Chapter 166: Fugaku Learns Martial Arts, the Wonderful Uses of Shadow Clone Jutsu

Tu Shu lightly tapped the ground with his long staff: "You just used the Sharingan and easily blocked my attack. But what if you face an opponent faster than you? Even if you can see their movements clearly, what good is it if your body can't keep up?"

Fugaku's expression turned serious. He recalled the scene of fighting the Corpse Nest's son before; although the Sharingan could predict the opponent's movement trajectory, in that extreme state, his body's reaction speed indeed couldn't keep up with his eyes' capture ability.

His fingers gently stroked one staff after another: "A true master, even with eyes closed, can accurately judge the opponent's attack momentum. This requires an understanding of the essence of power, not simply relying on eyes to look."

Tu Shu suddenly swept his staff horizontally; Fugaku instantly saw the trajectory and raised his staff to block.

"Ding!" Metal clashed, and Fugaku felt a clever force travel along the staff; his wrist went numb, and the staff almost slipped from his hand.

"Did you see that?" Tu Shu withdrew his staff, "This strike of mine seemed like a horizontal sweep, but actually contained a hidden withdrawing force. You blocked the sweep, but couldn't neutralize that recoil."

"The spear is like a swimming dragon, the staff like rain. The essence of staff technique lies in being unfathomable and endlessly changing." Tu Shu's long staff thrust into the void, "Every strike contains multiple variations; you must 'understand' the rhythm within."

"After all, your Taijutsu foundation is still lacking a bit." Tu Shu lightly tapped the ground with his long staff, making a crisp sound, "This way, I'll teach you a set of Eight Wilderness Staff Technique. Although this staff technique looks simple and direct, and the moves aren't fancy, it wins in practicality. Whether facing an enemy head-on or in group combat, you can handle it with ease."

"Horizontal Sweep of the Eight Wilderness!" Tu Shu shouted in a low voice, his long staff sweeping close to the ground, staff shadows unfolding in a fan shape.

"Void-Piercing Thrust!" The long staff suddenly changed direction, like a poisonous snake flicking its tongue, thrusting straight ahead.

"Shield Posture!" The long staff lay horizontally across his chest, forming a defensive posture.

"Mountain-Crushing Strike!" The long staff struck upward fiercely from below.

Fugaku watched every move attentively, the Sharingan completely recording the details of the techniques. But he didn't immediately imitate them; instead, he carefully savored the power techniques contained within.

"Try it." Tu Shu lowered his stance and stood still.

Fugaku nodded, holding the staff with both hands, assuming the starting stance. The long staff danced in his hands, the moves flowing like clouds and water, far smoother than before.

"Good!" Tu Shu's eyes lit up, "I didn't expect you to comprehend it so quickly. However..."

He suddenly lunged forward, his long staff like lightning pointing at Fugaku's shoulder. Fugaku wanted to dodge, but found Tu Shu's attack angle tricky, impossible to avoid.

"Bang!"

Fugaku's shoulder took a hit, but the force wasn't heavy.

"Remember, staff technique emphasizes actual combat. Just memorizing moves is useless; you must comprehend the essence in actual combat." Tu Shu withdrew his staff, "Come, again!"

"Not bad, your progress is very fast." Tu Shu withdrew his staff and nodded with satisfaction, "At this speed, you should be able to completely master this set of staff techniques in about a month."

"A month?" Fugaku's brow immediately furrowed. The time was too long; he couldn't wait that long. In seven days, the Corpse King would attack, and he had to find a way to improve his strength as soon as possible.

"What, you think a month is too slow?" Tu Shu laughed helplessly, "You kid are really greedy. You should know that ordinary people can't even get started without a year or two. Unless you can split yourself into ten parts to cultivate simultaneously, then maybe it would be about right. Your talent has even made this old man... huh?"

Before he finished speaking, he saw Fugaku suddenly stick the long staff into the ground and quickly form hand seals with both hands.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

A series of white smoke exploded in the training field. When the smoke cleared, more than a dozen identical Fugaku stood neatly in the center of the field, each clone holding a long staff, exactly the same as the real body.

"What... what is this?" Tu Shu widened his eyes, the long staff in his hand almost fell to the ground.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu." Fugaku said, gesturing for the clones to take their stances, "These clones are not illusions, but physical entities. Everything they experience and learn will be fed back to the real body when they disappear."

If it were the Fugaku from before, he absolutely couldn't maintain so many high-quality clones. But ever since fusing with Hashirama Cells, his chakra amount and recovery speed had greatly increased; maintaining more than a dozen shadow clones was still possible, after all, they didn't need to fight.

