Chapter 16: Kagebunshin

Naruto stood up and approached his son. "Let's go ashore first."

They headed for the riverside and stepped on the ground.

When they arrived, Naruto reached into his cloak pocket. He took out a blindfold.

"Boruto, wear this. Father purposely ordered the Scientific Research Division to make one for you."

Boruto accepted the blindfold. The outside of the blindfold was made of black leather. Meanwhile, the inside was soft silk.

This blindfold was for his right eye only. The design was almost similar to the shinobi headband, but more classy.

Boruto immediately tied the blindfold around his head. Surprisingly, the size fitted perfectly and he felt comfortable wearing it.

When this blindfold was bent upwards, the material would become stiff so that Boruto could continue to see without having to hold it all the time.

It's not in vain that the money poured into the Scientific Research Division, they were quite capable of making items with balanced aesthetic and functional values.

It's just that, Boruto knew that his eyes were special. Those people from the Scientific Research Division certainly didn't know that Boruto's eyes would still be able to see his future projection even if they were closed.

Likely, he would hardly need to lift the blindfold if in the future his eye ability was being used.

Boruto saw his own projection in the clear river water. "Not bad. At least it fits the style of a young person like me."

Naruto smiled seeing Boruto liked the item. "Boruto, if in the future someone asks you why you closed your eyes, just say you followed the 6th Hokage's style."

"But this blindfold design is not similar to Grandpa Kakashi. It's more like Aunt Hanabi's blindfold design." Boruto somewhat disagreed.

Naruto asserted. "Boruto, your aunt Hanabi is a housegirl. Not many people have ever seen her. It would be better to use the 6th Hokage as a shield. After all, he was your father's teacher. He would also agree to protect your information in this way."

"Does Grandpa Kakashi already know about my condition?"

"For now, father hasn't told him. Besides, we don't know what the truth is yet happen. Getting other people who do not directly involved to interfere would be troublesome.

"Boruto, if in the future you find something on your own, don't hesitate to ask father. After all, father has more life experience than you. Trust me, when a problem starts to come to light, there won't be any worries." Naruto said.

"Father are you seeing my emotions again? Hum..." Boruto snorted coldly at his father.

"I'm your father. What's wrong with looking after your own child's mental health?"

"I don't need father's help. If it wasn't for compensation, I wouldn't even ask father to teach me Kagebunshin. I'd rather be self-taught." Boruto stated his stance.

Another in words, another in the heart. Even though Boruto said unhappily, his heart smiled slightly at this situation. It was rare for him to be this close to his stinky father since he became Hokage.

Of course, Naruto could feel the difference in the emotions. However, he did not expose his son.

"Alright. Then let's start the training." Naruto said firmly.

"En."

Boruto changed his facial expression to be more serious. He wanted to listen intently.

"Boruto, try making the normal bunshin that had been taught at the academy." Naruto instructed.

"Okay. Bunshin Technique!" Boruto made hand seal and a figure that looked like him immediately appeared right next to him.

"Boruto, how did you feel after making that bunshin?"

Boruto thought and said, "Just like using any other jutsu. A little chakra got drawn out and a faint connection was formed with clones."

Hearing his son's answer, Naruto flicked his finger lightly at the clone's forehead.

Poof!

The bunshin immediately disappeared.

"Now, how do you feel?"

Boruto frowned. He didn't expect that a light flick could easily remove his bunshin.

If Boruto knew that his father could even dispel his bunshin without touching a single hair, he would scream madly.

After all, Naruto's aim today was to teach not to show off. He had to do something in line with what his son's level can understand.

"The chakra and connection were lost." Boruto said.

"You know the main difference between normal clones and Kagebunshin?"

"Kagebunshin can make more than one clone."

"It's just something that can be seen on the surface. The biggest difference between a normal clone and a Kagebunshin is the sense transmission ability."

"..."

Seeing that his son was listening well, Naruto nodded and continued.

"In short, everything that the Bunshin senses can be felt by the real body when the Bunshin disappears.

If what you used earlier was Kagebunshin, then you will get the memory that someone flicked your forehead. In short, the incident that happened to the bunshin can be fully known by the main body." Naruto said.

"Everything that bunshin experienced?"

"Yes, everything. From memories to things that can be sensed. That means, even the pain of the bunshin before disappearing will be transmitted."

