Chapter 123 The Magical Use of Shadow Clone Technique (5k)

“Teacher Muzuki, I think I’ve got it!” Obito exclaimed excitedly during evening training.

Muzuki glanced at him and said, “Try some Taijutsu. Attack me.”

While Flame Breathing’s strongest effect was to enhance the power of Fire Release, it could also strengthen physical abilities to a certain extent. This was a common function of all Breathing Techniques and their earliest discovered characteristic. Obito was not yet at the point where he could strengthen Fire Release.

“Hoo.” Obito adjusted his breathing rhythm, recalled the feeling he had just experienced, inhaled a large amount of oxygen into his body to strengthen it, and then lunged towards Muzuki.

Muzuki steadily caught Obito’s straight punch, feeling that Obito’s speed had increased slightly. He quickly threw Obito off, who then swiftly kicked out with a Leaf Whirlwind.

After grabbing Obito’s leg and throwing him, Muzuki had already made his judgment.

“You’ve indeed made a breakthrough. If you practice the breathing movements until school starts, you should be able to move on to the next stage of training,” Muzuki said.

Once he moved on to the next stage of training, the characteristics of Flame Breathing would gradually become apparent, rather than just a simple boost to physical abilities.

“I still have to practice for five more days,” Obito said, recalling the date. He had thought he could start training like Might Guy immediately today.

“Pat!”

Muzuki tapped Obito’s head with two fingers and said, “Don’t be so ambitious. Guy’s Breathing Technique was much more proficient than yours when he started to comprehend the attributes.”

Currently, Obito’s proficiency was at twelve points. When Might Guy began to comprehend the Breathing Technique’s attributes, his proficiency was already at nineteen points. However, Might Guy’s situation was also a bit special. Muzuki estimated that in five days, Obito’s Flame Breathing proficiency should be at least fifteen points, and then he could proceed to the next stage of training.

Muzuki used Appraisal to look at Shisui, who was still getting used to various breathing postures. Shisui’s Flame Breathing progress was still a bit behind Obito’s, but not by much, only two points of proficiency.

“I thought as long as I could use the Breathing Technique to strengthen myself, that was enough,” Obito said, rubbing his head.

Leaving a Shadow Clone to watch over the two, Muzuki’s main body went to check on Might Guy’s training status.

How should one describe Might Guy’s training here? It was indeed a bit abstract. One could see the bizarre sight of a rock with limbs standing on a large rock, holding another rock with both hands.

“Guy, did you feel anything special today?” Muzuki asked.

“Yes,” Might Guy replied.

Muzuki used Appraisal on Might Guy and found that his proficiency was still nineteen points. He was a bit puzzled, as Might Guy wouldn’t lie about his progress.

“The rocks really get especially hot after being baked by the sun,” Might Guy shared his realization.

The evening was fine, but in the afternoon when the sun was strong, it was truly scalding hot on his hands and feet.

Muzuki was at a loss for words. He felt that Obito had led Might Guy astray.

“When the sun is strong, find a shady spot and sit on a rock,” Muzuki suggested after some thought. He hadn’t been here in the afternoon or morning, so Might Guy must have been training on his own.

Muzuki made a rough estimate. At this rate, if Might Guy was fast, he should be able to master Rock Breathing by graduation. If he was slow, it might take around ten months.

It was originally estimated to be a year, but Might Guy had one experience of rapid progress, which saved him about two months.

After successfully mastering Rock Breathing, coupled with the improvement in physical fitness during the Rock Breathing training and the other Taijutsu he learned, Muzuki felt that Might Guy could try to complete the training mission to challenge Kakashi.

“I wonder if a training mission spanning nearly a year will have better rewards,” Muzuki thought to himself.

Ninja Academy was about to start, and there would be an exam one month after it began. At that time, Obito’s training mission would be settled, and Muzuki would also need to think about how to trigger new training missions for Obito.

If Obito lost to Might Guy again and took second place, it would be simple: just repeat the training mission to get first place.

If he got first place, Muzuki planned to guide Obito to challenge Kakashi.

This was currently the better option, a result Muzuki obtained after analyzing a series of influencing factors such as Obito’s personality, goals, dreams, and relationships.

