17. Learning Shadow clone Jutsu

"Aiko-kun" called out Kushina confused by his sudden behaviour as she looked at 'Minato' standing in front of them.

'Minato' also had a confused expression on his face as he asked "What happened Aiko-kun?"

"Who are you?, You are not Minato-san" said Aiko, looking for any weaknesses he could exploit, as the man standing in front of him had almost three times the amount of his chakra.

"Huh?, you can tell?" said the yellow-haired man, astonished, and he suddenly understood the boy's actions and couldn't help laugh a little.

"Calm down Aiko-kun, I am a shadow clone, Minato is in a meeting at the moment" explained the clone.

"Shadow Clone" muttered Aiko emotionlessly, but he didn't let his guard down as the cloning jutsu he had learned produced intangible clones.

Kushina also understanding his actions smiled warmly as the little guy had first stood in front of her when he had realised there was danger.

Minato looked at the boy's emotionless face and felt a little bit funny, as he had to explain himself to a five year old kid.

"Minato, what are we going to name our child?" asked Kushina with a smile.

"Naruto if it is a boy, naruko if it is a girl" answered Minato, understanding Kushina's intentions.

"See, it's Minato," said Kushina ruffling Aiko's hair causing Aiko to relax as he knew it was a secret not known to many people.

Seeing Aiko relax Minato also walked closer, "How did you know it wasn't the real body?" he asked curiously.

"Even though the chakra signature was the same, there is something missing?" answered Aiko with a bit of uncertainty, the main reason actually was that the mark in his mapping skill was grey coloured, which combined with this feeling made him weary.

Minato was astonished as he looked at the boy because he hadn't heard of a sensory ninja who could tell the difference between clones 'Is it his unique ability?, it will be very useful for him in the future' he thought.

"Did you think you could defeat me?, you should retreat when enemies are stronger than you, you know, judging an enemy's capability is also a very important skill" advised Minato, because even as a shadow clone he still had half the amount of original's chakra.

"I don't have to defeat you, I just have to stall for time, till Kushina san gets inside the barrier" said Aiko calmly, surprising the two.

"Hmph, I am stronger than you two, ya know?" said Kushina knocking on his head as if she was angry, but one can tell by looking at her face that she was very affected by his gesture.

Aiko rubbed his head, feeling speechless as he did not understand why he was being scolded.

"Yeah, there are times when one shouldn't retreat" said Minato, looking at him with a little bit of pride in his eyes, confusing Aiko as he did not understand the meaning behind the words.

"Ok, let's go home" said Minato and placed his hand on Aiko and Kushina's shoulders, instantly teleporting them back home.

'How can he move so fast?' thought Aiko, looking at his changed surroundings, making him want to learn this jutsu even more.

"Alright my work here is done" said the clone Minato before nodding to the two and making a hand sign before dispersing in a puff of smoke.

"What is a shadow clone?" asked Aiko as he and Kushina entered the house.

"It is a jutsu created by lord second, the clones created by this jutsu have all the physical attributes of the caster, ya know" explained Kushina smiling,she seemed to be in a good mood.

"Can I learn it?" asked Aiko hopefully.

"Umm.., you should first learn to control your chakra properly otherwise it is a risky technique" said Kushina hesitating a little.

"I can control my chakra properly, see.." said Aiko as he walked towards the wall and on it, surprising Kushina.

"Who taught you that? Kakashi?" she asked curiously.

"No, Ichiro taught me," answered Aiko as he usually practised in the training field alone, he knew that Kushina didn't know about it.

'Ichiro-chan huh?, sigh both of them love training at such a young age.' thought Kushina.

"Hmmm, ok but, promise me that you will not create more than three clones, at least until you are old enough." said Kushina accepting his request.

"Ok" agreed Aiko readily

"Well, the hand seals are Ram, serpent and tiger, you should be careful as to how many clones you create as your chakra will be split equally among them." warned Kushina explaining to him about the hand signs required for the jutsu.

Aiko nodded his head and took a deep breath, increasing his calm mind skill to max, removing the distracting thoughts as he concentrated on performing the jutsu.

'What great concentration!' thought Kushina looking at the boy, who seemed to have entered a world of his own.

Aiko used his instinct manipulation skill to relax his body and performed the hand signs in one fluid motion.

'Kage Bunshin no Jutsu' he thought and felt his stamina reduced by half when a cloud of smoke appeared beside him, and when it cleared an identical copy of himself was standing there with a stoic expression on his face.

Both Aikos raised their eyebrows in unison, 'Wow, I look a little different when compared to my reflection in the mirror' thought the original observing the clone.

"Well, done Aiko-kun as expected, you have succeeded in your first try." said Kushina happily. "But, remember, you should not create more than three clones." she warned again.

Aiko also nodded his head as he understood it was dangerous to create more clones as even one of them took half his chakra, creating more wouldn't be cost effective.

"I will go to the training field for a while" said Aiko to Kushina, who nodded her head and told him to be back by lunch time.

.........…..

Once inside the training field Aiko used his mapping skill to check his surroundings, confirming that there was no other person here, he looked towards his clone.

"I can't see the status screen, but I can use the skills," said the clone before he could ask for anything.

Aiko, understanding that they both were essentially the same person did not feel surprised and simply said," then attack " as he took a fighting stance and increased his calm mind skill to the max.

His shadow clone did the same and attacked him, both of them exchanged moves for a while analysing the attacks, reaction speed and strength, after about ten minutes the clone suddenly dispersed leaving Aiko who was breathing roughly, Aiko also noticed that as soon as the clone dispersed his mental fatigue increased and he felt phantom pain all over his body, while a new set of memories from his clone's perspective came to his mind.

"Interesting" he thought as he analysed the memories of his clone, it felt a bit weird having two set of memories for the same time frame, but his calm mind skill made him quickly adapt to it.