Nuances of the Shadow Clone Technique!
Contrary to Naruto's earth-shattering revelations yesterday, he experienced the best night of sleep that he had ever had in his whole life. Releasing a small yawn, the blonde rubbed his eyes as he sat up in his bed, contemplating yesterday's events.
Now that his emotions had settled down, he wondered what he should do. Naruto desperately wanted to run to the Hokage and scream at him, demanding why the old man kept saying that he didn't know his parents when he clearly did. He saw the old man pick him up shortly after his parents sealed the Kyuubi into him. There was no way he didn't know.
However, what good would it do? The Hokage questioning him about where he learned that information? Him denying it to the very end that he didn't know his parents? The slight satisfaction he might get after hearing it from the old man's mouth?
In the end, Naruto now knew who his father was, and he had enough information to figure out who his mother was. He knew what they looked like, but most importantly, he knew that they loved him.
Yet the years of lies that the Hokage spewed left a bitter feeling in his heart. He didn't know who his parents were? He didn't know why the villagers hated him? Naruto didn't know if the Hokage would have told him about the Kyuubi being sealed in him unless he was forced to, like Mizuki inadvertently forced him to.
The blonde-haired boy oh so wanted to talk to someone about what he was feeling, but who could he tell? The Hokage had lied to him practically throughout the duration that he had known him. Certainly not his team, that had abandoned him tied to the log not even a day after becoming a team. His non-existent friends?
Naruto had even considered telling the Ichiraku duo Teuchi and Ayame. He had known them for several years after they had been kind enough to feed him when he had no money. They were some of the kindest people he knew as they hadn't ignored him due to the Kyuubi.
However, they were civilians. Naruto didn't want to burden them with something that could easily get them killed if others found out.
In the end, Naruto kept it all to himself. He has handled everything alone ever since he was born. He didn't need to share his problems with others. He knew his parents loved him; that was enough for him.
Naruto then thought about the following problem, The Eight Inner Gates. Closing his eyes, he could still see that the first gate was open, yet he felt no strain. The only thing that had happened after fully opening the first gate was remembering every detail he had experienced in his life.
Maybe that was what opening the gate did? The brain did contain memories, so opening the gate allowed full access to the memories? It was different from the massive increase in strength and speed described by the Scroll of Sealing, but when has anything ever been normal for him?
Naruto tried to create an explanation to satisfy him. Yet, he didn't know enough about The Eight Inner Gates to draw any conclusions. All he knew was that they were actually tenketsu that were usually closed, contrary to the other tenketsu, which are always open.
After scratching his head in confusion, Naruto put the problem behind him. Or at least until he had learnt enough about the brain, chakra pathway, tenketsu and the gates before studying further.
If he had accidentally discovered a new way of opening the gates like Naruto assumed he did, then he would continue to develop the technique into a unique version that only he knows.
Maybe opening each gate would provide him with a special ability or a boost without adding any additional strain on his body? It would be much better than any fancy-schmancy temporary boost that wasn't his own strength and might harm him in the long run.
Naruto shook his head and snapped out of his fantasies. There was no use daydreaming about what the technique he inadvertently stumbled upon could do; he should focus on the present. Hence he thought about the next problem he had to solve, the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique.
There were many things about the technique that he didn't know because they weren't written in the Scroll of Sealing. The only things that Naruto knew about the technique were that they formed solid clones and they would pass on every memory experienced in its 'lifetime' when it was dispelled.
As a result of the lack of information, Naruto did something he hadn't done for several years. He took notes.
How many clones can I make?
How much damage can they take before being dispelled?
How many memories get transferred back to me?
What happens if I dispel a clone with another in existence? Do we both get memories?
If a clone does physical training, do I get stronger?
Is everything on me cloned, including weapons?
If so, are the cloned weapons as weak as the main body?
After finishing writing every single application of the Shadow Clone Technique that he could think of, Naruto made a clone sign and willed 4 clones into existence.
"I want you to read this book." Naruto handed a book from the Academy that he hadn't touched, while making a mental note to return it before the end of the week. The clone started grumbling but took the book and went off to read in the corner.
Naruto then hastily scribbled something on a piece of paper before handing it to another clone, away from the eyes of the other two. After ensuring the clone had read it, he dispelled it and looked toward the other two clones.
"You really need to get better handwriting, boss." One of the clones muttered while rolling his before announcing, "My name is Naruto Uzumaki, and I like ramen."
"Hm, so it seems like the memories are transmitted to all clones…." Naruto pondered out loud before his thoughts were rudely interrupted… by himself.
"I bet even someone who isn't a clone would be able to guess that was what you had written…." A clone snarked before suddenly being violently dispelled. *Cling* A kunai dropped to the floor in its wake. Naruto gave an evil glare to the other clone, daring it to say something.
"Hey, I like ramen as much as you do, boss." The clone rapidly shook his head, not wanting to be dispelled like that too.
"Whatever just pass me one of your kunai and start working out," Naruto grumbled, extending his hand.
Faster than anything he had seen before, Naruto watched the clone quickly pull out a kunai from his pouch before leaving the room to exercise.
While waiting for the clone to exhaust itself, Naruto looked closely at the kunai, comparing it to his own. It was an exact replica, whether it was size, shape, weight, hardness or sharpness.
