Chapter 122: The Marvel of Shadow Clone Technique

"Teacher Mu Yue, I think I've got it!" Obito said with sudden surprise during the evening training.

"Try some taijutsu; attack me." Mu Yue glanced at him and said.

Although the strongest effect of Flame Breathing is to enhance the power of Fire Release, it can also strengthen physical abilities to a certain degree—this is a function common to all breathing methods and the first characteristic to appear; Obito is not yet at the point where he can enhance his 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 himself, then lunged toward Mu Yue in a quick dash.

Mu Yue steadily caught Obito's straight punch, felt that Obito's speed had increased slightly, and quickly threw him off, while Obito immediately followed up with a spinning kick.

After grabbing Obito's leg and tossing him away, Mu Yue had already formed a judgment in his mind.

"You have indeed made a breakthrough. Keep practicing the breathing forms until school starts, and then you can proceed to the next stage of training." Mu Yue said.

When the next stage of training begins, the characteristics of Flame Breathing will gradually start to show, not just a simple boost to physical abilities.

"I still have to practice for another five days, huh." Obito recalled the date and said; he had thought he could immediately start training like Might Guy today.

Slap!

Mu Yue knocked on Obito's head with two fingers together and said, "Don't reach for what's beyond your grasp. When Ah Kai began to sense the element, he was far more proficient in the breathing method than you are now."

Obito currently had only twelve points of proficiency; when Might Guy started sensing the attribute of his breathing method, he already had nineteen points of proficiency. However, Guy's situation was somewhat special. Mu Yue estimated that after five days, Obito's Flame Breathing proficiency should reach at least fifteen points, and then he could proceed to the next stage of training.

Mu Yue used Appraisal to glance at Shisui, who was still getting used to breathing in various postures; Shisui's current progress in Flame Breathing was still slightly behind Obito's, but not by much—only a difference of two points of proficiency.

"I thought it was enough just to use the breathing method to strengthen myself." Obito scratched his head and said.

Leaving a shadow clone to watch over the two of them, Mu Yue's main body went to check on Might Guy's training progress.

As for Guy's training, well, it was indeed a bit abstract. There you could see a bizarre sight: a stone that had grown arms and legs standing on a large rock, holding another stone above its head with both hands.

"Ah Kai, have you noticed anything special today?" Mu Yue asked.

"Yes." Might Guy replied.

Mu Yue used Appraisal on Might Guy and found he still had nineteen points of proficiency; he was a bit puzzled—Guy wouldn't lie about his progress.

"The stones heated by the sun are really, really hot." Might Guy shared his insight.

It was tolerable in the evening, but in the afternoon when the sun was scorching, they were really hot to both the touch of hands and feet.

Mu Yue didn't know what to say for a moment; he felt that Obito had led Might Guy astray.

"When the sun is strong, find a shady spot and sit on the stone." Mu Yue thought for a moment and said. He hadn't been there in the afternoon or morning, so Guy must have been training on his own.

Mu Yue estimated that at this rate, if things went quickly, Might Guy could master Rock Breathing by graduation; if slowly, it might take about ten months.

Originally he had expected a year, but Might Guy had one experience of rapid progress, which effectively saved two months.

Once Guy successfully masters Rock Breathing, combined with the physical improvement during cultivation and the other taijutsu he has learned, Mu Yue felt that by then he could let Might Guy try to complete the training mission of challenging Kakashi.

"I wonder if the reward for a training mission spanning nearly a year will be better." Mu Yue thought to himself.

The Ninja Academy was about to start, and one month after the start there would be an exam. At that time, Obito's training mission would be settled. Mu Yue also needed to think about how to trigger a new training mission for Obito.

If Obito lost to Might Guy again and took second place, it would be simple—just re-trigger the training mission of taking first place.

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

This was currently the best option, a result Mu Yue reached after analyzing factors like Obito's personality, goals, dreams, and interpersonal relationships.

