In response to Kushina's complaint, Natsuhiko merely smiled and beckoned with his hand, saying:
"If you want to see the first and second parts, then first break my third part of the Shadow Clone Technique!"
"That's exactly what we intend to do!"
All the Kushinas said in unison.
After speaking, eight Kushinas jumped down from the trees, launching an assault on Natsuhiko from eight different directions!
Seeing Kushina casually using eight shadow clones for a probe, Natsuhiko felt a surge of envy.
Because he had never fought such a luxurious battle in his life.
However, he had no time for idle thoughts now.
Facing Kushina's stance, he had to show some fundamental skills, or it would be funny if he accidentally lost.
So, in the next moment, Natsuhiko lowered his posture and rushed towards the Kushina directly in front of him.
His daily radio gymnastics exercises had finally paid off, making his movements much more agile than before.
Using the eight ninja attributes, his "agility" had increased from 6 to 7.
And the actual effect was quite evident.
"So fast!"
"Damn it, so Natsuhiko wasn't using his full strength before!"
Amid the astonished voices of the Kushinas acting as commentators around him, Natsuhiko had already torn through the formation of the eight shadow clones with his speed.
If one looked down from above, one could see the once flawless circular formation rapidly distorting and deforming.
This also meant that the timing of their attack on Natsuhiko was staggered.
In no time at all, Natsuhiko was face to face with the Kushina directly in front of him.
Seeing Natsuhiko charging at her fiercely, Kushina didn't intend to confront him head-on. Instead, she stopped, crossing her hands in a defensive stance.
Because she knew that if she delayed for a few seconds, the two closest shadow clones would arrive, forming a three-on-one advantageous situation.
Maintaining her defensive posture, she warily anticipated Natsuhiko's attack.
Natsuhiko didn't slow down and continued to charge at her until there was only about a meter between them before suddenly throwing a punch.
"?"
A moment of doubt I flashed in this Kushina's mind.
Was the punch too early?
After all, at their current distance, Natsuhiko's punch wouldn't even...
Bang!
Before she could finish her thought, the enlarging fist in her vision struck her face, turning her into a puff of white smoke and disappearing.
"Not yet!" x2
At this moment, the Kushina clones on both sides had arrived. Due to their perspective, they hadn't noticed the oddity earlier and were preparing to attack Natsuhiko with raised fists...
Bang! Bang!
Before they could get within attack range, they were both shattered by Natsuhiko's simultaneous palms.
"Something's wrong!"
"Be careful, everyone!"
The Kushinas around the clearing noticed the anomaly, loudly warning their comrades near Natsuhiko.
The remaining five shadow clones, alerted by the warning, were now highly vigilant.
They quickly exchanged glances, and four of them attacked Natsuhiko from different angles.
The last one deliberately slowed down a bit, then slid in from a blind spot.
She aimed to attack from a dead angle when Natsuhiko was busy dealing with the other shadow clones.
Sure enough, as she slid in, she saw Natsuhiko fending off the other clones' attacks.
He blocked one shadow clone's hook with one hand, deflected another's straight punch with another, stopped a third's whip kick with a third hand, and blocked a fourth's kick with a fourth hand.
Wait! Something seems off!
Before this, Kushina could fully process her thoughts; she was already in front of Natsuhiko, instinctively kicking upward.
Then she saw something unbelievable.
A thick arm suddenly emerged from Natsuhiko's abdomen, punching her as she slid past!
What the heck is this?
Bang!
This Kushina turned into a cloud of smoke with numerous questions in her mind.
The four attacking shadow clones realised what had happened and exclaimed in unison:
"Natsuhiko, why do you have so many hands!"
As they said, besides his original arms, Natsuhiko had two extra arms growing from his sides, allowing him to fend off their combined attack.
Natsuhiko casually smiled and said:
"Didn't I mention that I was testing a shadow clone technique?"
"And these are my clones."
Realising the ambiguity of his words, he quickly dismissed the third arm that had emerged from an awkward position.
"What kind of shadow clone technique is this?"
The four Kushinas retorted in unison.
As shadow clones themselves, their words carried significant weight.
Natsuhiko responded with a slight smile: "Shadow clones are not so limited."
Saying that a dozen arms sprouted from his body, attacking the four shadow clones.
"Sixteen Petal Bloom!"
Bang, bang, bang, bang!
Before the four shadow clones could react, they vanished into smoke.
Thus, Natsuhiko defeated all eight of Kushina's shadow clones.
"Well, it seems this technique works well in actual combat."
The arms growing from Natsuhiko's body disappeared into white smoke as he stroked his chin in thought.
The Kushinas around the clearing looked at each other, struggling to comprehend what they had just seen.
"Did you see that?"
"Why did Natsuhiko suddenly grow so many arms?"
"And those arms weren't just projections; they were solid."
"Don't forget, they turned into smoke in the end, just like shadow clones."
"But there are no shadow clones that only produce arms."
"A shadow clone like that wouldn't be able to maintain itself."
Hundreds of Kushinas chattered among themselves, making the small grove as noisy as a marketplace.
