Naruto: Legend of the Skylark

As he spoke, Hibari reached for his ninja tool pouch at his lower back, pulling out a sharp kunai. He weighed the kunai in his hand, and under the sunlight, it reflected a chilling glint.

"Hey, hey, did you even hear what I said? We're the same person. Whatever you do to me will come back to haunt you..." The shadow clone said in fright, watching Hibari's actions.

"Don't be scared. I'm just verifying something. You absorbed all my chakra, so there must be some change, right? I always feel this anomaly might be related to the treacherous power of the Human-Human Fruit. Perhaps we'll discover something," Hibari said with a smile.

Hearing Hibari's words, the shadow clone, which was one with Hibari, fell silent for a moment, then said, "It's true that we should verify it, but what do you plan to do?"

"Hahahaha, a normal shadow clone, when it takes a certain amount of damage, will automatically dispel. So I want to verify that first..." Hibari grinned, an evil smile appearing on his face.

"Do you have to be so ruthless? You're going straight for that?" The shadow clone also said, sounding a bit scared.

"Don't worry, my technique is very good. Even though it's my first time, it won't hurt, I promise! Come on, let me stab you!" Hibari said with a sinister smile.

"Don't you feel that something about what you're saying is a little off?" The shadow clone quickly retorted.

However, despite appearing somewhat scared, it didn't take a few steps back or try to evade. As it said itself, they were one, and this experiment indeed had a certain necessity!

After a brief consideration, the shadow clone gritted its teeth and looked at Hibari, saying, "Damn it, I'll risk it! Come on, make it quick!"

A cold glint flashed in Hibari's eyes, then he said, "Don't worry, I told you, my technique is very good!"

As his words fell, the kunai in Hibari's hand, without the slightest hesitation, plunged directly into the shadow clone's shoulder blade. Immediately, a splash of blood splattered, reaching Hibari's youthful face.

"Ugh! Ah... That hurts! You bastard, you're so ruthless even to yourself!" The shadow clone cried out in pain.

As its words fell, it froze in place, and Hibari looked at it with a shocked expression.

Shadow clones can indeed withstand some damage, but Hibari's 'stab' was a fierce blow. No other shadow clone could have endured such damage.

Yet, after taking that 'stab,' Hibari's shadow clone not only didn't dispel, but it even cursed him.

At the same time, even more surprisingly, Hibari felt that his 'stab' had pierced through something solid, and the splashing blood also greatly shocked Hibari.

Shadow clones can indeed show some minor injuries, like scrapes or bruises, but they have never appeared like this before, actually having flesh and blood, as if they had 'come alive'!!!

"You... you're not just a shadow clone anymore, are you?! You... you're practically a living me!" Hibari said in disbelief and astonishment.

The shadow clone also gritted its teeth, pulled out the kunai embedded in its shoulder blade, and then watched the crimson blood flowing from the wound. It too spoke with an incredulous expression, "This Shadow Clone Jutsu must be, as you said, linked with the power of the Human-Human Fruit..."

After speaking, it suddenly pressed its hand onto the pressure points on both sides of the wound. Then, the blood flow, which had been unstoppable, slowly began to cease.

"Holy cow, it can even stop its own bleeding?! This is truly a living body!" The shadow clone exclaimed in astonishment.

"Cast a ninjutsu for me to see..." Hibari said after thinking for a moment.

The shadow clone nodded upon hearing this, then quickly performed a few hand signs, and chakra surged through its body.

It took a deep breath, then opened its mouth and exhaled towards the sky, "Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere!"

After doing this, the shadow clone said, "No problems at all..."

Before Hibari could even respond, the shadow clone first paused, then carefully felt its own body, and said even more incredulously, "Oh my god, the chakra I just lost is slowly regenerating on its own!"

This statement left Hibari speechless. It was well-known that a normal shadow clone would evenly split the original body's chakra. While it could use some ninjutsu, once the chakra allotted to it was used up, the clone would definitely dispel on the spot. As for automatically regenerating chakra slowly, that was simply impossible.

Yet, this shadow clone he had just created could not only withstand real damage, had a real body, could use ninjutsu, and even regenerate its own chakra... Wasn't this essentially a clone?!

After this series of verifications, Hibari completely understood: the being created by his Shadow Clone Jutsu was indeed unique!

This greatly delighted Hibari. Having such a clone would make everything much more convenient, and undoubtedly, it would be a trump card in actual combat!