Throwing the cloned kunai at the wall didn't cause the kunai to dispel, which was strange since the shadow clone just now had dispelled with a small nick to the leg. "Maybe non-living objects retain their properties? If that's the case, then if the object takes any form of damage, it should dispel…." Naruto muttered, taking one of his kunai and went to work making a scratch on the cloned one.
Sure enough, after 10 seconds of sawing, the cloned kunai disappeared in a puff of smoke. "So to keep my clones around for longer, I need to reduce the damage that they take?" Naruto's muttering filled the apartment as he added each conclusion drawn to his notes.
An hour later, Naruto dispelled the remaining clones, feeling a large bout of exhaustion alongside the knowledge of the academy book stuffed into his head. He summarised all of the results from the experiments and wrote them on a single sheet of paper.
I can make at least 1000 clones, as shown in the fight against Mizuki
The clones aren't very durable, and any scratch will dispel them.
When the clones dispel, they transmit all memories to himself and any existing clones
The cloned weapons have the same durability as standard weapons but dispel when they run out of chakra to maintain their form.
Clones do not transfer any physical training. However, they do transfer the exhaustion from doing so.
The clones also seem to have varying personalities, although they generally act the same as me.
With all of the mysteries of Shadow Clones solved, Naruto sat down and thought about his future plan of action. He made a promise that he would become the strongest ninja to ever exist for his parents, and Naruto Uzumaki doesn't break a promise.
His first idea before he started training was to get an honest evaluation of his skills, but he didn't know anybody that would help him in that regard. Therefore he just wrote a list of what he knew he could do.
Ninjutsu: Multiple Shadow Clone, Henge, Kawarimi
Genjutsu: Can't perform any, but can dispel jutsu below D-rank.
Taijutsu: Only learnt the basics of the academy style but doesn't feel comfortable.
Shurikenjutsu: Hit a non-moving target 5 out of 10 times 10 meters away using kunai and shuriken
Stealth: Can avoid several chunin after painting the Hokage monument.
Speed/strength: Can run away from chunin? Dunno about strength.
Hand seals: Can make 2 standard handseals a second and I only know how to do a single one-handed seal.
Naruto looked at the relatively short, vague list and sighed. There was a lot of work to do to become stronger.
"Well, I ain't gonna get stronger just by sitting around!" Naruto hyped himself up, ready to leave through the door to… Do what? What could he do to train himself?
Naruto's hand hovered over the door handle. The only thing he knew about training as a Genin was that he was supposed to be trained by his Jonin-sensei. Were there no other options but to go ask for help? Even though he had only just decided that he could be strong alone?
"The shinobi library!" Naruto shouted in exclamation, remembering one of the places he wanted to visit a few years ago.
A few years ago, when he was trying to get ahead of his classmates in their ninja studies, Naruto was attempting all sorts of methods to progress his learning. However, with the limited materials he had access to, his learning speed was much slower than his peers.
At one point, he had wanted to access the Konoha library to read different books in hopes of finding a different explanation to help him understand the content of the lectures. But he was barred because he wasn't a Genin yet, and nobody below the ranks of Genin was allowed into the library.
The ever so curious Naruto had ended up asking about the protocols of the library if only to sate his curiosity. There were several rules for the library that made it both far and unfair to aspiring ninjas.
The first rule was that to view Ninjutsu and Genjutsu, you had to pay based on the technique's rank. Only B-rank techniques and below are sold, while A-rank techniques and above are either self-created, taught by Jonin, or allowed to read upon entry to Anbu.
Taijutsu and Bukijutsu were exempt from this rule because learning a style took a long time, and there wasn't any specific style that was overwhelmingly stronger than any others.
The second rule was that all resources such as chakra control and nature transformation exercises were only available for Genin rank ninja and above. In Naruto's opinion, this rule was the most unfair one, as clan ninjas had a great advantage as they were taught the more advanced exercises and techniques at home, unlike civilians who had to make Genin before they could read scrolls.
The third and most important rule was that any damage to the library would be met with a hefty fine and a temporary/permanent ban from the premises depending on the damage caused.
After recalling the rules and regulations, Naruto reached for the money pouch on his waist, examining the contents. There were very few times he wished he didn't spend all of his money on ramen, and this was one of those times as he looked at his almost empty pouch.
However, that feeling was quickly squashed by the thought that he needed to focus on the basics first. Iruka-sensei always reprimanded him, saying that his chakra control was terrible or that his Taijutsu/Shurikenjutsu sucked.
So Naruto figured that he should first fill in the gaps in his knowledge due to skipping the Academy over the past year. While also learning everything he had failed to understand at the Academy before thinking about what cool ninjutsu he should learn
With his goal decided, Naruto opened the door, relying on his memories to find the shinobi library.
End of chapter 3
Author's Notes: So yeah, here is Naruto sorting through his problems one by one.
It might sound a little annoying about the constant repeat and focus on the Eight Inner Gates technique that Naruto is essentially redefining, but it is basically going to be the backbone of his changes.
I will try my best to explain why only he managed to stumble across a different version of the same technique despite what I assume many people, including medics trying to figure out how to resolve the forbidden technique's problems.