Wouldn't That Make Me a Sitting Duck?

Hibari caught his breath and reset his stance.

"It couldn't be that Tobirama gave me a fake scroll, could it?" He thought about it for a moment, then dismissed the idea. "Why would he waste his time messing with me? Besides, the theory in this scroll is perfectly sound; it looks like the real deal in every way..."

He was more careful this time. Steadying his nerves, he formed the hand seals again and whispered, "Shadow Clone Technique!"

Yet, the same problem occurred. Just as the shadow clone was about to take shape, Hibari felt his chakra flow stutter again. Then, with a soft "poof," the technique failed once more.

"...This is absolute madness!" Hibari clutched his tight chest, his face a mask of disbelief.

He remembered Naruto Uzumaki from the original story, who had managed to create hundreds of clones the very first time he looked at the Multi-Shadow Clone scroll.

He had been pondering this for ages, trying to create just one, and he had failed twice in a row?

This string of setbacks left Hibari feeling uneasy. The key was that he felt he had followed every step to the letter, and his chakra distribution had been precise. It made no sense.

He could have blamed the first failure on being rusty, but after the second, he refused to believe it was just a matter of luck.

He mused that either the scroll Tobirama gave him was flawed, or the technique was undergoing some strange transformation within him.

Hibari frowned, his suspicion immediately falling on that cursed Human-Human Fruit. If he thought about it, there might well be a connection between that thing and the Shadow Clone Technique... After all, one acted upon a "human," and the other required splitting off a "human."

"No rushing this time," he muttered. "Let's get a real feel for what's going wrong."

Hibari formed the Shadow Clone seals again, but this time, he didn't rush to mobilize his chakra. Instead, he suppressed the flow to a minimum, driving the technique slowly and deliberately.

Everything went smoothly at first, but the moment his chakra was about to split in two and the clone was meant to emerge, that familiar sense of resistance returned.

However, because he was moving slowly, the technique didn't fail immediately, which allowed Hibari to pinpoint the source of the problem.

"Well, I'll be..." His heart skipped a beat. "Not enough chakra? A single shadow clone needs to drain half my reserves and it's still not enough?"

Though it sounded absurd, Hibari steeled himself to get to the bottom of it. He decided to ignore the scroll's reminder about "even distribution."

"Fine, take whatever you want!"

He stopped restricting the output and let the Shadow Clone Technique draw chakra from his body. Once he lifted the limit, his chakra surged out like a broken dam.

In the blink of an eye, Hibari's reserves—which were far greater than an average person's—were completely bottomed out. His legs went weak, and he nearly lost his footing.

Yet, as his chakra was drained, that sense of resistance vanished.

With a "poof," a figure identical to Hibari appeared beside him, reaching out to steady him.

"Well, well..." Hibari looked at the shadow clone supporting him, feeling speechless. "A B-rank technique, and it takes my entire life savings just to manifest? If I tried a Multi-Shadow Clone, wouldn't I just drop dead on the spot?"

He caught his breath and began to examine the clone. It looked no different, but something felt off.

"How do you feel?" Hibari asked.

The shadow clone spoke naturally. "Nothing special, just... I feel like I've come to life, and I'm brimming with chakra."

Hibari nearly laughed in frustration when he heard that. Of course you're brimming with it—all my chakra went to you!

However, the clone's remark about "coming to life" caught his attention. He rubbed his chin, his eyes darting over the clone with a mischievous glint.

"Hey, what are you planning?" The shadow clone stepped back, wary. "We're the same person. If you mess with me, the sensation will all return to you once the technique is dispelled!"

"Hahaha, listen to you," Hibari grinned. "Would I ever hurt myself? Relax..."

As he spoke, he pulled a kunai from his pouch and weighed it in his hand. Sunlight glinted off the blade with a cold, sharp light.

"Hey! Hey! Are you listening to me?" The shadow clone's voice changed as he looked at the gleaming kunai. "We share the same origin! If you hurt me, the karma will all come back to you!"

"Don't be nervous, I just want to test something." Hibari tossed the kunai, a smile on his face. "You sucked my chakra dry, so there has to be something different about you.

I suspect this weirdness has everything to do with that cursed Human-Human Fruit. Maybe I can find out how it works."

The shadow clone fell silent for a few seconds. Since they were one and the same, their thoughts were much the same. "Testing is fine... but how exactly do you plan to do it?"

"Well, a normal shadow clone dispels once it takes enough damage," Hibari said with a wicked grin. "So, let's start by verifying that."

"...Do you have to be so ruthless? Going straight for the blade?" The shadow clone's voice sounded thin.

"Don't worry, I've got a steady hand!" Hibari spun the kunai. "Even though it's my first time, I promise it won't hurt! Come on, let me stab you!"

"Hey! Listen to yourself—does that sound right to you?!" The shadow clone couldn't help but shout.

Even so, he didn't back away. Just as he had said, they were the same person, and the experiment was indeed necessary.

