Konoha's Dead-Last

Clone Technique!

Poof!

A naked Toru appeared beside him.

"Ah!"

Yuhi Kurenai, who had been watching Toru, blushed and screamed. She hurriedly covered her eyes with her hands.

Toru quickly withdrew his Chakra and canceled the failed Clone Technique, then left her with a quick "Sorry."

Kurenai cautiously peeked through the gaps between her fingers. Seeing Toru calmly continue his training, she finally let out a sigh of relief. "Um... if you don't know the Clone Technique, I can teach you."

Kurenai thought her Clone Technique was pretty good—at least, her clones were better than Toru's naked one.

Toru just waved her off and said with absolute confidence, "No need. I've figured it out."

For some reason, Kurenai always found herself believing what Toru said.

Even though she was willing to believe him, Kurenai still worried that another naked man might appear beside her, so she kept her eyes averted.

Toru, meanwhile, focused on using the Chakra Six Eyes to observe his own body.

He had already spotted the problem: his Chakra flow had gone awry, leaving the clone's form incomplete.

This time, I just need to pay attention to the path my Chakra takes, Toru thought.

Then Toru formed the Hand Seals for the Clone Technique with both hands: Snake, Horse, Tiger.

Toru was still a little clumsy with the Hand Seals, taking his time and forming each one at a pace of about one per second.

Yuhi Kurenai seemed very interested in Toru's progress and couldn't help turning her cute little face toward him.

At the same time, though, she covered her eyes with her hands, leaving only two narrow gaps to watch through. She was ready to cover them completely the moment she saw something she shouldn't.

Clone Technique!

With a poof, Kurenai saw another Toru appear out of thin air. The two Torus looked exactly alike, both in appearance and expression.

After examining each other, the two Torus looked at Kurenai at the same time and asked in unison, "What do you think? How did it turn out?"

After taking a careful look, Kurenai answered, "I can't tell them apart. That's amazing!"

Toru then dispelled the clone and came to a conclusion. Ordinary people can't see through my Clone Technique, but my Six Eyes can.

That meant the Clone Technique was now usable in battle. After all, not everyone had the Six Eyes—or, more accurately, there wasn't another pair of Six Eyes in this world.

Still, Toru figured there had to be plenty of ways to see through such a basic Clone Technique in the Shinobi World.

That brought to mind the solid clone Kakashi had used in their previous fight. Even the Six Eyes couldn't distinguish that kind of clone at a glance. Toru had only figured out which was the original by using the Six Eyes to spot the tiny differences between Kakashi and his clone.

Toru couldn't help marveling at how ingenious the technique was. Whoever had invented it had to be a genius.

Maybe I can learn that technique from Kakashi. Toru had only just mastered the Clone Technique, and already he was eyeing the more advanced Shadow Clone Technique. He had always been insatiable when it came to getting stronger.

Just then, their teacher, Tanaka Hajime, interrupted the students' practice—and Toru's thoughts along with it.

"Practice is over. We'll begin the demonstrations now. Noda Kenta, you're first."

An utterly ordinary-looking boy stepped forward, formed his Hand Seals, and performed a fairly standard clone. It looked roughly eighty percent like the original. At a glance, there was nothing obviously wrong with it, but it wouldn't pass muster against a sharp-eyed enemy on the battlefield.

Tanaka Hajime first praised his Clone Technique, saying it was excellent for a Ninja Academy student his age, then pointed out a few details that needed work.

After sending Noda Kenta back to his seat, Tanaka Hajime checked the roster and called the next student up to demonstrate. "Next, Might Guy."

A boy with a bowl cut, dressed head to toe in a green jumpsuit, stood up from a seat at the back of the classroom. His face was unmistakably tense, like a student who hadn't studied and had just been called on.

When some of the students heard that it was Might Guy, they started whispering among themselves.

"Isn't he the one who can't use Ninjutsu? Is the teacher calling him up just to embarrass him?" "Hahahaha, this should be fun." "Just look at his face. You can tell he can't do anything."

Toru hadn't paid much attention to the students demonstrating, but after hearing those remarks, he realized that Might Guy seemed to be the class dead last.

That was exactly why Toru used the Chakra Six Eyes to see what was special about the boy named Might Guy. After all, if Guy were truly good for nothing, he wouldn't have gotten into the Ninja Academy—unless he was a connected transfer student like Toru, who hadn't even taken the entrance exam.

"What's going on with his meridians? What a strange constitution."

Chakra flowed through the body's Eight Extraordinary Meridians. That was the most basic piece of Ninjutsu knowledge in their textbooks.

However, based on what Toru saw after channeling Chakra into the Six Eyes, Might Guy's meridians were extremely unusual. Though thick and tough, they were almost solid, leaving only a very narrow channel for Chakra to flow through.

The meridians were the main pathways for transporting Chakra. If an ordinary person's meridians were like clear plastic water pipes, then Might Guy's were more like highly resilient rubber hoses—but the channels inside them were only a tenth as wide as those in ordinary pipes.

Under these circumstances, learning Ninjutsu would be at least ten times harder for Might Guy than for an ordinary person. What's more, his narrow Chakra channels put an inherent limit on the high-level techniques he could use.

But the situation did have its advantages. If there were a technique that could instantly multiply someone's Chakra, Might Guy's meridians could be forced open in an instant. That would remove all the limitations he faced, and their toughness would let them withstand far more strain. It wouldn't be impossible for his strength to increase dozens of times over in an instant.

Still, Toru had only worked out this possibility in theory, and he dismissed it in the end.

Never mind whether the Shinobi World even had a technique so perfectly suited to Might Guy. Even if one existed, it would be a closely guarded secret. Might Guy wasn't from a ninja clan, so how would he ever get access to it?

Toru couldn't help feeling sorry for Might Guy. He's talented, but there's a good chance his potential will go to waste.

Might Guy walked up to the front of the classroom and, bracing himself, formed the Hand Seals for the Clone Technique. The result was a clone made entirely of his clothes.

His clone was much like Toru's first attempt—the naked-man clone.

The students burst into laughter, mercilessly mocking Konoha's dead last.

Tanaka Hajime silently judged Might Guy's talent to be poor. I can understand him being bad at Ninjutsu because he can use Taijutsu, but this is just too awful. If he can't use Ninjutsu, how can he hope to become a ninja?

"Go back to your seat. You'll need to practice the Clone Technique more." Might Guy nodded repeatedly and returned to his seat. Tanaka Hajime felt sorry for the hardworking student. "Kakashi, you're up."