"Even pain? Then wouldn't this technique be at the user's disadvantage? What if the pain interferes with real combat?" Boruto asked in surprise. If indeed Kagebunshin had this fatal weakness, then this technique was not even worth learning.

"Calm down, Boruto. Even if pain is transmitted, your time to feel it is very short. As short as a nerve impulse going to the human brain.

It's just that, if people are not used to perform Kagebunshin and immediately perform it in real combat, then this pain can indeed slow down our combat response. Therefore, regular practice is very important."

"..."

"You know, if your father is asked to choose only one jutsu that can be used and loses the other jutsu, then your father will still choose Kagebunshin.

You know, back when your Uncle Sasuke fought with father, he always taunted me that your father used Kagebunshin too often.

I can understand this because your Uncle Sasuke doesn't understand how deep Kagebunshin can actually be exploited.

People who can understand your father's intentions are those who become Kagebunshin users at every turn. People like Sasuke or Master Kakashi, even though they can use Kagebunshin, they can't see the mystery in it.

Well, it's a pity that such a person is only your father in this world. In fact, the late 2nd Hokage as the creator of Kagebunshin didn't match your father's understanding of Kagebunshin."

Boruto listened carefully. He frowned as his father grew more and more self-praised.

"Father isn't boasting, right?"

Naruto made a sullen face. "You don't even trust your father? You will understand if you reach father level in the future."

"..."

Seeing that Boruto was still skeptical, Naruto decided to continue. He walked towards a boulder the size of his own height.

"Father will write Atavistic Script on both sides of this stone. The front side will show the original Kagebunshin from its creator, namely the late 2nd Hokage. The back side will show the Kagebunshin version of your father's understanding."

Naruto immediately flowed chakra into his index finger. His index finger carved stones with strange symbols which were the Atavistic Script.

Generally, a jutsu was passed down using the Atavistic Script. This script was also known as the chakra resonance symbol. This script couldn't be read, but was felt by the vibrations of the chakras in the body.

A Shinobi who stared intently at this script would feel the chakra pathways in his body throb. This pulse was actually a guide for how to replicate the jutsu written on the outside into the Shinobi's body.

In order to manifest this faint pulse into a jutsu, Shinobi need to direct their chakra along the path the pulse travels.

To make it easier for Shinobi to direct chakra along the pulse path, hand seals were generally required.

Appropriate hand seals were used for the appropriate path.

Kagebunshin itself actually only required one hand seal if the user was able to understand its chakra path.

It's just that for beginners, they didn't have to follow the most efficient example. They could experiment on how many combinations of hand seals were needed and how well they matched with the chakra path pulses.

In essence, there were no absolute formulas regarding the form of hand seals and their combinations in any jutsu.

It's just that a population data must have an average value. Likewise about how the Shinobi population learned the same type of jutsu.

At the very least, eight out of ten Shinobi wouldn't have different hand seals for the same jutsu.

For the remaining two Shinobi, although the hand seals used would be different, they would not deviate too much from the average form and combination.

After all, humans have chakra paths that would not stray too much from one another because basically they were one and the same race.

"Finished." Naruto said after finishing his work.

"..."

"Boruto, now I'll show you the easiest version to use the original Kagebunshin." Naruto immediately used a combination of more than three hand seals. He made an easy version like this so that Boruto could better understand the chakra resonance given.

In Doujutsu, the Sharingan was known to have the ability to read hand seals to find the right chakra resonance with the user. Therefore, Sharingan users were generally able to imitate many jutsu as long as they were keen to see the opponent's movements.

However, this did not mean that a Shinobi's normal eyes were unable to see what the Sharingan user could see.

However, the effectiveness and efficiency were different. At the very least, it was ten times harder to imitate someone else's jutsu with normal eyes than with the Sharingan eye.

"..."

After finishing with the combination of his hand seals, three clones identical to Naruto appeared.

After making sure that his son was seriously paying attention, Naruto removed his clone and said, "Then father will use Kagebunshin as normal."

This time, Naruto only used a single hand seal and a dozen clones lined up neatly around him.

"..."

The clone was again removed. "For the latter, it's a version that requires an intense level of training and accumulation of experience."

This time Naruto just stood still without making a move. Only, more than a hundred clones suddenly appeared surrounding the area.

Seeing this astonishing sight, Boruto could only curse in his heart. 'Damn it! This is the cheat version!'