Shadow Clone

Kushina returned just in time for the final exams.

The only real surprise in this exam was Minato Namikaze.

His strength had advanced by leaps and bounds. His speed and reactions had become even more astonishing, allowing him to defeat Sarutobi Keita, who had consistently held second place, before narrowly losing to Hyuga Toma, who ranked first.

Even with Hyuga Toma activating his Byakugan and skillfully using the Gentle Fist, he could no longer defeat Minato Namikaze as easily as before.

His improvement was simply outrageous!

After advancing to a Second-Class Apprentice, Shiraha's strength had increased tremendously. If they truly fought, even Hyuga Toma would not be his match.

However, Shiraha only "barely" held onto tenth place.

After all, he had focused mainly on Medical Ninjutsu training for over a year. Being able to maintain this ranking in the class's practical combat exam was already an excellent result.

Shiraha's goal of gaining attention by displaying outstanding talent in Medical Ninjutsu had already been achieved, so there was no need for him to perform too "exceptionally."

The way things were now was just right. Too much was as bad as too little.

Smack! Smack! Smack!

In the dense woods of the Ninja Academy's Back Mountain, Shiraha panted heavily.

"Kushina, wait a moment..."

Looking at the five identical Kushinas in front of him, Shiraha waved his hands repeatedly before collapsing onto the grass.

Over the past week, Kushina had sparred with Shiraha every day, and he had discovered that her physique had become even stronger than before.

Previously, Shiraha could still barely suppress her with Sensory Enhancement.

But ever since Kushina learned a new ninjutsu yesterday—the Shadow Clone Jutsu—

She would immediately create four physical clones. No matter how good Shiraha's stamina was, he could not withstand it.

"Shiraha, keep going! I'm not satisfied yet!" Kushina looked excited and full of energy.

At first, she had not been particularly invested in training. Later, she had only trained alongside Shiraha because she wanted to spend more time with him.

It was not until Grandma Mito's words before her death that Kushina began devoting more of her time to training. Although she felt that the Third Hokage treated her well, she still preferred to trust Mito.

Shiraha lay flat on the ground. "I'm done fighting! Five against one is totally unfair."

"You were the one who said there were no rules in this spar. Of course I can use ninjutsu." Kushina spread her hands innocently.

"I surrender, okay? I'm lying flat."

Shiraha remained sprawled on the grass, with no intention of getting back up to continue.

When they learned the Clone Technique, the school teacher had also mentioned the Shadow Clone Jutsu.

It was a Rank B advanced ninjutsu capable of creating physical clones. It was extremely difficult to learn; ordinarily, only Jōnin could master it, while only a very small number of Chūnin could learn it.

Of course, Shiraha was not surprised that Kushina had managed to learn it. The hardest part of the Shadow Clone Jutsu was the amount of Chakra required.

Chakra and money were precisely the things Kushina lacked least.

As a fellow Nine-Tailed Jinchuriki, she could probably create hundreds or even thousands of Shadow Clones like Naruto.

Besides, what kind of life did Naruto live, and what kind of life did Kushina live?

Naruto ate instant noodles every meal, and going to Ichiraku counted as an extra treat.

Kushina ate premium beef as a staple. Whenever Shiraha ate with her, there were never fewer than ten dishes on the table.

If her taijutsu foundation became stronger, the combat power she could form would be extremely impressive.

A high-quality human-wave tactic.

"How about I teach you the Shadow Clone Jutsu too?"

Kushina suggested.

"Does that comply with the rules?" Shiraha had not sensed the Third Hokage watching them, but Anbu Ninja were still monitoring them from the shadows.

This matter would definitely be reported.

In principle, people could teach ninjutsu to others in private, but this was generally limited to relationships such as master and disciple, husband and wife, parents and children, or siblings.

And Kushina's identity was anything but ordinary.

"Of course it does. It's not like I'm teaching you a Forbidden Technique like the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu. What rules would it violate? Besides, didn't Nawaki teach you the Dragon Fire Technique before?"

Kushina spoke dismissively.

The Third Hokage knew about the ninjutsu and Sealing Jutsu she had inherited from Mito.

The Third Hokage was known as the Professor of Ninjutsu. Even if he did not know every jutsu in Konoha, he was familiar with them.

Only Sealing Jutsu required special talent and was not easily learned.

Kushina's ninjutsu talent was quite ordinary, but her talent for Sealing Jutsu was very strong.

Still, she had shown considerable talent in learning the Shadow Clone Jutsu. In a short time, she had even learned the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu.

Ultimately, the greatest difficulty of this jutsu was Chakra distribution and the physical exhaustion after using it. But neither was a problem for Kushina at all.

