"Where did he go?" the first officer demanded as he climbed down to check for the boy, but he found nothing.
"Was that a shadow clone?" another muttered.
"Damn. We should report this to the captain — that kid just outsmarted us."
"You should go back and call a sensory ninja. He'll still be nearby, I know it," said the one who'd thrown the kunai.
The first officer didn't notice a shadow slip into his own.
That shadow belonged to Megumi.
Megumi stayed inside his Shadow Box with a few burns — far better than being arrested by those thugs. He connected his consciousness to his crow to scan the area for anyone nearby, then let the crow return to him while the chūnin headed back to the police station.
The crow arrived on time, behaving as if it had been hunting a worm. Megumi slipped into the bird's shadow; the Uchiha couldn't tell the difference between the real bird and him.
When he returned to a nearby dark valley, he emerged from his shadow and stored the rabbits in his box to avoid unnecessary questions.
The ten thousand ryo he'd had was already down to 9,700 after he bought cheap spicy ingredients. The shop owner had tried to scam him, but Megumi had got the better end of it — stealing almost all the man's stock in the process.
On his way home, he saw a boy his age carrying a baby robe around his neck, walking beside a beautiful woman in the market street. Megumi wasn't in the mood for greetings. Luckily, it began to rain and he arrived home soaked.
He cooked a meal, ate, locked the door, and lay on his bed. He could still taste how powerless he'd felt before overwhelming force. Running had been an option — and might be again.
"Okay, what a day," Megumi muttered. "From tomorrow I need to start training. System, what do you think?" he asked aloud.
[Yes. Now you see why you should train.]
[But you need to decide what you want: kenjutsu or taijutsu.]
"I'll train both. System, can you let me learn a new technique so it's faster?" Megumi asked, bracing himself for the System's response.
[You …]
[You can develop one technique — for the last time.]
"Wow. Thank you, System."
[Don't thank me yet.]
[What technique do you want to create?]
Megumi's mouth twitched. He didn't even know who was bossing whom. "I want to create a shadow clone that gains experience. They'll train and pass their gains back to me. I'll bind it with a vow so I can only create three clones."
[...]
[Good luck.]
Megumi stood and walked to the center of his room. Crouching, he placed his hand on his shadow and poured cursed energy into it. He visualized his image and let the shadow do most of the work.
Failure after failure followed. It was harder than manipulating birds. Sweat poured down his face.
He activated his tattoo mark and his Hollow Eye — one to boost his cursed output, the other to let him concentrate without pressure. Minutes after activating his Hollow Eye he passed out.
"Aaah!" Megumi woke clutching his head. Turning, he saw a replica of himself sleeping beside him. He checked the clones; they were asleep. Then one clone melted into a liquefied shadow and flowed back into Megumi. He received all their energy; though still groggy, he felt revitalized.
"Yes — I did it!" Megumi jumped up and danced around.
He touched the remaining two clones and absorbed them into his shadow. The usual laziness that plagued him was gone.
He went to his mother's room looking for his repaired sword after the clash with the Root ninja. He couldn't find it, but found a much simpler training tool.
"A wooden sword will be sufficient," he said, grabbing two wooden swords from under her bed. Back in his room, he closed the door and created two clones, pouring extra cursed energy into them to make them durable training partners.
He turned to the first clone. " go Train in boxing and kickboxing. Don't cause trouble downstairs, okay?" The clone nodded and smiled.
"Why do I feel like something bad will happen?" he thought, but pushed the feeling aside. He handed the second clone a wooden sword.
"Now come at me." He hadn't finished the sentence before the clone struck, cracking the floor with the impact.
"No, no, no—" Megumi regretted using his room as a training ground. How would he explain this to his mother?
The clone didn't stop. It attacked with a thrust; Megumi sidestepped to the left. "I'm getting better," he giggled.
He charged with a fast jab. The clone dodged, grabbed his hand, pulled him close, and—faster than Megumi could react—delivered a heavy punch that cracked the wall behind him.
"Haa." Megumi felt elated, spittle at his lips; his mind buzzed as if he were floating.
The clone wouldn't let him rest. It lifted the wooden sword to knock him out, but paused when it saw Megumi laughing and jumping back into position. The clone watched him warily — something had changed.
Megumi's grin turned manic. He lifted the wooden sword, showing the Hollow Eye and the tattoo. He raised his foot and, touching the ground, reached the clone's back. He tried to pierce the clone from behind to end the fight before the neighbors noticed.
The clone revealed its own Hollow Eye.