Bird Clone Technique

Upgrading his Level 1 Three-Body Technique to Level 2 brought all three starting skills to Level 2, completing the final piece he needed to advance to Chunin.

[Uchiha Naruto: Chunin]

[Skills: Sharingan LV2 (5/100), Fire Style LV2 (4/100), Three-Body Technique LV2 (1/100)]

[Chunin rank reached. Acquired: Summoning Technique LV1 (0/10), Taijutsu LV1 (0/10)]

[Unlocked "Item Shop"]

A string of system notifications flashed through Uchiha Naruto's mind.

"Upgrading the Three-Body Technique to Level 2 unlocked a new C-Rank ninjutsu, the Bird Clone Technique. Too bad it wasn't the Shadow Clone Technique. If I'd gotten that, I'd really have hit the jackpot!"

Despite his words, Uchiha Naruto's tone held little disappointment.

The Bird Clone Technique was Uchiha Itachi's signature move. It used crows as the medium for the Clone Technique, sending dozens of them wheeling through the sky before converging into a human form. It was ridiculously cool.

Just imagining it made Uchiha Naruto itch to try it. Who didn't have a little teenage fantasy left in them?

Uchiha Itachi used crows as his medium, but the Bird Clone Technique wasn't limited to crows. Pigeons, sparrows, and other flocking birds would work too.

Using white doves for the Bird Clone Technique might make him look a bit like a magician, but using sparrows would turn him into a comedy act. Those were an immediate no.

Crows and pigeons were among the most common birds in Japan's big cities. With the thriving restaurant industry, food waste was sorted and bagged, and urban crows had long since learned to peck open garbage bags. They ate so well that their feathers gleamed. Many garbage collection sites in Tokyo had to put up wire mesh to keep the pesky crows out.

Tokyo had plenty of pigeons too. Whenever Uchiha Naruto passed a plaza or park on his way to school, he saw flocks of them on the ground, fed round and plump by visitors. They were probably too stuffed to fly and weren't afraid of people at all. Pigeons were likable, but their flocks could blot out the sky, and their droppings were a major source of filth in the city.

Both species had become a nuisance in Japan, but that also offered ample camouflage. They wouldn't easily attract attention.

Although he had other options, Uchiha Naruto ultimately decided to use crows as the medium for practicing his Bird Clone Technique.

He was an Uchiha, after all. When it came to looking cool-or showing off-he wasn't about to lose to anyone!

The next day was Saturday. Wearing sunglasses, Uchiha Naruto took the train to neighboring Shinjuku Ward. Its bustling shopping and restaurant streets naturally attracted plenty of crows to the restaurants' back doors, where they coveted the food waste.

Uchiha Naruto picked a restaurant street at random and slipped into an alley behind the shops.

Sure enough, he found a flock of crows picking at bags of food waste. At the sight of someone approaching, they startled into the air and perched on a utility pole, watching the unwelcome visitor.

Uchiha Naruto said nothing. He turned to buy a bottle of mineral water from a nearby vending machine, then bent his knees and lowered his head to collect his change, concealing a fifty-yen coin in his palm.

Then he stood off to the side, drinking his water.

After a while, seeing that Uchiha Naruto wasn't doing anything else, the crows grew bolder and flew back down to the garbage bins to peck at the scraps.

Now!

His Two-Tomoe Sharingan spun, and Uchiha Naruto flicked the coin from his palm. It struck a crow with perfect accuracy, knocking it to the ground. The other crows panicked and scattered into the sky until none remained.

He picked up the fallen crow. Uchiha Naruto had carefully controlled his strength, leaving it briefly dazed rather than injured. It was already struggling in his hand.

"Caw, caw, caw!"

"Hold still, hold still. I'm giving you the opportunity of a lifetime. Other crows would love this blessing, but they don't even get the chance."

Holding the crow, Uchiha Naruto went to a deserted corner of a nearby children's park and bit his index finger, drawing a bead of crimson blood.

