Hey everyone!
Sorry for not uploading on this story lately—right now, I'm focusing on my other series, "Tensura: True Dragon of the Sun." I've been keeping a consistent upload schedule there, and most of my patrons are from that story, so it's where my main focus is at the moment.
If you're interested, feel free to check it out—it currently has around 50 chapters on Webnovel and 73–75 chapters on Patreon!
Thanks for your patience and support.
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"What is happening to this world…"
"Wait a minute? How does Ashura know all the stuff?"
Then I turned to him with suspicion all over written on my face.
"What type of scrolls are you talking about?"
Ashura blinked, suddenly realizing he may have said too much.
"Uh—n-nothing! Just… the regular kind!" he said quickly, waving his hands in front of him like I was accusing him of reading forbidden jutsu.
I narrowed my eyes. "Ashura…"
He looked away, scratching the back of his head with a sheepish grin. "Okay, fine! It's those… romance scrolls, alright?! The ones Shirai reads all the time! I only peeked a little when she left one open at the training field!"
I raised an eyebrow, arms crossed. "Romance scrolls? Like the ones with all that 'my heart races when our eyes meet' stuff?"
"What? There are things like romance scrolls in this era as well? WTF"
Ashura dramatically mimicked a fainting gesture. "Yes! Exactly those! Ugh, so much blushing and staring and 'I can't believe I'm falling for him!'… I only read two pages, and I felt like my brain melted."
I snorted. "And yet, you picked up enough to figure out Shirai might like me?"
He pointed at me like it was obvious. "Well yeah, she acts just like those characters! She gets all flustered, smiles too much around you, and literally dragged Shiraku just to see you earlier. That's classic scroll behavior."
"…Huh," I muttered, blinking. "So my little brother is becoming a love analyst now. What's next? Are you going to matchmake for Father too?"
Ashura's eyes widened in horror. "Don't even joke about that!"
We both burst out laughing, the tension of earlier finally fading.
I stretched a little and stood up straight, brushing the dust off my clothes.
"Ah, thanks for the lift, Ashura. I'm completely fine now," I said with a grin, giving him a thumbs up.
Ashura gave a relieved sigh. "Are you sure? You looked like you were going to cough out a lung a minute ago."
"Tch, don't exaggerate," I muttered with a chuckle, then looked up at the sky. The clouds had thickened, and the cool breeze made the leaves rustle softly.
"Let's get inside before we catch a cold," I said, nudging his shoulder as I started walking.
Ashura jogged to catch up, rubbing his arms. "Yeah, yeah. Good idea. And maybe while we're warm inside, you can finally admit Shirai does like you."
I groaned. "Not this again…"
He just laughed as we made our way toward the house, the lights of home glowing softly in the distance.
This universe... it's moving just like the original story, I thought to myself as I walked beside Ashura, the night air crisp around us.
Indra… He's slowly walking the same dark path as in the canon. That same coldness in his eyes, the same way he's starting to isolate himself. Just like how it all began...
I glanced back over my shoulder, where Indra had walked away earlier, disappearing into the darkness alone. Even if I'm here now—even if things are different—history… Is it still repeating itself?
I clenched my fist slightly, the memory of his kick still fresh in my body and his distant expression burned in my mind.
Not if I can help it. Not this time. I'll change it.
I paused for a moment, Ashura continuing ahead of me, unaware of the storm of thoughts swirling inside my mind. Can I really change it?
I thought of all the stories I'd heard, all the heroes who tried to change their destinies—even Spider-Man couldn't change the things that were meant to happen. Some events, no matter how hard you try, always find their way back into motion.
But what if… what if I can change just one thing?
I wasn't sure what kind of power it would take to rewrite fate, especially one so deeply rooted in the world's history, but I couldn't stand by and let it happen. I had to try.
I took a deep breath, shaking off the doubts. "Maybe some things are inevitable," I muttered quietly to myself, "but I won't let it happen without a fight."
