Husband Material

"Anyway, just practice on your own. If there's anything you don't understand, come ask me!"

After leaving him with those words, Tsunade walked away.

She'd taken a pretty hard hit today and planned to go gamble a few rounds to improve her mood.

Looking at the small mountain of scrolls before him, Minato made four Shadow Clones. His original self held the scroll containing the Wood Release techniques and began studying it.

Minato's goal was the Wood Clone. It was the most practical technique for him right now.

Unlike Shadow Clones, which popped the moment they took a hit, Wood Clones lasted longer and could withstand a certain amount of damage. They could merge into trees and, when released, turn into trees that bound their enemies.

The only drawback was that Wood Clones had to touch their original to share information, making them less convenient than Shadow Clones for passing it along.

Still, there were ways around that.

For example, if a Shadow Clone had enough chakra, it could make another Shadow Clone.

In theory, a Wood Clone could also make a Shadow Clone, then pass along information by releasing it.

Or, if he got the chance someday, he could capture a White Zetsu and see whether he could figure out the Mayfly Technique.

"Come to think of it..."

Minato suddenly broke the silence in the room. The Shadow Clones all looked up at him.

"We've never tested this before. Can a Shadow Clone use Light Release abilities?"

A Shadow Clone beside him heard the question and pulled out a Kunai, stabbing himself in the hand.

Poof!

The Shadow Clone vanished.

Minato shook his head in disappointment. "Looks like it can't."

The Shadow Clone opposite Minato raised an index finger and tested it. "It's not just elemental transformation. I can't use the other abilities either."

Minato asked again, "What about Wood Release?"

The Shadow Clone tested it once more. "It seems like I can, but also like I can't?"

Minato stared at him, baffled. "So can you or can't you?"

The Shadow Clone tried to describe the feeling. "I don't think I can make wood grow directly from my body, but I can still sense the power of Wood Release."

"Why not try it and find out?"

Another Shadow Clone picked up the Wood Release scroll. "You can't make it grow directly, but you can sense it... All right, I'll learn the Wood Release technique, and you learn the Wood Clone technique."

After quickly memorizing the principles behind both techniques, they went out into the courtyard.

Two Shadow Clones tried out the different techniques. Minato watched from the veranda, while the last Shadow Clone sat off to the side with the Wood Release scroll, observing.

"Wood Release Technique!"

One of the Shadow Clones clapped his hands together, and a small tree, about as tall as a person, suddenly grew in front of him.

"Wood Release: Wood Clone!"

The other Shadow Clone formed the Hand Seals for Horse, Dog, and Snake, then clapped his hands together, but nothing happened.

"So it really is like that..."

The Shadow Clone reading the scroll looked unsurprised. "The Wood Clone works by using chakra to stimulate the cells to transform and divide, creating a clone. But a Shadow Clone is just a mass of chakra with no cells, so naturally it can't use the Wood Clone technique."

"But a pure nature-transformation technique like Wood Release can be used by a Shadow Clone."

"In that case..."

Minato took the scroll and dispelled his Shadow Clones.

Then he went into the courtyard and formed the Hand Seals. "Wood Release: Wood Clone!"

Crack, crack—

With the sound of growing wood, three blocks sprouted rapidly from behind Minato. They quickly changed shape, turning into human forms that appeared beside him. They looked just like him.

"Can you use Light Release?"

Minato wasn't surprised that the technique had worked on his first try. The moment the clones appeared, he hurriedly asked them.

One of the clones raised a hand, tested it, then shook his head.

"That doesn't seem right. I can understand why Shadow Clones can't use it—they're just energy constructs. But a Wood Clone is part of the original, split off from him. Why can't it use it either?"

"Could it be because it's been split off? After all... you know how it is."

Minato nodded. He could understand what the clone meant.

The power of a Devil Fruit only affected its host, and a clone was, in theory, an independent being separate from him.

"Does this mean Light Release can't be combined with the chakra system?"

"Drawing that conclusion from just this is a bit hasty..."

"Exactly."

The original Minato nodded. "Besides, I should be focusing on ninjutsu right now. My current repertoire isn't enough to support research into any of this."

Hearing him, the clones stopped dwelling on the Glint-Glint Fruit and turned their attention to Wood Release instead.

There weren't many techniques recorded in the scroll, but it included plenty of related applications.

For instance, turning a Wood Clone into a seed and leaving it on someone could be used to track them or as a communication device.

But without trees to act as signal relays, it couldn't work beyond the original's range of perception.

The scroll also included plenty of tips on growing flowers and plants, and cultivating crops.

Minato didn't understand why a ninjutsu scroll would include things like that—until he saw the few words written in Hashirama Senju's hand at the very end. Then it all made sense.

Given the First's eccentric personality, it really wasn't surprising.

It took Minato just over two hours to memorize every technique in the scroll.

Then he absorbed the three Wood Clones back into himself. With the experience of all four of them combined, it was like he'd memorized everything four times over!

Still, having more than eight hours' worth of memories crammed into his head left him a little dazed. He wasn't noticeably tired, though, and figured it was probably the Yin Release granted by the Sharingan, which had improved his mental endurance.

Grrr—

His stomach suddenly started rumbling. Minato rubbed it, feeling ravenous.

"I ate plenty at lunch. I guess using your brain too much really does make you hungry..."

He created a Wood Clone to prepare the ingredients, then headed out to buy some food.

Vegetables, fruit, meat, eggs, milk...

Minato strolled along the street, stopping here and there. Before long, he was weighed down with bags.

Thinking he looked a little ridiculous, he made two Shadow Clones to help carry everything.

"Shadow Clones?"

Seeing this, the shopkeeper stared at him in shock. "How old are you, kid?"

"Five. How much for the chicken thighs?"

"Sixteen taels a pound... You can use Shadow Clones at that age? You're a genius!"

"You're too kind."

Minato smiled warmly as he chatted with the shopkeeper. The evening sun fell across his gentle, easygoing smile, making him look lovely and warm.

Meanwhile, Tsunade, having just lost every last coin at the gambling house, was walking home while trying out different ways to throw the dice, muttering as she went over the game in her head.

As soon as she turned the corner, she spotted the blond kid in the distance from the corner of her eye and stopped.

She was about to wave hello, but the moment she saw his face, her heart gave a sudden, forceful thump.

Wait. How did this kid have such strong husband material vibes?

Remembering the strange flutter she'd felt just moments ago, Tsunade's face turned faintly red. She cursed herself for being single too long, to the point where she was developing feelings for a child.

It had lasted only a moment, but that was still enough to brand her with the shame of being a pervert...