The Three Body Techniques Are Too Basic; Wood Clone Technique Will Do

"What temper? With a scrawny build like yours, you want to talk to me about temper?"

Big Bear looked as though he had heard the biggest joke in the world, laughing so hard that the fat on his face shook wildly.

He swung an arm thicker than Sen's thigh, making as if to throw Sen against the wall.

Sen's gaze turned cold.

The Divine Tree Origin's energy silently flowed through his meridians, and his muscles instantly tensed like iron.

Just as he was about to use a little strength and crush this reckless fatso—

"Hey! What are you doing?! Let him go!"

A clear, delicate shout came from the other end of the alley.

Big Bear's hand trembled as he turned to look.

A girl with silky black hair and pure white eyes stood there, glaring angrily.

She wore a light-colored hooded jacket. Though she was somewhat afraid, she still bravely blocked the entrance to the alley.

Hinata Hyuga.

Sen raised an eyebrow inwardly. He had not expected to run into the little Byakugan princess here.

When Big Bear saw that she was from the Hyuga Clan, his expression changed, but he still forced himself to save face.

"Young miss of the Hyuga Clan, this is none of your business. This brat owes me money!"

"You're lying! It's only his first day at school. How could he possibly owe you money?"

Gathering her courage, Hinata raised her hands into the opening stance of the Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist.

"If you don't let him go, I'll tell the teacher!"

Big Bear might have been a school bully, but he did not dare truly offend one of the village's most prominent clans.

He shot Sen a vicious glare, then tossed him to the ground like garbage.

"You got lucky. Don't let me catch you again!"

Big Bear stomped away while cursing, not forgetting to kick a nearby trash can before leaving.

Sen dusted off his backside and slowly got to his feet.

"A-Are you okay?"

Hinata jogged over, twisting her fingers awkwardly. Her voice was barely louder than a mosquito's buzz.

"I'm fine. Thanks, Hyuga."

Sen brushed the dust off himself and smiled at her.

Even if he had not fought back, he could have crippled Big Bear with the recoil alone.

Still, seeing this little girl step forward warmed his heart.

"I-It's nothing... We're classmates, after all."

Hinata's face instantly flushed to the tips of her ears. She did not even dare lift her head. After stammering those words out, she turned and ran away.

Watching Hinata flee in embarrassment, Sen shook his head. This little girl was really easy to embarrass.

After that little incident with Big Bear, Sen's school life finally settled into a routine.

He perfectly played the role of a good-for-nothing who "had chakra but possessed negative control over it."

He slept in class and basked in the sun after class.

Iruka had completely given up on him too. As long as he did not cause trouble, Iruka let him do whatever he wanted.

And so, several peaceful and fulfilling months of doing nothing but sunbathing passed.

The early autumn sunlight was no longer so harsh. It felt warm on the skin, perfect for sleeping.

That afternoon, on the Ninja Academy training field.

Iruka stood at the front of the class, lesson plan in hand, his expression serious.

"Students, after several months of basic training, your physical fitness has all improved greatly."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the class.

"Therefore, starting today, we will officially begin learning ninjutsu."

"The first technique we will learn is also one of a ninja's most basic survival skills—the Clone Technique!"

The moment they heard they would be learning real ninjutsu, the entire class began whispering excitedly.

Naruto was so thrilled that he bounced on the spot, shouting that he wanted to learn the strongest ninjutsu.

Sasuke merely lifted his chin slightly, a flash of confidence appearing in his eyes.

Standing at the back of the line, Sen let out a long yawn.

The Clone Technique?

It was nothing more than creating an insubstantial afterimage to confuse the enemy.

He could not even be bothered to look at such a low-level trick.

"Watch my hand seals and the flow of chakra carefully."

Iruka rapidly formed hand seals before his chest.

"Ram—Snake—Tiger!"

"Clone Technique!"

With a soft pop.

A puff of white smoke appeared beside Iruka, followed by two identical phantoms appearing at his sides.

"Wow!"

The little kids gasped in amazement and clapped enthusiastically.

"Alright, spread out and try extracting chakra for yourselves. Practice according to the hand seals I taught you."

Iruka dismissed the clones and began walking through the class, offering guidance.

Sasuke was indeed worthy of being called a genius. He only tried twice.

Pop!

A perfect phantom clone appeared beside him.

This drew lovestruck squeals from Sakura and Ino nearby.

Naruto, meanwhile, scratched at his head anxiously.

He put all his strength into it, formed the hand seals, and with a pop, a huge cloud of white smoke erupted.

When the smoke cleared, all that remained was a failed product lying on the ground, limp as a noodle and so blurry that its face could not even be seen.

"Hahaha! Naruto, did you clone a lump of noodles?"

Several boys pointed at Naruto's clone and laughed until they doubled over.

Naruto's face turned red. He angrily dispelled the lump of noodles and stubbornly continued forming hand seals.

Sen found a large tree, leaned against its trunk, and sat down, preparing to put on a show of practicing as well.

He closed his eyes and drew out an extremely tiny thread of chakra from within his body, circulating it through the meridian route Iruka had taught them.

"Ram—Snake—Tiger."

Sen formed the hand seals.

However, nothing happened.

Not even a wisp of smoke appeared.

"Hm?"

Sen opened his eyes and looked at his hands in confusion.

He had clearly replicated the flow of chakra perfectly, and there had been no mistake in his hand seals.

Why could he not cast it?

Refusing to believe it, he tried again.

This time, he increased his chakra output by the tiniest amount.

Boom!

A deafening blast rang out.

No clone appeared beside him. Instead, the surrounding turf was blown up by an invisible shockwave!

Dirt and grass clippings splattered all over Ishikawa, who had been concentrating on forming hand seals nearby.