The noise gave Natsuhiko a headache, so he snapped his fingers.
A piercing buzzing sound filled the clearing, silencing the Kushinas as they covered their ears and looked at Natsuhiko.
"Kushina, we're still in the middle of a fight."
Natsuhiko said with a helpless smile, "If you want to know the principal, you could just ask me."
After all, explaining one's abilities is a tradition in ninja battles.
"The principle of this technique isn't complicated," Natsuhiko continued.
"Kushina, you know that shadow clones have a chakra network that even the Byakugan can't distinguish from the real thing.
Chakra flows through it like blood, linking the simulated organs and body parts to maintain the clone's physical form.
All the Kushinas nodded. They had learned this when studying the shadow clone technique.
Natsuhiko paced back and forth, raising a finger as if giving a lesson:
"So, as you said, severed limbs lose their vitality because their internal chakra networks are incomplete, preventing them from maintaining their physical form."
"But, conversely, if we can maintain the chakra flow within them, they can persist."
"Wait a minute..."
Seeing the surprise on most of the Kushinas' faces, Natsuhiko smiled slightly.
"It seems you understand the method I used."
"That's right. I connected the incomplete chakra networks of these shadow clone limbs to my system as soon as they formed."
"This way, arms, legs, even heads or facial features can sprout from various points on my body like flowers."
"Hence, this technique is called the Flower Clone Technique."
As he spoke, Natsuhiko raised his left hand, and several arms extended from his elbow like blooming flowers, giving off an eerie beauty.
Indeed, this was the third part of Natsuhiko's energy-saving shadow clone technique.
From the diminutive Infant Clone Technique to the brain-removing Shadow Puppet Technique.
This time, Natsuhiko didn't even want to maintain a torso's chakra, instead dismembering the shadow clone and stitching it to himself.
He had minimised chakra consumption to the extreme.
Moreover, since these clone limbs were connected to his body, even if the enemy destroyed them, he could almost completely recover the chakra, wasting none.
"Flower Clone Technique..."
The Kushinas were stunned by Natsuhiko's incredible concept.
Though she considered herself a master of the shadow clone technique, Kushina realised today that there were still ways to use it she hadn't imagined!
And despite Natsuhiko's casual explanation.
The Kushinas knew how complex it was to instantly connect the severed shadow clone limbs to one's chakra network.
However, for Natsuhiko, who excelled in runic ninjutsu, complexity was just adding a few more formulas to his runic constructs.
Yes, from Natsuhiko's no-hand seal, instant-cast performance, the Kushinas could tell that this technique, like the Projection Technique, had been converted into a runic ninjutsu.
Damn it!
The Kushinas felt a wave of frustration.
Originally, Kushina had meticulously prepared to showcase her training results to surprise Natsuhiko.
Maybe even achieve an underdog victory by using it as material to tease Natsuhiko later.
But Natsuhiko made more progress during this time than she did.
It felt like the gap between them hadn't closed but widened.
However, Kushina hadn't given up, encouraging herself:
"Even though Natsuhiko's move is creative, it's just growing shadow clone arms on his body."
"It can't compare to our complete shadow clones!"
"Natsuhiko himself said it's a technique to save chakra, so its practical effectiveness must be lower than ours."
The more they talked, the more they convinced themselves, soon regaining their confidence.
One Kushina shouted:
"To deal with such trickery, we don't need to worry about chivalry. Everyone, charge together!"
This time, the Kushinas didn't hold back, and all the shadow clones jumped down from the trees, rushing towards Natsuhiko!
"All troops, charge!"
"Let's show Natsuhiko the power of orthodox shadow clones!"
"There are so many of us, we
can definitely counterattack!"
"waaaaagh!!"
With loud shouts and various slogans, the dense mass of Kushinas surged towards Natsuhiko from all directions.
However...
"Thirty-two Petal Bloom·White Snake!"
Boom!!
Before the shouts could end, the sound of breaking wind roared past!
In an instant, a slender white figure burst from Natsuhiko's hand so fast it was hard to see!
Bang, bang, bang, bang...!
One by one, the shadow clones vanished into smoke before they could react.
The white figure directly pierced through Kushina and her group's formation, eventually breaking several thick trees at the edge of the clearing in half before finally coming to a stop.
Hiss!?
The clones of Kushina, who were initially charging towards Natsuhiko, all came to a halt, looking bewildered.
At that moment, they saw the proper form of the white figure and were rendered speechless.
It was an arm, a long arm made up of sections of white arms connected.
"Unbelievable... Even the Shadow Clone's arms can grow more arms!"
All of the Kushinas widened their eyes in disbelief.
Indeed, Natsuhiko's attack just now was simply him growing another arm from his palm after one palm strike and then striking again...
In simple terms, it was palm growing, palm growing palm!
This cycle continued endlessly, like a multi-stage rocket, causing the palm strikes to overlap continuously, producing such astonishing speed and power!
At the same time, Natsuhiko's attack was not over. He twisted his waist, and the multi-sectioned arms swung simultaneously, sweeping out like a long white whip!