Obito had a dream of becoming Hokage. For now, it seemed impossible to trigger missions that were too far-fetched, such as Might Guy not being able to trigger a mission to become the strongest, or Shisui not being able to trigger a mission to change the Uchiha.

For something closer, challenging Kakashi was the only suitable option. Firstly, Kakashi, as a target to be challenged, was strong enough, which was related to the mission’s reward. Secondly, he also had a special relationship with Obito, making it easier to trigger the mission.

Obito might have other ideas, like liking Rin Nohara, but Muzuki thought the system probably wouldn’t trigger a mission to teach Obito how to date, right? Could that even be called a training mission?

“I wonder if I can have one disciple reach Trust Level Four by the end of this year,” Muzuki thought about the Trust Level, which hadn’t increased for a disciple in a long time.

Although Trust Level didn’t have a high sense of presence, Muzuki believed that trustworthiness was one of the core aspects of the master-disciple system.

At Trust Level Two, no matter how much he tried to stir up emotions, he didn’t get any master-level rewards. Only at Trust Level Three did he get things like Master Nature Transformation and Master Taijutsu, and training missions were only triggered after Trust Level Three.

Putting aside everything else, just the one-fold Chakra increase for each Trust Level increase made Muzuki wish he could max out all his disciples’ Trust Levels.

Even though Obito and the others were still young, the three times bonus from three people could provide him with a good amount of Chakra in a month.

The difference would be even greater when the disciples developed further.

Imagine Muzuki cultivating a disciple with over a hundred thousand Chakra from scratch. Each Trust Level would then represent a difference of over a hundred thousand Chakra.

Muzuki felt that his cheat was quite powerful; it just needed time to develop. Given time, he would eventually develop into an all-rounder and an invincible powerhouse with massive Chakra.

“Speaking of which, school is starting again soon. I feel like this holiday was so short,” Obito lamented as the training was nearing its end.

It was supposed to be a nearly two-month holiday, but he felt as if only a few days had passed.

“That’s because it was very fulfilling. We trained at the Training Ground during the day and came to Teacher Muzuki’s for training at night,” Rin Nohara said softly.

This holiday was short for all Fourth Grade students, as they had five weeks of special training during the break.

“I feel like it’s better to continue special training after school starts; my strength increases faster,” Obito reminisced about the special training.

“Obito, you don’t want to learn theoretical knowledge, do you?” Rin Nohara asked.

When Obito was practicing Shave and racing Might Guy, Rin Nohara had seen Obito’s pained expression when he received his test papers quite often.

“Of course not. I just think practical combat is more important than theory,” Obito refused to admit.

“Actually, you can use a Clone,” Shisui said.

“Let the clone go to school, and your main body can continue training.”

Since the first exam in First Grade, Shisui had never attended classes. His Shadow Clone always went to classes, and he only went for exams.

“Can the Clone Technique’s clones last that long? They seem to disappear too easily, and they’d be easily discovered, right?” Obito asked, confused.

“Not the Clone Technique, but the Shadow Clone Technique,” Shisui shook his head and said.

“The clones created by the Shadow Clone Technique have a physical form and the same consciousness as the main body. After dispelling the Shadow Clone, the Shadow Clone’s memories will also return, making it no different from going to class yourself,” Shisui explained.

“So it’s such a convenient Ninjutsu!” Obito was shocked. Although he saw Muzuki use Shadow Clones every day, he never thought he could use a Shadow Clone to go to school instead of his main body.

“Shisui, you’re so skilled, could it be…” Obito looked at Shisui with a surprised expression.

“I only attended classes with my main body before the first exam. After that, my Shadow Clone always went to class, and my main body trained here,” Shisui replied calmly.

Obito grabbed Shisui’s shoulder with a joyful expression and said, “Shisui, you truly are a genius. You thought of such a great idea.”

Obito had found it quite strange that Shisui was stronger than him, but despite his daily efforts in training, the gap in their strength didn’t close at all. It turned out that Shisui was training intensely every day.

Putting aside the matter of increasing strength for now, the key was that he could avoid going to Ninja Academy, and the memories of what was learned would automatically appear in his mind.

“I’d call the person who developed the Shadow Clone Technique the Clone Sage; he’s definitely a super genius!” Obito couldn’t help but praise him.

In just an instant, Obito thought of uses for the Shadow Clone beyond attending school, such as having a Shadow Clone solve problems. That way, he wouldn’t have to do the problems himself, and once the problems were solved, he would gain problem-solving experience.