He forcibly pressed his bloodied finger onto the crow's head.

"Summoning Technique!"

The crow, which had been struggling fiercely and trying to peck him, immediately grew docile.

Uchiha Naruto opened his hand, but the crow didn't take the chance to escape. Instead, it gently pecked at his fingertip.

"First, let's see you perform the crow drinking water trick."

Uchiha Naruto set his half-empty water bottle on the ground. The crow tilted its head at him, looking confused.

Uchiha Naruto sent a thought through their connection, and the crow took flight. It picked up small stones nearby, one after another, and dropped them into the bottle, raising the water level.

Once the water spilled over the mouth of the bottle, the crow stopped adding stones.

Uchiha Naruto nodded slightly. Crows were highly intelligent birds to begin with. The story of a crow drinking water wasn't just a fable; scientists had confirmed it through experiments in the real world.

Uchiha Naruto could feel the close connection established between him and the crow. Commanding it felt as natural as moving his own fingers. Even if he ordered it to make a kamikaze attack and smash itself to death against a car's windshield, it would obey without hesitation.

Next, he had the crow fly circles, dive, and perform a cobra climb.

This was much more fun than flying a remote-controlled drone.

Finally, Uchiha Naruto had the crow perch on his arm. Through the connection established by the Summoning Technique, he transferred a little chakra into it, and the intelligence in its eyes shone ever brighter.

Suddenly, a Two-Tomoe Sharingan appeared in the crow's eye!

Uchiha Naruto tossed the crow into the sky. It spread its wings and soared a hundred meters into the air, looking down over the city.

He closed his eyes, and the cityscape the crow saw from above was shared with Uchiha Naruto.

With the Sharingan's enhancement, the crow's eyesight improved severalfold. With a crow serving as his eyes, he could immediately spot any major activity in the city. If he needed to follow someone, he could send a crow without being easily noticed. After all, Tokyo had tens of thousands of crows, and they all looked much the same.

Most importantly, he could remain behind the scenes and send out bird clones to do all sorts of things.

Crows flew at forty kilometers per hour. Using them as a medium, his bird clones could appear swiftly and discreetly in any corner of the city whenever he wanted, without his real body leaving a trail by taking public transportation.

However, a single crow wasn't enough to perform the Bird Clone Technique.

"I grant you the name Crow One. Go tell your companions there's good food here, and bring them over."

"Caw, caw, caw!"

Crow One hopped happily in Uchiha Naruto's palm, showing no qualms whatsoever about betraying its fellow crows. Then it spread its wings and flew away, returning shortly with another crow.

Hiding nearby, Uchiha Naruto immediately threw a pebble and knocked the newcomer senseless. He then picked it up and repeated the process, turning the second crow into his summoned beast.

He caught another ten crows in succession the same way. These didn't need names. His first summoned beast had some commemorative value, but the rest didn't matter much. He could always catch more when he was done with them.

That many crows would suffice for now. Uchiha Naruto ordered the flock to fly to Yayoi-cho in Nakano Ward, while he took the train home, ready to practice the Bird Clone Technique.

Back in Nakano Ward, a wanted poster for Chiriku had already been put up on a community noticeboard not far from his home.

The search had intensified further. Faced with the Metropolitan Police Department's mounting pressure, Uchiha Naruto's expression shifted slightly.

Although he didn't believe the Metropolitan Police Department could find anything that would expose him, the Japanese authorities' barely veiled hostility and powerful desire for control left him displeased.

"Doesn't the Metropolitan Police Department have anything better to do? It's been days, and they're still watching Nakano Ward. Looks like I'll have to stir up some trouble to distract them. I can't let them keep their eyes fixed on Nakano Ward."

Now that he had unlocked the Bird Clone Technique, Uchiha Naruto could stay hidden behind the scenes and act freely, doing things that had been difficult before.

With his Chiriku persona now wanted, it was no longer convenient to use. It seemed it was time for a new identity.