***
Freed after days of restraint, Daigan couldn't help but move his stiff joints.
"Finally. Thank you for your care, Miss Otohame," Daigan said with sincere gratitude.
The stern-faced Dr. Mitachi, who barely spoke to him, clearly disliked the seemingly mischievous Daigan. Only this twenty-one-year-old nurse was willing to chat with the largely ignored boy.
"Be gentle. The fracture points have just healed and are still very fragile. If you're not careful, you could easily break them again, and that would be a real problem."
"I know. Miss Otohame, you're young and beautiful, and you're great at taking care of people. Why don't you have a boyfriend?"
"How do you know I don't have a boyfriend?" the nurse, Otohame, asked, puzzled.
"It's been so many days, and I haven't once seen anyone who looks like your boyfriend. You work late and then go to the hot springs alone to unwind. A girl with a boyfriend wouldn't be like that," Daigan replied matter-of-factly.
"How do you know I often go to the hot springs?"
The young woman, in the prime of her life, was currently too focused on her work to have time for a boyfriend. But that was no reason for a boy five years her junior to tease her.
"You sneak out to wander around sometimes. Don't tell me you've been peeping at the women's hot springs?" Otohame said, her expression turning sour.
"Miss Otohame, where did you get that idea..." Daigan quickly denied it. He absolutely could not let such a stain on his reputation stick. "I just happened to hear people talking. They said you're youthful and radiant, with beautiful skin, the epitome of a Yamato Nadeshiko. A lot of the male doctors talk about you behind your back, and some of the female nurses are envious too. Like Big Sis Kaoru, she mentions you all the time!"
"Is that so? You certainly have a way with words. But flattering me won't get you any special treatment."
"How is that flattery? It's the truth. Miss Otohame, you're someone many people in the hospital admire!"
"Now you're just exaggerating."
Otohame giggled shyly, dismissing it as the nonsensical ramblings of a younger boy. She tidied up the slightly messy room, said goodbye to Daigan, and left for home.
After the sun set, the sky gradually darkened. The Konoha Hospital was in a relatively remote location, and as night fell, it grew quiet.
After moving around a bit, Daigan was finally able to try performing ninjutsu with hand seals.
First up was the Shadow Clone Jutsu.
To perform the full sequence, one needed to form the seals—Ox, Dog, Dragon, Rat, Dog, Boar, Snake, Tiger—in order within four seconds. Its complexity was worthy of its B-rank difficulty. With proficiency, it could theoretically be shortened to three seals: Ram, Snake, Tiger.
However, based on Daigan's observations, for the higher-level A-rank forbidden jutsu—Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu—Uzumaki Naruto could cast it with just a single seal, Ram, which was crossing his index and middle fingers into a cross shape.
As a beginner, Daigan didn't have the confidence to take shortcuts yet. He dutifully performed the eight seals in order. His chakra instantly dropped by half, and a figure identical to him appeared in the room.
"After days of research and thorough preparation, casting it was smooth sailing. But this chakra consumption is terrifying."
Although the Shadow Clone Jutsu originated in Konoha, it had spread decades ago. Many Jonin from the five great ninja villages knew this clone jutsu that could inherit the user's full strength.
Yet, few ninjas actually used it for combat and training.
The trouble was its characteristic of splitting chakra evenly between the user and the clone. Unless you were a uniquely gifted ninja like Uzumaki Naruto, who rarely had to worry about his chakra reserves, who could withstand such a drain?
Furthermore, a shadow clone's duration was limited. For a ninja with poor control, five minutes was the limit. This could be extended slightly with practice, but never to the point of being used indiscriminately.
Even though the Shadow Clone Jutsu had spread throughout the five great villages, many ninjas still used other types of physical clones.
Momochi Zabuza's Water Clones, for instance, only inherited a tenth of the user's base abilities, but that was often enough. They consumed far less chakra than shadow clones and could even be more useful in the right environment.
The trait where a shadow clone's memories and experiences returned to the user upon dispersal was a mixed bag. It was useful for special, high-risk missions, but in most situations, it was less popular than other types of clones.
Daigan's first shadow clone performed the Transformation Jutsu and Substitution Jutsu a few times as planned, then tried to manipulate the Substitute Puppet and the Temari puppet. There was no lag at all.
After five minutes, just shy of six, the shadow clone vanished in a puff of chakra smoke. A strange set of memories and feelings flooded Daigan's mind.
"So this is what it's like for the experience to return. As I thought, a small number of them isn't very effective."
Using shadow clones to assist in training was definitely not feasible. Too few would have a negligible effect, while too many would overwhelm his body and mind, doing more harm than good.
For Daigan, the value of the Shadow Clone Jutsu lay in its tactical supplement and its ability to test the waters and avoid danger.
For Uzumaki Naruto, it was a god-tier technique. For Daigan, it was, at best, a major trump card.
So, what could Daigan do with the Shadow Clone Jutsu now?
Because his body hadn't fully healed, this weakness was reflected in the shadow clone, whose limbs felt a bit weak.
Thus, there wasn't much it could actually do. That said, there was one question that needed testing.
Daigan formed the seals again, creating another shadow clone.
"Continue..."
The newly formed shadow clone immediately began forming seals.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
A cloud of chakra smoke billowed, and a pale, paper-thin figure somewhat resembling Daigan appeared, then collapsed limply to the floor.
"Failure. Again. Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
This time, only a puff of chakra smoke appeared, without even a shadow of a clone.
"Failed again."
Daigan's main body nodded in understanding.
"Theoretically, a shadow clone can also use the Shadow Clone Jutsu. It's just that the chakra limitation likely makes it much more difficult."
This seemingly minor discovery was actually quite useful.
In situations where the shadow clones didn't need much chakra, he could spread the chakra more thinly among more clones, thereby preserving a larger reserve for his main body.
For a ninja with a modest chakra pool and average recovery rate, this was a very useful trick.
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