Boom, boom, boom, boom...!
From above the clearing, it could be seen that the dense Shadow Clone encirclement was swept into a thirty-degree fan-shaped blank area by this move!
This was because Natsuhiko's arm shadow clones accumulated too much damage due to the reaction force and dissipated on their own; otherwise, the area of destruction would have been even more significant.
The remaining Kushinas were left stunned.
Why was Natsuhiko's energy-efficient Shadow Clone technique so potent?
What did this mean for the traditional Shadow Clone technique?
But they had no time to think. Seeing that Natsuhiko might launch such an attack again at any moment, they could only seize the opportunity to charge forward, hoping to regain some advantage in close combat.
However, Natsuhiko obviously wouldn't let them have their way.
He once again slightly parted his lips, smiling as he said:
"Ultimate Art of Flower Clone Technique—"
"Flower Blooming in Profusion·Flower Branch."
Swoosh!
Four tentacles, made up of sections of arms, grew from Natsuhiko's back.
Two of them propped him up in the air while the remaining two waved menacingly behind him.
Natsuhiko leisurely took out a pair of sunglasses, similar to Ebisu's, from his chest pocket and put them on, then looked down at the Kushinas below with a smile.
"Hello, Kushina."
Each Kushina looked up at Natsuhiko, who appeared like a major villain, with numb expressions.
...
The subsequent battle was no longer suspenseful.
Kushina, who only knew the Multi-Shadow Clone technique and taijutsu, with no other offensive means, naturally met a crushing defeat under Natsuhiko's Flower Branch mode, which was designed explicitly for crowd combat.
The only thing that left Natsuhiko a bit speechless was that even though Kushina knew she would lose sooner or later, she still resisted until the end.
She even seemed to be planning to engage in a war of attrition with Natsuhiko, competing on who had more chakra.
Her main body even sneakily hid in a small grove, continually using the Shadow Clone technique to replenish her troops.
It wasn't until Natsuhiko used a sensing formation to locate her main body and hoisted the exhausted Kushina with four tentacles that she reluctantly conceded.
Thus, Kushina's plan to overthrow him failed.
————————————
Several days later, in the private room of the Double Happiness Ramen Shop.
"I'll have a tomato beef noodle soup," Natsuhiko ordered familiarly.
Opposite him, a stern-faced middle-aged man with red eyes was still frowning at the menu.
Cilantro ramen, ice cream ramen, beer ramen, watermelon ramen...
Are these things really edible?
He shook his head slightly, deciding to play it safe, and told the waiter:
"Then... I'll have this old-fashioned pickled cabbage beef noodle soup."
After confirming the order and leaving, he began to complain to Natsuhiko:
"I used to come here to eat, and there weren't so many options back then, right?"
Natsuhiko spread his hands with an unnatural expression and said:
"Senior Jin, to be honest, I'm not sure either."
Although he often shared various noodle recipes from his previous life with Teuchi, who worked here, he never imagined Teuchi would become so obsessed with developing new types of ramen, resulting in these terrifying culinary creations.
Especially the cilantro ramen.
Is this even edible?
Yuuhi Jin did not delve further. After putting down the menu, he picked up a document and said with a helpless tone:
"Natsuhiko, you kid, you've been back for so long and haven't asked me to hang out."
"And the first time you do, it's for this troublesome matter."
Natsuhiko laughed sheepishly and said:
"Although it seems troublesome now, it will ultimately reduce your workload quite a bit."
Jin pondered and said, "True, at least things like water-walking and tree-climbing can be taught in the ninja academy, saving us a lot of effort."
Today, Natsuhiko sought out Jin to discuss the extracurricular tutoring classes for the upcoming school year.
Natsuhiko knew beforehand that Jin had transferred to become a ninja instructor to stay close to his daughter, Kurenai Yuhi.
A ninja instructor is essentially a mentor responsible for guiding genin or chunin in their training.
Not every Ninja Academy graduate has a Jonin babysitting them.
Even if they did, the Jonin could only teach them some things.
That's where ninja instructors come into play.
A ninja can apply to study various advanced skills under an instructor by consuming a certain amount of task merits.
Though these are not classified secrets, they provide a pathway for civilian ninjas to advance.
In a way, it resembles skill tutors in online games.
Jin was responsible for teaching genjutsu.
In Natsuhiko's plan, many of the subjects usually taught only after becoming a genin would be introduced in the ninja academy, so he sought Jin's experienced eyes to review his proposal.
As Jin reviewed Natsuhiko's plan, a voice, likely from a new waiter, was heard in the shop:
"Um... Who ordered the tomato beef noodle soup?"
"Me." X2
Two identical responses rang out in the shop, further confusing the young waiter.
Natsuhiko, who had just greeted the waiter, realised someone else had said the same thing and couldn't help but look around.
He saw a handsome face with golden spiky hair in a nearby booth.
The waiter hesitated and said:
"This blond guest, this silver-haired guest, which of you ordered the tomato beef noodle soup?"
(End of the chapter)
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