Chapter 11: An Attempt at the Shadow Clone Jutsu

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

A few days later, during a school holiday, he prepared himself thoroughly and began forming the hand seals. After forming the eight seals, a puff of white smoke appeared beside him.

"Hello, main body," the newly-formed clone greeted Natsuro.

"Hello," Natsuro responded, checking his chakra levels. He was relieved to find that creating a Shadow Clone did not consume excessively high amounts of chakra. Based on this, he estimated he could create up to three clones at most.

However, after creating the clone, he noticed his chakra had dropped to just above 20%, making it insufficient for basic jutsu, let alone for the more chakra-intensive Shadow Clones. Given that the clones themselves required chakra to maintain their bodies, using them with such a low amount of chakra would lead to their immediate dissolution.

Despite this, Natsuro had a deep respect for the Shadow Clone Jutsu, which required a large of amount of chakra. Even though he had already learned it, he wanted to ensure he was in the best possible state to use it, as running out of chakra could have severe consequences—ranging from temporary loss of focus to outright fainting. Given his recent studies, he felt confident that his chakra levels were adequate.

In the original series, Chunin were capable of using the Shadow Clone Jutsu without adverse effects, although he didn't have the chakra reserves of a Chunin since Iruka had mentioned his maximum chakra extraction was similar to that of a Chunin, he felt it should be safe to create one Shadow Clone. However, he was cautious due to the inherent risks.

Typically, a Chūnin wouldn't pre-extract chakra for using Shadow Clone Jutsu, so it's likely they used it normally. If they had no issues, he though that it was logical that he should be able to handle just one Shadow Clone without any problems.

But this was risky, so for his own safety Natsuro waited until today's holiday, after optimising for his best condition before using the jutsu, and so far his idea was correct.

He nodded at the clone and the in the next moment the Shadow Clone dispersed. Natsuro furrowed his brow. The clone dispersal was part of his plan from the beginning but when he nodded earlier he had intended for the clone to finish the household chores first, not in an attempt to exploit the clone but rather conduct an experiment and now he had the result.

Once separated from the main body, the Shadow Clone retained his thoughts and mindset at the moment of creation. After that, the clone had no knowledge of his thoughts. Though he guessed that it wouldn't be be far off since they originally share the same mind.

Additionally, the chakra had that had been split off returned to the his main body, though the amount was slightly less than when what he had initially given to the clone. According to the clone's perception, the chakra it had was more than the chakra he had recieved back suggesting that some chakra had dissipated upon the clone's dispersal.

This was understandable and within Natsuro's estimations since this consumption seemed to be related to the distance between the clone and the main body. He noted not to let the clone stray too far so the loss wasn't significant.

He began to ponder, what if the Shadow Clone used all its chakra? Would that mean memories it carried wouldn't return either? After all, memories don't just form; they required chakra as a medium to return to the original.

He had considered this before. Now after using the jutsu he quickly understood. The Shadow Clone is a physical clone that requires chakra to form. As is widely known, chakra is a combination of physical and mental energy. The clone forms its body from physical energy and its thoughts from mental energy, which suddenly made sense.

When the Shadow Clone dispersed the physical and mental energy would combine once again to form chakra and return to the original. So even if the clone exhausted its chakra, it could still transmit its memories back.

What if a Shadow Clone were trapped in a place where chakra couldn't be transmitted, would that erase the clone's memories? he thought, he then shook his head. It seemed logical, but not very practical. First, how could one create a place where chakra couldn't be transmitted? Second, even if it were possible, it would likely take some time, during which the clone would probably detect the danger and disperse itself.

Next came today's main focus. Natsuro extracted all the remaining chakra in his body and formed the eight seals again. This time, he didn't bother compressing the chakra since he wasn't planning to use the Shadow CLone in combat. as long as he could form the clone, that was enough. After all, energy is limited and he intended to focus his efforts on areas that would effectively enhance his combat abilities.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

This attempt was also successful; the Shadow Clone materialized and immediately sat at a desk, starting to study the textbooks and the jutsu scrolls left by his mother.

He did not assign himself any tasks or training at the moment. He needed to evaluate the duration the fully-formed Shadow Clone could sustain itself and the fatigue it would transmit upon dispersal. 

Bored, Natsuro decided to check if there were any household chores he could do in the meantime, he thought they wouldn't require much energy to do.

After an hour, he was surprised by the Shadow Clone's persistence. Even though the clone had not used any chakra during this time, its existence still required a small amount of chakra. However, the consumption rate was lower than expected, suggesting that if the clone did not actively use chakra, it could last longer.

Eventually, the Shadow Clone turned to Natsuro and said, "Main body, I'm ready."

Seeing Natsuro sit down on the bed, the clone observed for a while before its chakra was depleted, causing it to dissolve.

In an instant, Natsuro was flooded with the clone's memories and fatigue. He briefly lost focus but quickly regained his composure. His first reaction was a quiet exclamation.

"Uzumaki Naruto, he really is a monster!"

He began to understand why only Naruto could use so many Shadow Clones for learning and training. Most people, or rather, everyone except Naruto, couldn't handle it. Even among the Uzumaki clan, they likely used one or two clones at most. But using dozens or hundreds at once. That was impossible!

When a Shadow Clone disperses, all the accumulated mental fatigue is instantly transferred to the main body. This meant that the main body had to endure all the fatigue experienced by the clone during its existence in one go. Natsuro compared it to lifting weights: using a few dumbbells for an hour was manageable, but if you suddenly had to lift hundreds at once, it would be overwhelming.

Recalling Naruto's training with the Rasenshuriken, he could only marvel. Naruto was an exceptional case, and it likely required a body with extraordinary resilience to endure such stress.

For now, he felt he was managing well. As for the mental fatigue…

That was where he felt most confident. It was his unique advantage, which is why he wanted to master the seemingly impractical Shadow Clone Jutsu. Utilizing his strengths to the fullest was crucial. His mental endurance was strong, and he felt he could handle one or two more clones if he had enough chakra.

Moreover, his recent experiment was nearly perfect. With the results from this attempt, he was more convinced than ever of the value of using Shadow Clones.

He had further plans but would have to wait until his chakra recovered fully.

For now, he couldn't afford to buy any of the specialty pills like the Soldier Pills.