Ding!
"Player, Shadow Clone Jutsu training progress: 100/100. Congratulations, you've completed training for the Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
"Alright! Let's check out the effects of the Shadow Clone Jutsu first!"
With the app's assistance, Koshino completed the Shadow Clone Jutsu training in no time. Without hesitation, he formed the hand seals from memory and shouted:
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Poof!
A cloud of smoke enveloped the area, and in an instant, Koshino felt half of his chakra vanish. The technique's notorious chakra consumption was no joke!
The Shadow Clone Jutsu, ranked as a B-level technique, was originally developed by the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, to enhance Konoha's intelligence-gathering capabilities.
Unlike the basic Clone Jutsu, which merely creates illusory clones, the Shadow Clone Jutsu evenly distributes the user's chakra to create tangible, physical clones identical to the user. These clones not only possess combat capabilities but can also perform ninjutsu and genjutsu, making it a significant leap in functionality.
Thanks to the app's accelerated training, Koshino's mastery of the Shadow Clone Jutsu was flawless—there was no way he'd create a defective clone.
When the technique succeeded, and a clone identical to himself appeared, Koshino took a moment to admire its appearance. His clean-cut, handsome features, with long black hair styled into a neat, casual look, stood in contrast to the usual pineapple-head style of the Nara clan. Satisfied, he nodded in approval.
However, when Koshino decided to test the clone's feedback mechanism by punching it square in the face, the unexpected happened.
Poof!
The clone vanished into a puff of smoke, leaving no trace behind. Koshino touched his own face and was stunned—the pain wasn't transmitted back to him!
"What's going on?"
"Did I mess up the training for the Shadow Clone Jutsu? Or is the so-called 'feedback effect' just a gimmick added by Kishimoto to give Naruto a cheat-like ability?"
Puzzled, Koshino created another shadow clone and conducted the same test.
Unfortunately, the results were the same—no feedback from the clone. With a bitter smile, he muttered to himself:
"So it really was just Kishimoto making things up to power up Naruto. I knew it! There's no way the geniuses in Konoha would overlook such a 'cheat-like' jutsu.
Turns out it wasn't Konoha's shinobi being dumb—it was just a plot device to speed up Naruto's growth. The original story was fake, and those fanfiction interpretations are just as fake."
"Shadow Clone Jutsu, huh? Your true nature has been revealed. You're no longer a 'cheat-level' jutsu in my eyes!"
Shaking his head, Koshino wasn't discouraged. After all, with the app's accelerated training—a cheat far more overpowered—losing the Shadow Clone Jutsu's "feedback effect" was a small price to pay.
After restoring his chakra through regular training, Koshino opened the app's training progress bar, ready to modify the progress for the Three Basic Techniques and the Body Flicker Jutsu.
But as soon as he clicked on the progress bar, a sudden change in the Shadow Clone Jutsu's progress caught his attention.
"Huh?"
"Wasn't the Shadow Clone Jutsu's progress at 100/100? Why did it suddenly change to 100/1000?"
"App, accelerate the training. I want to see what happens when the Shadow Clone Jutsu reaches 1000/1000!"
Ding!
"Player, Shadow Clone Jutsu training progress: 1000/1000. Congratulations, you've completed training for the Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
"Wait, what? Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu? That sounds familiar... I think the original story mentioned it!"
Realizing the app had unlocked something new, Koshino was both shocked and intrigued. He racked his brain to recall the details about the Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu from the original story—and sure enough, he found the distinction between the two techniques.
In the original series, when did Naruto get his first cheat ability?
It was during the failed Genin Exam, when Mizuki tricked him into stealing the Scroll of Seals. From that scroll, Naruto learned the Shadow Clone Jutsu.
But the Scroll of Seals wasn't an ordinary item. Not only did it contain techniques used by previous Hokage, but it also held secret and forbidden jutsu training methods.
Upon revisiting the original story, Koshino had found it odd. The Shadow Clone Jutsu, while a B-rank technique, was widely known—many Konoha shinobi could use it, and even some outside the village had mastered it. How could it qualify as a forbidden jutsu?
Now, thanks to the app's revelations, he understood. The Scroll of Seals didn't merely contain the standard Shadow Clone Jutsu but its upgraded version—the Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu, an A-rank technique.
The Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu builds upon the Shadow Clone Jutsu by consuming less chakra per clone, allowing the user to create a massive number of clones. However, it comes with a critical drawback—every clone's experiences and pain are transmitted back to the original upon their dispersal.
In the original story, Naruto used this feedback effect as a training shortcut, relying on the Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu to accelerate his growth.
Similarly, due to the double-edged effect of the technique, creating too many shadow clones can be life-threatening. When the clones disappear, the fatigue from each one accumulates and transfers back to the original body, potentially putting the user's life at risk.
Recognizing that most people couldn't handle such a dangerous jutsu, the Second Hokage deemed it necessary to seal it away in the Scroll of Seals, classifying it as one of Konoha's forbidden techniques.
"So that's how it is. By omitting the word 'Multi', the Shadow Clone Jutsu becomes a standard tangible clone technique. But adding the word 'Multi' turns it into the so-called 'cheat-level' ability!"
"Thankfully, the app included an additional progress bar for this; otherwise, I might have overlooked and abandoned the Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu, the ultimate cheat!"
(Note: For the full, uninterrupted reading experience, check out 69shu for more content!)
"Still, I should test the effects of the Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu again—just in case there are any unexpected surprises."
With that thought in mind and his chakra fully restored, Koshino formed the hand seals again and gave a low shout:
"Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Poof! Poof! Poof!
The technique succeeded!
Using the same amount of chakra as before, the Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu brought Koshino a delightful surprise.
While the standard Shadow Clone Jutsu consumed half of his chakra to create a single clone, the Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu allowed him to summon four clones at once, making it four times as effective!
What's more, when Koshino instructed his clones to start training, he discovered something incredible. As soon as one of the clones vanished, its training experience in taijutsu was immediately transferred back into Koshino's mind, further proving the "cheat-like" nature of the Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu.
However, the undeniable truth was that using the special effects of the Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu for training was incredibly dangerous, practically risking one's life!
When the first shadow clone disappeared, Koshino could still endure the feedback.
But by the time the second and third clones vanished, his complexion had already turned pale.
And when the fourth clone disappeared, Koshino's face was as white as a sheet of paper, and he collapsed unconscious on his bed.
It wasn't until the next day that he regained consciousness, still wracked with waves of pain. Only after the pain gradually subsided did the app's latest notification echo in his mind, filling his eyes with excitement!
Ding!
"Research successful!"
"Player, would you like to begin training the 'new' Shadow Stitching Jutsu?"