"Ding~ [Ninjutsu+10], [Wisdom+10], Would you like to claim?"
"Claim!"
Three days later, Tatsuma looked at Minato, who had a helpless smile on his face as he lightly scratched his temple with his fingers, and said with a smile, "Minato, you're just a little bit away from success, but I'm still more eager for victory this time!"
Minato still lost, and he lost twice. The first time was to see who could learn the Shuriken Shadow Clone first. Minato had a significant advantage in the early stages, but he lost due to insufficient chakra.
Although Tatsuma's chakra was not much greater, after months on the battlefield, Tatsuma had been enhancing his physical abilities and constantly fighting with Taijutsu. "Growing Through Battle" had greatly improved his physique.
As a result, the chakra gap that Minato had already surpassed was once again caught up by Tatsuma, and he surpassed Minato again. With more chakra, Tatsuma successfully created Shadow Clones faster than Minato through more practice sessions within the same amount of time.
If it were in the past, the match might have ended there, but now Minato's competitiveness had also been gradually cultivated by Tatsuma. Therefore, they agreed on another match along the way, which was to see who could first control ten Shuriken Shadow Clones to win.
This time, Minato lost thoroughly. Despite Tatsuma's eloquent words, Minato could only control three Shuriken Shadow Clones now; any more and he couldn't control them precisely.
On the other hand, with the talent in 100% Ninja Tool Throwing he obtained from Minato, Tatsuma, after a few tries, could control the Shuriken Shadow Clones well. Ten clones were far from his limit.
The chakra consumption to create a Shuriken Shadow Clone was much less than creating a regular Shadow Clone, and facing ordinary enemies, dozens of Shuriken could be very effective. This jutsu could become Tatsuma's regular Ninjutsu.
According to Tatsuma's estimation, with his current chakra, he could create more than three hundred Shuriken Shadow Clones, or even form a wave of firepower suppression.
This is also an important reason why Tatsuma chose this Ninjutsu, because he foresaw that he wouldn't need to invest too much time in practicing it to become proficient, allowing him to enrich his combat skills in a short time.
Moreover, the upper limit of this jutsu is not low. It has three advanced directions. The first is the technique used by Sarutobi Hiruzen, combining with the Giant Shuriken, creating a large number of giant shurikens that can directly kill opponents by stabbing or smashing.
The second is the technique developed by Minato, attaching chakra to the shuriken, such as the laser rain he used in the battle against Anrokuzan (From the Lost Tower Movie), enhancing the killing power of each shuriken.
The third is to combine with Shuriken manipulation, controlling hundreds of shurikens to achieve flexible directional changes. Tatsuma remembers Sasuke using this technique.
Furthermore, these three advanced directions are not independent but can complement each other. For example, Sasuke combines the second and third advanced techniques, attaching Lightning Release chakra to the shurikens and then using shuriken manipulation for traction.
The first advanced direction is not very suitable for Tatsuma at the moment, as the combination of Giant Shuriken Jutsu and Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu consumes too much chakra, and Tatsuma doesn't know how to use Giant Shuriken Jutsu yet.
However, Tatsuma plans to delve into the latter two. Perhaps he cannot achieve Minato's laser rain right now, but he can still manage to attach Wind Release chakra to several shurikens.
After learning the Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu, Tatsuma did not immediately start learning the Bringer of Darkness Jutsu. After all, Sarutobi Hiruzen wasn't always available, and as for Sakumo Hatake, he barely appeared a few times.
But Tatsuma remembered each of Sakumo's appearances and departures quite clearly because Sakumo Hatake's demeanor was peculiar—he looked anxious when leaving and cheerful upon appearing.
Calculating the time, Tatsuma had a rough idea of the reason. At the latest, by the end of this year, he and Minato, along with their respective sensei, would have to return the favor.
Tatsuma wasn't in a hurry. Instead, he began guiding Minato's training, using Minato's experiences to instruct him. This accelerated Minato's learning progress significantly, and within two days, he reached the level of controlling ten Shuriken Shadow Clones simultaneously.
At this time, Sarutobi Hiruzen still had no time available, so the two resumed their morning training sessions with Nawaki and Kushina. In the morning, they followed Uzumaki Mito to learn Sealing Jutsu, and in the afternoon and evening, they trained on their own.
"Ding ding ding~"
In the training ground, shurikens flew, constantly clashing, then disappearing into thin air. After another round of Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu sparring, Minato raised his hand.
With the tacit understanding between Tatsuma and Minato, Tatsuma instantly understood that Minato intended to rest due to lack of chakra.
After a short break, Might Duy, who was doing handstand laps with Nawaki, finished today's fifty laps of training. Before starting the next training session, the two were stretching their waist and legs.
Recently, Tsunade and Orochimaru had been very busy, seemingly due to matters concerning the Hidden Rock Village. This gave Nawaki the opportunity to train with Might Duy again.
But now Nawaki had also become a bit smarter; he always brought two sets of clothes when going out—one regular set and one green tight-fitting suit.
Every day, he would wear regular clothes to follow Tatsuma and Minato to the training ground, change into the tight-fitting suit to train with Might Duy, and then change back into his own clothes before going home. According to him, compromise was also necessary in youth.
Tatsuma looked at Duy and suddenly felt something was amiss because Duy's smile was too bright.
Although Duy usually boasted about his admiration for Konoha's White Fang, he was somewhat restrained. However, recently, his smile seemed a bit reckless.
Moreover, this smile looked particularly familiar, just like the radiant expression of Sakumo. Tatsuma suddenly remembered that in the original work, Guy was supposed to be born on January 1st next year.
