Chương 23: The Strong Use Shadow Clones for School

An adult soul from birth, years of rigorous and self-disciplined training, excellent physical talent, selfless teaching from his parents, and a "little bit" of a Natural Energy cheat—all of this had forged Dongye Zhen's current formidable strength. He had long since left his classmates so far behind they couldn't even see his taillights. In terms of raw power, he had perhaps already surpassed his father, Dongye Jiro.

He only lacked real combat experience; if they truly fought without holding back, the outcome would be hard to predict. After all, a shinobi battle is not a contest of numerical values. In the Academy's routine spars, Zhen was very restrained. He had no desire to be some Great Demon King looming over his peers. He was quite gentle, usually engaging in a serious-looking bout for a while before defeating his opponent. Battling classmates is like a romance; you can't just focus on your own feelings.

You have to give the other person a sense of participation, making them feel as though victory is just one more effort away. That way, they'll go back and train harder. Even a tiny bit of progress might be what allows them to survive a future battle. Only in his fights with Uchiha Shisui would he cut loose a little. That guy's talent was truly exceptional, and his reaction speed was top-tier—and this was still without the Sharingan being activated.

Inoue Kuroiwa-sensei had likely noticed this, as he frequently paired the two in subsequent spars so the other students could observe and learn. Even so, Zhen couldn't use his full strength; the current Shisui was not yet a match for him. While he stood out among the freshmen, it was still within the realm of "normal." If he truly revealed his full power, Inoue-sensei might have recommended him for early graduation. Zhen had promised his mother he would stay in school for a few more years.

Furthermore, he needed time for cultivation. He was currently in the critical phase of mastering nature transformation; graduating now would disrupt his entire plan. Compared to those brats who dreamed of graduating quickly to serve the village, Zhen preferred to spend his time on himself. He was here to experience the thrill of the Shinobi World, not to be a model worker. About twenty days passed in a flash.

One afternoon, on a day scheduled for their spar while other students were still battling on the field, Shisui quietly approached Zhen and whispered, "Zhen, be a little careful with your strikes during our fight later." Zhen blinked, then caught on instantly.

"Is this a Shadow Clone?" Shisui nodded.

"Yes. The elders in the clan don't think it's necessary to waste time at the Academy; they want me to focus on increasing my strength under family guidance. But I feel the Academy is a place to build bonds with everyone, so I should still come. That's why I've been learning the Shadow Clone Technique lately." As he spoke, he seemed to remember something and asked, "Zhen, for you to guess I'm a clone so quickly... don't tell me you also..."

"What do you think?" The two shared a knowing smile, establishing a silent pact. Soon, when it was their turn to spar, the performance was spectacular. However, whenever a strike was about to land on the other's body, they would subtly pull their strength. The spectating classmates were mesmerized, soaking up every move and wondering how they would counter if they were in the ring, completely oblivious to the deception. Even Inoue-sensei failed to notice. This put the two "hidden players" at ease.

From that day on, they began their daily routine of "slacking off" via clones. The training ground near the Dongye residence was exceptionally quiet. It was wartime, so the number of shinobi in the village had drastically decreased. Since school was in session, there were no students here to train—only a few three- or four-year-olds who occasionally wandered by to play, though they usually left as quickly as they arrived. In the woods, three Dongye Zhens were silently practicing nature transformation.

The original sat in a tree, while the clones were nearby. He currently limited himself to three Shadow Clones to assist his training: one went to school, and the other two joined the original here in deep study. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Three was his limit—a conclusion reached after several trials. Any more, and the rush of memories and experience upon dispelling would risk a dangerous mental overload he couldn't yet handle.

Zhen's chakra reserves were quite good; thanks to Natural Energy nourishing his body, at age six he had roughly the amount of a standard Jonin. However, he lacked the freakish recovery of the Uzumaki physique and didn't have two "big daddies" to help shoulder the side effects. Furthermore, if he made too many clones, the chakra allocated to each would be too thin to sustain long hours of training. The original focused primarily on Wind Nature transformation—his designated offensive attribute.