“This Ninjutsu was developed by the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju, wasn’t it? There seems to be a related record in Konoha History 2,” Rin Nohara said after thinking for a moment.

“So it was the Second Hokage. No wonder he could develop such a Ninjutsu,” Obito noted down Senju Tobirama’s name.

Having solved the two major problems of theoretical study and problem-solving, Obito now approved of Senju Tobirama as the Second Hokage.

Seeing Obito’s excited expression, Shisui felt that Obito might have misunderstood something.

If it was just to avoid theoretical study by sending a Shadow Clone to school, it would be meaningless, because the moment the Shadow Clone returned, Obito would experience everything as if he had been at school himself.

“Muzuki-sensei told me about this,” Shisui said, shaking his head.

“Muzuki-sensei, you’re being a bit biased. How could you not tell me about such a good thing?” Obito looked at Muzuki with an extremely resentful gaze.

Smack.

Muzuki tapped Obito’s head and explained:

“Shisui can use the Shadow Clone to go to school because Shisui can no longer learn anything or find opponents at school. Could you do that back then?”

Actually, there were other reasons; back then, Obito wasn’t as enthusiastic about training as he was now.

Obito thought about it and realized he probably couldn’t. That time, he didn’t even make it into the top two; he and Might Guy were both eliminated by that Hyuga Homura.

“Hehe, Muzuki-sensei, I should be fine now, right? I also want to learn the Shadow Clone Technique,” Obito’s resentful gaze instantly turned into one of longing and anticipation.

“Sensei, I want to learn too.” Hearing that it could replace the main body at school, Might Guy was also tempted.

Although he was just slow at learning Ninjutsu, it wasn’t that he couldn’t learn Ninjutsu.

“I’ll teach you tomorrow morning. From tomorrow until the day before school starts, you’ll train all day for the next four days,” Muzuki said after thinking for a moment.

Although he had work at the Ninja Academy, things there were almost complete. For the remaining tasks, sending a Shadow Clone would suffice, as there were no courses for him to earn rewards anyway.

As for why it was four days of training instead of five, if they used Shadow Clones to attend school for the rest of the semester, the training volume would significantly increase. That one day would serve as a holiday before the intense training.

…

The next morning, Obito eagerly headed to the South Border Forest to learn the Shadow Clone Technique, the god-tier Ninjutsu in his mind.

Muzuki had planned their training schedule: from eight AM to twelve PM, half the time would be for learning Ninjutsu and half for practicing Breathing Technique. Shisui, who had already learned it, would practice other Ninjutsu during that half of the time.

Twelve PM to two PM was break time; they could go home for lunch and a nap. If they didn’t go home, Muzuki would also cook for them. Then, from two PM to six PM, they could only go home for dinner.

“Rin, I’m telling you, don’t leave at noon. You absolutely have to try Muzuki-sensei’s cooking once,” Obito reminded her.

Due to when she joined, Rin Nohara had not yet eaten Muzuki’s cooking.

Muzuki’s cooking was simply too delicious. Obito would always eat there before going home to see his grandmother and rest for a while.

“Is Muzuki-sensei also very good at cooking?” Rin Nohara was a little curious.

“It’s not a matter of whether he can cook; he’s truly… very special…” Obito incoherently described for a while.

“In short, I’ve never eaten anything more delicious than Muzuki-sensei’s cooking,” Obito concluded.

Rin Nohara, who had originally planned to go home for lunch, nodded. Obito’s description was too exaggerated, which made her curious. How good did it have to be for Obito to praise it so much?

When the training time arrived, Rin Nohara put away her curiosity and began to practice according to Muzuki’s instructions.

“When using the Shadow Clone Technique, you must act within your limits. For now, it’s best to only create one Shadow Clone,” Muzuki warned Obito and Might Guy about the dangers of the Shadow Clone Technique.

The Shadow Clone Technique seemed like an ordinary Ninjutsu, but it actually carried some risks.

To prevent anyone from overestimating themselves, the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique, which allowed for creating a large number of Shadow Clones at once, was directly classified as a forbidden Ninjutsu.

After explaining the dangers, Muzuki began his lecture.

