Want to graduate? First, pass the Clone Technique

"Clone Technique... Clone Technique..."

Ling Yue lay on the hard wooden bed, staring at the ceiling as she muttered.

The system mission hung over her head like a blade. Three hundred points and two cards—the temptation was too great. She had to get them.

But the biggest obstacle in the graduation exam was the Clone Technique. The original owner had practically zero talent for it, and her chakra control was atrocious.

She had only just arrived herself, so she was not much better off.

"No, I can't just lie here." She sprang upright. "I need to train!"

She ran to a small training ground on the edge of the village, a place that was usually deserted, and began trying.

"Clone Technique!"

Her hands clumsily formed the Ram seal as she struggled to mobilize the pitiful amount of chakra inside her.

A puff of white smoke rose. When it cleared, something appeared on the ground... its color was dull, its body translucent, and it was twisted like a pile of mush. It barely resembled a person. It wriggled twice on the ground, then vanished.

"..."

Forget fooling the examiner—this thing could not even fool a dog.

She tried several more times, with nearly identical results. The best one barely had a human shape, but its expression was vacant, and it swayed in the slightest breeze.

Her chakra control was too poor!

Drenched in sweat, she sat on the ground, panting. Mindlessly drilling it would not work. She had to find another way.

"Zetsu..." She remembered the skill. "It can perfectly control my own aura and even influence chakra fluctuations to a certain extent... Could I use it to help control my chakra output?"

The moment she thought of it, she gave it a try.

She formed the hand seals again. This time, she simultaneously employed Zetsu, trying to guide the refined chakra precisely and steadily toward the points required by the technique.

"Clone Technique!"

The white smoke cleared.

This time, the clone on the ground was still a little transparent, but its outline was much clearer. It could stand steadily, though its expression still looked idiotic.

"It works!" Ling Yue's eyes lit up.

She was still far from passing, but at least she could see hope!

Over the next few days, aside from eating and sleeping, she practically lived at the training ground and trained like mad.

With the fine-control advantage Zetsu gave her and her stubborn refusal to give up, her clones improved at a visible pace.

From limp piles of mush to standing upright, from vacant expressions to vaguely defined facial features, from dispersing in a breeze to lasting over ten seconds.

Naruto came to see her several times during that period, noisily sharing how he had pulled another prank or gotten diarrhea after drinking expired milk. Ling Yue trained while listening to him ramble, responding with a word or two now and then.

"Wow! Yue, your clone is better than yesterday!" Naruto looked at the gradually taking shape clone on the ground, a little envious. "I just can't do it. No matter what I try, I can't get the Clone Technique right..."

"Focus and control your chakra properly," Ling Yue said between breaths. "You can do it too."

"Yeah! I'll definitely master it! I'm the guy who's going to become Hokage!" Naruto was full of energy again, but his head soon drooped. "But the graduation exam is almost here..."

Ling Yue did not respond. She knew Naruto would eventually learn the Multi-Shadow Clone Technique because of Mizuki's scheme, but there was no need to mention it now.

That afternoon, Ling Yue was so absorbed in training that she failed to notice someone arriving at the other side of the training ground.

Sasuke Uchiha walked over with his hands in his pockets and an expressionless face, ready for his usual shuriken-throwing practice.

At a glance, he spotted the girl at the edge of the field, diligently forming hand seals and repeatedly summoning clumsy clones.

She was the one who had been with Naruto that day.

He gave a cold snort, paid her little attention, and walked over to his own target in the distance.

His shuriken struck the bullseye with crisp, precise impacts.

The noise drew Ling Yue's attention, and she glanced over. Seeing Sasuke's fluid movements and perfect accuracy, she clicked her tongue inwardly.

Damn it, so what if you're a genius?

She looked away and continued struggling with her pathetic dog of a clone.

"Clone Technique!"

This clone seemed unusually cooperative. Its form was clear, and it lasted nearly half a minute before disappearing.

"Improvement!" Ling Yue wiped away her sweat, feeling a little smug.

Just then, a cold voice came from beside her. "Your chakra scatters too much when it flows into your limbs. Your core is unstable."

Ling Yue jumped and turned to see Sasuke standing there at some point, looking at where her clone had just vanished.

"Uh... thanks?" Ling Yue was a little dazed. This cool guy actually gave people advice?

After saying that, Sasuke seemed to regret it. He immediately returned to his aloof manner, glanced at her, and looked at her with his usual scrutiny and a faint trace of... curiosity?

"Your chakra control is strange. It's good sometimes and bad at others." He paused, as if explaining why he had bothered to speak. "If you can't even handle a basic technique like this, don't hold everyone back in the graduation exam."

Without waiting for Ling Yue's response, he turned and returned to his training area, continuing to throw shuriken as if nothing had happened.

Ling Yue made a face at his back.

"What are you acting so high and mighty for... Still, he might have a point?" She recalled Sasuke's words. "An unstable core?"

As she formed the hand seals, she tried to focus more on stabilizing the chakra source in her abdomen, then used Zetsu to carefully guide the flow.

