"Let's retreat."
Kurenai Yuhi couldn't be bothered to listen to Asuma's nonsense, so she put the money on the table and pulled Anko and Yūgao Uzuki away.
The three of them walked out of the store without looking back, their faces grim.
Kakashi was still engrossed in his book, pretending not to hear anything.
But Asuma suddenly said, "I didn't expect Yuhi to be so charming now. I'm definitely going to pursue her!"
Kakashi: "…"
Heh heh!
"Did you see his eyes? It was like I belonged to him. So disgusting." Kurenai Yuhi complained to her two best friends, puffing out her cheeks.
The two exchanged glances, and Anko put her arm around Kurenai Yuhi's neck, laughing, "I'm treating tonight. Let's go to the hot springs and drink to let off some steam."
"Alright, I need to drink my fill tonight." Kurenai Yuhi felt a bit stifled.
On the other side.
In the Pure Land and Sealing Space, Mikoto and Kushina simultaneously shrieked, "How could my Sasuke (Naruto) like men?!"
It wasn't that they were slow to react; the photo was just too shocking.
Lin Mo, that guy, initially only sent a kissing photo, full of mischief.
Although he later sent a full view, the accompanying text made it seem like Sasuke and Naruto were destined to be together.
This was too outrageous.
Then, the two said in unison, "This is all Mikoto's (Kushina's) fault!"
"Absolutely!"
Just then, a voice rang in their ears:
[Detected another diary copy nearby. Do you want to enable the social function and add the other party as a friend?]
Mikoto and Kushina paused, then instinctively nodded, "Add."
[Social function enabled.]
"Hey, a new friend has sent you a request!"
"Hey, look, Uchiha Mikoto, that is Uzumaki Kushina, she sent a friend request. Should we accept?"
"Oh, really?"
Kushina pondered to herself in the Sealing Space and clicked on the video function.
Meanwhile, in a dark place called the Pure Land, Uchiha Mikoto received the request and immediately clicked accept.
In the blink of an eye, the two appeared on the small screen on the last page of the diary, seeing each other face to face.
"Mikoto!"
"Kushina!"
Both of them cried out in surprise.
One was trapped in the Pure Land, and the other was locked in the Sealing Space; both were quite miserable.
If they had just stayed asleep, it would have been fine, but waking up alone would be so boring.
Thankfully, not much time had passed, otherwise, even with the diary for company, not having anyone to talk to would drive them crazy.
However, being able to see her childhood best friend again still made her happy.
But the next second, Kushina began to question Mikoto: "Mikoto, look at your son. How could he let my son kiss him?"
At this, Mikoto's smile immediately vanished. She took a deep breath and said, "Kushina, my Sasuke died when he was eight years old, and in the photo, it's clearly your son kissing my son, isn't it?"
"He died when he was eight years old?" Kushina was extremely surprised.
She had thought Uchiha Mikoto was still alive.
After all, from Lin Mo's diary, Konoha seemed quite peaceful now.
The Uchiha Clan was powerful, and Mikoto was the clan leader's wife. She didn't need to go to the front lines or perform missions for living expenses.
So how did she die?
"I'm in the Pure Land now."
Mikoto didn't want to say much when her eldest son Itachi was mentioned. She just turned the diary to show Kushina her situation.
Compared to Kushina's sunny side, her side was practically a prison, with the only light coming from a bonfire.
"Being able to accompany Sasuke until he was eight is good. My son hasn't even seen what I look like, and you even have an older son," Kushina said, half-envious and half-comforting.
Mikoto smiled gently, "Kushina, you still don't know how to comfort people."
Kushina scratched her head awkwardly, wanting to say, "Um, Mikoto, my son…"
She originally wanted to ask how Naruto had lived since childhood, even if she only knew about things before he was eight.
As a good friend, she should care about Naruto.
But before she could finish her sentence, the video call disconnected.
Immediately after, a message popped up in the chat box:
Uchiha Mikoto: Kushina, I've lost too much Chakra and I'm exhausted. I need to rest for a bit. Let's chat later.
"Eh? Lost so much Chakra?" Kushina was a bit confused.
She carefully sensed it and found that her Chakra had indeed decreased a bit, but it was less than one-tenth of what she had when Minato Namikaze sealed her inside Naruto, and it was recovering quickly.
"Oh, why am I so tired?"
"Seriously, why did my Chakra suddenly decrease so much?" the Nine-Tailed roared inside its cage.
"Oh, so it was the Nine-Tailed."
Inside the Sealing Space, Kushina immediately understood.