The shadow clone gritted his teeth and steeled himself. "...Damn it, fine! Do it, make it quick!"

"Watch closely, I told you my technique is solid." Hibari's eyes narrowed slightly.

Before the words had even left his lips, the kunai in his hand had already struck. Without a hint of hesitation, he drove it straight into the clone's shoulder. With a wet thwack, blood splattered instantly, a few drops landing on Hibari's face.

"Ah, ow, ow, ow... you bastard, you're really going that hard on yourself?!" The shadow clone winced in pain.

But as soon as he said it, he froze. Hibari, standing beside him, widened his eyes in disbelief.

Logically, a shadow clone could take some damage, but Hibari had struck with real force. A normal clone would have vanished in a puff of smoke long ago.

Yet, not only was this one still there, but he was actually cursing?

Even more bizarre was that Hibari could clearly feel the sensation of the kunai piercing flesh—it was no different from stabbing real skin. The blood that sprayed out was hot and bright red.

It wasn't rare for a shadow clone to get bruised or scratched, but this level of bleeding... it was as if he were a living person!

"You..." Hibari's voice drifted. "What kind of shadow clone are you? You're basically... you're basically another living version of me!"

The shadow clone was stunned as well. He gritted his teeth, gripped the hilt of the kunai in his shoulder, and yanked it out. Fresh blood surged from the wound, leaving even him staring in shock.

"It seems you were right... this Shadow Clone Technique must have merged with the power of the Human-Human Fruit..."

He reached out and pressed firmly on the pressure points near the wound. Strangely, the blood that had been gushing out began to slow.

"Holy crap, I can even stop my own bleeding?!" The shadow clone looked at his blood-stained hand and couldn't help but complain. "This really is my own body!"

"Try using a ninjutsu," Hibari suggested after a moment.

The shadow clone nodded and quickly formed a few hand seals. The feeling of chakra flowing through his body was incredibly clear. He took a deep breath and exhaled toward the sky: "Wind Style: Vacuum Sphere!"

The technique flowed smoothly, without the slightest hitch. The shadow clone sighed in relief. "No problem at all..."

But before he could finish, he paused. He felt his body carefully, his eyes widening further. "Wait... the chakra I just used... it's actually... it's actually recovering on its own!"

When he said that, Hibari was completely at a loss for words.

Everyone knew that a normal shadow clone only took a portion of the user's chakra and vanished once it was spent. As for automatic regeneration? That was unheard of!

But this clone he had created could not only take real damage, bleed, and use ninjutsu, it could even regenerate its own chakra... How was this any different from cloning a living human being?!

After all this, Hibari finally understood: his Shadow Clone Technique had indeed produced something extraordinary.

A surge of joy filled his heart. With a clone like this, what couldn't he do? In a fight, it would be an absolute weapon for catching people off guard!

But before he could enjoy it for two seconds, his face fell. This technique drained his chakra completely in one go, so did that mean he could forget about the Multi-Shadow Clone forever? Unless... he used his life to fuel it? That would be too stupid!

And if he really used this shadow clone in a real battle, his chakra would be drained on the spot, wouldn't that make him a sitting duck? Was this technique just a trap?

At the thought of this, Hibari's joy vanished, replaced by a bitter feeling.

He looked at the clone in front of him, feeling depressed. "Do you realize that by appearing, you've effectively rendered two of my techniques useless?"

"What do you mean?" The shadow clone raised an eyebrow, looking confused.

"Use your head," Hibari explained. "You drain all my chakra the moment you appear, so how am I supposed to use the Multi-Shadow Clone in this lifetime? Besides, if a real fight breaks out, do I dare use this shadow clone? If I do, I'll just..."

The shadow clone listened, his brow furrowing. "Whoa, you're right! That's a huge problem!"

However, his eyes rolled as he added, "But maybe there's another possibility? Think about it, the Human-Human Fruit can't create an infinite number of me, right? I reckon one of me is the limit.

You should have recovered some chakra by now, right? Why don't... why don't you try to create another one? You'll know for sure if you try."

Hibari's eyes lit up. He really was his own clone—his brain was just as sharp as the original.

His physical constitution wasn't bad, and his chakra recovery was quite fast. Although he didn't have much left in his reserves, the Shadow Clone Technique didn't actually require a massive amount of chakra; it just needed to split it into two equal parts.

Of course, with less chakra, the clone's strength would be weaker. But Hibari didn't care about that right now; he just wanted to verify it.

He acted immediately. Hibari formed the hand seals, mobilized the meager amount of chakra in his body, and whispered, "Shadow Clone Technique!"

This time, there was no sense of resistance. With a soft "poof," another figure identical to him appeared beside them.

Seeing this, the corners of Hibari's mouth curled up, and he laughed out loud. "Hahahahaha! That's exactly it!!!"

But before his laughter could fade, he saw the first, special shadow clone raise his hand and punch the second clone in the stomach. The clone took the hit and immediately vanished into a puff of white smoke.