Hugging a gigantic scroll more than half a meter long and nearly thirty centimeters thick, Toshirou made his way home.
In the basement, after a round of transcribing, he had a rough understanding of its content.
Much of it was rather cryptic and difficult to understand for someone from his modern background.
Given his current level of theoretical knowledge, he was barely scraping the surface.
[The practice of Yin-Yang Release is indeed incredibly arduous. Just a rough glance revealed a lot I couldn't comprehend!]
[When I truly start practicing, it will surely be even more challenging than I imagine.]
[I really am not some protagonist chosen by fate!]
Silently lamenting the unfairness of the god who sent him here, he thought about those traversers equipped with systems who can easily level up with just simple sign-ins. Left with no choice, he carried the heavy scroll back home.
Walking into the yard, Toshirou sat down at the entrance, changing his shoes and habitually calling out.
"I'm home!"
The sound of footsteps approached, and soon three figures, resembling Toshirou, appeared before him.
"This lazybones is back so early today. I thought he wouldn't return until noon for lunch!"
A figure, identical in appearance to Toshirou, said disdainfully, eyeing him up and down with a defiant expression.
This was the shadow clone left at home to practice Fire Release. It looked exactly like him, with no differences whatsoever. Its daily task was to practice the nature transformation of Fire Release, using the numerous scrolls at home related to it to maximize the advantage. But, this shadow clone differed somewhat from the diligent one he had imagined.
Perhaps due to prolonged practice of fire nature transformation, this shadow clone had developed a fiery and rebellious personality.
Before he could reprimand this fiery shadow clone, another voice piped up.
"Damn, bringing back such a huge scroll again. Looks like our workload is about to increase. This is beyond a capitalist's exploitation. It's more like a 24/7 job!"
Seeing the enormous scroll beside him, another shadow clone chimed in, giving his opinion on being relentlessly exploited.
This was the shadow clone left at home to condense Yang Release chakra. On top of that, it also needed to learn medical ninjutsu.
"Calling him a heartless capitalist would be an understatement. Whether it's daily training or house chores, or even grocery shopping and cooking, it's all up to us. He just loafs around!"
Another shadow clone voiced its complaints, though it appeared more indifferent and its voice more ethereal compared to the other two.
This one had recently been left at home after he graduated, previously attending school on his behalf. Now, it stayed home, learning genjutsu and handling household chores.
"Stop complaining, you know the pain of physical training daily. It's not like I do nothing!"
Toshirou retorted, unhesitatingly firing back at the verbal jibes from his clones while changing his shoes. This had become his daily routine—a small form of entertainment, arguing and bantering with his own shadow clones.
At the entrance of Toshirou's home, four identical figures were now bickering away.
"Alright, enough fooling around. I've brought back something really extraordinary this time, you'll be amazed."
As he spoke, he headed toward the study room, with the three clones falling in line behind him.
The study room was now a far cry from how it originally looked. What was once a single bookshelf had become three, and even the original desk and cushion had been replaced with a larger table at the center of the room, surrounded by cushions on all four sides.
Every surface and shelf was filled with books and scrolls collected over the years, some purchased through Mikasa, others transcribed from the school library.
The faint scent of books and ink filled the room.
After organizing some documents on the desk, Toshirou sat down cushioned, looking at the three clones seated around the table.
He placed the enormous scroll on the desk with a thud and gestured for them to take a look.
Despite the usual bickering, when it came to serious matters, his shadow clones still acted in unison. Any mishap during crucial moments could lead to serious problems.
"Did the main body just rob the family's secret vault?"
"Weren't we supposed to just pick one secret technique today? How does it include Yin-Yang Release?"
"This is great. Practicing Yang Release has been getting increasingly difficult lately. These materials will be a big help!"
After a cursory glance at the scroll, each clone shared its thoughts. The fire clone looked astonished, the genjutsu clone puzzled, and the Yang clone delighted.
Seeing this, Toshirou couldn't help but wonder if something was wrong with his clones.
Being formed from the same chakra, practicing different techniques, yet showing three distinct expressions for the same situation seemed a bit odd. After all, shadow clones dissipate daily and are reformed the next.
(End of Chapter)
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