Obito had a dream of becoming Hokage, but it seemed he couldn't trigger missions that were too distant—for example, Might Guy couldn't trigger a mission to become the strongest, and Shisui couldn't trigger a mission to change the Uchiha.

For something closer, challenging Kakashi was the only suitable choice. First, Kakashi was strong enough as a target to challenge, which affected the mission reward. Second, he had a rather special relationship with Obito, making it easier to trigger the mission.

Obito might have other thoughts, like liking Rin Nohara, but Mu Yue didn't think the system would trigger a mission to teach Obito how to fall in love—could that even be a training mission?

"I wonder if by the end of this year I can raise any disciple to Trust Level 4." Mu Yue thought of the trust level, which hadn't increased for a long time.

Although the trust level didn't have a strong presence, Mu Yue considered trust the core of the master-disciple system.

At Trust Level 2, no matter how much he stirred emotions, he couldn't get a Mastery-level reward. Only at Trust Level 3 did he acquire Mastery-level nature transformations, Mastery-level taijutsu, and so on. Training missions were also triggered only after reaching Trust Level 3.

Not to mention other things, just the doubling of chakra per trust level upgrade made Mu Yue wish he could max out all his disciples' trust levels.

Even though Obito and the others were still young, the triple bonus from three people could provide him with a decent amount of chakra each month.

Once the disciples grew up, the difference would be even greater.

Imagine that Muyue started from scratch and trained a disciple with over a hundred thousand chakra. Then each trust level would mean a gap of over a hundred thousand chakra.

Muyue felt that his cheat was still very powerful; it just needed time to develop. Given time, he would eventually grow into an all-around, invincible powerhouse with tons of chakra.

"Speaking of which, school is about to start again. This break feels so short." When the training was almost over, Obito sighed.

It was supposed to be nearly two months of vacation, but he felt as if only a few days had passed.

"Because it's been fulfilling, I guess—training at the practice field during the day, and coming to Teacher Muyue's place for cultivation at night." Rin Nohara said softly.

This vacation was very short for all fourth-year students, and they even had a five-week special training during the break.

"I feel like starting school is worse than continuing the special training; our strength would improve faster." Obito reminisced about the training.

"Obito, you don't want to learn theory, do you?" Rin Nohara asked.

Back when Obito was training Soru and racing with Might Guy, Rin Nohara had often seen Obito receive his exam papers with a pained expression.

"Of course not. I just think actual combat is more important than theory." Obito refused to admit it.

"Actually, you could use clones." Shisui spoke up.

"Let a clone go to school; the original body can continue cultivating."

Since the first exam of the first year, Shisui hadn't attended classes; he had been using Shadow Clones to go to class, and only went in person for exams.

"Can a Clone Technique clone last that long? It feels like it disappears too easily; it would be found out quickly." Obito asked doubtfully.

"Not the Clone Technique—it's the Shadow Clone Technique." Shisui shook his head and said.

"The clones created by the Shadow Clone Technique have substance and possess the same consciousness as the original. When the Shadow Clone is dispelled, its memories return, so it's no different from going to class yourself." Shisui explained.

"So this is such a convenient ninjutsu?!" Obito was shocked. Although he saw Muyue use Shadow Clones every day, he never thought he could use a Shadow Clone to attend school in his place.

"Shisui, you're so familiar with this... Could it be..." Obito looked at Shisui in surprise.

"It was only before the first exam that I went to class in person. After that, I sent Shadow Clones and cultivated here." Shisui replied calmly.

Obito grabbed Shisui's shoulders happily and said, "Shisui, you really are a genius. You came up with such a great idea."

Obito had found it strange that Shisui was stronger than him even though he trained hard every day. It turned out Shisui was doing high-intensity training daily.

Setting aside the strength increase, the key thing was that he would no longer have to attend the Ninja Academy, and the memories of learning would automatically appear in his mind afterward.

