Attempting the Shadow Clone

Attempting the Shadow Clone

"Shadow Clone Technique!"

A few days later, on a day when the academy was closed, Ayato adjusted himself to peak condition before beginning to form hand seals. Once the standard eight seals were completed in his hands, a puff of white smoke appeared beside him.

"Hello, original," the other Ayato who had suddenly appeared said to the original Ayato.

"Mm, hello." Ayato looked at the clone and sensed his own Chakra, finally letting out a sigh of relief. As expected, merely creating Shadow Clones did not consume an especially high amount of Chakra at the start. At this rate, he could create at most three Shadow Clones.

However, after creating a single Shadow Clone, Ayato himself would only have a little over twenty percent of his Chakra left. He would not even be able to use many basic Ninjutsu. The Shadow Clone situation was even more outrageous. Since a Shadow Clone's body also required Chakra to maintain, if it was given only this minimum amount, it could not use Ninjutsu at all. The moment it tried, it would immediately run out of Chakra and disperse.

Even though Ayato had anticipated this, he still held a certain reverence for this famous technique that demanded such a high Chakra reserve. Although he had already learned it, he still waited until he was in his best condition before using it. After all, the consequences of insufficient Chakra could be quite severe.

At best, the technique would fail and leave him dazed for a while. At worst, he could fall unconscious on the spot. But based on Ayato's recent in-depth studies, he was highly confident that his Chakra reserves should be sufficient.

After all, Chunin in the original story could use Shadow Clones without suffering any adverse effects afterward. Ayato might not have a Chunin's Chakra reserves, but hadn't Iruka said that the maximum amount of Chakra he could extract at once was already close to what a Chunin could extract in one go?

Besides, Chunin normally would not extract Chakra in advance specifically to use the Shadow Clone Technique. They would most likely extract it normally and use it right away. Since they were fine afterward, then in theory, Ayato should probably be fine if he only created one Shadow Clone.

Still, it was not entirely without risk. For his own safety, Ayato waited until today's day off and adjusted himself in advance before trying it. So far, it seemed his judgment had been correct.

Then Ayato nodded at the Shadow Clone. The next moment, the clone dispersed, while Ayato frowned.

The clone dispersing had been something he had intended before creating it. But when Ayato nodded just now, what he had actually meant was for the clone to finish the housework first before dispersing. He was not trying to exploit his Shadow Clone, of course. He was conducting an experiment, and now he had his answer.

After separating from the original, the Shadow Clone possessed Ayato's thoughts and mindset from the instant it had been created. It had no idea what Ayato thought afterward. Though if it really tried to guess, it could probably figure it out, since they were essentially the same person.

The Chakra that had been divided off had also returned, but the amount was slightly less than when it had been separated. Furthermore, according to what the Shadow Clone had sensed at the time, it had possessed more Chakra than what returned. In other words, aside from the Chakra consumed by the clone itself, a small portion also dissipated when it dispersed and returned.

Still, that was normal and within Ayato's acceptable range. The loss should be related to distance, and he did not intend to let his Shadow Clones go too far away anyway, so the expenditure would not be significant.

But if a Shadow Clone used up all of its Chakra, leaving no Chakra to return, would the memories it carried also fail to return? After all, memories did not appear out of thin air. They needed Chakra as a medium to return to the original body.

Ayato had considered that question before, but after using the technique once, he suddenly understood. Shadow Clones were physical clones, and their formation itself required Chakra. As everyone knew, Chakra was a combination of physical energy and spiritual energy. Thus, a Shadow Clone could use physical energy to form a body and spiritual energy to form thoughts. Suddenly, it all made sense.

But that was not the important part. The important part was that when a Shadow Clone dispersed, its physical energy and spiritual energy would combine into Chakra once more and return to the original body. Therefore, even if a Shadow Clone exhausted all the Chakra it could use, it could still transmit its memories back.

