Chapter 38 – Sword Drawing Arts

Smack!

Raito's chop landed on Naruto's head, causing him to yell in pain as he stumbled backward, and clutched his head.

"You need to guard, you know." Raito admonished, clenching his fist before stretching his hand. "Come."

"I know but…" Naruto shifted his eyes and noticed the backyard door opening, and Hinata walked out,

"I brought refreshments." Hinata walked with some cookies and juices.

Naruto eagerly ran toward Hinata, grabbing a few cookies.

Hinata watched him for a moment, her gaze fixed on him like he was the most beautiful gem.

Raito, growing impatient, waited for a while as the two exchanged glances before making an annoyed sound.

Hearing it, Hinata snapped out of her daze and approached Raito, folding her sleeves.

"You finally decided to come," Raito teased.

Hinata blushed momentarily before replying, "I was just…"

With a stomp, Raito dashed forward, his open palm aiming straight for her face. Hinata, adopting a horse stance, swiftly formed a guard and pushed the palm aside. As she prepared to counterattack, Raito spoke with a teasing smile, "Does that 'something' involve a boy with yellow hair, blue eyes, and whisker marks on his face?"

Raito's grin caused Hinata to blush, and she retaliated with an unorganized attack, aiming finger strikes at his chest. Raito easily caught them, but then he released her wrist, inspecting his hand with red marks.

Examining the HP bar, Raito found that the attack had only decreased his HP by a mere five points. Each poke caused one HP.

'Grappling techniques are no good against you.' Raito said, assuming a guard stance and awaiting Hinata's attack.

Hinata unleashed a flurry of finger strikes. Raito managed to deflect some, but others landed on him, causing him to grimace.

Undeterred, Raito shifted his focus, targeting Hinata's lower body. Stretching forward, he executed a reverse sweep. However, Hinata skillfully dodged and counterattacked.

"You're better than Naruto, you know?" Raito shouted, eliciting an angry jump from Naruto.

Returning to the Hyūga family stance, knees slightly bent, one arm straight and others slightly curved with the palm facing forward. Hinata warned, "I will be using palms next, please be careful."

Without hesitation, she dashed forward, striking with her palms one after another. Raito guarded against the blows, but each hit caused him pain, and his HP dwindled with every strike. In a short span, a hundred points of health vanished, prompting a frown from Raito.

Sighing, Raito activated his '[Chakra Sense]', making it easier for him to dodge and counterattack.

Hinata had already gotten several body hits, making her take several back steps.

"Raito started using his special technique. Be careful, Hinata!" Naruto warned, waving his hand.

"Naruto." Raito glared, refocused on Hinata.

Raito and Hinata faced each other, ready to strike. Just as they were about to engage, Kakashi appeared in front of them, assuming a thoughtful pose.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Hinata relaxed after checking with her Byakugan.

Raito had already remembered his chakra signature, so he was sure that the person in front of him was Kakashi but without using '[Observe]' skill, Raito was not sure that it was a shadow clone or not.

"Sensei, why are you here?" Naruto asked.

"Hmm… I got bored." Kakashi replied, making Raito twitch a little.

"Then teach us something," Naruto urged eagerly.

"You guys wanna learn?" Kakashi asked, looking at everyone.

The three nodded simultaneously, prompting a smile from Kakashi.

He produced a small ball and handed it to Raito.

Raito examined the ball and then looked at Kakashi with confusion, "A ball?"

"Yup. Today, we're working on your teamwork." Kakashi explained with an eye smile.

"Teamwork? With a ball?" Hinata asked, tilting her head cutely.

"Hey sensei… aren't you supposed to teach us a cool jutsu?" Naruto questioned.

"Or even body conditioning or tactics?" Raito added.

"Those? You will be learning them someday." Kakashi replied nonchalantly.

Raito gazed at the sky, sporting a defeated expression that screamed 'I give up.'

A few minutes later, the trio engaged in a casual game of catch. The routine was simple: toss the ball to another group member while strolling toward the Hokage tower.

