Chapter 256: Shadow Clones Save the Day

After discussing for a while at the dumpling shop, Obito and the others ultimately couldn't decide on a group gift for all five of them, so they decided to consult other teachers at the school and Muyue's friends before making a decision.

After the gathering broke up, Obito first went home for dinner, then returned to the streets of the main city district.

Actually, before this gathering, Obito had been thinking about giving Muyue a little something, so he already had an idea in his mind for his personal gift to Muyue.

Although Obito didn't know much about calligraphy, he could ask; by inquiring with the bookstore owner, he learned that calligraphy brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones all have their nuances.

Originally, he wanted to do what Muyue did with ninja tools—make a brush with his own hands to give to Muyue—but later he found that making a brush was too difficult, and since he wasn't cut out for it, he temporarily gave up on that idea.

He chose to make an inkstone instead, which was relatively simpler.

To Obito, an ordinary inkstone was just a stone with a hole dug in it; the more complex ones just had some carvings on the stone, and he thought he could manage that.

After asking many elderly men and women, Obito eventually got three pieces of stone suitable for making inkstones from an old man who loved calligraphy.

Overjoyed, Obito paid the old man, then went to a bookstore to buy an inkstone, and started figuring out at home how to make one.

Obito didn't start right away, because he still hadn't decided on the outer shape of the inkstone.

Obito took out a piece of white paper and a pen, wanting to first sketch the design he had in mind.

Twenty minutes later, Obito looked at the rectangle with a not-so-round circle inside it and a clump of black lines beside it, his expression somewhat troubled.

The idea was good, but he couldn't draw.

Obito felt the dragon-patterned kunai Muyue had given him was really cool, and he wanted to carve a similar dragon on the inkstone, but forget carving—even when drawing on paper, Obito had no idea what he was drawing.

"Damn it, drawing is so hard, feels harder than ninjutsu." Obito sighed and lay down on the table.

"Should I go ask Rin or Kakashi for help?" Two figures instinctively appeared in Obito's mind.

Rin Nohara had given drawings as birthday gifts twice, and Obito thought Rin was pretty good at drawing.

As for Kakashi, although he had never seen Kakashi draw, Obito had this strange confidence that Kakashi definitely could draw, and quite well.

"No way, how can I ask others to help with a gift I'm supposed to give myself." Obito shook his head, dismissing the idea.

For the personal gift to Muyue, Obito still wanted to complete it entirely on his own; if someone else drew the design, it wouldn't count as his gift alone.

At that moment, Obito suddenly had an idea: use the Shadow Clone Technique to rapidly gain drawing experience.

After a shadow clone dispersed, its memories returned. If he made a few shadow clones to practice with him, maybe he could make it in time.

"If I manage the shadow clone time well, it shouldn't be too tiring." The more Obito thought about it, the better the idea seemed.

He couldn't handle the fatigue from training with shadow clones, but just drawing for a while shouldn't be much of a problem.

Of course, Obito knew his idea still had a fatal flaw: shadow clones wouldn't necessarily do what he wanted. During battle, clones would execute tactics without question, but in daily life, if he told a shadow clone to do homework, it would fight him.

"Shadow Clone Technique!" Obito formed hand seals and created two shadow clones.

Since there was a solution, he had to try it no matter what.

Just as Obito was about to persuade the shadow clones to practice drawing, something unexpected happened.

One shadow clone voluntarily walked to the table, picked up a pen, and started drawing, while the other found paper and a pen and started drawing on the floor.

"What are you standing there for? Why aren't you making the most of the time to practice?" The shadow clone on the floor said to Obito's original body with a dissatisfied look.

Obito was dumbfounded and couldn't help asking, "Why aren't you slacking off this time? You're so proactive."

He had already mentally prepared for the clones to slack off while he fought on alone, but instead, the two shadow clones were unprecedented in their initiative.

The shadow clone sitting on the chair glanced at Obito and said, "Teacher Muyue is such a good person, of course we should do our best to give him the best gift possible."

"Instead of asking about this, you should hurry up. There's only one week left until the graduation exam; time is running out." The Obito sitting on the floor continued to urge.

Having his own shadow clone urge him to act was a first. Carrying this novelty, Obito quickly found paper and a pen and started drawing too.

Obito vaguely guessed the reason for the change in the shadow clones; it might be due to his own inner thoughts.

He deeply resisted doing homework, and wouldn't finish it unless Muyue assigned it. But this time, drawing was different—he was doing it to give Muyue a better gift, and at this moment, he felt no resistance to drawing at all.

That's why the shadow clones during homework were so different from the current ones.

"Anyway, Tobirama Senju just didn't consider this when he developed the Shadow Clone Technique." Obito ultimately placed the blame on the technique's creator.

