The shadow clone stood beside Itachi on the open grass of the Tsukuyomi world and spoke in a calm reviewing voice.
“The real Itachi really had a good number of jutsus with him.
The list stored in these memories is longer and more varied than most shinobi his age would ever collect.” Itachi nodded in agreement while he looked out across the lake he had created earlier.
“Yes he has quite a lot of fire style jutsu and even a good few number of water style jutsu.
His collection of genjutsu is also quite nice.
Many of them are subtle and useful for gathering information or controlling a fight.
The variety shows how carefully he watched other shinobi during his years as a shinobi with his Sharingan.” The clone continued the review with another important point.
“He also has a contract with a summoning clan.” Itachi answered with careful thought.
“Yes we would have to discuss the matter with the crows, when the time comes.
They would likely know at once that we are not the original Itachi they first met.
Animals that live under summoning contracts are often sensitive to changes in the soul that calls them.
We need to set the terms right with them from the beginning so that the partnership remains useful and does not turn into a problem.” He then moved to the issue that had limited the original owner for so long.
“The main problem has always been his smaller chakra reserve.
That limit is the very thing we are solving right now inside this training world.
Once the spiritual energy rises to match the physical energy we will be able to use more jutsus in a single battle without worrying about emptying our chakra too quickly.
Longer fights and stronger combinations will become possible.” The clone added a further observation that opened even more doors.
“We still have a lot of other jutsus to look at that he saw and copied with the Sharingan but never bothered to learn fully because his chakra capacity was too low.
Those techniques have sat unused in the memories for years.” Itachi thought about the nature of the Sharingan and the difference between simple copying and true mastery.
Every Uchiha who awakened the Sharingan could copy the movements and seals of another shinobi in the same way Kakashi did with his own eye.
The special gift of Kakashi was that he possessed enough talent and chakra control to use many of those copied jutsu just after seeing them once.
Most Uchiha including the original Itachi were not the same.
They could still learn a copied technique but they needed enough practice and enough training time to make the skill their own.
Over the years of Anbu work the original Itachi had watched and recorded quite a few strong jutsu with the eye of insight.
Those techniques now waited inside the shared memories and Itachi was certain he would finally learn them during the long years of this training.
He spoke again while testing the fine control he already felt in the body.
“He has maintained his body quite well and he has reached a very good level of chakra control.
That control will help us use every jutsu with less waste and greater ease.” The reason Itachi chose to focus first on ordinary jutsu rather than the new Mangekyo abilities was simple.
He had realised that the Mangekyo powers were a dangerous clutch that should be avoided in normal battles.
Tsukuyomi itself would be used only for this special training.
Outside of that single purpose he preferred to handle most threats with the skills the body already possessed.
Relying too early on the Mangekyo would only hasten the blindness that came with overuse.
He fully intended to find a cure for that blindness one day.
In his previous life he had discovered a cure for blood cancer when every expert said it was impossible.
He held the same quiet confidence that a solution for the Mangekyo side effect also existed and that he would be the one to find it.
The clone turned to him with the central question that would shape the years ahead.
“So what are we going to focus on?
What is going to be our plan for the next fifteen years inside this world?” Itachi answered with a clear and ordered list so that both of them would follow the same path.
“We will spar like this once every day.
The daily battles will help us settle into the combat style of this world and will keep our reactions sharp.
Once each week I will create more clones so that we can practice fighting against several enemies at the same time.
That kind of experience is important because real missions rarely offer the luxury of a single opponent.” He continued with the schedule for learning new techniques.
“We will learn one new fire style jutsu and one new water style jutsu every week.
The techniques will be chosen from those that the original Itachi saw clearly with the eye of insight ability of his Sharingan.
Steady weekly progress will add a large number of reliable tools over the full fifteen years.” Genjutsu training received a different decision.
“Genjutsu is not something we can practice heavily inside this world.
While we cannot improve the physical strength of the body inside this genjutsu, we will still work on taijutsu skill and timing.
We will also continue to refine our chakra control further.” The first and most important goal rose above the rest of the plan.
“But before all of that we will work on mastering Shisuis body flicker jutsu.
The technique actually carries the name Wind Release: Phantom Wind.
That level of speed changed the way Shisui fought and it will change the way we fight as well.” The clone nodded in full understanding of the extra work required.
“But for that we will first have to develop wind nature chakra and raise it until it stands equal to our fire and water natures.
The process will take time and careful practice but with fifteen years available we should be able to reach that level.” Itachi looked across the open grass and the wide lake one last time before the long years began.
He spoke the final words that started the true work.
“So let us get to work.” The fifteen years of his training montage began.
———Author Notes——– Thankyou RedFox, John Michel Zogo and skydude for supporting me!