The next morning, Naruto awoke from his sleep. Looking at the empty space where his Shadow Clone had been, he felt a crushing emptiness in his heart, a void and loneliness that seemed to seize his heart like a monster. The suffocating solitude he had once grown accustomed to now surged back like a tide, threatening to completely engulf him. He hastily performed the Shadow Clone Technique again, and his identical counterpart reappeared, allowing Naruto to finally breathe a sigh of relief.
"Good morning!" Naruto smiled brightly.
The Shadow Clone Naruto waved back at him with the same grin. "Morning!"
A genuinely happy smile broke out across Naruto's face. Perhaps all he had ever needed was someone to greet him with such a simple salutation when he woke up in the morning.
"Alright, you continue our training. I'll go make breakfast!"
"Okay!"
Naruto chuckled, skillfully preparing their or his won morning meal, while his Shadow Clone continued to practice the Chakra Refining Technique, and then even… the Shadow Clone Technique itself! That's right, Naruto was dumbfounded to discover that his Shadow Clone had actually created another new Shadow Clone!
"I am truly a genius…"
Naruto was completely stunned. His Shadow Clone could also create Shadow Clones?! It seemed the ability of this physical clone was even stronger than he had imagined. However, the Shadow Clone of the Shadow Clone didn't seem as powerful. Although it was also training, it couldn't last for much time and soon dissolved into a puff of white smoke, disappearing from sight.
But at that moment… Naruto's main body suddenly felt a new power surge through him.
"Huh? What's this? … I wasn't even training, but my chakra reserves seem to have increased a little. C-could it be…"
Naruto realized a shocking secret! "Does the training experience of a physical clone return to my body after it dissipates?! If that's the case…"
Naruto was both shocked and ecstatic! If a physical clone had such an effect, didn't that mean he could achieve double, or even multiple times the training efficiency?! This was the real cheat!
"This is great!" At this moment, Naruto could already see his brilliant future, as he was standing above sasuke after beating him properlyl!
"Yosh! Today, I'll work hard with my Shadow Clone and accelerate my training.!"
He finished making breakfast and was ready to start training immediately after eating. But the Shadow Clone Naruto also immediately stopped its training and came to the table to eat.
"Huh? You need to eat too?!"
"Of course! Without food, where would I get the energy to train?!"
"…That's true…" Although that was the case, Naruto secretly decided that tomorrow he would activate the physical clone *after* eating. Otherwise, the food he made wouldn't be enough for both of them. Soon, the two of them devoured their breakfast, leaving nothing behind.
Then, the System's prompt sounded at the opportune moment.
"School time has arrived! Host, please arrive at the Ninja Academy by performing a weighted handstand within five minutes! Failure to comply will result in a Lightning Release baptism from the system!"
Naruto's jaw dropped. "…What?! F-five minutes?!" He usually took at least ten minutes to get to school doing a weighted handstand! The System had directly cut his time in half!
The Shadow Clone Naruto also sighed. "Hurry up! Arguing with it is useless! It's better to just hurry up and go!"
"Y-you're right…"
Naruto and his Shadow Clone immediately got into weighted handstands, gritting their teeth, and rushed desperately towards the Ninja Academy. Along the way, pedestrians pointed and discussed the scene with animated surprise.
"Wh-what is that?!"
"Two… two kids?!"
"What's going on?"
Ordinary villagers naturally didn't understand what this meant. However, the ninja of Konoha Village were equally dumbfounded when they saw this scene.
"That is… the Shadow Clone Technique?!"
"How is that possible? A child from the Ninja Academy, and Uzumaki Naruto, that dead last, how could he possibly perform such a high-level ninjutsu?!"
"Am I under a genjutsu?!"
"Quick, somebody wake me up!"
Naruto ignored everyone. The Lightning Release baptism used to be a tool to force him into action, but now it had been upgraded, directly setting a time limit. If he failed, he would be struck! He wished he had two more hands, gritting his teeth and sprinting desperately onward.
Uchiha Sasuke's face was a little pale, but a faint hint of joy appeared in his expression. This was quite a rare sight for him. "My efforts all this time haven't been in vain. Especially after being provoked by that loser, I worked ten times harder. I've finally mastered the Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique. Who can possibly stand against me in academy now?! Hmph, can't wait to pound that dead last!"
However, at that very moment, two Uzumaki Narutos, performing weighted handstands, swept past Sasuke like two streaks of smoke.
"Cough, cough…" The stirred-up dust made Sasuke cough. But what shocked him more was… "Th-that's… two Narutos?! What's going on? Is it the Clone Technique? No, that's impossible. The Clone Technique is just a illusionary image; it only serves to trick the enemy. It has no physical form, let alone the ability to train or fight! Could it be… a higher-level Clone teachnique?! No, that's impossible! That's a ninjutsu that only Chunin or even Jonin can perform! How could that dead last…" Of course sasuke knew about shadow clones since he saw Itachi use it several times. But that was not something Naruto should be capable of yet in his opinion.
However, the facts were right there before his eyes. Sasuke's eyes widened, and that trace of joy he had just felt vanished instantly. He gritted his teeth, clenched his fists, and immediately sped up, chasing after the two Narutos!
Not just Sasuke, but all the teachers and students of the entire Ninja Academy witnessed this incredible scene. For a moment, everyone was shocked and stunned, hardly believing their own eyes.
Ino and Hinata's eyes widened.
"Th-that's Naruto's…"
"Two… two Naruto-kuns?!"
Sakura Haruno also rubbed her eyes in disbelief. And at this moment, Iruka-sensei finally arrived.
"Naruto, you… what are you doing…"
Hearing this voice, Naruto realized that he had finally arrived at school on time. He was panting, unable to utter a single word. "Iru… cough, cough…"
The Shadow Clone beside him finally reached its limit, disappearing with a soft *pop*. Naruto instantly felt not just double the training results, but also double the fatigue and pain! He cried out, almost fainting on the spot.
Iruka-sensei was greatly alarmed, quickly grabbing Naruto and rushing towards the office. Fortunately, Naruto was only overly fatigued and not seriously injured, and he soon woke up.
"Naruto? What were you doing? You scared me to death!"
Naruto finally recovered and couldn't help but say with lingering fear, "It seems this new ninjutsu is quite risky…"
"New ninjutsu? Are you talking about the Shadow Clone?!" Iruka's eyes went wide. "Naruto, who taught you such an advanced ninjutsu?! This is far beyond the level of the Ninja Academy!"
Naruto said proudly, "Hehehe, Iruka-sensei, no one taught me! This is a jutsu I created and invented myself, far surpassing the ordinary Clone Technique! It's a physical clone that can talk, train, and even fight!"
Iruka was utterly shocked, as if he had just seen a ghost. "You… you said you created it yourself?"
"Yes!"
Iruka-sensei still found it hard to believe, but Naruto's eyes didn't seem to be lying.
"How about it? Am I not a true genius?!"
__________________________
__________________________
"Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed the chapter, please consider donating Power Stones and joining our patreon
[patreon.com /daydreamer7]
for early access to future chapters.(+30 chapters)