Chapter 257: Shadow Clone Achieves Great Merit

In the Dango shop, after discussing for a while, Obito and the others still couldn't decide on a combined gift for Mutsuki. They decided to consult other teachers at the school and Mutsuki's friends before making a final decision.

After the gathering, Obito first went home for dinner. After eating, he returned to the streets of the main city.

Actually, before this gathering, Obito had been thinking of giving Mutsuki a gift, so he already had an idea in mind. Although Obito didn't know much about calligraphy, he made inquiries and learned from a bookstore owner that calligraphy tools such as brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones are quite particular.

Originally, he wanted to make a brush himself for Mutsuki, similar to how he crafted ninja tools, but he later realized that making a brush was too difficult and that he wasn't cut out for it, so he temporarily gave up on that idea.

He chose to make an inkstone, which was relatively simpler.

To Obito, a regular inkstone was just a stone with a hole dug into it; a more complex one was simply a stone with some carving on it, and he believed he could manage that.

After asking many elderly people, Obito eventually obtained three stones for making inkstones from an old man who liked calligraphy. Overjoyed, Obito paid the old man, then went to the bookstore to buy an inkstone and began to ponder how to make the inkstone at home.

Obito didn't start immediately because he hadn't decided on the shape of the inkstone yet. He took out a piece of white paper and a pen, intending to sketch out the design he wanted.

Twenty minutes later, Obito looked at the paper with a rectangle containing a not-so-round circle and a blob of black lines beside it, looking somewhat frustrated.

The idea was good, but he couldn't draw. Obito thought the dragon-patterned kunai that Mutsuki gave him was very cool, and he wanted to carve a similar dragon on the inkstone. But he couldn't even figure out what he was drawing on paper, let alone carving.

"Damn, drawing is so difficult. It feels even harder than Ninjutsu," Obito sighed and slumped onto his seat.

"Should I ask Rin-chan or Kakashi for help?" Obito's mind subconsciously recalled the two figures.

Rin had given him birthday gifts with her drawings twice before, and he felt she was quite good at drawing.

As for Kakashi, although he hadn't seen Kakashi draw, Obito had an inexplicable confidence that Kakashi could draw and probably at a high level.

"No, I can't ask others for help with a gift that I'm giving personally." Obito shook his head, dismissing the idea.

For a gift he's giving to Mutsuki, Obito wanted to complete it on his own as much as possible. If someone else drew the design, it wouldn't count as his gift alone.

At this moment, Obito suddenly had an idea: use Shadow Clone Jutsu to quickly gain drawing experience.

After using Shadow Clone Jutsu, the memories would flow back. If he created a few Shadow Clones to practice drawing with him, he might just have enough time.

"If I manage the timing of the Shadow Clones well, it shouldn't be too exhausting," Obito thought the idea seemed increasingly promising.

The fatigue from practicing with Shadow Clones was too much for him to handle; drawing for a while shouldn't be a big problem.

Of course, Obito knew there was a fatal issue with this idea: Shadow Clones might not follow his instructions as intended. In battles, Shadow Clones could execute various tactics without issue, but in daily life, if he asked them to do something, they might end up fighting him instead.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Obito formed the hand seals and created two Shadow Clones.

Since he had found a solution, he decided to give it a try.

Just as Obito was preparing to persuade the Shadow Clones to practice drawing, something unexpected happened. One of the Shadow Clones naturally went to the table, picked up a pen, and started drawing, while the other Shadow Clone found paper and pens and began drawing on the floor.

"What are you standing there for? Hurry up and practice!" The Shadow Clone on the floor said to Obito's real body with a displeased expression.

Obito was stunned and couldn't help but ask, "Why are you two so proactive this time? Not slacking off at all."

He had prepared himself for the Shadow Clones to slack off while he worked hard alone, but the two Shadow Clones were exceptionally diligent.

The Shadow Clone sitting at the table glanced at Obito and said, "Since Yumi-sensei is such a nice person, we should do our best to give him the best gift."

"Instead of asking this, you should focus on practicing. There's only one week left before the graduation exams. Time is running out," the Shadow Clone sitting on the floor urged.

Being urged by his own Shadow Clones was a first for Obito. With this new experience, he quickly found paper and pens and began drawing.

Obito vaguely guessed the reason for the change in the Shadow Clones: it might be due to his own inner thoughts.

He was very resistant to doing assignments, and if it weren't for Mutsuki's tasks, he wouldn't want to complete them at all. But drawing was different; this time he was doing it to give Mutsuki a better gift, and he had no resistance towards drawing.

