"Shigure, what is this…?" Hayate looked confused as Shigure suddenly handed him a pouch of money. Yugao, standing nearby, was also stunned.
"Shigure, what is this…?"
Hayate looked confused as Shigure suddenly handed him a pouch of money.
Yugao, standing nearby, was also stunned. The bag was filled with large bills—it was enough to buy an entire house.
"Didn't you say you were saving up to get married just now?"
Shigure smiled.
"This is my inheritance—what my parents left behind. Uncle Masaki told me it was meant for my wedding."
"But I'm still young. You take it, Hayate. Use it for now and just pay me back slowly after you're married."
Hayate froze, speechless at Shigure's unexpected generosity.
Even Yugao hadn't expected the little guy to be so straightforward.
"Thank you… Shigure! I-I…"
Hayate stammered, at a loss for words.
Seeing his flustered expression, Shigure waved his hand dismissively.
"Alright, alright, off you go. I've got to get back to training!"
"The graduation exam is coming up soon."
Graduation exam...
Hayate originally wanted to stay and talk more, maybe even treat Shigure to a good meal.
But he had a point—the exams were crucial.
Even for a genius, they couldn't be taken lightly.
"Then once your exam's over, let me treat you to a proper meal. As thanks—and to celebrate you becoming a Genin!"
So confident, huh?
What if I fail?
But honestly… that possibility didn't exist.
With his sword skills alone, Shigure could pass easily. There was no realistic scenario in which he wouldn't graduate.
Still, Hayate didn't say that out loud. He didn't want Shigure getting complacent.
The Moonlight Clan's future was riding on him, after all.
Once the two had left, Shigure sat down on a nearby rock.
"Now that I've mastered the Shadow Clone Technique… how long will it take to calculate the improved Clone Technique?"
[Great Sage: Estimated Time — Six Hours.]
Six hours, huh?
That's actually pretty fast.
But if I place the Shadow Clone in the passive skill slot, it might reduce the time even more.
"Alright, begin the calculation."
With the order given, the Great Sage immediately began processing.
While it worked, Shigure turned his attention to Wind Release.
He had spent the whole day using Wind Style techniques yesterday. Now, something had changed. The elemental nature of his wind chakra had clearly evolved, and the power behind his jutsu had increased significantly.
With this level of wind nature transformation, maybe… I could attempt developing Ice Release!
But that wasn't necessary just yet. The Great Sage could handle the calculations far better and safer than he could.
One hour later…
Shigure formed a one-handed seal.
Swish!
In an instant, a stream of chakra surged into shape, forming a perfect replica of Shigure.
The Escape Clone Technique had successfully been developed.
Unlike the basic clones, this one was built from the refined calculations of the Great Sage—combined with the Shadow Clone Technique.
[Escape Clone Technique: Inherits 20% of the user's power, holds a portion of the user's chakra, and is capable of casting elemental ninjutsu. Cannot cast genjutsu or other ninjutsu types. Power is increased by 10% in specific conditions.]
Far superior to the standard Naruto-world clone, which only possessed about 10% of the user's strength and couldn't use any jutsu at all.
Those clones were mainly for distraction or decoys.
But this? This was different. Not only was it stable and usable over long distances, it had no range restriction.
The clone stood before Shigure and raised its hand. Chakra condensed and surged into the Flowing Blade Technique. Its arm morphed into a fluid whip-like blade.
Crack!
It lashed out, striking a nearby tree.
A heartbeat later, the trunk split cleanly in two.
"Nice. Just as powerful as I hoped. With this, my clones can actually participate in combat."
Swish!
The clone darted forward in a blur. Its speed was incredible.
To Shigure, it felt almost on par with Chūnin-level Body Flicker speed.
If its burst movement was this refined, then its combat performance should already rival a lower-tier Jōnin.
The only thing left to test… was durability.
Because if it got dispelled after one clean hit, that would make it far less useful.
Shigure lightly kicked the clone—just to test it.
It was immediately knocked back through the air.
[Great Sage: Due to the host's strong elemental affinity, the clone can endure a moderate level of damage. However, it cannot survive fatal attacks. Additionally, it cannot use Body Flicker or Healing Techniques.]
Watching the clone pick itself up again, Shigure nodded in satisfaction.
"Not bad," he muttered. "There are some limitations, but overall, it's solid."
"The clone is complete!"
"Now that I have both the Shadow Clone Technique and this advanced clone, I should be able to speed up my growth using the passive skill slot!"
[Great Sage: Negative. Changes experienced by Shadow Clones will not transfer to the host's body.]
"…They don't transfer?"
Shigure frowned.
"Why not?"
[Great Sage: Because of the passive skill slot.]
"Tch... figures."
He sighed. "So I can't use Shadow Clones to 'cheat' my way to improvement."
But it wasn't the end of the world. While he couldn't multiply his training via clones, the passive skill system still gave him a massive advantage.
Honestly, the skill slot was far more overpowered anyway.
No real loss.
"Well, in that case... next up—Ice Release!"
"My Wind Release nature transformation should be strong enough now."
[Great Sage: Confirmed.]
[Would you like to begin calculations now?]
"Start it."
Ice Release!
If he could awaken that, his overall combat strength would skyrocket.
Once it was complete, he'd have Transparent Release, Boiling Release, and Ice Release—three powerful kekkei genkai at his disposal.
That's right.
Shigure's eyes gleamed with curiosity.
What would happen if Boiling Release and Ice Release were combined…?
But the Great Sage didn't respond. It was already fully focused on calculations.
[Estimated time to completion: Thirty hours.]
Thirty hours. Manageable.
In the meantime, Shigure turned his attention inward.
Now that he had so many tools—swordsmanship, elemental ninjutsu, and new bloodline limits—he needed to figure out how to combine them effectively in battle.
Boom!
A sudden explosion echoed from the training field.
Shigure was already back at it, grinding through new techniques, pushing his limits.
Meanwhile, at the Hokage's Office—
In the heart of Konoha, the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, sat at his desk reviewing the latest reports from the Ninja Academy.
"These children are about to graduate…"
He furrowed his brow.
"We'll need to be very careful with team assignments this year."
He pulled out three files and set them side by side.
"Uzumaki Naruto… Uchiha Sasuke… and Gekkō Shigure."
Hiruzen fell silent, deep in thought.
...
TN:
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