"Since it complies with the rules, then of course I'm willing." Shiraha nodded repeatedly.

"Although learning the Shadow Clone Jutsu is not dangerous, there are some precautions I need to explain to you in advance."

"Mm."

"The key to a Shadow Clone is distributing Chakra evenly, so it requires a certain baseline amount of Chakra. When you first begin training, it's best to create only one Shadow Clone."

"Kushina, how many Shadow Clones can you make?" Shiraha could not help interrupting.

Kushina thought for a moment before answering, "I remember that when I first successfully used the Shadow Clone Jutsu, I made more than fifty. I haven't tried seeing how many I can make at most, but I feel like fifty isn't my limit yet."

"..." Shiraha fell silent. If he had Kushina's natural gifts and talent, he could have chosen the ninja path as his main profession from the beginning.

"Oh, and there's something you need to remember. Since Shadow Clones are complete physical clones, everything they learn will return to the original body after they are dispelled, including experience and memories.

"There's also physical fatigue and mental exhaustion.

"Even if you can create multiple Shadow Clones at once, you have to consider whether your body can handle it afterward.

"When a Shadow Clone is attacked, even if the damage is minor, it will disappear.

"This is one way of protecting the original body.

"Do you remember?"

Kushina explained.

"I remember. I didn't expect you to be so good at teaching." Shiraha nodded. Yet he was thinking that he seemed able to use Shadow Clones to train in ninjutsu.

As for physical fatigue, soaking in a medicinal bath while practicing the Knight Breathing Technique could solve that problem perfectly.

"Tsunade taught me those things, actually. Then let's begin!" Kushina smiled, seeming immensely enthusiastic about teaching Shiraha.

"Alright."

Everything that happened between Shiraha and Kushina was reported to Sarutobi Hiruzen by an Anbu Ninja that very night.

"You may leave first."

"Yes!"

After the Anbu Ninja left, Sarutobi Hiruzen lightly tapped the desk with his fingers and fell into thought.

Shiraha's talent was mainly displayed in Medical Ninjutsu. He also possessed great stamina, and his talent for ninjutsu was fairly good, though not particularly outstanding.

He was not worried about Kushina leaking the village's ninjutsu. If advanced ninjutsu could be learned so easily by Genin, there would not be so few Jōnin.

Sarutobi Hiruzen was only concerned that it might delay Shiraha's talent in Medical Ninjutsu.

Medical Ninja had played a crucial role in Konoha's victory in this Ninja World War.

Shiraha was also one of the talents who could receive focused training in the future.

Most importantly, he had a very good relationship with Kushina, Tsunade, and Nawaki, and he possessed an exceptionally high level of awareness.

Although Konoha's current strength meant it did not yet need to rely on the power of a Jinchuriki to win wars, Sarutobi Hiruzen believed it was necessary to prepare for the future.

The battle in the Land of Rain had not ended Sunagakure's ambitions.

Recently, Sunagakure had sent spies into the Land of Rivers, located between the Land of Wind and the Land of Fire. Their intentions were obvious.

Happy times were always short.

The holiday ended quickly.

Shiraha also had no choice but to admit the reality that his talent as a ninja was ordinary.

His Chakra could only create one Shadow Clone. Compared with his peers, that was already excellent, but it was far from enough.

Sure enough, no matter which world one was in, the power of bloodlines could not be ignored.

Even without Kurama, Kushina possessed more Chakra than the vast majority of ninjas could attain through a lifetime of hard training.

At present, Shiraha was included among them.

Not long after school began in September, the Medical Corps added many more classes.

Shiraha's schedule also changed from attending Medical Corps classes after school in the evening to attending the Ninja Academy in the morning, then staying at Konoha Hospital from afternoon until night. All students participating in the Medical Training Class attended according to this schedule.

Shiraha actually liked it. The Medical Corps classes were not difficult for him, and while at Konoha Hospital, he could spend the entire day going to Tsunade's office to ask her advanced questions.

He had more free time than usual.

However, all of Shiraha's free time was taken up by Kushina.

There was no helping it. Ever since Kushina became the Nine-Tailed Jinchuriki, Shiraha had noticed that her temper seemed much more explosive than before.

Kushina's violence had once been directed only at other people, but now she had begun targeting him as well. She trained desperately every time, dragging Shiraha through plenty of hardship along with her.

It seemed living off a woman was not so easy after all.

As for Nawaki, ever since Tsunade entrusted him to Orochimaru last month, he had been undergoing all kinds of special training every day and had no time at all to visit Shiraha.

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