Moria never imagined Amon would tell him that a single scroll could teach him an incredibly powerful ninjutsu technique. It caught him completely off guard.
He knew ninjutsu existed in this world, over in Wano. In fact, he'd come from Wano himself. He was originally the son of a retainer serving the Moonlight family, which was where his surname came from. But his father had been driven out of the family when Moria was still very young, so he'd never had the chance to learn any of it. Still, he knew ninjutsu was real, and that mastering it usually took years of dedicated training.
Now Amon was telling him that simply using this scroll would let him learn a powerful ninjutsu technique instantly. It shattered everything he thought he knew, because ninjutsu wasn't some cheap parlor trick. There was a lot involved in mastering it. To learn a technique, you first had to draw out and control chakra, then master the specific hand seals needed to release it. But according to Amon, the card in his hand could hand him a B rank Shadow Clone Jutsu without any of that. It was beyond anything Moria could make sense of.
It sounded absurd on its face, but after seeing the power of the Calm Boots firsthand, Moria had come to trust Amon's word completely. Staring at the scroll in front of him, he asked, astonished, "This scroll can really teach me the Shadow Clone Jutsu?"
"Of course!"
Amon smiled. "That's right. Just hold the experience card, focus your mind, and silently activate it. You'll master the skill instantly. After that you'll be able to split off dozens of clones, and each of those clones can use Shadow Clone Jutsu themselves. Before long you'll have a hundred Gecko Morias running around. Who could possibly stand against that?"
"Hehehehehe~~~"
Hearing that, Moria couldn't help picturing the scene in his head. A grin spread across his face, and he let out an involuntary laugh. Just imagining a hundred versions of himself beating down Kaido was enough to make him wipe drool from the corner of his mouth.
"You can try it right now. It's quick and simple, and the results will more than satisfy you." Seeing how eager Moria looked, Amon smiled and made the suggestion.
Honestly, he was curious himself. Just how many clones could Moria's Shadow Clone Jutsu actually produce?
Perona and the others nearby were just as curious. She'd overheard enough to know that once Moria used the scroll, he'd be able to produce a whole crowd of clones. If their Lord Moria was already this formidable on his own, hundreds or even thousands of him were unthinkable. Even an Emperor might not be able to stand against that.
Moria's face was lit with excitement. He nodded eagerly and called out, "Hehehehehe, I'm trying it!"
Following Amon's instructions, Moria lifted the scroll, took a moment to settle himself, and silently spoke the activation word in his mind: Use.
The instant he did, the scroll let off a soft glow. A beat later it dissolved into a stream of energy that surged into his body, and the light faded away.
"What... what is this..."
The strange sight left Moria stunned. Before he could even react, a message surfaced in his mind.
[B rank ninjutsu scroll successfully used. Ninjutsu acquired: Shadow Clone Jutsu! The number of clones you can produce depends on your spiritual power.]
Moria, who had never studied anything related to the Shadow Clone Jutsu in his life, had just mastered it in an instant. Feeling the new knowledge settle into his mind, his face lit up with excitement.
"Why don't you try it out and see how powerful it really is?"
Honestly, Amon wanted to see it in action just as much as Moria did. He was curious whether the clones would carry the same strength as the original. Probably not, he figured. Otherwise a few hundred Morias would be absurdly overpowered, more than even the Emperors working together could handle. Still, even without matching the original's full strength, the clones would make incredible support in a fight. Imagine the look on an enemy's face the moment dozens of clones appeared out of nowhere. They'd probably freeze up completely, too stunned to even fight back. It would boost the hit rate of any attack too. With that many clones striking at once, there'd be no telling where to defend.
"Alright!" Moria, eager to test it, immediately began drawing on the knowledge now settled in his mind.
A moment later, a grin spread across his face.
"Come on out, shadow clones!"
The instant he spoke, the once empty castle hall filled instantly with countless figures, every one of them Moria.
Amon glanced around. There had to be over a hundred of them.
"Hehehehehehehe..."
"Hehehehehehe..."
Every clone burst out laughing right alongside the original, and soon the whole castle echoed with Moria's unmistakably eerie cackle.
"Wha... what is this? How did Lord Moria turn into so many of himself?!"
Perona's eyes went wide with shock. She'd only caught bits and pieces of the conversation between Amon and Moria, so the moment she saw the Shadow Clone Jutsu unleashed, she was completely lost.
The rest of Moria's crew looked just as stunned.
"Oh my god, what am I even looking at?"
"This can't be real, there must be over a hundred Lord Morias!"
"How is our master this incredible..."
Every one of them stood frozen, at a loss for words, utterly floored by what had just happened.
"Hehehehehehe..."
"Amazing, they really do look exactly like me!"
Moria stared at the clones surrounding him, practically vibrating with excitement. He hadn't expected their movements to mirror his own so perfectly. It was more incredible than he'd imagined.