Onlookers in the streets observed the new Genins, their playful pursuit of the bouncing balls occasionally colliding with unsuspecting passersby or market stalls. Some villagers scolded them, while others, familiar with Gai's training methods, advised caution.

To reach the Hokage tower, which only took just half hour walking journey, it took almost an hour, doubling the time, making it feel like an epic quest for Raito and his companions. Kakashi, however, thought just the opposite, 'When Minato-sensei made us do this training, it took us whole three hours from the park, and we made many mistakes during the training.' 

"Next time let's do it without making any mistakes." Raito raised his fist.

Hinata, holding the ball, vigorously nodded, with Naruto mirroring the sentiment.

Observing the group, Kakashi smiled.

In a room, Hinata faced the camera with a serious expression, the photographer taking shots, pausing to consider before capturing another image.

Meanwhile, Naruto and Raito completed their forms, awaiting the engraving of their identity numbers on the forehead protectors

As they waited for the work to be done, Raito handed a bento box to the desk clerk.

She ate the food enthusiastically and gave various remarks about how delicious the food was. Raito beamed, pleased with her appreciation.

While Naruto was reading the Fūinjutsu book, Raito focused on the theoretical aspects of hand seals and their connection to chakra. So engrossed in his studies, he failed to notice Shikamaru approaching and inquiring with the desk clerk.

"Shika!" Naruto called out, alerting Raito.

"Oh, it's Shikamaru." Raito acknowledged, closing his book and waving.

"Already registering, huh? That means you've passed the Genin test." Shikamaru commented.

"Yup, just waiting for the numbers to be engraved." Raito replied.

"But what are you doing here?" Raito asked, throwing the question back.

"Nothing, just trying to figure out Asuma-sensei favorite cigarette." Shikamaru admitted.

The test that Asuma had given the three were not hard, but Shikamaru's luck was really bad. Shikamaru had to find out what cigarette Asuma liked them most. At first, he wanted to ask Kurenai, but she was also somewhere else, giving her Genin some test, so he went around the different shops, but the shop, which sold Asuma the cigarette was closed for the day. Asking a few people but gaining no confirmation, he went to the tower and started asking, so after coming here and finding out that even she didn't know, he was ready to give up.

"So, you have to find out which he likes the most huh?" Naruto asked.

"Even I have a difficult time when I have to choose for ramen. Miso, pork, they are all good." Naruto continued his nonsense. "I think, this week's favorite is…"

"Favorite cigarette? Easy. It's 'Red flags'." Raito answered Shikamaru with confidence.

"Red flag, huh? That was my first choice too but…" Shikamaru was not so sure.

"He buys the same brand from the shop beside the dango shop every other day, or at least, that's what I have seen."

"Beside dango shop?" Shikamaru wore his thinking face.

"Yeah, after every meet up with Kurenai-sensei in the morning." Raito gave extras when he had already given information.

A smile appeared across Shikamaru's face as he thanked and rushed out.

"Here." The desk clerk handed them the forehead protector with a big smile. "Please do your best."

"Hai." The two shouted with excitement.

"Photos, registration, engraving, all done." Raito broke his fingers. (Figurative words. Don't think anything weird.)

Kakashi leaned on the balcony as the three exited the room. Walking forward, he passed the ball to them and asked them to repeat the exercise.

The trio easily completed the exercise flawlessly. Raito kept giving advice from time to time, and Naruto's shifty eyes proved helpful in dodging the angry villagers.

Kakashi decided that he would make them do it blindfolded and chakra sealed next time and even intervene there after.

Reaching the Training Ground Seven, they took a rest then did a little warm up. Kakashi who had left them after reaching the training ground appeared with straps in his hand.

"What's that?" Naruto looked at the straps with curiosity.

"Those are weights." Raito answered with just a look.

"Correct." Kakashi handed the three straps and asked them to wear them.

"These leg weights are from Maito Gai. So, be sure to thank him later." Kakashi educated.

