"By the way, Fūka, here's the scroll for the Shadow Clone Technique. It's for you!"
After finishing his emotional outburst, Might Duy finally remembered the important matter. He pulled out a small scroll from his robe and tossed it to Fūka.
Fūka's face lit up with joy as he received the scroll, suppressing the pain in his body. "Thank you so much, Uncle Duy!"
"Ha ha, no need to thank me," Might Duy chuckled. "I got this technique from Lord Hatake. With your talent, you should master it quickly."
Fūka nodded, but a storm of thoughts brewed in his mind.
Lord Hatake?
That must be the famed Konoha White Fang, the ninja whose reputation struck fear into the hearts of ninjas from all countries, who even had orders issued to surrender unconditionally if encountered.
Such a prestigious honor could only be bestowed upon the likes of the White Fang or the Yellow Flash, Minato Namikaze!
Though at this time, the Yellow Flash had yet to fully mature.
"Alright, that's enough for today. Fūka, can you make it home on your own?" Might Duy helped Guy to his feet and looked at Fūka.
"No problem!" Fūka replied with a smile. "I'll rest a bit to recover some chakra and take care of myself with medical ninjutsu."
"Ah, I forgot you're skilled in medical ninjutsu," Might Duy said, guiding Guy to sit down again. "Then please take care of Guy as well."
Guy grinned, clearly not at all embarrassed.
In fact, as a perennial Genin, Might Duy's missions were mostly D-rank with modest rewards, leaving him quite strapped for cash. Saving on medical expenses for Guy was a significant help.
Fūka, aware of this, responded, "No problem, leave it to me!"
Medical ninjutsu also requires regular practice to avoid becoming rusty, so Fūka had no reason to refuse a willing patient.
After a few minutes, Fūka had recovered some chakra and began his self-treatment. His current medical ninjutsu skills included the Hemostasis Technique and Healing Technique, which worked effectively on the training injuries. The wounds soon stopped bleeding and began to scab over, while muscle fatigue would take time to ease.
Next, Fūka treated Guy.
"Much better, thanks Fūka!" Guy said with a thumbs-up and a bright smile, revealing a clean white tooth. "You're really reliable!"
"Ah, thanks for the compliment," Fūka shrugged and said. "But remember, the Hemostasis Technique is just a temporary fix. Make sure to take care of the wounds properly when you get home."
"You too, Fūka," Might Duy said with a smile. "Well then, goodbye!"
After parting ways, Fūka headed towards the Uchiha clan's district, his expression tense.
The unexplained genjutsu test that night had left him extremely wary. However, the journey was quiet, and nothing out of the ordinary happened, which was a relief.
"By the way, that Uchiha's provocation at noon—could it be that his father was the one who tested me that night?" Fūka wondered, touching his chin, then shook his head, deciding not to dwell on it.
At home, he cleaned his wounds with antiseptic, bandaged them up, cooked a meal, and then closed the bedroom door and windows tightly before pulling out the scroll for the Shadow Clone Technique.
Though seemingly unimpressive, this technique was invaluable to Fūka as it could save him countless hours!
The hand seals for the Shadow Clone Technique were different from the usual twelve-hand seal sequence. They were a brand new set developed by the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama.
Fūka followed the instructions on the scroll, bringing his left and right index and middle fingers together and then crossing them into a cross shape.
The hand seal was simple but challenging.
Being a new seal, the chakra flow was unusually awkward, like trying to walk backward when you're used to walking forward—not intuitive.
However, compared to the Multi Shadow Clone Technique, the Shadow Clone Technique was much simpler.
After half an hour, Fūka had mastered the hand seal, and his chakra control was on point.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Boom!
With a puff of smoke, a peculiar figure appeared beside Fūka. It had a head cocked at an odd angle, crossed eyes of different sizes, and a mouth where its nose should be—truly bizarre.
Startled, Fūka slapped it, "You scared me half to death!"
Then he remembered that the Shadow Clone Technique required splitting half of his chakra.
Fūka tried again, and this time, his chakra was properly divided. However, the clone exploded immediately, and although all the chakra flowed back to him, the experience was quite jarring.
He continued practicing until late into the night. Under the moonlight, two identical figures stood in the bedroom, both with hands on their hips, laughing heartily.
"This is the Shadow Clone Technique—it's amazing, right?" Fūka said, patting the clone on the head, finding the sensation oddly amusing.
"Hey, don't treat me like a kid!" The clone swatted Fūka's hand away, clearly annoyed.
"Ah?" Fūka was taken aback, then smiled, growing more fond of the technique.
But Fūka furrowed his brow slightly. Since the Shadow Clone had the same memories as the original, would it know that he had traveled from another world? If any inconsistencies came up in conversations, it could be problematic.
"Do you know about Earth?" Fūka asked the clone.
"Earth? What's that?" The clone shook its head. "Never heard of it."
"Never mind," Fūka said with a smile. "From tomorrow, you'll handle cooking, attending classes, and maintaining relationships with friends!"
"Got it, leave it to me!" The clone replied with confidence, patting its chest, ready to take on the tasks, and encouraged, "You just focus on training, and you'll become an excellent ninja in no time!"
"Heh," Fūka thought it was amusing to be encouraged by his clone. It was far more interesting than cheering himself on in front of a mirror.
Then Fūka went to bed, and the clone diligently practiced the hand seals next to him.
Once Fūka was asleep, the clone vanished in a puff of smoke, and the chakra and seal training experience was transferred back to Fūka.
The next morning, before dawn, Fūka got up, then joined his index and middle fingers, crossing his hands.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Boom!
Another identical Fūka appeared beside him.
"I'm off; take care of things here!" Fūka said with a smile to the clone.
"Absolutely!" The clone replied with confidence.
Although Fūka currently had only the chakra of a Genin, splitting half of it was still enough, as the clone wouldn't engage in battle and only needed to handle minor tasks like cooking and attending classes. It didn't require much chakra and wouldn't disappear unless severely injured, making it very reliable!
Thus began Fūka's life of cheating.
He used the clone to handle cooking and class attendance, delegating all the trivial matters, while he focused solely on his training.
In the mornings and evenings, he followed Might Duy through intense training sessions, which left him feeling like he was on the brink of death. Over time, his medical ninjutsu improved, and within half a month, he mastered the Healing Technique, showing remarkable progress.
Fūka didn't slack off otherwise. In the mornings, he practiced hand seals, and in the afternoons, he studied ninjutsu and genjutsu.
He quickly mastered all the techniques from the two scrolls left by his parents, including Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu, Fire Style: Phoenix Fire Jutsu, Fire Style: Fire Dragon Flame Bomb, Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu, and genjutsu such as the Naraku Shinjutsu, Fox's Heart Jutsu, and Kie-dou.
Aside from battle experience, Fūka was now a competent Genin!