Chapter 33: The Clone and Uchiha Six-Tube
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Night, eight o’clock.
One hundred and thirty-two kilometers from the Hidden Leaf Village.
Whoosh—pop.
In the darkness, Naruto suddenly appeared with the Flying Thunder God Technique.
“Boss.”
The moment he looked up, Naruto saw an old man in his eighties calling him “Boss.”
This was none other than the founder of the Old Godfather brand—the Old Man.
He did have a name, though: Wan Liang.
Although he was one of Naruto’s clones, after years of interaction, Naruto knew that this clone had become hopelessly immersed in the persona of Wan Liang.
It was practically a case of split personality.
Naruto neither understood nor objected to the situation.
As long as it did not interfere with getting things done, a clone that could flawlessly complete its assigned missions was a good clone.
Still, having someone this old call him “Boss” was simply unacceptable.
“Since you’re planning to take the commercial route, just call me BOSS.”
“Yes, BOSS.”
Looking around, Naruto realized they were inside a room.
“Where are the enemies?” he asked.
According to the intelligence, these bandits were a vicious gang that had committed countless murders.
The town mayor nearby had issued a bandit-suppression mission to the Hidden Leaf during the day. Naruto had come this time to steal the kills.
“They’re in a hideout on the nearest mountain.”
As he spoke, Wan Liang headed outside to lead the way.
He moved with surprising agility. Although Wan Liang looked like an old man, that was merely the result of a Transformation Technique.
“Wait.”
Naruto grabbed Wan Liang and extended his senses.
Whoosh—
The two of them instantly teleported to a Flying Thunder God kunai.
It was pitch-black all around them, with only a patch of light ahead.
“They’re inside that stronghold.”
Following Wan Liang’s pointing finger, Naruto saw a wooden fortress ahead, its scattered lights clearly coming from candles.
It gave him the strange sensation of having returned to ancient times.
Naruto put on his mask. Three tomoe appeared in his eyes, rotating and linking together before finally forming the shape of a four-pointed shuriken.
Even a lion used its full strength against a rabbit. This was Naruto’s first real life-and-death battle.
“Move.”
Naruto charged forward at the head, with neither of them bothering to conceal themselves.
“Halt! Who goes there?”
Before they reached the front of the stronghold, a sentry spotted them.
Naruto shot him a single glance.
The man immediately became wooden and vacant, like a puppet.
The blank-faced puppet leaped over and obediently followed behind the two of them.
Five minutes later.
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Looking at the neatly arranged group of people before him, Naruto felt an inexplicable frustration.
Who could possibly understand this?
He had not even lifted a finger. One sweep of his gaze, and all of them were finished.
He had only just completed his six-item build after outscaling time itself, yet before he could enjoy it, they had surrendered outright.
Was this really all there was to his first life-and-death battle?
Whatever. He would look forward to the next one.
Naruto switched his eyes into Rinnegan mode, seized one of the men, and began modifying him with Yin-Yang Release.
Half a minute later, the first special clone was complete.
“It can only contain one million units of chakra?”
Were these ordinary people simply too weak, or was something else going on?
Naruto was a little disappointed. He had expected the capacity to be higher.
Still, one million units of chakra was terrifying enough for an ordinary human.
According to the system’s parameters, even a Kage-level shinobi had at most five hundred thousand units of chakra.
With a one-million-chakra limit, mastery of all five basic chakra natures, a randomly assigned kekkei genkai involving one or two special chakra natures, and a wide range of ninjutsu, the strength of this special clone was unquestionably above the Kage level.
It could completely be called a Super-Kage.
Naruto did not intend to create too many clones of this caliber. There was no need.
Five would be enough—just right for a future arena match against the Five Kage.
Besides, this world had far too many sensory and detection techniques, such as the Byakugan, not to mention the chakra-sensing abilities of powerful shinobi.
If he created too many of these clones and reached the point where Super-Kage were everywhere and Kage-level shinobi were worth less than dogs, Naruto was a little worried that it might trigger another Great Ninja War.
That would not serve his interests.
As for the rest, turning them into elite jonin would do.
The elite-jonin template was simpler: a chakra limit of fifty thousand, mastery of two randomly assigned chakra natures, and a corresponding collection of ninjutsu.
