Naruto: The Scientific Ninja

Chapter 47: Clone Training

"Shadow Clone No. 1, go practice your Water Release and catch more fish."

"Original body, why should I be the one to go fishing?" Shadow Clone No. 1, being highly individualistic, immediately protested Sasuke's arrangement.

Sasuke's reply was swift. "Can you metabolize food better than I can?"

The clone was left speechless. Sharing the same memories, he knew that while he could eat and relieve himself just like Naruto's clones, the food he consumed would only grant a temporary feeling of fullness and a minor recovery of physical strength. It was impossible for a clone to replicate the original body's advantage in digesting flesh and blood.

"Hmph!" Shadow Clone No. 1 snorted coldly. Knowing the original was right, he had no choice but to go practice his Water Release and catch fish.

Finally, Sasuke thought, his heart racing with excitement, I've learned the Shadow Clone Technique. I can use it to multiply my training. He could already see the immense utility of the jutsu. It could be used for scouting, for assistance in combat, and most importantly, for accumulating memories and training experience, exponentially increasing his rate of growth.

Just then, the chakra he had consumed was rapidly restored by the smoked fish he had just eaten. "Shadow Clone Technique." He formed the hand seals and released another clone.

"Shadow Clone No. 2, practice your swordsmanship and take care of these fish at the same time." Sasuke untied the fish-cutting knife from his waist and tossed it to the clone, along with a small bucket of salt from a sealing scroll.

"Yes, original body," the second clone replied, its personality extremely cold. Without another word, it began to practice. Under the flash of the blade, the freshwater fish were cleaned one by one, their flesh salted and prepared to be smoked.

Wow, another workhorse, Clone No. 1 thought, his heart feeling much calmer now that he had a companion in his drudgery.

"Continue!" After eating another five kilograms of fish, Sasuke created another clone. In the following minutes, fueled by the abundant food, he released several more, one after another, until he had a total of nine.

It wasn't that he couldn't release more, but he was mindful of the mental fatigue caused by the influx of memories when a clone was dispelled. The Multiple Shadow Clone Technique wasn't a forbidden jutsu for nothing. He knew himself well; he wasn't like Naruto, with his special Jinchūriki physique. Nine clones seemed to be the limit for what an ordinary person could endure.

With nine clones, he could begin practicing various techniques simultaneously: the three academy jutsu, tool manipulation, hand seal speed, chakra control, and especially his new Water Release techniques. The main body would focus on digesting food to replenish chakra and physical strength, while simultaneously practicing taijutsu.

This dietary therapy is truly worthy, he thought. It's much stronger than the Nara's secret medicines. He could feel his cells becoming saturated with energy, their activity slowly increasing. The physical deficit caused by years of consuming military ration pills was finally being offset by proper nutrition.

"Luckily, we're in the Land of Rivers," he mused. "There's an inexhaustible supply of fish here. If I were in Konoha, my body might be able to handle this training, but my wallet certainly couldn't."

In just one hour of training, he had consumed nearly fifty kilograms of fish. A bowl of ramen in Konoha cost nearly 100 ryō. At a conservative estimate of 100 ryō per kilogram, that was 5,000 ryō per hour. A ten-hour training day would cost 50,000 ryō. A month of this, and he would be out 1.5 million ryō.

Sss... he hissed. A thought suddenly struck him. No wonder those Akimichi seem so powerful. Their strength is built on money. If he hadn't mastered his infrasonic radar to obtain an almost endless supply of fish at no cost, this kind of training method would have bankrupted him in half a month.

Still, he thought, I can't just eat fish for a long time. I need to supplement it with carbohydrates and vegetables, or my body will have problems. Wild vegetables were easy enough to find, but grains on the front lines were ridiculously expensive.

Forget it, he decided. Worse comes to worst, I'll use a sealing scroll and trade smoked fish for food. During the war, food was hard currency. He was sure his smoked fish would sell for a good price. At this thought, his eyes suddenly lit up. It was a good idea for financial management. He immediately ordered his six water-practicing clones to catch every fish in the river while they trained. The main idea was simple: drain the pond to catch all the fish.

- - - -

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