Naruto, What's the Point of Being Hokage Without You!

He had no choice but to pause for now and resume his Chakra Refinement Technique.

"If even a third isn't enough, does that mean I have to split half of my chakra to create a clone?"

"Fine, once the chakra refinement is finished and I've fully recovered, I'll give it a try!"

Not long after, his chakra was restored. Thanks to his unique physique and proficient Chakra Refinement Technique, it hadn't taken much time at all.

Naruto took a deep breath.

He directly allocated half of his total chakra to his clone.

"Clone Technique!"

Poof...

As a cloud of white smoke cleared, a solid, tangible clone—identical to the original in every way—finally appeared before Naruto's eyes!

Naruto was exhausted, yet filled with immense surprise.

"I-I did it!"

"This is a true physical clone!"

His clone laughed along with him: "Aha, that's great!"

Naruto jumped in shock: "Waaah!"

"Y-you can talk?!"

"Of course!"

Naruto had no idea that, unconsciously, he had independently created a jutsu that far surpassed the ordinary Clone Technique...

The Shadow Clone Technique!

In the Hokage's office, watching this scene through his Crystal Ball, the pipe fell from Sarutobi Hiruzen's mouth and clattered onto the floor...

"T-that is the Shadow Clone Technique invented by the Second Hokage?!"

"That kid Naruto actually figured it out on his own, recreating it through his own power?!"

"Could he... truly be a genius?!"

The Shadow Clone Technique.

In the current ninja world, it is certainly nothing new.

One could even say it is rampant.

But in reality, this was not a jutsu that had existed since ancient times.

It was created by the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju.

Its original purpose was merely for espionage, gathering intelligence, and the like.

But today, it has been spread and mastered by almost all of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, becoming one of the essential jutsus for any elite ninja.

Sarutobi Hiruzen stared blankly at Naruto and his shadow clone, not even noticing that his pipe had fallen to the floor.

He did not know how the Second Hokage had originally created the Shadow Clone Technique, yet now, he had witnessed Naruto recreate it all by himself!

One must realize that at Naruto's current level, it was impossible for him to have ever encountered the Shadow Clone Technique.

The Ninja Academy certainly wouldn't teach such a high-level jutsu.

In a word...

He was an absolute genius who had learned it without a teacher!

Sarutobi Hiruzen recalled the training Naruto had mentioned when he visited his home—Dual-Tasking combined with the Clone Technique...

"Was that the source of his inspiration?"

"Merging the two together to create a clone with a physical body capable of independent action?"

"But even with the inspiration, what kind of ninja would be reckless enough to experiment with it directly like that..."

One must understand that creating a new jutsu is no easy feat.

Not to mention the difficulty, the dangers involved are unimaginable.

Just like Naruto had done, constantly increasing the amount of chakra allocated—even reaching half of his total—if he had been even slightly careless, he could have easily exhausted his chakra or suffered from physical collapse, with very serious consequences.

But...

Precisely because it was Naruto, he dared to think it, and he dared to do it!

Sarutobi Hiruzen remained silent for a long time before letting out a long sigh in the darkness.

"Naruto..."

"It seems that the entire ninja world, myself included, has underestimated you far too much..."

"Perhaps you are the true genius after all!"

The Anbu ninjas who were secretly monitoring and protecting Naruto Uzumaki were equally dumbfounded.

Creating a ninjutsu is something only legendary ninjas are usually capable of.

Let alone a Naruto Uzumaki, even among the jonin and elite jonin of the entire Konoha, how many could actually pull that off?!

They exchanged glances, looking at each other in dismay, as if re-evaluating Naruto's strength; the gazes they cast toward him once more were filled with a bit more astonishment and admiration.

Naruto looked at the Shadow Clone that could communicate with his original body.

He was both shocked and pleasantly surprised.

He had actually managed to create a solid clone!

Moreover, it possessed its own thoughts, could speak, and could communicate!

"Th-then, can you fight too?"

The Shadow Clone Naruto replied triumphantly: "Of course I can!"

"Anything you can do, I can do too!"

Naruto was overjoyed: "Then, how about we try sparring?"

"Sure! I won't lose to a guy like you!"

In an instant, the "two" prepared for battle, then shouted and charged at each other!

Because the chakra was split perfectly in half, there was almost no difference between the Shadow Clone and the original body.

Never mind the Byakugan or Sharingan; even Kaguya Otsutsuki, the progenitor of chakra, would not be able to tell them apart.

As for their strength, they were equally matched.

Their fists and feet collided violently, erupting with a powerful shockwave!

Naruto felt that his solid clone's strength was indeed not inferior to his own!

He was ecstatic, and his fighting spirit was ignited even further.

"Alright! Then let's have a real battle!"

The two soon fought until the sky turned dark and the sun and moon lost their light, turning the room into a fierce battlefield.

However...

Since they were taught by the same master, they couldn't help but be unable to break each other's moves.

But Naruto was enjoying every moment of it.

Until finally, he decided to settle it with a Leaf Whirlwind, and the Shadow Clone launched the same finishing move.

The two collided, and although both were sent flying, Naruto only felt pain, while the Shadow Clone finally vanished...

Only a puff of white smoke remained at the scene.

"Hm? Did it disappear?"

Naruto felt a sense of loss.

"So that's how it is. Although it is exactly the same as me, its defensive power is not as good as the original body after all..."

"It disappears when it receives a violent attack..."

"Then..."

"I'll just create another one!"

Naruto immediately took action, redistributed half of his chakra, and created a Shadow Clone once again!

The pipe that Sarutobi Hiruzen had just picked up trembled slightly in his hand.

"This guy Naruto, if he keeps going like this, it will be very dangerous..."

His current situation was somewhat similar to when Jiraiya taught him the Summoning Jutsu in the original story.

He had to exhaust all his chakra to draw out the chakra of the Nine-Tailed Fox and summon Gamabunta.

At that time, Naruto also kept creating Shadow Clones, making them fight the original body until he was exhausted and collapsed completely to the ground.

But back then, he had Jiraiya there to protect him.

Although it was dangerous, it wasn't fatal.

Now that he was messing around like this all by himself, he was afraid something might really go wrong...

Sarutobi Hiruzen immediately prepared to notify the Anbu to intervene and stop Naruto at any moment...

But just then.

Naruto had re-created a Shadow Clone, but he didn't continue to fight.

Instead...

He started chatting with it.

No one understands you better than yourself.

Naruto had a companion to chat with before falling asleep late at night for the first time.

Although it was only a Shadow Clone.

He was still overjoyed.

Sarutobi Hiruzen and all the Anbu members sighed in their hearts.

"He treats the Shadow Clone as a ninjutsu to dispel his loneliness..."

"Sigh..."

Naruto chatted with the Shadow Clone for a long time, and surprisingly, the system did not stop him.

Clearly, Naruto's performance in creating the Shadow Clone on his own had shocked even the cold, mechanical system; this was an exceptional talent beyond imagination.

As Naruto chatted with the Shadow Clone, he finally drifted off to sleep involuntarily.

This time, he fell asleep with a smile on his lips...

Naruto's Shadow Clone looked at his original body, lay down beside him, and soon entered dreamland as well...

However, a Shadow Clone cannot exist for long.

Especially a Shadow Clone that Naruto had just created.

In the midst of sleep, this Shadow Clone turned into white smoke and vanished...

Strangely...

The sparring partner in his dreams also changed from Sasuke to himself...

Naruto was incredibly excited, locked in an intense battle with himself.

Perhaps...

One is one's own best friend, and also one's best opponent.