I caught up to Ashura, putting on a smile, though the weight of what lay ahead still lingered in my chest.
The next morning, I woke up early, before even the sun had fully risen. The air was cool and crisp as I quickly got ready and made my way into the forest, excitement bubbling inside me.
"I'm from the real world, after all," I thought with a small grin. "Gotta grind that knowledge and cheat a little using my memories."
Today was special. I had set my mind on replicating—or rather, creating—one of the most iconic jutsus in all of history: the Shadow Clone Jutsu. Naruto Uzumaki's signature move. My brother's descendant... and reincarnation.
I chuckled to myself. "I mean, how hard can it be? I have large chakra reserves, a solid body strengthened by being 25% Otsutsuki, and most importantly... I remember the hand signs perfectly!"
I stopped near a clearing and took a deep breath, feeling the morning breeze rustle through the trees. Standing tall, I cracked my knuckles and focused. "Alright, let's do this. Take that, Tobirama. I'm about to invent your future masterpiece before you even exist."
I started forming the hand signs slowly, going through the familiar sequence I remembered so well. Tiger → Boar → Ox → Dog → Snake.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" I shouted, slamming my hands together at the final sign.
Chakra exploded around me—!
The chakra around me finally settled, and with a poof of smoke, a clone appeared right in front of me.
I stared at it.
It stared at me.
I blinked once. It blinked twice. I took a step back and really looked at it properly.
"Bruh... what the hell is this?" I muttered with a deadpan face.
The clone was standing there—wobbly, pale, and looking like it hadn't eaten for three days straight. Its cheeks were sunken, its arms were thin like twigs, and it was slightly swaying in the breeze like it might just fall over at any moment.
"Is this... a malnourished version of me??" I thought, horrified.
The clone scratched its head weakly, smiled awkwardly, then collapsed face-first onto the ground with a thud.
I sighed loudly, pinching the bridge of my nose. "Well... good job, Danava. You made the world's first budget Shadow Clone."
But even so, a small smirk tugged at my lips.
"Still... it worked. If I can tweak the chakra control a little... maybe, just maybe, I can make a proper one soon."
Without wasting any more time, I got into position again. "Alright! Round two, baby!" I clapped my hands together, ready to perfect the jutsu.
'Poof'
I looked at the new clone standing before me.
It wasn't swaying anymore. Its arms weren't as thin as sticks. It still looked a little rough—like it had just pulled an all-nighter studying for exams—but at least it wasn't collapsing or looking like a zombie.
"Huh... not bad," I muttered, walking around it, inspecting it like a strict teacher.
The clone grinned at me and gave a thumbs-up.
I nodded with a bit of pride. "At least you don't look like you're going to die if someone breathes too hard near you," I said with a small chuckle.
Still, I could feel it: the chakra connection was a little unstable, and the clone's energy was much weaker compared to a real shadow clone.
"Guess it's a half-success. The theory's right... I just have to push it to the next level." I thought, rubbing my chin.
Cracking my knuckles, I decided, "Alright, time for round three. Full power this time!"
Then Danava quickly formed the hand signs and shouted,
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Poof! A perfect, solid clone appeared right next to him. Danava's eyes lit up, and a grin spread across his face.
"Perfect."
"Yo, me," Danava smirked, tilting his head. "So, you've got all my memories, right?"
The clone folded his arms, looking annoyed. "Duh, dude. Of course I do. And yeah, I know about that reincarnation stuff too. Chill, I'm you."
"Yeah, yeah, I know," Danava waved his hand casually. "I mean… I can only trust myself. Who else am I going to trust?"
Both of them laughed at the same time, raising their hands in sync.
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Can read up to 10 chapters ahead. (For now, don't worry; I will increase the chapter count soon, and you can read chapters of Tensura: True Dragon of Sun as well. It has somewhere around 25 or so chapters ahead, maybe? Yeah, but not less than 25, so go ahead.)