam.

Natsuki split his attention in two. While chatting with Uzumaki Kushina and Namikaze Minato, he looked over the system's mission panel.

After two semesters of hard work, the first stage of his Water Release Chakra nature transformation training had been completed.

[Congratulations, Host. You have unlocked Tanjiro Kamado Template Ability Two: Water Breathing First Form, Second Form, and Third Form.]

It was called Ability Two, but in reality, he had gained three abilities at once—or rather, three Nintaijutsu.

Sword technique combined with Water Release was the most standard form of Nintaijutsu in the Ninja World.

Natsuki considered a question.

Should he reveal it today? Or find a more suitable opportunity?

What a pleasant dilemma.

He had never publicly displayed the Shippo Template's Fox Fire and Fox Demon Arts, nor the Megumi Fushiguro Template's Shadow Space and Shadow Assassin.

Natsuki fell into thought.

He had created two Shadow Secret Techniques, and Hiruzen Sarutobi and Orochimaru already knew that he was skilled in Yin Release.

Perhaps he could reveal Fox Demon Arts, Shadow Space, and Shadow Assassin.

They all fell within the scope of Yin Release ninjutsu.

Projection Magic would work too.

The essence of Yin Release was creating form from the intangible.

Projection Magic perfectly fit the standards of Yin Release.

"Fourth match of the third round: Natsuki versus Namikaze Minato!"

Ishida Yu's voice rang out.

Everyone in Third Grade Class A immediately perked up to watch the strongest battle in their class.

Though it was called a battle between the strongest, they all knew the winner would definitely be Natsuki.

The reason was simple.

In all those Monthly Exams and Final Exams, Namikaze Minato had lost every time.

Even so, despite being the one who lost, he remained an unbeatable target in their eyes.

Ever since Namikaze Minato became Jiraiya's student, he had displayed new ninjutsu every so often.

His learning speed was astonishing.

"Minato."

Natsuki stood opposite Namikaze Minato and asked with a smile, "What new ninjutsu do you have this time?"

"I do have one."

Namikaze Minato hesitated for a moment before saying, "But I'm not very proficient with it yet."

"It's fine. This is a spar, not a fight to the death."

Natsuki said curiously, "You can give it a try."

Could it be the Flying Thunder God Technique?

No, probably not.

The Flying Thunder God Technique was an S-rank ninjutsu and extremely difficult to learn.

Although Namikaze Minato was indeed talented, he was still too young.

"Then be careful!"

After speaking, Namikaze Minato immediately threw a Shuriken.

But this Shuriken was much larger than an ordinary one.

The Shuriken flew high into the air, then suddenly stopped.

Namikaze Minato immediately formed hand seals.

The Shuriken began trembling, and countless afterimages appeared around it.

Natsuki's gaze sharpened as he recognized the ninjutsu.

The A-rank Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique, a ninjutsu Hiruzen Sarutobi had created after drawing inspiration from the Shadow Clone Jutsu.

Namikaze Minato had used it in the original work as well.

But judging from the current situation, he truly was unfamiliar with it. Whether he could even successfully cast it was questionable.

Natsuki raised his hand without hesitation.

Projection Magic!

A massive amount of Chakra surged from his body and, under his control, transformed into one Shuriken after another.

"Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique?"

Namikaze Minato took one look and nearly lost his composure.

Fortunately, he reacted quickly and hurriedly stabilized his Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique again, narrowly avoiding a collapse midway through.

Namikaze Minato let out a breath and released all his Chakra.

His luck was good this time. He did not fail.

A dense rain of Shuriken fell from the sky.

Reinforcement Magic!

After reinforcing his hands, Natsuki moved.

At blinding speed, he hurled every Shuriken formed by Projection Magic.

Too bad he did not have Unlimited Blade Works. Otherwise, there would be no need for such trouble.

Seeing this, Namikaze Minato immediately realized what was happening.

This was not the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique, but some unknown ninjutsu.

A chorus of clanging rang out.

Everyone in Third Grade Class A widened their eyes.

Countless Shuriken collided in midair.

Sparks flew everywhere.

Large numbers of Shuriken were knocked away and fell to the ground.

But someone quickly noticed the problem.

After Natsuki's Shuriken landed on the ground, they disappeared before long.

"What's going on?"

Namikaze Minato noticed it as well, but he could not make sense of it.

"It's Yin Release ninjutsu!"

Inside the Hokage Office, Hiruzen Sarutobi said with certainty.

After saying that, he fell into deep thought.

Creating Shuriken with Yin Release?

No, if Shuriken could be created, then other ninja tools could be created as well.

"A little impractical."

That was Hiruzen Sarutobi's final assessment.

First, the projected ninja tools were inferior to the originals.

Second, they consumed a great deal of Chakra.

It would be better to carry ninja tools himself. While he could not carry them in large quantities, at least he would not waste so much Chakra.

Wind Release: Shuriken!

Namikaze Minato came back to his senses and immediately realized this was a rare opportunity.

Both of Natsuki's hands were occupied. He had to keep throwing Shuriken.

Wind Release Chakra surged out and attached itself to the Shuriken.

Namikaze Minato flung it hard. Like an arrow released from a bowstring, the Shuriken shot toward Natsuki with razor-sharp force.

Shadow Assassin!

Natsuki's body suddenly vanished, completely sinking into the shadow on the ground.

The shadow moved swiftly and reached Namikaze Minato.

Natsuki reappeared. The instant he met Namikaze Minato's startled eyes, he cast Fox Demon Arts.

Namikaze Minato had never expected him to know Genjutsu. Caught completely off guard, he fell into a daze.

Natsuki drew his Wooden Sword.

One Sword Style: Horse Demon!

Namikaze Minato cried out in pain. As he broke free of the Genjutsu, he was knocked to the ground.

He instinctively looked toward Natsuki, feeling as though his mind had turned to mush.

He had thought that after learning the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique, even if he could not win, he would at least gain the upper hand for a time. Instead, they had fought to a draw.

Natsuki had even used Secret Techniques and Genjutsu he had never shown before, leaving him utterly defeated.

Namikaze Minato could not help but sigh.

Whenever he felt he had learned enough about Natsuki, Natsuki would produce new information and catch him off guard.

"He even created his own Genjutsu?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked surprised.

He increasingly felt that Natsuki's talents were rather unconventional.

He had no talent for learning ninjutsu, yet he had talent for creating ninjutsu.

No matter what, it was ultimately a good thing.