The jutsu wasn’t particularly complicated.
At Isamu’s current level, it only took a few attempts for him to grasp the fundamentals and successfully create a tangible copy of himself.
After Tsunade left, Isamu became rather interested in testing his Shadow Clone in combat.
When Isamu dodged the kunai thrown by his Shadow Clone, he immediately realized that this jutsu couldn’t replicate his own innate abilities.
His experience with Kenjutsu and Taijutsu was still there, so the clone retained a certain degree of combat ability.
If he incorporated his own blood into it
Perhaps it would become even stronger.
Moreover, through the connection provided by his blood, he could control the Shadow Clone and have it perform a “Self-Destruct: Great Fireball Technique.”
That could probably count as a trump card.
Isamu already had a plan in mind.
Poof!
The Shadow Clone turned into smoke and dispersed.
A new segment of memory appeared in Isamu’s mind, accompanied by a faint sense of fatigue.
They were the battle memories from the Shadow Clone’s perspective.
Isamu’s thoughts became unusually active, and a rather bold idea occurred to him.
If his mind could withstand the strain, perhaps he could use this method for training.
If the Shadow Clone could transmit its memories back to him, that meant he could use Shadow Clones to study and learn.
What was knowledge?
Power, of course.
Wouldn’t this essentially give him another way to accumulate strength?
The advantages of the technique were obvious, but so were the drawbacks.
The chakra consumption and mental burden were considerable.
Even though Isamu now knew that Shadow Clones could assist with training, he definitely couldn’t keep them studying for twenty-four hours a day.
Having a massive amount of memories flood into his mind all at once was no small strain on his psyche.
If he did it too many times, he might end up a complete idiot.
Until he found a way to overcome this drawback, all he could do was use Shadow Clones to squeeze a little extra study time out of each day.
“What are you doing?”
When Tsunade saw two Isamus sitting there reading books, she clearly hadn’t processed what she was seeing.
Once she learned that Isamu was exploiting the Shadow Clone’s ability to transmit memories back to the original to study, she fell silent.
Was this what the Shadow Clone Technique was supposed to be used for?
Thinking about it carefully
It actually seemed quite feasible.
She and Isamu were fundamentally different.
Chakra provided considerable enhancement to both physical stamina and mental endurance.
With her strength, even if she kept a double-experience setup running all day, she could probably handle the burden.
Perhaps this could even be taught to others?
This kid really knew how to surprise people.
Isamu experimented with the technique and discovered that his limit was two hours.
The material studied by the Shadow Clone over those two hours flooded into his mind in an instant, nearly making him pass out.
He barely managed to crawl onto the bed using both his hands and feet before sleeping all the way until the next day.
He didn’t even notice the commotion caused by Nawaki getting up for his morning run.
“Good thing I’m in the village.
If I were outside”
Once he left the village, danger could appear anywhere.
He had to keep himself in peak mental condition at all times.
Still, gaining an extra two hours every day was enough to delight Isamu.
Before going to bed each night, he could have a Shadow Clone study for two hours, dispel it and recover the memories, then immediately go to sleep
Perfect.
For the next several days, Isamu settled into an extremely disciplined routine.
He would get up in the morning and prepare breakfast.
In the morning, he would attend classes with Tsunade.
In the afternoon, he would spar with the senior students at the Ninja Academy.
In the evening, he would return home and receive instruction from Tsunade.
Before bed, he would use a Shadow Clone to review his lessons, then collapse onto the bed and fall into a deep sleep.
This continued until a few days later, when a day off arrived.
Tsunade went to the Hokage Tower to submit her report, leaving Isamu at home to study.
Tsunade hadn’t restricted Isamu’s movements, but Isamu himself said that he didn’t want to leave the house.
It wasn’t because he was a shut-in.
He simply didn’t dare risk his life.
What if he happened to pass by some classified location and the Konoha leadership mistook him for a spy?
He’d be wasting one of his precious revival opportunities for nothing.
Inside the Hokage Tower, Tsunade informed Hiruzen Sarutobi about the discovery Isamu had made several days earlier: the Shadow Clone Technique could be used to assist with training.
Hiruzen immediately understood the implications.
They had always used the Shadow Clone Technique’s memory-transfer property for gathering intelligence.
Naturally, there was no reason it couldn’t be used for training as well.
The value of this information far exceeded that of a single B-rank jutsu.
Perhaps Isamu deserved some additional compensation.
Hiruzen had developed an appreciation for the boy’s talent.
Isamu was already Tsunade’s student, which effectively made him part of the Hokage’s faction.
Although his status as an outsider meant that he could only be considered half one of their own, Hiruzen still had to show him some goodwill.
Besides, over the past few days, Hiruzen had also seen the chain reaction caused by Isamu’s presence at the Ninja Academy.
The students who had grown accustomed to slacking off had been thoroughly stimulated by Isamu’s arrival.
Now, they were taking the initiative to train every day after returning home.
“Tsundae Is Konoha’s training of the next generation perhaps too gentle?”
Konoha was known as the cradle of geniuses.
It sounded as though every Konoha shinobi was supposed to be incredibly strong.
But Hiruzen knew better.
Konoha’s casualty rate was extremely high.
Especially among the Genin.
Nawaki was a perfect example.
He had some talent and decent strength, yet for various reasons, he had walked straight into a trap and nearly ended up with his body shattered beyond recognition
Tsunade didn’t answer his question.
Hiruzen stood up and gazed through the office window, taking in the main body of Konoha at a glance.
The previous night, his old friend Danzō had come to see him and proposed taking Isamu under his wing.
According to Danzō, a genius like Isamu had to be properly cultivated.
Hiruzen knew Danzō’s methods well.
If Isamu became one of Danzō’s subordinates, he might become an excellent tool.
But as the Hokage of a village, Hiruzen had more things to consider.
Would Isamu have a greater effect if he were used as a whetstone for the next generation?
Isamu had no foundation in the village.
His only support was Tsunade or, more accurately, the Hokage’s faction.
Using him to temper these students before graduation was naturally the best option.
Of course, to serve as a whetstone, Isamu himself couldn’t be too weak.
And Isamu had the potential for it.
“For this year’s Ninja Academy graduation assessment, I’m planning to make some changes”
“Genin who have merely mastered the Three Basic Techniques won’t have much impact on a battlefield.”
Every village needed cannon fodder.
But Konoha had not yet fallen to the point where it needed to treat its students that way.
Now that there was an opportunity to make some changes, Hiruzen didn’t want to let it pass.
“I’m planning to throw the graduating students into the Forest of Death and have them play a hunting game against Isamu”
Tsunade listened to him and suddenly felt that the teacher standing before her seemed somewhat unfamiliar.
From what her teacher was saying, he actually intended to have Isamu eliminate those “unqualified” students.
Thinking about what had happened to Nawaki, Tsunade felt that perhaps this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
When Tsunade returned home, she found Isamu still studying.
She didn’t tell him about the assessment that would take place in a little over a month.
Instead, she quietly increased the intensity of their sparring sessions.
Feeling the sudden increase in difficulty, Isamu wondered whether his teacher was simply in a bad mood.
He had no idea that his master and his master’s master had already made arrangements for him.