After wearing the weights, Raito felt that they were a lot heavier than what he had made. Each strap weighed about ten kilograms, totaling twenty kilograms. Adding the metal bracers on Raito's hand, it equaled to thirty kilograms.

"It's a bit heavy." Raito tried to move around but his movements were far slower than he thought.

"Keep wearing those metal bracers too." Kakashi from the side commented.

Naruto and Hinata struggled to move with the extra weights on their body, each step making them sweat a little bit.

"Use chakra only when absolutely needed. Or use healing jutsu only after you feel the strain from working out too much." Kakashi advised.

Seeing that the three were listening to his advice and nodding in response, made Kakashi have a new feeling in his heart.

Smilingly, he said, "Then let's run a lap around Konoha for today."

"""!!!"""

Some time passed as the students looked at the teacher and the teacher looked at the students.

"Lap around Konoha? Sensei, you've got to be kidding us," Raito retorted. Do you know how big this village is. The border wall made up of wood by Hashirama Senju could probably make hundreds and thousands of houses.

"Nope, I want you guys to circle Konoha once." Kakashi replied.

"Weren't we going to take missions?" Raito raised his question, looking at his weights.

"For getting stronger!" Naruto shouted then dragged Hinata and Raito with him.

"Oi, don't drag, Naruto." Raito shouting made no effect on Naruto.

Soon, Naruto was tired and panting heavily. Raito and Hinata caught up to him, then Raito gave Naruto a disapproving look. "That's what happens when you don't listen."

Panting hard, Naruto turned around and, with a louder tone, replied, "Something like this won't stop me. I'll get first place." Declaring so, Naruto again sprinted away.

"Naruto-kun, you will hurt yourself," Hinata shouted, but Naruto had already run very far away.

"That numb skull." Raito also increased his pace.

Hinata was left behind, feeling a little lonely.

"Boys are like that and those two of them are quite extreme. Walk on your own pace to reach to them." Kakashi who had appeared behind Hinata, advised.

"Hai." Hinata nodded.

She was calm as a still ocean, and with her glittering eyes, Hinata took a step forward, one step at a time.

In a distance away, Raito, who was holding Naruto down, looked at Hinata's figure, waved his hand and called her out.

"Look at this guy, Hinata. This dumbass Naruto thought that he can finish this on his own." Raito criticized Naruto while sitting on him.

"Mm." Hinata nodded with a smile.

Looking at her, Raito pressed his knees and stood up, then pulled Naruto to stand up and quietly healed him in process.

"You are so heavy, Raito." Naruto commented as he looked at Raito.

"Of course, I am. I eat as much as Chōji... that maybe not be true, but I eat a lot." Raito thought for a while.

It was already the scene of the sunset as the group of three made their second lap around the village. Their stomachs were grumbling and they were drenched in sweat. As soon as the foot inside the gate, the three fell down in exhaustion.

"It was a bad idea to do the second lap," Raito commented between gasping for air.

"I can already feel myself getting stronger, and stronger dattebayo~" Naruto shouted, causing the Chūnin, who was at the gate to look over.

"Kakashi-senpai, these three are yours?" The Chūnin standing from the booth asked.

"Kotetsu? Yeah, this group finally passed the test and now they are Team Seven." Kakashi answered.

"Oh! Someone finally passed your test, senpai. I thought that you were always giving excuses when Hokage-sama asked…" Kotetsu replied truthfully, getting elbowed from his side by another Chūnin, who had long hair, covering his one eye and wearing a bandana type of forehead protector.

Kotetsu brought back his focus and looked at the group, then said, "Please enter, we were going to close the door."

The three held each other as they dragged themselves inside the village door.

Raito looked at the metal braces and leg straps as he checked their weight. "He changed my metal bracers."

[Training Weights (Leg Clamps)] 

Weight – 10 kg 

[Training Weights (Metal Bracers)] 

Weight – 10 kg 

[Training Weights (Mesh Vest)] 

Weight – 10 kg 

Kakashi had replaced Raito's and now Raito was wearing about a total of 50 kg. Every step for him was like walking in sand or in mud or like walking with shackles bound to a rock.