"You mean..." Tu Shu seemed to understand something, "The experience these clones cultivate can all be transmitted to you?"

Tu Shu sucked in a breath of cold air. He had been immersed in martial arts for decades; this cultivation method was simply unheard of. You should know that even the most astonishingly talented genius of ancient martial arts needs day after day of hard practice to get started.

And now, Fugaku used this method to directly compress the cultivation time by more than ten times! "Incredible," Tu Shu muttered, "With this method, forget one month, even three days would be enough for you to master this set of staff techniques to perfection!"

At this moment, each clone was practicing different moves; some were practicing basic skills, some were testing variations, and some were sparring with each other. The entire training field was instantly covered by dense staff shadows.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The sounds of metal clashing rose and fell, the underground training field echoing with dense staff strikes. Tu Shu walked back and forth in the field, occasionally offering pointers.

Soon, Fugaku and his clones had practiced for a full four hours, sweat soaking their clothes, but every "Fugaku" still maintained a high level of focus.

Suddenly, one clone's movement caught Tu Shu's attention. Only to see this clone practicing "Void-Piercing Thrust," but at the moment of withdrawing the staff, he added a clever turn, making the originally straightforward move unpredictable.

"Interesting." Tu Shu's eyes lit up, "You're not just repeating movements, but exploring variations of the staff technique at the same time?"

Fugaku nodded: "Each clone is understanding and practicing the staff technique from different angles. Some focus on power techniques, some study move variations, and some are experimenting with new move variations."

"Wonderful!" Tu Shu's eyes shone, "More than a dozen like-minded geniuses studying martial arts at the same time, able to share insights, and these insights will all converge on one person in the end."

He suddenly thought of something, a hint of cunning flashing in his eyes: "Since you can split into so many clones, how about we do something more exciting?"

"What do you mean?" Fugaku raised an eyebrow.

"Of course, actual combat training!" Tu Shu twirled his long staff, "You have ten clones, right? Perfect for a ten-on-one actual combat match with me!"

Fugaku hesitated for a moment: "Your physical condition..."

"A fist fears the young, a staff fears the old!" Tu Shu laughed heartily, full of vigor, "But you kid can't use those eyes, just use the staff technique you just learned!" Fugaku nodded. As a ninja, he was more used to fighting through Ninjutsu and Dojutsu. His physical strength wasn't outstanding, and close-quarters combat was even more of a weakness. This actual combat training was a good opportunity to make up for his shortcomings.

"Go!" Ten clones raised their staffs and charged at Tu Shu at the same time, long staffs whistling through the air.

But Tu Shu seemed to have anticipated it, lightly dodging the frontal attack. He twirled his long staff, "Eight Wilderness Horizontal Sweep" directly sweeping toward two clones.

"Bang! Bang!"

Two clones dissipated in response. The remaining clones quickly adjusted their formation, trying to attack from different angles.

Tu Shu's movements flowed like clouds and water; the long staff in his hand seemed to have come to life. He easily dealt with attacks from all directions, sometimes sweeping, sometimes thrusting, every move precise beyond compare.

"Staff technique emphasizes fast, accurate, and ruthless!" Tu Shu instructed while calmly dealing with attacks from all directions, "Your movements are too stiff; be flexible! Be adaptable!"

"Continue! Don't stop!" Tu Shu shouted while suddenly changing his staff move, a "Mountain-Crushing Strike" heading straight for one clone's face. That clone hastily blocked but was cleverly deflected by the force, his balance instantly thrown into chaos.

Fugaku immediately understood Tu Shu's intention; he was feeding him moves. He quickly formed hand seals and added new clones to continue fighting.

"Eight Wilderness Horizontal Sweep!" One clone shouted loudly, his long staff sweeping out horizontally.

Tu Shu's mouth curled slightly; his body sank a little, his long staff like a spirit snake leaving its hole, passing under the clone's attack and heading straight for its abdomen.

"Bang!" Another clone dissipated.

Fugaku attentively observed the changes on the field. He could feel that with each clone dissipating, the accumulated experience made his understanding of the staff technique increasingly profound.

The battle continued for more than ten minutes. Later, Fugaku stopped adding clones, and the number of clones on the field dwindled. But as the numbers decreased, the remaining clones coordinated more and more seamlessly. They began trying various combination attacks, gradually putting some pressure on Tu Shu.

"Void-Piercing Thrust!"

"Mountain-Crushing Strike!"

"Shield Posture!"

