Shadow Clone Righty also voiced his agreement.
He originally hadn’t thought that much about it, but now that Lefty had pointed it out, he suddenly realized he was getting massively ripped off.
“There’s no way I’m carrying your heavy burdens while you sit around enjoying a peaceful life every day?!”
“I’m here to help you enjoy life, not to shoulder the heavy burdens of living for you!
Making me work myself to death training every day—you might as well just kill me right now!”
The two clones exchanged a glance.
Knowing themselves all too well, they didn’t want to hear a single word of excuses regarding their original body’s total lack of shame.
They immediately pulled out their kunai and stabbed each other, abruptly ending their short and unpleasant lives.
Leaving only Uchiha Shingen standing there, dumbfounded in the wind.
“I…”
“Aren’t you guys a little too self-aware?!”
For a moment, Uchiha Shingen felt like crying but had no tears left.
The good news was that his clones were just like him.
The bad news was that they were too much like him, fully inheriting his habit of slacking off.
However.
This temporary setback didn’t extinguish Uchiha Shingen’s dream of enslaving his clones so he could laze around.
After multiple attempts, he quickly found the loophole.
Every time these two blockheads were summoned, they didn’t retain the memories from their previous summons, and their connection to the original body’s memories was quite hazy.
Changing his approach, Uchiha Shingen immediately pulled the two clones aside to discuss a division of labor:
“The three of us will work in shifts.”
“Lefty, you handle Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.
Righty, you take Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.
I’ll take the hard road and work seven days a week without a break.
After all, you guys know I’m the only one who can handle the actual clocking-in at work.”
The two clones pondered this for a moment, staring at each other with wide eyes, before nodding:
“If that’s the case…
I accept!”
“I accept too!”
“Great, then let’s start training according to the plan.”
Saying this, Uchiha Shingen shook his head with what looked like a bitter smile:
“I’m really taking a huge loss here.”
“Taking a loss is a blessing!”
Lefty, seemingly afraid that Shingen would regret his decision, threw out the platitude before hastily getting up and running to the corner to start practicing his taijutsu.
Righty followed suit.
In a nearby open clearing, he began to familiarize himself with the newly acquired Leaping Flame Sword technique.
The training of the two Shadow Clones intermittently triggered explosive rumbles all around, sending flaming sword shockwaves and shattered rocks flying into the air! Enjoying the story? Read on at novelping.com.
Uchiha Shingen sat off to the side, cozily enjoying the night scenery and feeling the beauty of life.
But soon enough, his smile vanished.
Four hours later.
The clones reached their time limit and, with a poof, vanished into clouds of smoke in the air.
Four hours’ worth of training memories and experience flooded back into his original body all at once—bringing with it all the accumulated physical exhaustion the clones had endured.
Uchiha Shingen’s brain and body instantly crashed.
He only had time to let out a choice swear word before losing consciousness, dropping flat on his back.
By the time Jiraiya arrived, he only saw Uchiha Shingen lying face-up on the ground.
He hurriedly stepped forward to check on him.
After confirming that Uchiha Shingen was fine and simply suffering from extreme physical exhaustion, he noticed the scattered rubble and scorch marks all around them.
An image immediately formed in his mind: Uchiha Shingen training so fiercely that he pushed himself to the point of fainting, completely refusing to slack off.
“Is the pressure from Konoha and the Uchiha Clan still too much for this kid?!”
“Sigh…”
“As his Teacher, I can’t really help him in that regard.
Though if that Minato kid can really become Hokage…”
…
The news of Jiraiya taking a student was not deliberately hidden, and it quickly spread throughout Konoha.
Whether it was the Third Hokage or the Uchiha Clan, both sides tacitly chose to ignore the matter, neither actively bringing it up.
However, Lord Danzo, holed up underground, was holding in a stomach full of rage with absolutely nowhere to vent it.
Deep underground, within the Root base.
Torches mounted on the walls illuminated the surroundings, their flickering light casting Danzo’s already gloomy face into an even more ghastly expression.