"Clone Technique!"

The white smoke cleared, revealing a clone standing before her that was more solid and clearly defined than any she had produced before. Its eyes were still a little vacant, but it finally looked convincing!

"I did it! Haha!" Ling Yue could not help laughing aloud.

In the distance, Sasuke seemed to glance in her direction, though his shuriken-throwing never stopped.

At last, graduation exam day arrived.

The atmosphere in the classroom was tense as the students went up one by one to be assessed.

"Sakura Haruno!"

"Here!"

"Clone Technique!" Poof! Two identical Sakuras appeared, both highly complete.

"Pass!"

"Yay!" Sakura jumped happily.

"Sasuke Uchiha."

Sasuke stepped forward expressionlessly.

"Clone Technique." Poof! A perfect clone appeared, nearly indistinguishable from the original, even carrying the same cold look in its eyes.

"Passed with excellence."

Sasuke gave a faint nod. As he stepped down, his eyes casually swept toward Ling Yue.

"Naruto Uzumaki!"

"I'm here!" Naruto walked forward nervously.

"Clone Technique!" A bizarre clone in the form of the Sexy Technique appeared before Iruka, wriggling about.

"Naruto Uzumaki! Fail!" Iruka shouted furiously.

"Ahhh! How could this happen?!" Naruto clutched his head and wailed.

Ling Yue covered her face. It had happened after all.

"Next, Yue!"

Ling Yue took a deep breath and walked up.

She could feel quite a few gazes from below the platform, including Iruka's worried look and the anxious stare of a certain blond idiot in the back row.

"Begin," Iruka said. His tone was gentler. He knew this child had always worked hard but lacked talent.

Ling Yue focused, formed the hand seals, and simultaneously used Zetsu as she struggled to keep her chakra core stable.

"Clone Technique!"

A burst of white smoke, thicker than usual, erupted.

When the smoke cleared, two Ling Yues stood on the stage. Although the clone's expression was slightly stiff, its form was stable and its outline clear, without a trace of transparency or distortion. It stood there solidly!

"Oh?" Iruka pushed up his forehead protector in surprise and examined it carefully. "Your chakra control has improved greatly! It's still a little rough, but... pass!"

"Yay! That's great, Yue!" Naruto was even more excited than she was and nearly jumped up.

Ling Yue let out a breath, dispelled the clone, and felt joy bloom in her heart. She had finally passed!

[Ding! Mission complete: Successfully pass the Ninja Academy graduation exam and become a Hidden Leaf Village genin.]

[Rewards issued: Dimensional Points x300, Skill Card Voucher (R) x2.]

The system notification sounded, and a surge of overwhelming joy filled her heart.

She was rich! Three hundred points! And two cards!

Suppressing the urge to draw immediately, she walked off the stage, feeling much lighter on her feet.

After school, the students who had passed were all jubilant. Only Naruto sat dejectedly on a swing.

Ling Yue knew what would happen next. Mizuki would lure Naruto into stealing the Scroll of Seals.

She had no intention of interfering. This was Naruto's opportunity.

She had something more important to do!

She jogged all the way home, locked the door behind her, and eagerly summoned the system interface.

Looking at the gleaming three hundred points and two cards, she rubbed her hands together.

"Let's try one single draw first! System, use 100 points for a single draw!"

A roulette wheel appeared, its needle spinning wildly.

[Congratulations, Host, for obtaining: [Super Recovery Physique] (Passive Skill: Slightly increases physical strength and chakra recovery speed).]

"A passive boost to chakra and stamina recovery? That's good stuff!" Ling Yue felt her body become slightly lighter. "Looks like I'm pretty lucky today!"

"Again! Use a card!"

She used one R card voucher first.

The roulette wheel spun again.

[Congratulations, Host, for obtaining skill: [Basic Nen Ability Training Method] (from Hunter x Hunter).]

"Nen ability?!" Ling Yue's eyes widened. "The Four Major Principles? Ten, Zetsu, Ren, Hatsu? I already know Zetsu, so Ten..."

Her heart pounded as she immediately loaded the training method. A massive amount of knowledge concerning the application of the life energy known as "aura" flooded into her mind.

"Ten" was the foundation for protecting the body, "Zetsu" was concealment, "Ren" was explosive output, and "Hatsu" was one's unique ability...

She instinctively tried to guide the energy within her according to the training method. Chakra seemed subtly similar to aura, so she attempted to combine the technique of Ten with chakra.

A faint but distinct layer of energy slowly covered the surface of her body. It was still thin, but it undeniably existed!

"This... this is..." Ling Yue looked at her hand, which seemed to be enveloped in a faint white glow, too excited to speak.

If she trained this properly, would it not become permanent defensive armor? It could even nourish her body!

She had struck it rich!

She still had one card and two hundred points left.

"Strike while the iron's hot! System, use another card!"

Without hesitation, she used her last R card voucher.

The roulette wheel appeared for the third time. The needle slowly came to a stop, pointing at a slot glowing with... a faint golden light!

[Congratulations, Host, for obtaining skill: ______]