The three clones coordinated seamlessly, forming a formation capable of both offense and defense; Tu Shu was forced to retreat continuously, the smile on his face gradually fading, replaced by a grave expression.

At this moment Tu Shu felt as if he were inside a combat simulator that kept upgrading. Whenever he thought he had grasped the opponent's rhythm, Fugaku's clones would immediately adjust their strategy, unleashing new technique combinations. This ability to progress rapidly made Tu Shu both excited and apprehensive.

"Bang! Bang!"

Two more crisp sounds rang out, and only the last two clones remained on the field. But the coordination of these two clones had already reached the pinnacle of perfection; their movements flowed like clouds and water, without the slightest flaw in the transitions between offense and defense.

"Can't do it anymore," Tu Shu panted, signaling a pause. "This old bag of bones really can't take it. You brat are simply a monster that evolves; it's only been this long and even I can barely cope!"

Fugaku dispelled the Shadow Clone Jutsu, and waves of fatigue welled up from within his body. Although he had fused with Hashirama Cells, the massive experience feedback from the numerous clones still left him feeling a bout of dizziness.

"Rest a bit." Tu Shu saw his condition, then fished out a black token from his bosom and tossed it casually to Fugaku.

Fugaku caught the token; it was icy cold to the touch. The token was pitch-black all over, its face engraved with the archaic characters "Yanhuang," and its reverse bore the two small characters "Wu Shen Ge."

"Wu Shen Ge?" Fugaku looked up at Tu Shu.

"That's right. It is our Yanhuang's most important martial arts treasury." Tu Shu sat down on the long bench and picked up, "Although it is now open to the public, any member of the Corpse Hunter Alliance can enter. However, those are only basic cultivation methods; the truly precious martial arts scriptures are still strictly kept in the core area."

Tu Shu sat on the long bench, lifted the teacup beside him: "The young people nowadays are fortunate. Back then these cultivation methods were the closely guarded secrets of the major sects; some sects would rather let their inheritance die out than pass them on to outsiders."

He took a sip of tea, a look of reminiscence surfacing on his face: "Later Headquarters forcibly required all sects to hand over their secret manuals; at first it caused an uproar. Those sect masters who were normally lofty and untouchable jumped more eagerly than anyone."

"However, soon Headquarters summoned all sect masters for a 'deep exchange'." Tu Shu's tone turned subtle as he spoke: "These sects are usually mysterious and secretive, but when a real crisis came, how many of them could actually be of use?"

"Rather than letting these cultivation methods stay buried underground, it's better to gather them together to benefit future generations. You go to Wu Shen Ge now and see — those once closely guarded secrets are all neatly arranged on the shelves for anyone to peruse; that is what created today's flourishing age of martial arts."

Fugaku could tell that behind this "deep exchange" there must be an extraordinary story, probably similar to the Village's Sealing Scroll, but for him it was good news — he could deeply understand this world's cultivation methods.

"You brat have exceptional talent, and with those eyes assisting you." Tu Shu patted Fugaku's shoulder, "Go to Wu Shen Ge and select a cultivation method suited to yourself; you'll definitely achieve twice the result with half the effort."

"Many thanks." Fugaku sincerely and solemnly bowed to Tu Shu; no matter which world, encountering an elder willing to impart everything is a rare karmic connection.

"What's with the formality." Tu Shu waved his hand, "Come sit often when you have time, and spar with this old man."

Ten minutes later, following a guard dressed in a black uniform, Fugaku arrived at Wu Shen Ge, a twelve-story archaic building constructed entirely of bluish-gray giant rocks.

The moment he stepped into Wu Shen Ge, a rich scent of books rushed over him; the entire hall's lighting was soft, and rows of raw-wood bookshelves were embedded in the surrounding walls, stretching all the way to the ceiling.

At this time, a middle-aged man in a cyan long robe hurried forward: "Comrade, please present your token."

Fugaku produced the token; the middle-aged man took it and examined it carefully, whereupon his expression changed: "So it's a Special-Grade Permit. My apologies, my apologies. This way, please."

Following the direction the middle-aged man indicated, Fugaku entered an elevator; as the elevator rose, through the glass walls he could see the books displayed on each floor — tens of thousands of ancient volumes neatly arranged on the shelves, some already yellowed, some exquisitely bound.

With a "Ding," the elevator stopped at the top floor.

Unlike the grand scale of the lower floors, the top floor's space was not large; only a single pitch-black bookshelf stood quietly, holding fewer than twenty ancient volumes, each emitting a different aura.

(Chapter End)