“So you’re saying Jiraiya and Uchiha Shingen really were just discussing…
that sort of filthy, degenerate literature.”
“And Hiruzen didn’t instruct them to do this?!”
The Root ninja kneeling respectfully on one knee before him nodded heavily and said:
“I am afraid so, Lord Danzo.”
“We tried almost every encryption-breaking method known to the ninja world to decipher their conversation logs, but we found absolutely zero hidden messages.”
“Moreover, during this time, neither the Uchiha nor Lord Hokage have made any moves.”
“Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how absurd, must be the truth.”
Having said that, the Root ninja couldn’t help but raise his head and glance at Danzo.
He still remembered how confidently Lord Danzo had sworn that this was definitely a secret conspiracy between the Uchiha and the Third Hokage.
Looking back at that scene now, it was hilariously absurd.
Intimidated by Danzo’s oppressive aura, everyone present kept their heads bowed low.
But while they could hold back their facial expressions, their twitching bodies as they tried to suppress their laughter betrayed their true feelings.
“…”
The main hall of Root suddenly fell completely silent.
Danzo saw this and felt his blood boil, but he didn’t bring up the embarrassing topic again, shifting his attention instead to Uchiha Shingen’s personnel file.
If assuming the Uchiha and the Third Hokage were secretly joining forces had just been a misjudgment originally…
Then, after Danzo caused such a stir, both the Uchiha and the Third Hokage had definitely been alerted to the possibility of such an alliance.
Even if they hadn’t openly expressed their stance, they were undoubtedly silently approving, or even actively encouraging it behind the scenes.
Thinking of this, Danzo couldn’t help but feel a phantom ache in his balls.
His old, wizened face immediately scrunched up like a bitter melon, and a sense of extreme urgency bubbled up in his heart.
With Jiraiya protecting him, forcefully eliminating Uchiha Shingen was impossible unless the entirety of Root mobilized at once—and even then, there was only a sliver of a chance.
But doing that would basically be political suicide.
Not only would it be ineffective, but it would also push the Uchiha and Hiruzen into a tighter embrace!
The more he thought about it, the more Danzo realized that the current situation was perhaps the most dangerous crisis he had faced since taking command of Root!
If Hiruzen really managed to win over the Uchiha…
Then he would likely never reach Hiruzen’s heights in this lifetime, let alone ever claim the title of Hokage!
“No matter what, I cannot let Hiruzen succeed.
If hard tactics won’t work, then I’ll use soft ones…”
Danzo reached up and rubbed the space between his eyebrows.
All the intelligence regarding Uchiha Shingen flashed through his mind one by one.
Soon enough.
An image of an Uchiha entirely distinct from Uchiha Kagami, Uchiha Madara, and Uchiha Fugaku formed in Danzo’s mind.
“Talented, but devoid of ambition.
Or maybe, he’s just hiding it very well.”
“A normal Uchiha would absolutely never take the initiative to approach Jiraiya.”
“This kid is highly likely playing the fool, biding his time until the moment he can transform into a dragon.
Looking at it now, I practically handed that opportunity to him on a silver platter.”
“An inherently evil Uchiha brat!”
“No, wait.
If Hiruzen can let go of his prejudice against the Uchiha and even actively extend an olive branch, why can’t I?!”
“How could I possibly be inferior to him?!”
Danzo gradually calmed down, his line of thinking becoming increasingly clear:
“Objectively speaking, this kid lacks neither brains nor finesse.
He would be the perfect candidate to groom as a right-hand man or even a successor.”
“The only obstacles are Hiruzen and the Uchiha Clan.”
“I need to find something to keep them busy.”
At this thought.
A figure immediately surfaced in Danzo’s mind.
He turned his head to look at Aburame Tatsuma beside him and asked:
“If I remember correctly, Uchiha Setsuna’s prison sentence should be coming to an end soon, shouldn’t it?!”
“Do you intend to release him early to disrupt Lord Hokage’s plans?!”