"So unfair." Raito wined.

"It's for your sake." Kakashi said it for the umpteenth time to Raito.

"I know… but even so…" Raito looked at Naruto, then at Hinata, and did not continue.

Seeing that Raito had finally stopped wining, Kakashi sighed in relief.

"Why don't I take all of you to eat for our first day together, my treat?" Kakashi suggested after pondering for a long time.

"Ichiraku Ramen!" Naruto shouted in an instant with a joy, seemingly all the fatigue had disappeared.

"Nice spirit, Naruto." Kakashi praised.

Raito and Hinata were so exhausted that they couldn't even answer to Kakashi's question or go against Naruto's choice. Not like Hinata would even want to do so.

Seeing that Kakashi had a smile hung on his face, Raito asked, "Sensei I think my weight is just a bit too heavy. How about I-"

"No." the smiling Kakashi immediately rejected.

"No one is allowed to remove the weights they are wearing… Only during some important time, you are allowed to remove them, and even that will be under my orders only." Kakashi immediately made the rule and looked at the three with a questioning gaze.

"Sensei, what about my clan?" Hinata asked meekly, aware of her clan's strictness regarding these things.

"Hyūga clan, huh? It won't be much of a problem. Don't worry." Kakashi said with an eye smile.

"You can do whatever you want. Hokage-sama is with us, anyway." Kakashi shrugged as he started walking to Ichiraku.

Naruto and Hinata followed behind Kakashi, leaving Raito alone for a while. Raito narrowed his eyes as he looked at the Kakashi's back.

Sometime later, in Naruto's and Raito's house, they entered the study before disappearing entirely from the house.

"Multi Shadow Clone Technique." Naruto, with his several clones, went to deal with the zombies.

Raito drew a katana from his inventory, the same one he had taken from Mari.

One step, two steps… soon Raito was running and attacking zombies. Slowly but surely, the 'Katana Mastery' skill was reaching to level 25 and a new skill was going to be unlocked.

One killing made from katana would increase the skill by about 0.05%, making it a long and tiring process.

Soon the smoke was gathering in a spot, changing into a bigger zombie.

Raito stared at the big zombie with a smile on his face. Raising his katana to his chest, he called out, '[Chakra Flow – Earth Elemental]'. The chakra flowed to the katana with a yellow-brown luster.

Feeling the increased weight, Raito used his connection and felt the logs, placed at the different areas, then took out explosion paper bombs.

Naruto had also summoned his clones circling the big zombie. His hands were ready in seals and there were few explosion talisman papers hanging out from one of his pockets.

RAWRR!

The big zombie roared and Naruto activated the jutsu. "Multi Shadow Clone – Multi Gale Palm"

Razors of wind struck the big zombie, causing it to roar in pain and destroy surrounding buildings.

Raito, crouched down with a snake hand seal, stood up and ran toward the big zombie.

The enraged zombie swung its arms, demolishing stalls and parts of the building.

As Raito approached near the zombie, it looked in Raito's direction.

[Skill 'Sprint' activated] 

[Title 'Undead Hunter' activated] 

Various skills activated one after another. Raito dodged the zombie's slow but powerful stomps, attacking with his katana and cutting the zombie's leg muscles.

Soon, the zombie was on its knees, facing Raito with hatred.

Raito observed the scene and flashed a smile at the approaching monster. Charging forward, following the position Yūgao had taught him, ready to strike. However, the zombie wasn't finished yet; it hurled surrounding items toward Raito, forcing him to dodge and halt his charge.

After confirming the zombie had nothing else to grab, Raito lunged forward once again, aiming for the zombie's neck. Suddenly, the creature roared, slamming the ground with its hands.

Undeterred, Raito ignored the zombie's roar and continued his advance, ready for the final strike. Unexpectedly, the zombie grabbed the walkway and flung it toward Raito.