"Whoever developed the Shadow Clone Technique, I would call him the Clone Sage—definitely a super genius!" Obito couldn't help praising.

In an instant, Obito thought of other uses for Shadow Clones besides school—for example, having a clone do problems. Then he wouldn't need to do the problems himself; they would be solved, and he would still gain the experience.

"Wasn't this technique developed by the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju? There seems to be a record in Konoha History Volume 2." Rin Nohara said after thinking.

"So it's the Second Hokage. No wonder he could develop such a jutsu." Obito noted down the name Tobirama Senju.

With two major worries—learning theory and doing problems—solved in one go, Obito now acknowledged Tobirama Senju as the Second Hokage.

Seeing Obito's excited expression, Shisui felt that Obito might be misunderstanding something.

If it's just because he hates learning theory and sends a Shadow Clone to school, it's pointless; the moment the Shadow Clone returns, Obito will get the exact same feeling as if he had gone himself.

"This is something Teacher Muyue told me." Shisui shook his head and said.

"Teacher Muyue, that's a bit biased of you. You didn't tell me about such a great thing." Obito looked at Muyue with an extremely resentful gaze.

Slap.

Muyue tapped Obito's head and explained:

"Shisui could use Shadow Clones to go to school because he had already learned everything in school and couldn't find any opponents. Were you capable of that back then?"

Actually, there were other reasons. Obito wasn't as enthusiastic about training back then as he is now.

Obito thought about it and realized he really wasn't up to it then—he didn't even make the top two; he and Might Guy were both eliminated by that Hyuga Kaden.

"Hehe, Teacher Muyue, it should be fine now, right? I want to learn the Shadow Clone Technique too." Obito's resentful look instantly turned to longing and expectation.

"Teacher, I want to learn too." Hearing that he could use clones to go to school, Might Guy was also tempted.

Although he was just slow at learning ninjutsu, not unable to learn it.

"I'll teach you tomorrow morning. From tomorrow until the day before school starts, we'll train full-time for the next four days." Muyue said after thinking.

Although he had a job at the ninja academy, that was almost finished—sending a Shadow Clone over for the rest would be enough, since there were no classes left for him to farm rewards from anyway.

As for why it was four days instead of five of full training—because if he used Shadow Clones for school from now on, his training load this term would increase significantly, and that one day was meant as a holiday before the hard training.

…

The next morning, Obito eagerly headed to the Southern Forest to learn the god-level ninjutsu he had his heart set on: the Shadow Clone Technique.

Muyue planned their training schedule: from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., half the time was for learning ninjutsu, half for training the Breathing Technique, and those like Shisui who had already learned it would practice other ninjutsu during that half.

From 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. was break time—they could go home to eat and take a nap; if they didn't go back, Muyue would cook for them. Then from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., they had to go home and eat on their own.

"Rin, let me tell you, don't leave at noon—you absolutely have to try Muyue-sensei's cooking," Obito warned.

Because Rin Nohara had just joined, she had never eaten Muyue's cooking before.

Muyue's cooking was just too delicious. Obito always ate his fill here, then went home to see his grandma and rest for a bit.

"Is Muyue-sensei really that good at cooking?" Rin Nohara was a little curious.

"It's not a question of whether he's good or not—he's really the kind of person who's… very special…" Obito rambled incoherently for a while.

"Anyway, I've never eaten anything better than Muyue-sensei's cooking," Obito concluded.

Rin Nohara, who had originally planned to go home for lunch, nodded. Obito's description was so exaggerated that it made her curious—just how good did it have to be for Obito to praise it so highly?

When training time arrived, Rin Nohara put her curiosity aside and began training according to Muyue's guidance.

"When using the Shadow Clone Technique, you must act within your limits. For now, you two should only make one clone each," Muyue warned Obito and Might Guy about the dangers of the Shadow Clone Technique.

The Shadow Clone Technique might seem like an ordinary ninjutsu, but it actually carries some danger.