The Eight Trigrams Sealing Style was formed by two Four Symbols Sealing Techniques stacked together. It could not only seal the Nine-Tailed but also send the leaked Nine-Tails Chakra back into Naruto's body.
As long as her Chakra in the seal wasn't activated, a slight consumption would still allow her to recover.
So, she had been chatting using the Nine-Tails Chakra.
Speaking of which, although Mikoto was a Jonin when she was alive and from the Uchiha Clan, she was only a soul now, so she certainly didn't have much Chakra to use.
"I wonder if Chakra recovers quickly in the Pure Land."
"Next time, I should just type to Mikoto. That way, we can chat longer."
Kushina felt a bit regretful.
However, she quickly began to ponder the add friend function in the diary copy.
If she understood the principle, perhaps she could contact people outside who also had diary copies.
Maybe she had received the friend request because she had just called Mikoto's name.
Could that be the reason?
"Tsunade! Senju Tsunade!"
"Shizune? Ino? Hyuga Hinata?"
"…"
Kushina called out the names of friends she knew in life, as well as names Lin Mo had mentioned in the diary, one by one, but unfortunately, there was no response.
"Is it a matter of distance?"
"What exactly does 'infinitely close' mean?"
"Because Mikoto is in the Pure Land, and I'm also considered dead, am I therefore omnipresent?"
Kushina pondered seriously.
At this time, Naruto and Sasuke, after gagging for a long time, finally recovered.
The two looked at each other, wishing they could stab themselves with a kunai.
"Ahem."
Lin Mo decided to comfort them, smiling, "It was all an accident. Don't let it spoil your mood."
"How about this, I, your teacher, will teach you a new Ninjutsu, and we can all have some fun."
"New Ninjutsu!?"
Everyone was drawn in by Lin Mo's words.
As qualified Ninja, who wouldn't want to learn more Ninjutsu they could master?
"Yes, it's the Shadow Clone Jutsu."
Lin Mo stated it directly, performed the hand signs, and created two Shadow Clones, letting them play-fight.
This immediately ignited a fire in Naruto and Sasuke's eyes, but the others didn't feel anything special.
If they wanted to learn this Ninjutsu, they just needed to tell their families.
This Clone Jutsu (Bunshin no Jutsu), which evenly divides Chakra, wasn't suitable for them. It was more important to properly cultivate their clan's Secret Technique.
"Lin Mo-sensei, then we'll be leaving first."
Shikamaru, who was very intelligent, proactively said he wanted to leave.
It was one thing that they didn't want to learn, but it was another to watch Lin Mo teach here.
"Go ahead. I'll treat you to a meal sometime." Lin Mo waved his hand.
Soon, only Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Ino, and Hinata remained.
Hinata originally intended to leave, but Ino forcefully pulled her to stay.
Sakura Haruno also initially wanted to slip away, but seeing that Ino hadn't left, she shamelessly decided to stay a bit longer.
Lin Mo didn't care about any of this. He immediately began to explain the key points of the Shadow Clone Jutsu to Sasuke and Naruto, focusing on the required hand signs and their sequence.
Hand signs were a basic course when they entered the academy. After six years of practice, even Naruto, who was at the bottom of the class, was now proficient.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto slowly performed the hand signs while shouting loudly.
Bang!
A dozen Narutos suddenly appeared, each looking exactly like the real one.
He succeeded on his first try, mastering it even faster than Sasuke.
Lin Mo's mouth twitched. He thought, "Is this the power of a Nine-Tails Jinchuriki?"
"Clap!" Ino clapped her hands and turned to Sakura, who was in a daze, saying, "Sakura, I remember you said that if Naruto could learn the Shadow Clone Jutsu, you would smash chestnuts with your big forehead."
"You have to keep your word."
Sakura: "…"
"I, I…"
Sakura's face turned as red as fire, and she was so embarrassed she wanted to find a hole to crawl into.
She never expected to be proven wrong so quickly, and so harshly.
Naruto couldn't even learn Clone Jutsu (Bunshin no Jutsu) before, but now he had mastered Shadow Clone Jutsu in one go, and even faster than Sasuke. This was too unreasonable.
But to actually use her proud big forehead to smash chestnuts, she really couldn't bring herself to do it.
"I was just… joking." Sakura forced a smile.
"You can't take a joke and want to back out?" Ino immediately said sarcastically.
A "well" symbol appeared directly on Sakura's forehead.
She didn't care about being looked down upon, but Ino was absolutely not to be provoked.