Raito looked at the massive chunk of the road and immediately used the '[Replacement]' technique and switched with the log at a distance away.

Sensing that his prey had escaped, the zombie scanned the area and immediately located onto Raito.

Frowning, Raito felt the distance between them had increased. "What the hell was that, throwing that… rock?" he grumbled, approaching the zombie's location leisurely.

The zombie roared and tried to walk forward but his each step made it look like it was going to fall down.

"Let's see if you can survive this," Raito shouted as he made a rat hand seal and activated his chakra. "[Earth Release: Earth Break]"

The ground beneath the zombie vanished, and the zombie plummeted.

The colossal thud echoed as the massive, heavy body hit the ground, causing the earth to shake. It was evident that the zombie was already dead, confirmed by the notification. Unfortunately, the 'Katana mastery' had not leveled up.

The world faded, and now Raito and Naruto were back in the study at the house.

***

"I think I'm getting used to this Genjutsu." Naruto said, looking at Raito.

"Mm." Raito replied absentmindedly, making some noise in acknowledgment.

"I also think that your earth jutsu is really dangerous." Naruto commented, but Raito responded in the same distracted manner.

Dissatisfied and now sporting a pout, Naruto immediately threw a punch toward Raito. However, in an instant, Raito countered with a lock, pushing Naruto to the ground.

"What are you doing?" Raito asked, looking down at Naruto, who was now in his hold.

"You looked like you were having brain problems, so I-" Naruto began to explain but was abruptly released and thrown.

"I have something to do. I'll be back later." Raito opened the dungeon and started dungeon hunting with the zombies, a sword in his hand.

Whether it was one or a hundred, Raito dealt with them efficiently, his sword slashing through the undead. He didn't go for a full sweep; once the zombies in his area were finished, he would close and then open another.

Four, five, six...

Early in the morning, before the chickens were even awake, the sun hovered on the horizon, casting the first beam of sunlight onto the Hokage monument.

It was past five, and Naruto was sleeping soundly, dreaming of ramen with shredded chicken or beef.

His world was full of ramen.

Dudududu.

The table shook, and the ramen bowl shook vigorously.

"Naruto… Naruto… Naruto, wake up." Raito urged, a little haggard as he shook Naruto.

"Raito?" Naruto woke up after a few more vigorous shakes. He pushed Raito back and rubbed his eyes. "What are you doing?"

"I want your help." There was excitement in his voice.

"Okay." Naruto slapped his cheeks, instantly waking up.

"What do you want me-" Naruto began, his excitement evident, but then his eyes fell on Raito's disheveled appearance, which wasn't so good.

Raito had messy hair, torn clothes, dirt patches all over his body and somewhat reddish eyes.

Concern etched Naruto's face as he asked, "Are you okay?"

Raito frowned but answered. "Yeah, I am. Just help me."

Raito pulled Naruto and opened a dungeon.

At the backyard, Raito stood straight with a sword in the sheath, on his left hand.

"Here I go." Naruto crossed his hands and made a hand seal. "10."

Clones appeared out of thin air and rushed towards Raito.

Raito stood still and activated his '[Chakra Sense]' sub-skill 'Domain'. The range got smaller, covering the full length of the sword, along with the full extension of his arms.

Just as first clone stepped onto his domain, 'Fast Thinking' was activated and the world turned dull. Everything moved in extra slow speed, and Raito knew which clone would come first, and second, and how should he attack, to close his exposed parts.

Everything was theoretical knowledge so he needed this.

Exhaling, his hand hovered over the sword, and just as Naruto raised his fist, Raito unsheathed and slashed.

Trachea and esophagus severed.

Another clone was stabbed in the heart, and the sheath hit another clone on the kidney, and pushed to ground.

Naruto's clones were dropping like flies, one after another. After a hundred fell, Naruto decided to up the difficulty.

He barked a command, and the charging clones, who had been going in headstrong, took a step back and circled Raito. Then, in unison, they pulled out shuriken.