After drawing for two and a half hours, Obito dispelled the shadow clones. The drawing experience from the clones flowed into his mind, leaving a hint of exhaustion on his face.

Obito sorted through his memories and found that using the Shadow Clone Technique to study wasn't as efficient as he had imagined, because most of the practice experiences were identical, and it didn't achieve a threefold speed boost at all.

"Still better than doing it alone, and my brushstrokes are more skilled now." Obito drew another one and nodded in satisfaction.

Although it was still far from the image in his mind, it was better than the blob of meaningless black lines from the very beginning.

After another hour of practicing alone, Obito went to bed. Probably because he was very tired, as soon as he lay down, drowsiness hit him quickly, and he fell asleep.

The next morning, Obito woke up at about the same time as usual thanks to his biological clock, then washed up, ate breakfast, and headed to the southern forest to train.

Maybe because he had practiced a bit too much before bed, now as Obito looked at the scenes along the street, he couldn't help but think about what they would look like on paper.

"Good morning, Obito." Rin Nohara greeted Obito with a smile.

Hearing Rin Nohara's voice, the drowsy Obito snapped awake instantly, and smiled back as he greeted her, "Good morning to you too, Rin."

"Obito, did you stay up late last night? You seemed a bit out of it just now." Rin Nohara asked with a concerned look.

"Let me guess—were you busy preparing a gift for Teacher Muzuki?"

Knowing Obito as she did, this was too easy to guess, because they had been discussing gift-giving yesterday.

"Haha, you know me so well, Rin. But I didn't stay up late. I just used Shadow Clones yesterday to speed up my learning, so I'm a little tired, but it's nothing." Obito laughed twice and began to explain.

He really hadn't stayed up late, because he had heard that staying up late stunts your growth, and he was going to become the Hokage—he couldn't afford to be short.

"Mm, don't push yourself too hard. After all, our regular training is no joke. It wouldn't be good if you got sick from exhaustion." Rin Nohara reminded him with a smile.

Obito patted his chest and said with a chuckle, "I'm the man who's going to become the Hokage. I know what's important. If something happened to me, it would be the entire village's loss."

Rin Nohara was amused by this and covered her lips with her right hand, chuckling.

"'The entire village's loss' is an exaggeration. Obito, you're not the Hokage yet."

"I think if you keep wasting Rin's time, that would be a loss for Rin." Kakashi passed by, left a comment, and walked away toward the training ground without looking back.

"Damn Kakashi." Obito pouted, a little annoyed.

He had been happily looking at Rin's smile, and then Kakashi had to pop up.

"We really shouldn't waste time. Let's go train and talk during breaks." Rin Nohara smiled slightly, then headed toward the training ground.

Seeing this, Obito quickly caught up and walked side by side with Rin Nohara.

By the time Obito and Rin Nohara arrived, Might Guy and Shisui were already training, and Kakashi had drawn his White Light Short Blade, looking ready to train as well.

Obito walked over to Shisui and began his Armament Haki training.

Right now, the Breathing Method: Constant was the main training focus, but they hadn't neglected Armament Haki either. They practiced it for two to three hours every day, with the rest of the time dedicated to the Breathing Method: Constant.

Once you learned Armament Haki, it could increase your upper limit, but it required more chakra. However, Armament Haki was very difficult; by the time they learned it, they wouldn't have such a small amount of chakra anymore.

After training, the five of them gathered again to discuss the gift.

"Shisui, did your Shadow Clone get any useful information?" Obito asked.

Since Shisui's Shadow Clone still attended class every day, the task of asking the ninja academy teachers was left to Shisui. His clone could just ask during class.

"No. Those teachers know even less about Teacher Muzuki than we do." Recalling the memories from his Shadow Clone, Shisui shook his head.

At least they knew that Muzuki liked egg dishes, while the academy teachers only knew that Muzuki liked practicing calligraphy.

"Then what do we do? As far as I can remember, the only person who seems like a friend to Teacher Muzuki is Minato-senpai, but Minato-senpai is on the battlefield." Obito thought out loud.

"How about we make a bodysuit together as a gift for Teacher Muzuki?" Might Guy suggested.

"I don't think that's a good idea." Shisui rejected the proposal.

"Guy, seriously, not everyone likes bodysuits—especially green ones." Obito couldn't help but complain.

He couldn't imagine what Muzuki's face would look like in a green bodysuit. It would be too jarring.

After a long discussion, the five still couldn't decide, but they agreed that they had to finalize the gift tomorrow, or they might run out of time.

3k. Although today's momentum was strong, it seemed that "in a fit of rage" just ended up being a fit of rage. The typing speed didn't increase, but today's 7k should be secure.