But then, if a Shadow Clone were trapped somewhere Chakra could not be transmitted, could that portion of its memories be erased? Ayato pondered this, then shook his head. It sounded reasonable, but it was actually useless. First, how could one create a place where Chakra could not be transmitted? Second, even if such a place could be created, it would certainly take time. During that time, the Shadow Clone would probably notice the danger and disperse on its own.

Next came the main point of the day. Ayato extracted all his remaining Chakra and formed the eight seals once more. He did not intend to shorten the seals this time. He did not plan to use Shadow Clones in battle, so being able to use the technique was enough. After all, a person's energy was limited, and Ayato intended to focus his efforts on things that could effectively improve his combat strength.

"Shadow Clone Technique!"

This attempt did not fail either. The moment the Shadow Clone appeared, it sat down at the desk and began studying knowledge from other textbooks, as well as the Ninjutsu Scrolls Sinai had given Ayato earlier.

Ayato did not arrange anything for himself, nor did he train, because he needed to assess how long a fully formed Shadow Clone could last and how much fatigue would return after it finished studying. Therefore, during this time, he could not train himself, lest his body be unable to bear the fatigue returned by the Shadow Clone.

Still, since he had nothing else to do, Ayato thought about it and checked whether there was any housework he could take care of. It would not take much effort anyway.

An hour later, Ayato looked at the Shadow Clone still standing there and was somewhat surprised. Its duration had exceeded his expectations. Even though the clone had not used any Chakra at all during that time, its very existence consumed Chakra. But apparently, if it did not actively use Chakra, the expenditure was not large. That was not bad.

After some more time passed, the Shadow Clone looked at Ayato and said, "Original, get ready."

Then, after seeing Ayato sit down on the bed, the Shadow Clone watched for a while longer before its Chakra finally failed to sustain it, causing it to disperse passively.

In an instant, that flood of memories and fatigue surged into Ayato's mind, making him lose focus for a moment. But he recovered shortly afterward, and the first thing he did upon recovering was murmur in amazement.

"Naruto Uzumaki really is a freak!"

Ayato also realized why only Naruto Uzumaki dared to use so many Shadow Clones for studying and training. Normal people—no, it should be said that no one besides Naruto Uzumaki could endure it. That included ordinary members of the Uzumaki clan. They could probably use only one or two clones for training at most. Who could use dozens or even hundreds at once?

Because the moment Shadow Clones dispersed, all their physical fatigue was transmitted to the original body. This meant the original body had to endure all of that accumulated fatigue in a single instant. Ayato scratched his head. It seemed he was saying the same thing, but to put it in an analogy...

You could work out with two dumbbell plates for two hours, an amount you could handle. But what were Shadow Clones equivalent to? They were equivalent to working out with hundreds of dumbbell plates at once in that instant. The effect was the same, but could you lift them? Or rather, if hundreds of dumbbell plates came crashing down on you, could your body take it?

Thinking of Naruto Uzumaki's method for training the Rasenshuriken, Ayato could only sigh. Only Naruto Uzumaki could do that. Anyone else would probably need a physique like that of the Six Paths just to endure it.

For now, though, Ayato felt fine. The Shadow Clone had only been studying during that time. Although it was tired, most of that exhaustion was mental, so Ayato could still endure the physical fatigue that returned. As for the mental fatigue...

That was Ayato's greatest point of pride, his only advantage. Why did he want to learn a seemingly impractical Ninjutsu like the Shadow Clone Technique? That was precisely why. He had to make full use of his strengths! His mind could withstand it. Ayato even felt that he could manage another one or two Shadow Clones studying alongside him, but unfortunately, his Chakra could not support that many.

And that was not all. Ayato's eyes flickered. The results of this attempt could practically be called perfect. Trading for the Shadow Clone Technique had been the right move!

But Ayato had an even further idea. Unfortunately, his Chakra had not recovered yet, so he could only wait a while.

He could not afford Soldier Pills right now!