"I don't think I can deal that with sword." Raito's grip on sword became tighter then loosened. 'It's okay.'

He raised his hand and said, "I surrender."

'One at a time.'

"What? Giving up already?" The clones retreated, and Naruto shot Raito a confused look.

['Katana Mastery' has reached level 25] 

['Katana Mastery – Katana Skill, skill unlocked] 

[Skill 'Sword Drawing Arts' has been unlocked.] 

[Sword Drawing Arts] 

One hundred and eight ways to draw a sword out of the sheath, acting after the opponent but reaching before them, striking to kill.

"Do you want to turn me into a pincushion?" Raito rolled his eyes and kept the sword back into his inventory.

They emerged from the dungeon, and Raito managed to catch a good two-hour nap before Naruto roused him with the aroma of breakfast.

White, fluffy rice filled the air, accompanied by the delightful scent of scrambled eggs and tofu miso soup.

With the rain outside, offering a refreshing breeze and the rhythmic 'Pita, Pita' of droplets on the window, Raito opened the window and sat down with a contented heart to savor the meal.

At the Academy, Raito's team, Shikamaru's team and Sasuke's team sat on their seat, and Iruka stood in front, on the stage.

He looked at the nine and said, "You have passed the Genin test and the rest of your classmates didn't. That doesn't mean that you have surpassed them, it just means that you are going separate ways."

"Each Jōnin instructors have their own specialties and their test also have variety in the same way. Combat, information gathering, teamwork, tracking and many more." Iruka looked at each, when he revealed the core of their exams the previous day.

"Now that you've passed, understand that you're Genin, the lowest in the command chain. As Genin, you're required to follow your Jōnin instructor. However, today is a courtesy day, so I'll give you a glimpse of what lies ahead."

Iruka looked at Genins, looking smart and tidy, and said, "You'll partner with your Jōnin instructor for ranked missions outside the regular system of the village. This means accepting tasks from civilians, merchants, or the Daimyō, either within or outside the village."

He raised his hand to calm down the excited Naruto and continued. "Aside from those external missions, you'll also be assigned tasks within the system. We have multiple departments willing to take you in based on your data and preferences."

Iruka signaled to his assistant to distribute the forms, setting the stage for the next chapter in the young ninjas' journeys.

"There are Sensor, Intelligence, Medical, Emergency, Scout, Patrolling and many more to choose from. It's compulsory for everyone to take one of the departments for their workplace experience. The work will be flexible in these departments, as you'll be doing fieldwork most of the time. It depends on you, Jōnin instructors, and what you want to focus on."

Raito looked at the form and immediately filled with what he wanted. There was no second options for him.

It took quite a while for everyone to fill their forms, as they did not have time to think or discuss with, since even Iruka was just informed.

"Now, to the main part." Iruka looked at the Genins. They were going to face many dangers ahead. "As a Genin, it is going to be your duty to get stronger, and your instructors are going to make sure that you do because you'll be exposed to the dangerous side of the shinobi life."

"From care taking a baby to killing an enemy. You'll face all kinds of situation in the upcoming future and whether you like it or not, you'll have to do all of them—no questions asked."

"Whereas the civilian your age are called 'kids', you will be called 'adults' because you have responsibilities and duties that they don't, just like all the shinobi of the village…"

"To protect and honor Konohagakure."

Iruka gave a salute and walked off the podium then said, "From tomorrow onward, I'll be seeing you around the village doing ranked missions as a fellow shinobi. Get out."

After everyone left, Iruka collected all the forms and looked through them while walking towards the Hokage office.

"Just why would he… ugh." Iruka sighed, looking at Raito's form.

"Was that so bad?" Kakashi walked down the stairs and looked at Iruka's state.

"Senpai," Iruka shook his head and passed the form to Kakashi. "This is your Genin, so take a look."

"T and I, huh?" Kakashi looked nonchalantly at Raito's choice then gave the form back.