That's why the Shadow Clones doing assignments were so different from the ones now.

"No matter what, Senju Tobirama didn't consider this when developing Shadow Clone Jutsu," Obito ultimately blamed the developer of the jutsu.

After drawing for two and a half hours, Obito dispelled the Shadow Clones. The drawing experience from the Clones flowed into Obito's mind, leaving him with a hint of fatigue on his face.

Obito sorted out his memory and found that learning with Shadow Clone Jutsu was not as efficient as he thought, because most of the practice experience was the same and could not reach three times.

"It's still far better than doing it alone, and I'm more proficient now," Obito nodded in satisfaction after drawing another piece.

Although it was still quite different from his mental image, it was much better than the initial meaningless black lines.

After practicing alone for another hour, Obito went to bed. Perhaps due to exhaustion, he fell asleep almost as soon as he lay down.

The next morning, Obito woke up at his usual time due to his biological clock, then washed up, had breakfast, and went to the southern forest to train.

Perhaps because he had practiced a bit too much before bed, Obito found himself unable to stop thinking about how the scenes on the street would look on paper.

"Obito, good morning!" Rin greeted Obito with a smile.

Hearing Rin's voice, the drowsy Obito immediately woke up and smiled back, saying, "Good morning, Rin-chan."

"Did you stay up late last night? You seemed a bit off just now," Rin asked with concern.

"Let me guess, were you busy preparing a gift for Yumi-sensei?"

Given how well Rin knew Obito, this was an easy guess, since they had been discussing gifts yesterday.

"Haha, Rin-chan, you really know me well. But I didn't stay up late; I was just using Shadow Clone Jutsu to accelerate my learning, so I'm a bit tired, but it's no big deal," Obito explained with a smile.

He really didn't stay up late because he had heard that staying up could stunt growth. As someone who wanted to become Hokage, he certainly couldn't afford to be short.

"Hmm, don't overwork yourself. Regular training is already tough, and it wouldn't be good if you ended up exhausting yourself and getting sick," Rin reminded him with a smile.

Obito patted his chest and said with a grin, "I'm going to become Hokage, so I know the importance of things. After all, if I suffer any loss, it's a loss for all of Konoha."

Rin laughed at Obito's statement, covering her mouth with her right hand and chuckling, "Claiming that it's a loss for all of Konoha is a bit exaggerated. You're not Hokage yet, Obito."

"I think if you waste any more of Rin's time, it'll be a loss for Rin," Kakashi, who was passing by, remarked before turning and heading towards the training area.

"Damn Kakashi," Obito muttered, slightly displeased.

He was enjoying Rin's smile when Kakashi suddenly showed up.

"Indeed, we can't waste time. Let's head to training and chat during the break," Rin said with a smile, and she also walked towards the training area.

Seeing this, Obito quickly followed and walked alongside Rin.

By the time Obito and Rin arrived, Guy and Shisui were already training, and Kakashi had also drawn his White Fang short blade, ready to train.

Obito walked over to Shisui and began his training in Armament Haki.

Currently, Breathing Technique Constant was the main focus of their training, but they still kept up with Armament Haki practice, training for two to three hours daily. The remaining time was dedicated to Breathing Technique Constant.

Learning Color of Arms could increase their limits, though it required more Chakra. Since Color of Arms was difficult, once they mastered it, their Chakra reserves would also increase.

After training, the five gathered again to discuss the gift.

"Shisui, did your Shadow Clone find any useful information?" Obito asked.

Since Shisui's Shadow Clone also attended classes daily, Shisui was responsible for asking the Academy teachers about this matter. The Shadow Clone could just ask while at school.

"No, those sensei know even less about Yumi-sensei than we do." After reviewing the memories returned by the Shadow Clone, Shisui shook his head.

They knew that Mutsuki liked egg dishes, but the Academy sensei only knew that Mutsuki liked practicing calligraphy.

"What should we do? The only person I can think of who seems to be a friend-like figure to Yumi-sensei is Minato-san, but he's on the battlefield," Obito pondered.

"Why don't we all make a tight-fitting suit as a gift for Yumi-sensei?" Might Guy suggested.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Shisui disagreed with the proposal.

"Guy, not everyone likes tight-fitting clothes, especially not green ones," Obito couldn't help but comment.

He couldn't imagine what Mutsuki would look like in a green tight-fitting suit; it would be too mismatched.

After discussing various options, the five still couldn't decide, but they agreed to finalize the gift by tomorrow, or they might run out of time.

---

Don't forget to check out my patreon where you can read up to 50 advanced chapters https://www.patreon.com/CrazyNinja