"Seriously, the original has been getting more and more cocky lately."
A distinctly disgruntled voice suddenly came from the potted plant behind Ada.
Then the otherwise unremarkable plant twisted and grew, sprouting a Wood Clone that looked exactly like Young Naruto in the blink of an eye.
The Wood Clone stretched his limbs as he complained in a voice identical to Young Naruto's, his tone brimming with dissatisfaction toward the original.
"Huh?"
Young Naruto, who had been about to leave, stopped short and turned back in surprise to look at the version of himself that had grown out of the plant.
"Hey, original! Watch out, or someone will teach you a lesson in humility!"
The Wood Clone planted his hands on his hips, looking as though he had worried himself sick over him, and pointed at Young Naruto.
"I've been meaning to tell you this. Why did you take her charm head-on?
And another thing..."
"Didn't I have you sneak in here ahead of time and lie in wait?"
Young Naruto interrupted the Wood Clone's incessant chatter. "I'm still plenty cautious, all right? It's called making a show of one approach while secretly taking another. You hide, observe, and guard against surprises. I draw their attention up front and finish things quickly. Clear division of labor, maximum efficiency."
"What's cautious about that?"
The Wood Clone retorted without hesitation, "If you get killed, I go down with you!
You'd better stay alive, got it? Stop trying to look cool all the time. And you didn't even look cool just now!"
The more the Wood Clone spoke, the angrier he got. He even started dredging up old grievances. "An amateur is an amateur. You actually had the nerve to call us clones reckless before?
As far as I'm concerned, you're the most