"Don't worry, I keep my word. Tomorrow at this time, right here, I'll bring the chestnuts myself!" Sakura said through gritted teeth.
"As expected of Sakura, you keep your promises. So it's settled." Ino grinned, thinking to herself that she needed to come early tomorrow to set up the camera.
This kind of memorable historic moment—no, classic scene—
Of course, it had to be recorded, right?
"Sensei, Naruto learned Shadow Clone so quickly, but you don't seem surprised at all." Ino tilted her head, looking at Lin Mo.
"This Jutsu isn't hard to learn anyway," Lin Mo replied casually.
He really wasn't surprised that Naruto learned Shadow Clone so quickly.
After all, although Naruto was famously bad at academics, he could teach himself Multiple Shadow Clones from a sealing scroll, and at a very fast pace.
Now, with his personal guidance, learning the less difficult Shadow Clone Jutsu was naturally easier.
As a Jinchuriki of the Uzumaki Clan, this Jutsu was practically tailor-made for him.
But there was no need to elaborate on these details to Ino.
"Hahahaha, I learned it!"
"Hello, hello."
"Main body, you're really funny. I am you."
"With so many clones at once, the graduation exam will definitely be a breeze."
"…"
Naruto had no idea he had caused Sakura Haruno so much trouble. At this moment, he was having a blast playing with his Shadow Clones, his grin almost reaching the back of his head.
Especially when he saw Sasuke try several times and still fail to get the Shadow Clone right, Naruto was incredibly smug, his chin almost touching the sky.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Sasuke's face grew increasingly grim. He endured Naruto's triumphant gaze and, after more than ten attempts, finally managed to perform the Shadow Clone Jutsu.
This learning speed, even among experienced Chunin and Jonin, would be considered that of a top-tier genius.
But learning it was one thing; being able to use it well was another.
The most difficult part of performing Shadow Clone was the amount of Chakra. Sasuke had actually awakened his Sharingan on the night of the Uchiha Clan massacre (though he didn't know it himself yet), and the Chakra he could extract was actually quite a lot, otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to use this technique.
However, even so, he could only create three Shadow Clones at the moment.
"Hahahaha!"
Naruto laughed even more unrestrainedly.
"Sasuke, you're too weak. You only made three."
"If I wanted to, I could make even more."
"Useless." Sasuke snorted coldly, formed hand signs, and dispelled his Shadow Clones.
Unlike Naruto, who understood nothing, he had some understanding of the Shadow Clone's principle.
The number of clones depended on the amount of Chakra, which had to be continuously and evenly distributed.
He created fewer because he was deliberately controlling his Chakra.
Naruto's way was purely wasteful.
But he was too lazy to explain.
However, Sasuke's reaction made Naruto feel like he didn't believe him, and he immediately wanted to prove himself.
"Do you not believe me?"
"Hmph, just watch, I can make a thousand!"
With that, Naruto was about to start forming hand signs.
Lin Mo saw this and quickly said, "Naruto, don't mess around."
Naruto immediately wilted like a frosted eggplant but dared not disobey.
Lin Mo, who genuinely cared for him, was a rare treasure, and he had to cherish him.
"I'm teaching you Ninjutsu not for you to show off in front of your classmates," Lin Mo said, patting Naruto's head with a smile. "This is a Ninjutsu to help you improve your strength; it needs to be used wisely."
"Yes!" Naruto was instantly touched and guilty.
He felt he couldn't disappoint Lin Mo-sensei.
"For the next few days, don't tell anyone you can use Shadow Clone, alright?" Lin Mo said.
"Don't worry, Lin Mo-sensei, I won't misuse Shadow Clone," Naruto immediately promised.
Sasuke, meanwhile, gave a cold nod.
Lin Mo saw this and laughed, "You've misunderstood my meaning."
"Naruto, think about it. If you use Shadow Clone during the graduation exam, wouldn't Iruka and the others be greatly surprised?"
Naruto paused at this, then broke into an expectant smile.
That's right, Iruka always thought he wouldn't pass the Clone Jutsu (Bunshin no Jutsu) exam, but if he could use the more powerful Shadow Clone… wouldn't the whole class be greatly surprised then?
This was much more fun than vandalizing the Hokage Rock.
"Lin Mo-sensei, you're absolutely right." Naruto patted his chest, indicating he understood.
Sasuke, with his hands in his pockets and his face turned away, said disdainfully, "How boring."
He, Uchiha Sasuke, was not the kind of person who liked to show off.
If Lin Mo knew what he was thinking, he would surely burst out laughing.