Chapter 10: Clones

The huge man took a step forward grabbing the Kumo ninja by the neck. "You foolish idiot! Do you even comprehend the gravity of your action?!"

As he squeezed the neck of the man, a snapping sound filled the room, killing the Kumo ninja for good.

Turning to the shocked daimyo at the other corner of the room next to what he believed was the coachman and the four ninjas guarding him, the huge man apologized. "I apologize for the trouble, daimyo-sama. There seems to be a minor issue here."

Before the young daimyo could say anything, he dropped on the ground like a puppet whose strings were cut. On his back is a knife, struck deep, gushing with blood. The unsuspected coachman who seemed powerless until then was revealed to be the perpetrator who has bloodstained hands.

"Bastard!" The huge man screamed. He couldn't believe he let something like that happen. Releasing a violent chakra in a form of lightning around his body, he disappeared.

Like an instant to the eyes of the people in the scene, the Raikage appeared in front of the coachman. He pulled his huge arm back and punched the guy with a force no average human could muster, turning his target into a mash of flesh and blood.

But the surprise didn't end there, the young daimyo's body laying on the ground released a puff of smoke and turned into the Kumo ninja and the Kumo ninja whose neck was snapped turned into the young daimyo. The huge man's anger turned into confusion, then realization, then regret, then anger.

…

Meanwhile, Sasuke watched all of these unfold at the highest rock formation a kilometer away from the scene with his sharingan activated while wearing a black visor sunglasses. The visor is a customly made binoculars that could see tens of kilometers from afar.

Earlier, he figured that since it's such an important meeting, Kumo ninja ought to be near the entrance of the Land of Lightning already to escort the young daimyo. So he created 4 [shadow clones] and had them scout the surrounding areas with their custom byakugan. Although it cannot see objects through walls - which requires him to position himself in such a way that nothing's obstructing his view - sharingan can still see chakra behind it.

Surprisingly, Sasuke found a very huge chakra reserve with 3 other jonin level individuals with him. The biggest chakra reserve was 3 times that of the other 3 added together which is quite rare. Considering his location, Sasuke immediately tried to deduce who it was. It's not a composition of two different chakra signatures nor two identical ones so Killer Bee and Kisame are out of the question. The only person left is the 4th Raikage, Ay.

Seeing the opportunity, he diverted from his original plan of just: hit, plant and run; and devised another one on the spot. After informing his clones, he then dispelled one of them to pass the message to the other clone in the inn accompanying the young daimyo.

The plan was very simple:

First, have the clone in the inn unseal dead body of the coachman and use [shadow subjugation jutsu]. This is a simple technique created by Sasuke himself inspired by the Nara's. After analyzing their technique with his sharingan - basically stealing it - he added [transformation jutsu] so that he could manipulate the action of a person while hiding as the shadow of the said person itself.

Second, manipulate a ninja from the Raikage's group and have him attack the young daimyo to create the evidence that there really was a fight that occurred. This was the hardest to accomplish but with Sasuke's disguising ability and genjutsu prowess it's quite easy. So he ordered one of his 3 remaining scouting clones to suppress his chakra and approach the restaurant where the Raikage was staying. Disguised as a civilian, the clone entered the place. After confirming the presence of the Raikage, he casted a genjutsu to the weakest looking one of the group using his sharingan. To avoid getting caught, he made sure beforehand to transform his eyes to appear normal and immediately released the clone once the task was completed.

Third, observe and track the chakra of the Raikage. It's unavoidable for the Raikage to notice one of his men missing. With his temper, he is sure to find the guy himself. To inform the clone in the inn about this, Sasuke released another one of his 2 remaining scouting clones after the Raikage made his move.

Fourth, use [transformation jutsu] on the young daimyo and have the Kumo ninja do the same and use [substitution jutsu] to switch places quickly. This was very important given the amount of time they had with the Raikage's speed.

Fifth, just watch the Raikage arrive at the scene and blindly kill the young daimyo unknowingly as well as the already dead coachman. This will clean Sasuke's hand off the crime of murdering a civilian. Although it is not really necessary as there's not even a trace left by him, it's good for tarnishing the name of the Raikage.