To prevent people who don't know their own limits from producing a huge number of clones all at once, the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique was classified as a forbidden technique.

After explaining the dangers clearly, Muyue began his lesson.

The difficulty of learning the Shadow Clone Technique is B-rank, but among B-rank ninjutsu it's one of the easier ones—not too hard.

After two hours of study, Obito started forming hand seals to release a Shadow Clone.

"Shadow Clone Technique!"

A puff of white smoke flashed, and a face-down Obito appeared on the ground.

"Messed up—again!" Obito dispelled the clone and tried once more.

A puff of white smoke flashed, and a fat version of Obito appeared.

Fearing Rin Nohara might see it, Obito quickly dispelled the clone and put on a serious expression:

"As expected of a ninjutsu invented by the Second Hokage—it's really no ordinary difficulty. Much harder than the Clone Technique."

"Hahaha, Kai, what are you doing?" Obito burst out laughing as soon as he saw Might Guy's Shadow Clone.

There stood beside Might Guy a stone with arms and legs, constantly exercising.

"Uh, my head's been full of rocks these past few days—it just turned out that way," Might Guy said, unable to keep from laughing himself.

"Haha, this is too funny—I've got to call Shisui over to see it!" Obito couldn't stop grinning at the funny rock face.

Konoha Whirlwind!

The stone Shadow Clone immediately delivered a heavy kick—a Whirlwind Leg that sent Obito, who was doubled over with laughter, flying. Then it went back to mimicking lifting something on the spot.

"Kai, why did you hit me?" Obito spat out the grass in his mouth and asked Might Guy.

"It was the Shadow Clone. You should ask him." Might Guy didn't think he was the one who hit Obito.

"Shadow Clone Kai, why did you hit me?" Obito found that reasonable, so he asked the clone.

But the stone Shadow Clone did not respond.

Obito suddenly realized something—that clone had no mouth. How could it talk?

Obito didn't get another chance to interrogate it, because Might Guy dispelled the clone.

Muyue watched this absurd scene and twitched his mouth. When it came to Shadow Clones, Obito and Might Guy were indeed unique talents.

"It's time to practice the Breathing Technique," Muyue reminded them both.

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

"Shisui, you have no idea how funny something that just happened was." Obito was ready to share the fun he'd just had.

"Oh." Shisui was a bit curious; just now Might Guy and Obito had been training Shadow Clone, and he couldn't understand what funny thing could happen while training Shadow Clone.

"Just now, Guy split out a stone with hands and feet..." Even now recalling it, Obito still found it hilarious.

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

The clone in Might Guy's likeness made a scratching-head, confused expression, while Obito's main body stood beside it, imitating the stone Shadow Clone's pose of lifting something.

"Your Shadow Clones are quite unique." Shisui had to admit Obito and Might Guy knew how to liven things up.

As the pleasant training time passed, soon came the meal time that all disciples looked forward to.

"Wow, today it's actually Magical Mapo Tofu? Rin, you're in for a treat." Opening the lunchbox and seeing the food inside, Obito's appetite was instantly stimulated.

Muyue's cooking was all delicious, but there were still levels; Magical Mapo Tofu was one of Obito's favorites.

Nohara Rin looked at the bright red in the lunchbox and felt a bit nervous; it looked way too spicy.

"Can't waste food, can't let down Teacher Muyue's kindness." With that thought, Nohara Rin closed her eyes, scooped up a spoonful, and stuffed it into her mouth.

"So spicy, so delicious!" Just after the first bite, Nohara Rin instantly fell in love with this dish.

Unlike the explosive spiciness she had imagined, the heat of the Magical Mapo Tofu wasn't that rough, and there were other equally excellent flavors.

She finally understood why Obito praised Muyue's cooking so highly. Nohara Rin even wanted to learn cooking from Muyue, so she wouldn't trouble Muyue and could still eat such delicious food every day.

Wrote a big chapter, and got a bit stuck, so it's a bit late; there's more to come.