The learning difficulty of the Shadow Clone Technique was B-rank, but among B-rank Ninjutsu, it was considered easy to learn and not very difficult.

After two hours of studying, Obito began to form hand signs and release a Shadow Clone.

“Shadow Clone Technique!”

A puff of white smoke flashed, and an Obito lying on the ground appeared.

“I messed up, again!” Obito dispelled the Shadow Clone and cast it again.

White smoke flashed, and a chubby version of Obito appeared.

Obito quickly dispelled the Shadow Clone, fearing Rin Nohara would see it, and said with a serious expression:

“As expected of a Ninjutsu invented by the Second Hokage, this difficulty is quite extraordinary, much harder than the Clone Technique.”

“Hahaha, Guy, what are you doing?” Obito couldn’t hold back his laughter when he saw Might Guy’s Shadow Clone.

Next to Might Guy stood a rock with limbs, constantly exercising.

“Uh, my mind has been full of rocks these past few days, and it just happened like this by accident,” Might Guy himself couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

“Haha, this is too funny. I’m going to call Shisui over to see it,” Obito couldn’t stop smiling as he looked at the demonic rock.

Leaf Whirlwind!

The rock Shadow Clone directly launched a heavy kick, sending the laughing Obito flying with a whirlwind kick, then continued to lift weights in place.

“Guy, why did you hit me?” Obito spat out the grass from his mouth and asked Might Guy.

“It was the Shadow Clone who did it; you should ask him.” Might Guy didn’t believe he had hit Obito.

“Guy Shadow Clone, why did you hit me?” Obito thought that made a lot of sense, so he asked the Shadow Clone.

However, the rock Shadow Clone did not respond.

Obito suddenly remembered something; this Shadow Clone didn’t have a mouth, so how could it speak?

Then Obito no longer had the chance to question it, because Might Guy dispelled the Shadow Clone.

Muzuki’s mouth twitched as he watched this abstract scene. Obito and Might Guy were truly prodigies when it came to Shadow Clones.

“It’s time to practice Breathing Technique,” Muzuki reminded the two that it was time to practice Breathing Technique.

When it was time for Breathing Technique, their training positions changed. Obito and Shisui practiced Flame Breathing together, while Might Guy practiced Rock Breathing alone.

“Shisui, you can’t imagine how funny what just happened was,” Obito prepared to share the fun he had just experienced with Shisui.

“Oh.” Shisui was a little curious. Might Guy and Obito should have been practicing Shadow Clone just now. He didn’t understand what could be so funny about practicing Shadow Clone.

“Just now, Guy created a rock with limbs…” Obito still found it very funny recalling it now.

To help Shisui understand more clearly, Obito used the Clone Technique to create a clone in Might Guy’s likeness, then used the Transformation Technique to turn it into the appearance of Might Guy’s Shadow Clone from earlier.

The clone in Might Guy’s likeness made a scratching-head, confused expression, while Obito’s main body stood beside it, imitating the rock Shadow Clone lifting things.

“Your Shadow Clones are very unique.” Shisui had to admit that Obito and Might Guy knew how to entertain.

As the pleasant training time passed, it quickly came to the mealtime that all the disciples looked forward to.

“Wow, today is actually Illusionary Mapo Tofu? Rin, you’re in for a treat.” Opening the lunchbox and seeing the food inside, Obito’s appetite was instantly stimulated.

Muzuki’s cooking was all delicious, but some dishes were better than others, and Illusionary Mapo Tofu was one of Obito’s favorites.

Rin Nohara looked at the bright red in the lunchbox, feeling a little apprehensive. It looked too spicy.

“I can’t waste food, and I can’t let down Muzuki-sensei’s thoughtfulness.” With this thought, Rin Nohara closed her eyes and scooped a spoonful into her mouth.

“So spicy, so delicious!” After just the first bite, Rin Nohara instantly fell in love with the dish.

Unlike the explosive spiciness she had imagined, the spiciness of Illusionary Mapo Tofu wasn’t so crude, and it also had other equally excellent flavors.

She finally understood why Obito praised Muzuki’s cooking skills so much. Rin Nohara even wanted to learn how to cook from Muzuki, so she wouldn’t bother Muzuki and could eat such delicious food every day.

It’s a long chapter, and I’m a bit stuck on the writing, so it’s a bit late. There will be more later.