Lastly, once the coachman is dead for the second time, release the clone controlling him while still hiding on the shadow and leave the scene like nothing happened

It's not wrong to say that it was all done by his [shadow clones]. The Sasuke that made the plan was not even the original. The original Sasuke had already left the Land of Lightning as soon as he entered and analyzed the barrier. All he has left to do now is to crack the [sealing formula] to freely go in and out in the future.

…

//2 days later, Hokage office//

"Is there anything else?" Hiruzen asked the masked young man standing in front of his desk who had just finished reporting his mission.

"The rumors about what happened in the Land of Lightning that I spread all over the 5 great villages is already starting to become a hot topic, it will not be long for them to make their move." Sasuke replied.

"I see… Anyway, how was it? I assume you already analyzed it." Hiruzen said, changing the topic.

"Well, I haven't actually tried it yet myself but I got some useful experience from my [shadow clones]."

"Hmm, that's good. Do be careful though, many Uchihas had tried in the past and none had actually succeeded. They either could not do it because of the level of chakra control/manipulation required - which can only be trained but not copied - or their body simply could not take the backlash and died in the process."

"I will keep that in mind."

"Dismissed."

Upon hearing the word, Sasuke left without a trace.

The primary reason Hiruzen sent Sasuke to do the mission was to see how far his sharingan had evolved. The level of technique one can copy with the sharingan is proportional to the level of his/her eyes. Complicated technique requires more advanced eyes.

Based on his assessment, Hiruzen considers Sasuke as someone with a very high ceiling when it comes to physical capabilities, a true inheritor of the Uchiha bloodline. It's not wrong to say that he and Naruto are equal in that regard, considering the latter's Uzumaki lineage - which is the cousin of the Senjus. The only thing Sasuke lacks compared to Naruto is chakra and stamina which are still above other geniuses. Other than that, his talent and potential couldn't be compared to any of his generation.

…

((Sasuke PoV))

I am back at the Uchiha compound, specifically the training ground. It is a huge open greenery field with a pond next to it. It's not really a perfect flat land as there are lots of small craters and burned rocks caused by different ninjutsus I practiced.

The mission was a walk in the park. After all, infiltration and espionage are my mains. Being able to create [shadow clones] makes solo missions quite easy.

Speaking of my last mission, I've gained a huge reward from it. On my way to the Land of Earth to spread rumors, I received the knowledge from my clones about the Raikage's secret technique - [lightning chakra armour].

My goal right now is to master that technique.

It will not only increase my speed significantly but also toughen my body to the absolute limit. A great proof of this was the 3rd Raikage's durability. Using his raw physical prowess alone, he could even withstand the drawback of the [object teleportation jutsu]. Being able to travel at the speed of light and remain unharmed is only a feat Naruto, Sasuke and other otsutsuki level individuals could do in the later part of the series. That's what I'm really after.

If I succeeded, I could even bring out the true power of the [eight inner gates] and maintain it for a much longer time. Right now, I could only open up to the sixth gate.

[Eight inner gates] is not really a secret technique but a forbidden one that is only allowed for those who are fortunate to have a very tough body and have high pain tolerance which are assessed in the Physical Assessment Test (PAT). Forbidden techniques (includes only those that do harm to the users: such as [shadow clone jutsu]) users undergo a similar assessment depending on the requirements. They are also allowed to teach it to other people but not before they pass the same test or they will risk dying.

Crossing my fingers to form a plus sign, I then created a [shadow clone]. The clone looked at me and nodded.

Like how the Raikage executed the technique, my clone did the same and a violent lightning chakra enveloped his body. I could see him gritting his teeth as his veins became visible and blood dripped from his eyes, nose, mouth and ears. I could also hear several cracking sounds all over my clone's body and soon after he was dispelled.

The memories, experience and feelings felt by my clone were transferred into me and I couldn't help but kneel on the ground. 'To think my bones were almost turned to dust.'

I stood up shakingly and created another clone to do the same. I am not a chakra freak like Naruto so I need to do it one at a time until I learn how to control the output properly. If not, I won't even be able to use it with my original body. I cannot just jump into my death, I need to progressively increase the burden on my body to improve. After all, only experience is transferred when a [shadow clone] is dispelled and not physical gains.

'It was just like before, it will take some time before I can use it.'

(A/N: I will consider the lightning chakra armour as an S rank technique in this story)