In other words, if nothing unexpected happened, the current Guy was still in the embryonic stage. Tatsuma suddenly asked curiously, "Brother Duy, do you have children?"
Upon hearing this, Duy, who was stretching his legs, suddenly did a split, his face turning red. He looked around, his gaze unfocused, and with slightly unclear speech, he said, "How did you know?"
"What?! Brother Duy, you're pregnant?!"
Nawaki, who was stretching his legs, suddenly jumped up. His words caught all three off guard, especially Tatsuma, who laughed uncontrollably, bending forward and backward. Even Minato, who usually maintained composure, couldn't help but burst into laughter.
At this moment, Nawaki realized he misspoke and his face turned red. He quickly shook his head and explained, "No, no, I mean... I mean, Brother Duy, your wife is pregnant?!"
"Ah! I mean, your partner! When did you get a wife, Brother Duy?! How come I didn't know?" Nawaki asked anxiously, his wording somewhat impolite, but Duy didn't mind. After all, youth is about trial and error!
He scratched his head, a bit shyly saying, "I haven't gotten married yet. I'm saving up money to buy a house, and then I'll have the wedding."
As a Genin, especially one from the lower ranks, Duy's income was quite limited. The village didn't assign him many high-paying missions, and the most frequent task he had was catching cats, earning him the title of "cat-catching expert" bestowed upon him by Sarutobi Hiruzen.
However, cats weren't always available to catch, and sometimes, if you accidentally got scratched or bitten by a cat, you had to spend money on hospital visits for vaccinations. So over the years, Duy hadn't saved much money.
Tatsuma pursed his lips, his carefree smile fading. However, he couldn't solve Duy's current practical issues either, after all, he didn't have money either; he had traded all his battle achievements for Ninjutsu.
Moreover, knowing Duy's personality, even if Tatsuma had money to give him, he would definitely refuse it. Sensing the sudden heaviness in the atmosphere, Tatsuma changed the subject, asking, "Brother Duy, is your wife the Shoko sister who used to go shopping with you?"
Duy nodded shyly. Tatsuma, curious, asked again, "When did you two get together? Last time I left, you two were still..."
"Uh, well..." Duy hesitated for a while before finally gathering the courage to say, "It was the night you left for deployment. She was worried that I wouldn't be able to go to the battlefield to serve the village and would be devastated, so she came to comfort me."
"One shot one kill?!"
The term flashed through Tatsuma's mind. After all, when he set out with the team, it was mid-March, and Guy's birthday was on January 1st of the next year. Even if it wasn't a one-shot one kill, it must have been around those days, right?
"What are you guys talking about?"
Just then, a white-haired figure appeared among them. It was Sakumo. Tatsuma didn't conceal anything and said, "We're discussing someone who can't go to the battlefield, so they're making babies to play with in the village."
The others didn't react particularly, but Sakumo's face instantly turned crimson, steam seeming to rise from his ears. Extremely embarrassed, he asked, "How did you know?!"
"Huh?"
"Huh?!"
"Huh?!"
Four people, three reactions. Nawaki and Duy hadn't quite caught on, looking puzzled. Minato seemed to have figured something out, his expression a mix of confusion and surprise. Tatsuma, however, realized immediately: Sakumo must have thought they were talking about him.
Seeing the varied reactions of the group, Sakumo quickly composed himself and asked, "Who were you talking about not being able to go to the battlefield and making babies to play with in the village?"
Nawaki pointed to Duy, who also gestured to himself. Minato didn't raise his hand, while Tatsuma pointed to both Duy and Sakumo, saying, "Originally, it was Brother Duy, but now you're also part of our discussion topic. Hehe, Sakumo-sama, it seems you haven't gotten married yet, right? Tut tut tut."
Seeing the somewhat punchable smirk on Tatsuma's face, Sakumo covered his face, knowing his image was ruined. It was unfortunate that Konoha's White Fang, Sakumo, had led such a spotless life, yet he had been caught in such a situation.
Finally, Minato couldn't bear it anymore. He cleared his throat and changed the subject, asking, "Sakumo-sama, did you come to see us for something?"
Sakumo nodded quickly, saying, "That's right! I came to inform you that Third's promise to teach you both the Bringer of Darkness Jutsu might be delayed."
"Alright, since Hokage-sama can't free up time."
Tatsuma no longer dwelled on the previous topic. Sakumo nodded again and said, "Third has been busy lately. Jiraiya discovered traces of Iwa-nin activity at the border of the Land of Rain and the Land of Earth.
There have also been unexpected incidents in the Wind Country. Danzo-sama's forces clashed with the Sand Ninja near the border of the Land of Rain, accidentally entering the Land of Rain. Now, the Land of Rain is demanding accountability for this. Third needs to handle all of these matters, so he won't have much free time in the coming days."
As Sakumo spoke, a worried expression appeared on his face. Sitting cross-legged, he continued, "The situation is quite dire now. Third must be troubled. Even when Biwako-sama went for her prenatal check-up at the hospital, she went alone. Third didn't have time to accompany her."
"Cough, cough~"
Tatsuma quickly coughed and then said, "Sakumo-sama, perhaps it's not suitable to discuss these matters?"
"Eh? Haha~ That's right. After working in ANBU for so long, when I finally meet someone to talk to, I can't seem to stop."
Sakumo scratched his head, while Duy, at this moment, raised his melon-shaped head and asked in confusion, "ANBU?"
"Ah! I slipped up again."
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