"Ptooey, ptooey! Sen! What the hell are you doing?! Are you trying to blow me up?"

Ishikawa wiped mud from his face and roared in fury.

Hearing the commotion, Iruka hurried over. Looking at the crater on the ground, he wore a helpless expression as well.

"Senju, you extracted too much chakra. The Clone Technique only requires an extremely tiny amount of chakra for delicate manipulation."

Iruka patiently explained.

"It's like using a cannon to kill a mosquito. Not only will you miss, you'll blow the house apart too."

Sen looked at his open palms and laughed bitterly to himself.

He understood what Iruka meant.

The Divine Tree Origin chakra inside his body was simply too dense and too pure.

Its quality was astonishingly high. Even the slightest leak of it possessed power comparable to a C-rank or even B-rank ninjutsu.

Trying to use chakra of this level to create an illusion with no physical substance?

That completely violated the law of conservation of energy.

It was like asking a weightlifting champion to thread a needle.

It was not that he did not want to do it. The needle's eye simply could not accommodate his thick fingers.

"Looks like I really can't learn these low-level Three Body Techniques."

Sen sighed inwardly.

Still, that was not necessarily a bad thing. It perfectly cemented his image as a useless guy with "negative chakra control."

Just as he was about to completely give up and lie down to continue sleeping.

The long-absent system notification suddenly rang in his mind without warning.

[Ding! Detected that the host has continuously absorbed natural energy. Experience points are full.]

[Divine Tree Origin level increased! Current level: Lv2.]

[Overall physical attribute limits have been raised.]

[Ding! Congratulations, host! You have unlocked the beginner Wood Release Ninjutsu: Wood Clone Technique!]

Sen's eyes flew open, his pupils instantly widening.

Wood Clone?!

This was one of the First Hokage's signature techniques!

Not only did it possess a physical body, it could use every ninjutsu the original body knew.

Even more absurdly, a Wood Clone could withstand a certain amount of physical damage. It would not shatter at the slightest touch like a Shadow Clone.

This is the real god-tier technique!

Couldn't learn the ordinary Clone Technique?

Then I'll just learn the highest-level one!

Sen felt his heart pounding wildly as an uncontrollable surge of excitement flooded his chest.

He forcefully suppressed the smile at the corners of his mouth, clutched his stomach, and sprang up from the ground with an expression of extreme pain.

"Ow... Ow, I can't take it..."

He bent over and groaned dramatically.

"Iruka-sensei, something I ate at lunch upset my stomach. May I go to the bathroom?"

Seeing him rolling around in apparent agony, Iruka believed him and waved him off in disgust.

"Go, go. Just don't do it on the training field!"

Feeling as though he had been granted a pardon, Sen clutched his stomach and jogged toward the most secluded men's bathroom on the first floor of the school building.

He rushed into the bathroom and locked himself inside a stall.

Sen took a deep breath and calmed his excited emotions.

He closed his eyes, and the complex chakra circulation route and hand seals for the [Wood Clone Technique] immediately surfaced in his mind.

The system had directly implanted it into his brain. He did not need to practice at all.

It was like an instinct he had been born with.

"Come on, let's see just how miraculous this Wood Release really is."

Sen opened his eyes, his gaze becoming incomparably focused.

His hands suddenly came together.

"Snake—Ram—Monkey—Boar—Horse—Tiger!"

His hand seals were lightning fast, far beyond what a six-year-old child should have been capable of.

As the final seal was completed.

"Wood Release: Wood Clone Technique!"

Sen gave a low shout, and the vast, pure chakra within his body surged wildly through his meridians.

"Crack, crack, crack..."

A teeth-grinding sound of wood growing rang out within the cramped stall.

From the gaps between the flat tiles beneath Sen's feet, a tangled mass of dark brown wood suddenly burst forth.

The wood seemed alive as it frantically writhed, grew, and changed shape.

In just a few seconds.

That clump of wood rose from the ground, transforming into a humanoid outline roughly the same height as Sen.

Then, the rough bark began to transform.

Its facial features, skin, hair, even the faded old clothes on its body gradually became clear.

Less than ten seconds later.

A living, breathing Sen Senju, identical to the original, stood quietly before him!

There was no white smoke, no flashy sound or light effects.

Only this most primal, most breathtaking form of life reconstruction!

Sen's eyes widened as he stared at the "himself" before him.

He reached out and cautiously pinched the clone's cheek.

Warm!

Soft!

Even the texture of its skin and its tiny pores were exactly the same as the original's!

What kind of clone was this? It was practically a perfect duplicate!

"That's fucking amazing..."

Sen could not help swearing.

He circled the clone twice, looking it over from head to toe.

The clone turned its head as well, staring at him with the same lazy eyes.

The two of them stared wide-eyed at each other. The sight was indescribably bizarre, yet incredibly exciting.

Sen stroked his chin as a brilliant idea struck his mind like lightning.

With this perfect physical clone...

Would he still need to sit in the classroom every day and listen to those boring theory lessons?

Would he still need to run laps under the blazing sun because Iruka forced him to?

"The perfect 'stand-in slacking plan' officially begins."

Sen snapped his fingers, pointed at the Wood Clone before him, and grinned like an old fox that had stolen a chicken.

"Starting this afternoon, you..."

Sen patted the clone on the shoulder, his tone extremely solemn.

"Are Sen Senju Number Two, someone who loves learning, strives to improve every day, and keeps working hard despite having poor control!"

The Wood Clone nodded expressionlessly, its voice identical to Sen's.

"No problem, original. But I have one condition."

Sen froze for a moment.

"What condition? You're a clone, and you dare negotiate terms with me?"

The Wood Clone pointed at its stomach and said seriously,

"On the way back to the classroom later, buy me a red bean cake. When I appeared just now, I started feeling a little hungry."