NOVPUB
Chapter 60 - Shadow Clone Upgrade
"This mission's simple—prisoner exchange in the Land of Rivers," Fox said lazily, crouched on a railing while sipping soda through a straw. His voice was calm as he spoke to Nara Kazuki and Kakashi.
But Kazuki wasn't listening. His thoughts were elsewhere.
His Shadow Clone proficiency was just a sliver away from leveling up. Just one last push. According to his internal gauge, he needed to deplete chakra with three more full-power clones to hit the threshold.
"Wait a minute..." Kazuki frowned. "If my total chakra pool keeps increasing, then won't it just keep getting harder to fully exhaust a clone's chakra?"
He'd hit a flaw.
Even though the chakra boost he was gaining from his combat trait seemed minor now, its effects were clearly noticeable. The more his chakra increased, the more demanding it became to fully deplete a clone.
Then Kazuki noticed the fine print—barely visible, like one of those annoying disclaimers at the bottom of contracts.
"Chakra gain is based on your current base value. Every time your total chakra reaches +300%, your base value is recalibrated."
So that was it. The chakra increase from killing enemies was based on increments, not exponential scaling. For example: if he'd killed two enemy shinobi, his chakra total was now 102% of the original.
But once he hit 300 kills, his base would update to that new total, and the percentage scaling would start over again from there.
"So I really just need to keep killing," Kazuki muttered. "If only I'd been around during the Third Shinobi War..."
Back then, shinobi corpses littered the fields. Now, peace made targets scarce.
Still, he shifted his thoughts back to the current mission. This one wasn't dangerous—just a formal exchange of captives. Most likely with the Hidden Sand.
After all, the Land of Rivers lay between the Land of Wind and the Land of Fire. A perfect neutral zone.
Their team of four ANBU squads and three genin escort teams began their march with several prisoners from Sunagakure in tow.
"Hey Deerwolf, how's my kenjutsu?" Kazuki swung his blade in a flashy move, asking Kakashi casually.
Kakashi watched with an unreadable expression. n𝚘𝚟𝚙𝚞𝚋.𝚌o𝚖
"...Still rough."
He paused.
"If I had to describe it, you used to be like a monkey flailing a sword. Now you're more like... a cripple wildly hacking at people."
Kazuki's smile twitched. Was that supposed to be encouragement?
Since when had Kakashi awakened this sarcastic side?
Kazuki let out a silent sigh and sent out a Shadow Clone, having it spam Great Fireball Techniques. This was the final clone. Once it burned through all its chakra...
Ding.
When they stopped to rest, the clone dissipated—and with it, came the notification.
[Shadow Clone Upgrade Available]
Shadow Flow Mastery: Instantly swap places with any active Shadow Clone. Both your chakra and the clone's will be fully restored. Each clone can only be swapped once. This can only occur once per day. (Not compatible with Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu.)
Truth Lies in Firepower: While you have an active Shadow Clone, both your and your clone's ninjutsu deal +30% damage.
Shadow Clone: Self-Destruct Protocol: When a clone dissipates due to damage or chakra depletion, it triggers a powerful explosion, dealing heavy fire and concussive damage in a wide radius. The more chakra invested in the clone, the more devastating the blast.
Kazuki's pulse quickened.
Upgrading Shadow Clone was notoriously difficult, so each reward was precious.
The first choice—Shadow Flow Mastery—was like something out of a game: a teleport escape and a full chakra reset. A legit space-time level jutsu.
In theory, Kazuki could leave a clone back in Konoha and go fight in a warzone. If things went south—swap. Poof. He'd be back home drinking tea, while his enemies stared at smoke and empty air.
The second option was simpler—just raw damage. Strong. Effective. Direct.
And the third?
Explosive clone suicide.
Kazuki could already picture Deidara foaming at the mouth in joy. Exploding clones that scale in power based on chakra investment? That was insane.
Kazuki winced.
"Why are all these upgrades so damn good..."
He rubbed his temples in frustration.
The first was a lifesaving trump card. The third was pure destruction. Both were exceptional.
But in the end, Kazuki chose the first.
Because in battle, survivability trumps everything. After all, if Obito hadn't had Kamui, he would've been killed ten times over before even thinking about the Eye of the Moon Plan.
Only the living can rewrite the world.
And this "shadow-swap + full chakra restore" wasn't just a panic button—it could also be abused for training. Clone burns chakra, swap, repeat. Efficiency maxed.
"Rewind, rewind... Obito, this time you're not walking away clean."
Kazuki clenched his fists with excitement.
Kakashi gave him a side-eye glance.
Then looked down at the rice cracker in Kazuki's hand.
Was... was that thing so bad it made Kazuki want to strangle it? Because judging by how hard he was squeezing it, the cracker was about to shatter.