However, before he could even savor the joy, Hibari suddenly felt a bit awkward again. The Shadow Clone Jutsu would completely drain all his chakra in one go. Wouldn't that mean he could never use the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu? Otherwise, wouldn't he have to sacrifice his own life force to fill that void? That would be utterly idiotic!

Furthermore, in actual combat, if he used a Shadow Clone Jutsu and his chakra was instantly completely absorbed, wouldn't he become a fish ripe for the slaughter? Wasn't this just setting himself up for failure?

As these two problems came to mind, Hibari felt a wave of bitterness. His earlier joyful mood completely vanished.

Hibari looked at the shadow clone and said somewhat painfully, "Do you know that your appearance has directly rendered two of my ninjutsu useless?"

"What do you mean?" The shadow clone asked, puzzled.

"Think about it, your mere appearance drains all my chakra. Doesn't that mean I can never use the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu? At the same time, I can't use this Shadow Clone Jutsu in actual combat either, otherwise..." Hibari explained to it.

The shadow clone frowned upon hearing this and quickly said, "It seems that's true. This is a significant drawback!"

However, after a moment's thought, it spoke again, "Perhaps there's still a turn of events. Think about it, the Human-Human Fruit can't endlessly create beings like me, right? I'd estimate one of me is probably enough. Your chakra should have recovered somewhat by now. Try again, can you cast a Shadow Clone Jutsu? Wouldn't that verify it?"

Hibari's eyes lit up upon hearing this. As expected of his own clone, it was smart, almost catching up to him.

With Hibari's physical constitution, his chakra recovery rate was also very fast. Although he didn't have much chakra left now, the Shadow Clone Jutsu wasn't particularly focused on the quantity of chakra, as long as the chakra could be evenly split into two.

Of course, with less chakra, the shadow clone's strength would naturally be less.

But now, Hibari wasn't concerned with strength; this was just for verification.

Without delay, Hibari formed the hand signs for the Shadow Clone Jutsu, then manipulated the meager chakra within his body, and softly chanted, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

This time, there was indeed no sluggish feeling. The next second, with a soft 'bang!', another figure identical to Hibari appeared beside them.

Seeing this, Hibari's lips curved into a smile, like someone who had just found a treasure. He burst out laughing, "Hahahahahaha, it's just as I thought!!!"

Before his laughter faded, he saw the first special shadow clone raise its hand and deliver a fierce punch to the abdomen of the second shadow clone. Immediately, the second shadow clone couldn't withstand the force and 'poof!' it turned into smoke and vanished.

At the same time, Hibari felt a painful 'memory' enter his mind, and he also felt a faint, almost imperceptible fatigue.

"It seems this one is a normal shadow clone, nothing special about it..." The shadow clone Hibari said, looking at the scene.

"You bastard, you're clearly retaliating for that 'stab' I gave you earlier, aren't you?" Hibari said helplessly, looking at the shadow clone.

The two Hibaris had now roughly figured out this anomalous phenomenon. They sat under the shade of the tree, discussing the matter.

"From the current situation, it's clear that I'm a very special shadow clone, essentially a 'separate,' second you," the shadow clone said.

"At the same time, if I've already been created, a second special shadow clone won't appear. And after I've recovered my chakra reserves, I can also use the normal Shadow Clone Jutsu. Although it hasn't been tested, the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu should also be usable..." Hibari nodded and said.

"However, it's still quite troublesome because without me, using the Shadow Clone Jutsu would be very dangerous for you, as you would instantly enter a state of completely depleted chakra..." The shadow clone said in a deep voice.

"And we don't know if this situation will change in the future. It would be perfect if I could freely choose whether to create you as the first clone or a normal shadow clone..." Hibari said after thinking for a moment.

"Indeed," the shadow clone said. "However, before that, there are indeed some feasible methods to solve... or rather, temporarily mask this drawback."

"Exactly..." Hibari glanced at the shadow clone, then smiled and said, "The fact that you can regenerate your own chakra means I don't need to maintain your existence. As long as you don't use up all your chakra at once, you can exist indefinitely, and then I can freely use the Shadow Clone Jutsu and Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu."

"Yes, but there's also a second method, and that is... the Yin Seal!" the shadow clone said softly.

-------

Want to read ahead of schedule? Head over to my Patreon ——— patreon(.)com/PrimalDemon [remove the parentheses ( )]