Obtaining the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique

Sasuke pounced on the dining table and wolfed everything down.

After eating, he staggered to his feet, his belly round and bloated.

Chiye Jun took a small bottle from his pocket, something he had also scavenged from the spatial storage. It contained several dozen tablets.

He poured out two and handed them to Sasuke.

"Digestive tablets. They'll help you digest."

"Oh."

Sasuke took them and sat back down on the sofa.

The two sat there in silence, and the atmosphere became awkward for a moment.

"How about I sing you a song?" Chiye Jun suggested.

Sasuke nodded.

"After three rounds of drinks, you're in the corner, stubbornly singing..."

Sasuke turned to look at him, his eyes full of astonishment.

It sounded so good...

But why was it so sad?

"One cup to freedom, one cup to death..."

The moment he sang that line, Chiye Jun realized something was wrong with the mood.

Peh, peh, peh!

It was the guy's birthday. Why was he singing about death?

So he immediately changed the lyrics. "Thanks to every teammate who went through instant death upon landing with me, fighting in perfect unison every night for that chicken dinner. B-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-bro, don't kill me! I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I'll give you all my guns..."

After he finished singing, Sasuke stood there stunned like a wooden post.

"Bro, don't kill me..." he murmured, finally smiling.

Seeing that he had finally smiled, Chiye Jun let out a sigh of relief.

But the system reward still did not appear.

Fine!

He could only use his final move.

"Come on, let's go up to the rooftop. I've got a surprise!"

Sasuke followed him up to the rooftop, his face full of confusion.

On the ground was an exquisite birthday cake Chiye Jun had made, candles stuck into it, with a hastily scribbled message: "Happy birthday, Er Zhuzi."

Sasuke froze.

"Who's Er Zhuzi?"

Chiye Jun grinned. "You. Does it sound nice?"

Sasuke nodded. "Yeah, it sounds nice..."

But soon, he went still as though struck by lightning.

He stared hard at the cake, then looked at Chiye Jun.

"My birthday?"

Chiye Jun beamed. "Happy birthday!"

"How did you know... it was my birthday?" Sasuke's voice trembled slightly.

"Well... I asked Grandpa Hokage. All right, hurry up and blow out the candles. Make a wish!"

Afterward, the two lay shoulder to shoulder on the rooftop, looking up at the starry sky.

Ever since he had begun living alone, Sasuke had long forgotten what birthdays were. No one had cared about his birthday, either.

At that moment, his heart was filled with gratitude and emotion.

Chiye Jun got up and lit the fireworks he had prepared.

Brilliant fireworks blossomed across the night sky.

Sasuke looked at Chiye Jun. "Jun, thank you."

And at that moment...

The system's voice finally rang out!

Chiye Jun breathed a sigh of relief.

Sasuke and I finally became friends!

[Ding! Congratulations to the host for forming a friendship with Sasuke. Reward: Multiple Shadow Clone Technique]

Though it was not the Sharingan he had been longing for, Chiye Jun was still overjoyed.

Haha!

The Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!

This was an A-rank ninjutsu classified as a forbidden technique.

It used massive amounts of chakra to create numerous physical clones. They could move and fight just like the caster, possessing independent consciousness and the ability to withstand attacks.

From now on, whenever he encountered an enemy, he could use his infinite chakra to create hundreds of clones at once!

Then every clone could cast Fireball Jutsu at the same time...

What kind of sight would that be?

The thought filled Chiye Jun with excitement.

"The moon is beautiful," Sasuke said, interrupting his reverie.

Chiye Jun came back to his senses and looked up at the sky, unable to stop himself from sighing inwardly.

"Such bright moonlight... Who would have thought this was the container the Sage of Six Paths created with Planetary Devastation to seal the Ten-Tails..."

Chiye Jun was itching to try the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique, but it would be rude to directly kick Sasuke out. So he smiled and said, "It's getting late. How about you sleep at my place tonight? I only have one single bed, so we can squeeze in together?"

The moment Sasuke heard that, he scrambled to his feet and ran out of Chiye Jun's little house as if fleeing for his life.

After he left, Chiye Jun locked the door and performed the Multiple Shadow Clone Bunny Girl Technique...

The next dozen or so days passed happily like that.

There were still more than two months until the plot began.

One day, Chiye Jun and Naruto went to the ramen shop for ramen.

After eating, the two left the little shop with their arms around each other's shoulders.

Sasuke happened to be passing by.

Over the past few days, he had noticed that Chiye Jun went for ramen with Naruto every day after school.

An indescribable feeling rose in his heart.

Sour...

"Annoying idiot!"

A cold voice sounded behind them.

Naruto had been cheerful just moments ago, but when he turned and saw Sasuke, he immediately flew into a rage.

"Hey, who are you calling an idiot?"

Sasuke looked arrogantly at him. "Whoever's an idiot is who I'm talking about."

Naruto instantly bristled.

"Bastard!"

"Dead last!"

"Apologize to me! Otherwise, the two of us will beat you up!"

Sasuke looked coldly at Chiye Jun. "Whose side are you on?"

Naruto laughed. "Do you even need to ask? Of course he'll help me, right, Jun?"

Chiye Jun froze.

The two famously important protagonists were really childish.

One was Asura's reincarnation.

The other was Indra's reincarnation.

Perhaps they were destined to be rivals...

Watching the two guys curse at each other, Chiye Jun laughed and ran off. "I'm helping neither of you. Take your time fighting!"

Just then, a lazy voice drifted over.

"Those two are fighting again."

"Should we go break it up?"

"Forget it, what a pain..."

"Yeah. Let's go get some Sweet Chestnut instead."

Choji and Shikamaru left together...

The next day.

Chiye Jun headed to school with his backpack.

Math class.

The teacher explained at the blackboard:

"A shuriken is 15 cm long, with a 9 cm blade. It is composed of two quadrangular pyramids with equal bases. The widest part of the blade is 4.5 cm wide, and the thickest part is 1 cm thick. What is the volume of the blade..."

Chiye Jun and Naruto were both drowsy from listening.

Suddenly!

The system's voice rang out.

[Ding! A performance art check-in mission is now issued. Please assist Naruto in beautifying Hokage Rock. Time limit: two days.]

Haha!

I like this mission!

Just imagining Naruto scaling walls and roofs to paint Hokage Rock into a complete mess made Chiye Jun incredibly happy.

"What are you laughing about?" Naruto asked curiously.

Chiye Jun whispered something into Naruto's ear.

The two immediately hit it off!

"Naruto Uzumaki, stop right there! And you too, newcomer!"

Several angry shouts rang out beneath Konoha Village's Hokage Rock.

At that moment!

Several ninja were chasing two boys in different directions.

Both boys carried paint buckets in their hands.

One was Naruto.

The other was Chiye Jun.

The four statues of the previous Hokage had been transformed by Naruto's unique artistic talent into masterpieces of uncanny workmanship.

Though Chiye Jun felt that this behavior was somewhat childish.

He had no choice but to complete the system's check-in mission...

He was merely assisting, though—handing Naruto brushes, dipping them in paint, and keeping watch.

This time, Naruto even used the English words he had just learned from him...