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It wasn't that they didn't understand the usefulness of the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique.
It was that their chakra reserves simply couldn't support using it. The technique also placed extraordinary demands on the body and the mind. Even if an ordinary person had just enough chakra to perform it, once the technique was released, the mental strain on the original would drive them insane. That was why it had been recorded in the Scroll of Sealing. In a sense, the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique was a forbidden jutsu!
Looking at the solid Shadow Clone he had created, Naruto nodded with satisfaction.
He'd succeeded on his first try.
His talent for this particular jutsu was undeniable.
Naruto's thoughts stirred slightly.
The Shadow Clone before him gave a small nod.
"Whoosh!"
Then it flashed away, disappearing from its spot.
Since he'd already created it, there was no need to dispel it. There was still a little time before Mizuki arrived, but to make sure nothing went wrong, Naruto sent the Shadow Clone to keep watch on the area, just in case.
After the Shadow Clone left,
Naruto sat down cross-legged again.
For the time being,
he wouldn't try any more jutsu. First, he couldn't do so without drawing attention.
Second, he needed to make the most of the time he had.
Every second counted. He wanted to learn as many jutsu as possible.
Especially the Flying Thunder God Technique.
That was one of his two main goals for tonight.
The other jutsu were just bonuses. The Multiple Shadow Clone Technique and the Flying Thunder God Technique were the ones Naruto was determined to learn tonight.
But clearly, things weren't going to go the way Naruto wanted.
Naruto searched through the scroll for the Flying Thunder God Technique and the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, but couldn't find either one. What infuriated him most was that once he'd unrolled about a fifth of the scroll, it wouldn't budge no matter how hard he tried. It was as if the scroll had jammed, held fast by some force that kept him from unrolling the Scroll of Sealing any farther.
That discovery left Naruto dumbfounded. After trying every method he could think of and failing, his expression darkened.
"Damn it! So that's why the old man was so calm about not using the Telescope Technique to keep an eye on me. He'd already put safeguards in place from the start! Is this some kind of sealing jutsu? I can't even see the jutsu farther down the scroll! Bastard!"
Naruto's face flushed, and he spoke through gritted teeth.
Being completely outmaneuvered like this
was not pleasant at all.
Maybe this wasn't something added in this life. Perhaps the Third Hokage had made the same preparations in the original story, too. It was just that Naruto's original self had been so dimwitted at first that he only learned the Shadow Clone Technique and never got the chance to unroll the scroll far enough to see what was beyond it.
So the backup plan had never come into play.
But in this life, Naruto had run straight into the "wall" the Third Hokage had set up. He was determined to learn the Flying Thunder God Technique and interested in the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, too. That left him feeling more than a little dejected.
"Damn you, you rotten old geezer! I hope the next time you sneak a peek at the women's bathhouse, you see a bunch of dinosaur hags instead! Damn it!"
He couldn't help cursing aloud.
Keeping it bottled up would've driven him crazy.
Besides, the old man wasn't using the Telescope Technique to watch him right now.
He might as well indulge himself and vent a little.
Otherwise, he'd have to keep holding it all in.
After grumbling to himself for a few moments, Naruto could only reluctantly unroll the Scroll of Sealing back toward the beginning to see if there were any other worthwhile jutsu besides the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique. After all, the weakest jutsu recorded here were A-rank, and even among A-rank jutsu, they were some of the most destructive. They might not compare to the forbidden and secret techniques he'd been looking for, but they were still better than going home empty-handed.
As it turned out, among the jutsu recorded earlier in the scroll,
Naruto found two or three that were highly practical and that he could learn right now. In particular, when he saw one of the jutsu's names, his eyes narrowed.
"Rasengan."
This was the seal-less jutsu developed by the Fourth Hokage—in other words, Naruto's own father, Namikaze Minato—inspired by the Tailed Beast Ball. It had been his original self's most formidable weapon. From the very beginning to the very end, the jutsu had run through Naruto Uzumaki's entire life. The later techniques developed from it, such as the Big Ball Rasengan and the Rasenshuriken, had also been among Naruto's most powerful and effective weapons.
Naruto had originally planned to see if he could wheedle the training method for the Rasengan out of Kakashi ahead of time. He hadn't expected to find it here. It was classified as an A-rank jutsu, didn't require Hand Seals, and was specifically noted to be incomplete, with room for further development. That naturally made it worthy of a place in the Scroll of Sealing.
That saved Naruto some trouble.
"The most important thing is how the chakra moves? Is it something like a vortex?"
Reading his father's notes on the training requirements and the core principles of the jutsu, Naruto's pupils narrowed slightly as he murmured.
He couldn't quite remember how his original self had trained to learn the Rasengan.
He only vaguely remembered something about water-filled and sand-filled balloons.
But now, after seeing his father's notes
and connecting them to the fragments of memory he still had,
Naruto understood how to train for the Rasengan. Put simply, the chakra needed to take on a shape like a swirling vortex, then be compressed around a central point as much as possible. Once concentrated in that one spot, it could be released with tremendous destructive force.
"Well, looks like I'll have to make some changes to my training plan..."
Naruto thought to himself.
Just as he finished reading about the Rasengan's core principles and shifted his attention to the other jutsu,
Naruto suddenly sensed something.
A message appeared deep in his mind.
It came from the Shadow Clone he'd sent out earlier. He'd instructed it to dispel itself as soon as it spotted the target and send the information back to the original.
The moment the message appeared in his mind,
Naruto paused briefly. Then the corners of his mouth lifted into a sly smile.
"It's a little sooner than I expected, but the actors are in place, so it's about time for the show to begin. I should get back early, too. I've got more training planned for tomorrow..."
Naruto dusted himself off, strapped the Scroll of Sealing back onto his back, and leaped away, disappearing into the vast night.