A special clone of this level would be considered an elite jonin in any hidden village.
At the very least, each one would be slightly stronger than Kakashi-sensei.
Kakashi-sensei was far too weak.
Super-Kage, elite jonin, middle-rank ninja for running errands in the future, and ordinary people dedicated to business.
It was just like a smartphone product line, with strict distinctions between tiers.
There were twenty-three bandits in total: five transformed into Super-Kage and eighteen into elite jonin.
“Almost forgot.”
Naruto gave every special clone a pat on the body, imprinting a curse mark on each of them.
This Heaven Curse Mark was a special technique Naruto had developed himself. It could absorb natural energy on its own and convert it into stored chakra for the clone.
The speed was fairly decent. Depending on the clone’s constitution, the conversion rate could reach as high as five percent—or a chakra recovery rate of five percent per hour.
And if they truly ran short of chakra, there were always Carefree Pills.
Although these special clones could not share his stats, they could share his inventory.
Naruto was counting on them to fill in the map of the shinobi world and, while they were at it, place Flying Thunder God kunai everywhere.
That way, he could sneak out every night and travel around the entire world.
Finally, Naruto carefully examined all the clones.
Perhaps because their souls had been preserved and forcibly modified, every one of them had the standard dead-fish eyes and an expression of utter blankness.
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They looked like cold machines devoid of emotion.
This… seemed acceptable.
At least they were far better than theatrical method actors like Wan Liang and Xiong Fengshan!
Speaking of which, Naruto had saved them. If he had not come today, every one of these people would have been dead by tomorrow.
Now, they could retain their souls, live properly as individuals, become powerful, and freely travel throughout the shinobi world.
They would never be able to repay Naruto’s kindness!
“All right. Here are your assignments:
“First, explore the shinobi world with all your strength. Investigate the local customs and conditions, and place my Flying Thunder God kunai in hidden yet important locations. Within one year, I want my three hundred and eighty-eight thousand Flying Thunder God kunai spread across every country, city, village, mountain, forest, and lake in the shinobi world.
“Second, gather intelligence on the major hidden villages, their shinobi, and their jinchuriki.
“Third, avoid fighting other shinobi whenever possible. Your priority is to stay alive. If necessary, you may fight back.”
After thinking for a moment, Naruto added, “That’s all for now. I’ll add you to the channel first. If there are any further orders, I’ll notify you directly.”
These clones were somewhat special. Although they were called clones, they could not really be considered clones at all. At most, they were living modified bodies that merely carried out his will.
Fortunately, this lousy game recognized them as clones. Although they could not synchronize his absurd passive abilities, they still had full access to his inventory and chat functions.
“Now, disperse!”
At Naruto’s command—
Whoosh!
All the clones vanished and began carrying out his orders.
After resting for ten minutes and restoring his chakra to full, Naruto used the Clone Technique again.
This time, the clone was a genuine Wood Clone.
It possessed all of his talents, attribute-based passive abilities, and the ability to use all of his various eyes. It also possessed numerous chakra natures and half of his chakra.
“Boss.”
Naruto turned his head and saw an exact copy of himself grinning cheekily and calling him “Boss.”
Although the two of them looked identical, Naruto developed a headache at a single glance.
This “Naruto” had eyes that darted around constantly and had called him “Boss” the moment they met.
Damn it, another personality of unknown origin.
Naruto considered recalling him, but decided against it.
He would never know what the next chocolate flavor would be, and he would never know what personality the next clone would have.
He might as well get used to it.
“What’s your name?” Naruto asked.
“Menma Uzumaki!”
“Hm?”
“Boss, didn’t you say you don’t like eating menma?”
“No. Your name is Madara Uchiha.”
“Yes, my name is Madara Uchiha.”
“Actually, your name isn’t Madara Uchiha. Your name is Uchiha Six-Tiles, but when you’re outside, you have to pretend to be Madara Uchiha.”
With more than six million units of chakra, Six-Tiles was the perfect name.
“I understand, Boss. I’m Uchiha Six-Tiles, but when I’m outside, I have to pretend to be Madara Uchiha.”
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