Chapter 23
After burning through a lot of energy, Asakawa Naoki stopped by the commercial street on his way home and polished off two bowls of beef rice. His stomach full, he finally made his way back.
Even as he walked, the events of the afternoon replayed in his head — and every time they did, a surge of excitement followed.
When Uchiha Mikoto had been attacked, he hadn't thought twice. His body just moved.
Back then, Naoki had assumed the assailant was just some Chunin or maybe a Special Jonin. He hadn't expected it to be an Uchiha with a fully matured three-tomoe Sharingan.
But honestly? If he were put in that situation again, knowing what he knows now — he'd probably make the same call.
Because if you let fear dictate your actions now, when you're weak, you'll keep backing down. You'll hesitate in front of Jonin. You'll retreat from tailed beasts, the Kage of enemy villages, Uchiha Madara, and even Otsutsuki Kaguya when they appear down the line.
The road to becoming the strongest would always be lined with people stronger than you. And if all you ever do is turn tail, you'll never make it.
He was lucky, though. His opponent had been Uchiha Setsuna — arrogant to a fault. Sure, the man was strong, stronger than most Jonin, but he'd made the fatal mistake of underestimating two academy kids and playing it safe out of fear of Sarutobi Hiruzen.
That fear had made him sloppy. And once Setsuna realized he'd been tricked, it was too late. The backlash from the Immortal Weapon's explosion finished the job.
Strength in this world wasn't just about chakra reserves, powerful jutsu, or flashy bloodline abilities. If it was, Uchiha Setsuna would never have ended up like that.
A good ninja needed more — a sharp mind, a steady heart, and keen eyes that could spot an opening the second it appeared. You had to face danger head-on, stay alive, and strike where it hurt the most. That was the only way to climb higher.
Today had been his first real battle. And while he had a lot to improve, he'd learned plenty.
On top of that, he'd walked away with an unexpected bonus.
Naoki glanced down at the black scroll in his hand, feeling a flicker of heat in his chest.
It was a gift from the Third Hokage himself. The question was, what kind of jutsu did it contain?
Naoki took a guess. As a civilian-born ninja who hadn't even graduated, it wouldn't make sense for Hiruzen to hand him any of the five elemental jutsu without knowing his chakra nature. Most likely, it was a non-elemental technique anyone could learn.
Besides — Hiruzen had specifically complimented his use of the Clone Technique before leaving.
And that narrowed it down.
"Has to be the Shadow Clone Technique," Naoki muttered to himself, already half-sure of it.
Though as the words left his mouth, he felt a pang of disappointment.
The Clone Technique he'd learned so far, proven through the Immortal Scroll, was essentially *Scattering Beans into Soldiers*. If this was just a physical version of that, it wouldn't be much use. His magic power was limited, and his dantian didn't have room for endless magic beans.
"It'd be a dream if it was the Flying Thunder God Technique," Naoki mused, grinning to himself. "Wonder what kind of magic that would prove."
Wishful thinking. A jutsu like that was notoriously difficult. No way the Third would hand it off to a kid who hadn't even graduated.
"Whatever," he sighed, shaking his head. "Shadow Clone's fine. At least it gives me a cover story for the physical clones I summon with the beans."
It wasn't a total loss. The Shadow Clone Technique differed enough from the academy's basic Clone Technique that it might trigger a different magic validation anyway.
With that bit of hope still alive, Naoki picked up his pace and sprinted home. As usual, he locked the doors and windows behind him, then made his way to his desk, pulling out the familiar white scroll.
He carefully opened the black scroll first — and sure enough, there it was: the Shadow Clone Technique.
"Alright," Naoki exhaled. "Now let's see what magic this lines up with."
He committed the Shadow Clone's hand seals and method to memory, even though he didn't have chakra and couldn't use it directly. His practice method was different anyway.
After he'd memorized every word of it, Naoki placed the black scroll aside and clutched the white Immortal Scroll, repeating the technique instructions in his head.
Then he unrolled the white scroll.
The front was the same as always — *Basic Qi Refining*, *Samadhi True Fire*, *Scattering Beans into Soldiers*…
But behind *Scattering Beans into Soldiers*, a new entry had appeared.
Naoki's eyes lit up. "Didn't expect it to be this one."
*Out-of-Body Incarnation.*
A genuine incarnation technique.
It was different from the bean soldiers. According to the Immortal Scroll's description, this wasn't a summoned soldier with limited mana. This was a full, real body. An exact replica.
Unlike the bean soldiers, which vanished once their mana ran dry, the incarnation could breathe, eat, cultivate, and survive on its own. It wouldn't disappear unless it died like any ordinary person — and as long as the original body remained alive, so would the incarnation.
A permanent clone.
A dozen ideas hit Naoki at once.
In his last life, he'd seen enough stories where the righteous sect leader and the demonic cult leader turned out to be the same person. Now, he could pull something like that off for real. He could cultivate an incarnation, have it infiltrate the Akatsuki, work alongside Black Zetsu, and steer both Konoha and the shadows of the ninja world at once.
Then he laughed and shook his head.
"Nah, I'm a good guy. I'm not some anime final boss."
Still, that innocence wouldn't last forever. The ninja world wasn't the kind of place that let you stay naïve for long.
"Whatever," Naoki grinned, leaning back in his chair. "I haven't even graduated yet. No point getting ahead of myself."
For now, it was enough to have unlocked the Incarnation Technique.
Time to learn it.
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