"Sensor Department wanted him, but I guess that won't be happening now."

"It's better for him." Kakashi patted his shoulder and left, giving Iruka a sympathetic glance.

"Senpai?" Iruka looked back, then started climbing upstairs. Not even a few steps and there were a handful of people waiting for him.

Anko, Mari, and Yūgao looked at Iruka's hand and called, "Iruka."

"Uh, yes?" Iruka raised his head and looked at the three women, looking at him intensely.

…

In the middle of the night, Raito scribbled, quickly filling the scroll with character seals. With everything ready, he made a big evil smile.

Placing the scroll on the floor carefully, Raito waited for a whole a whole minute for the ink to dry before taking out another scroll. Raito placed the new scroll over another then started conversion.

As he poured chakra, the character seals on the scroll twisted and converged on under his thumb then slowly creating a 'Clone' character.

'I can't afford to slow down.' Raito muttered to himself as he pulled out a talisman. He made a swift cut on his palm, staining it with his blood.

Overlapping the 'Clone' character in the scroll with his blood soaked talisman, Raito started the conversion again.

[Sealed Jutsu – Shadow Clone Technique] (Special Rare)

A special sealing formula able to produce the sealed jutsu, 'Shadow Clone'. 

Rating – 3/10

Effect – Cast 'Shadow Clone'

Made by – Yoshizawa Raito 

Owner – Yoshizawa Raito 

(Blueprint)

(Flaws)

(Modification)

Raito glanced at the 'flaws' section, once again filled with sighs. Achieving a perfect 10 out of 10 rating seemed like a long and tedious journey.

While meditating to recover his chakra, Raito clicked on the flaws and pondered ways to eliminate them.

After a few nods and 'aha', Raito grabbed the talisman and started pouring chakra. In a blink of eye, 3000 points of chakra vanished.

Eyes widened in shock, he took a sip of cold air and cursed. 'Naruto, sure is special.'

Taking a deep breath in, Raito activated the talisman in his hand. After a low hum and a cloud of chakra, Raito's clone materialized.

The clone sat calmly on the chair and looked at the original with a small smile on his face. "Do it. I know you want to do it."

The original slowly murmured, "Observe."

[Yoshizawa Raito (Clone No.1)] 

Durability – 100

CP: 3900/3900

STR: 57

VIT: 75 

DEX: 56

INT: 72 

WIS: 59

LUK: 44

Clone of Yoshizawa Raito. 

"You think there isn't much to it, and the jutsu is not worth it, right?" The clone spoke up and the original nodded.

"I have come to a conclusion that-"

"That I should rush my chakra to at least 6000 then maintain a Shadow Clone at all time."

"It will be just like '[Chakra Sense]' and '[Demonic Illusion - False Surrounding]'."

"But unlike these two, Shadow Clone doesn't drain chakra per minute. You will recover chakra and create a second clone, and so on."

"And one clone lasts for 10 hours at once."

The two went on and on, completing each other's sentences and vocalizing their thoughts.

"It's much more fun than I thought."

"Yeah, it's easy to talk to someone who understands."

The original Raito stopped, thought for a while before pointing his finger on top of his head then asked, "Can you see this too?"

The clone nodded his head and added, "I can also use the inventory too."

Raito, lost in thought, looked at his clone and said, "Let's leave those experiment for later. I want you to watch me sleep."

Then Raito pulled the drawer and gave his clone a book. "Two experiments at once, no it's three."

Raito took a long breath then slept.

[You have slept. HP and CP has been fully recovered. All negative status and ailments has been fully recovered.] 

Raito woke up and quickly looked at the clone sitting in a chair, reading a book about 'Traditional method of maintaining Katana'.

A small smile hung on his face. Raito nodded at his clone, who nodded back before disappearing in smoke.

In a blink of an eye, memories of looking at his real self, reading the book, and thinking about myriads of things appeared in his brain. There was even a feeling of his chakra being compressed due to excess.