The two clones practiced Water and Earth transformations, which he planned to use mainly for defense. The original pressed his palms together and then pulled them apart. The leaf between his hands had been sliced cleanly in two. He was reinforcing the sharpness and cutting property of his Wind nature. Once finished, he plucked another leaf and repeated the process over and over.

Again, the goal was to make it a physical instinct—to be able to switch natures at any moment, even without the aid of hand signs, completing the transformation with a mere thought. In the future, Naruto would achieve this in just a few days, but that was by using hundreds of Shadow Clones simultaneously—a total brute-force method. Zhen didn't dare play that way.

It had taken him nearly a year to essentially complete it, which proved his talent was quite good, though Natural Energy certainly deserved much of the credit. The longer his body was refined by Natural Energy, the faster he found his progress in chakra control and nature transformation. It truly was his "cheat"—an all-purpose amplifier.

"It seems my mastery of the cutting property has reached a significant level. Next step: find a waterfall to train under." Zhen planned silently, a method he had naturally learned from the future Naruto. Having decided on a direction, he moved slightly and leaped from the tree, floating down to the ground as light as a feather. This was another property of Wind nature: lightness and flow. This was the Shinobi World, where people could fly as freely as birds in the sky.

Zhen had no intention of missing out on such a magical ability; he dreamed of flying. A ninja who can fly is at least three or four stories higher in terms of "cool factor." Mu and Onoki of the Hidden Stone achieved this by mastering the gravity properties of Earth nature to the extreme—the so-called Earth Style: Light-Weight Rock Jutsu, and its opposite, Added-Weight Rock Jutsu. The Ultra-Light-Weight Rock Jutsu could even stop a massive meteorite summoned by Madara's Tengai Shinsei—it was utterly ridiculous.

Meanwhile, Pain relied on the Rinnegan to control repulsive forces—Shinra Tensei. Zhen was still searching for a direction regarding the gravity properties of Earth nature, and he didn't have "swirly eyes." If he wanted to fly, he had to put the work into his Wind nature. Fortunately, he felt this direction was viable. Though he couldn't truly fly yet, by practicing the property of lightness, he could partially merge his body into the wind.

When leaping through the air, he could perform simple maneuvers, and his movement speed had been greatly enhanced. Moving to one of the clones, he saw it holding a ball of soil created with Earth chakra. It was infusing chakra to constantly increase the soil's density, turning it toward the state of solid rock. This was training the heavy and hardened properties of Earth nature.

Many jutsus utilized this, such as "Old Man" Kakuzu's Earth Spear, which could harden any part of the body for integrated offense and defense. The deeper the mastery of this property, the stronger the Earth Style: Mud Wall would be, making it harder to destroy. At the same time, Zhen hoped that while practicing the heavy and hardened properties, he might find a lead toward gravity. The other clone was practicing the supple and resilient properties of Water nature.

This could enhance the defense of Water Encampment Wall or allow the user to shape water into a rope—the Water Flow Whip Jutsu—for binding enemies. This was one of his current training directions: strengthening his three innate natures. In truth, any chakra nature transformation practiced to the limit provides both offense and defense, but he didn't have the energy to cover too many attributes yet and had to be selective.

His other two training directions were, of course, the second stage of chakra control and Medical Ninjutsu. As for Natural Energy, that was something that happened every night after he fell asleep. Since he could continue training even while sleeping, there was no way he wouldn't be strong. Wasting talent is disgraceful and invites retribution—a lesson he had felt deeply in his previous life. Suddenly, a rush of memories entered his mind; the school clone had finished its task.

Zhen digested the memories and waited a while longer before gradually allowing the other two clones to dispel themselves. The surge of training memories hit his head, making it feel slightly bloated, but he adapted quickly. If three clones returned simultaneously with a full day of memories and experience, it would cause slight dizziness. This proved he could actually handle the side effects of more clones, but Zhen didn't want to do that. The body is the foundation of everything.

He wouldn't be penny-wise and pound-foolish, leaving himself with hidden risks for the sake of a little extra speed.