Raito massaged his temples, not because of the pain but because of needing to remember. Raito saw himself sleeping normally with no changes at all.

Thinking that everything would recover to normal, Raito expected some glowing or suction-like thing to happen, but nothing occurred the whole time.

Walking to the chair, Raito picked up the talisman with a frown on his face. He opened the grayed out 'Shadow clone' and read, then sighed. "My skill didn't level up, after all that."

[Shadow Clone (Active) Lvl 1 CP Cost – 500] 

Dividing the chakra into two equal halves, the user can create a real copy of themselves. The clone possesses the original stats of the user, and Health points are replaced by Durability. 

*Durability increases with the level of the skill. 

Number of the clones – 1 

"What a shitty technique." After comparing his Shadow Clone technique with Naruto's, Raito wasn't pleased.

"But… Health point equals durability?"

Jumping down into the backyard, Raito practiced his sword techniques for a while. The sun was already high, casting its light on the beautiful katana blade.

Naruto also arrived after Raito did and practiced Taijutsu stances.

The weight no longer bothered Raito because of the rapid increase in STR and VIT. Naruto was somewhat slow, but he moved much faster than yesterday.

The morning wind blew across the backyard, the clouds moved slowly, and the grass swayed. Birds chirped, and the two boys worked hard.

Sweat dropped as Raito panted hard. Feeling the weights drawing his body down, he suddenly wanted to allocate his stat points to STR. Raito closed his eyes and did some breathing exercises to recover. Putting the katana into the inventory, Raito cleaned himself up and prepared breakfast.

Soon, Naruto was also done cleaning himself up and joined Raito at the table.

There was a bowl of rice, mixed vegetables, a bowl of sweet and spicy beef and lastly, a bowl of soup. The rice was mixed with some clarified butter and vegetables contained carrots, turnips, bean sprout, and some pieces of mushroom. The luster given by the food immediately made Naruto's stomach growl and saliva drooled from his mouth.

Raito frowned and, with a paper fan, hit Naruto on the head then said in a stern voice, "Behave!"

Naruto rubbed his head and looked pitifully at his food.

Just as Raito was about to dig into his food, the knocking came, disturbing him. Raito frowned as he saw Hinata on the opposite side. He looked at his food then at the door.

Naruto, who saw Raito was unwilling, stood up and ran towards the door, "Opening!"

Raito ignored Naruto opening the door and quietly ate his food. Under the sunlight from the window, the steam from the food made Raito marvel as he held another meat piece. Blowing lightly, he ate the piece happily.

"Good morning." Hinata bowed as she entered the room.

Raito, who was enjoying his food, quickly took out a set for Hinata, filled the bowls, and then placed them on the table.

"Sit." Raito called out to the two and again focused on his food.

Seeing that there were three set and one was for her, she paused, "…I already ate."

"Mine is better." Raito added then no longer focused at Hinata.

"Hinata, Raito's food is better than any other." Naruto gave a thumb ups to Hinata and then sat on his own seat.

Picking up his chopsticks, he looked at Hinata with a smile and gestured her to eat.

Hinata sat down; touching her stomach, and then glanced at the food. As soon as she did, her mouth burst with flavors. She subconsciously moved her chopsticks and took a bite from the vegetables. Soon her hands were out of her control, and everything was finished.

Only Raito was eating slowly, savoring his food. It wasn't that Raito didn't find it delicious, but he was using his skill '[Chakra Sense]', which has increased the range a lot from the last time, reaching a little more than five kilometers.

The information was overwhelming, and Raito was getting a headache. There were people and people, everywhere.

Raito focused on some of the forbidden parts of the village. Initially, he could explore freely, but he found that some areas were hazy, covered by fog. 'There are places like this.'

Raito finished eating, then handed the dishes to Hinata, who was already was washing. Taking out a notebook, he wrote down those mysterious location.

Walking out of the house, Raito felt a new feeling that he could not describe.

"Let's go." Raito and the group walked towards the Hokage tower for their very first mission.