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Uchiha Aozora broke out in a cold sweat and immediately dispelled the Shadow Clone Jutsu.
"One shadow clone and it's already trying to steal my spotlight?"
As the jutsu was released, a brief fragment of memory flowed back into his main body.
He clearly sensed the overwhelming urge for dramatic flair that had erupted from the clone.
"…Am I really this chūnibyō?"
Before he could dwell on it, the Heavenly Book changed.
On the previously blank page, gray ancient characters appeared—"Clone."Then the characters darkened, faint golden light blooming along their strokes, until they finally transformed into brilliant gilded script.
What surprised Uchiha Aozora even more was that after the golden characters faded away, four new ancient characters appeared:
"External Incarnation."
These four characters were extremely dim and gray, clearly indicating that the inheritance was incomplete.
After the gray characters vanished as well, Uchiha Aozora thought that was the end of it—but unexpectedly, the words "Tool Control" appeared on the Heavenly Book. The once-gray characters now emitted a faint golden glow along their edges.
"One technique triggering three responses?""I didn't expect Shadow Clone Jutsu to have such high technical value."
He wasn't surprised by the evolution of "Clone," and he could understand the appearance of "External Incarnation," since it belonged to the same branch of clone-type divine techniques.
What he hadn't expected was that "Tool Control" would also be partially perfected as a result.
He immediately focused his awareness on Tool Control.
After a while, Aozora slowly opened his eyes, thoughtful.
"So Shadow Clone Jutsu doesn't just divide chakra—it also splits off a portion of the mind. No wonder shadow clones possess independent consciousness."
"And Tool Control's core lies in the splitting and attachment of mental force. That's why it benefited from this as well."
Suddenly, Uchiha Aozora sucked in a sharp breath.
He recalled how, in the original story, Naruto casually created hundreds or even thousands of shadow clones on a daily basis.
"And he didn't suffer mental collapse?"
"Is it the protagonist halo?"
"Or was Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu optimized specifically in this regard?"
"Or… does the mind not equal the soul?"
After letting his thoughts wander briefly, Uchiha Aozora decisively snapped back to reality. He never wasted too much time on things he couldn't figure out.
He shifted his attention back to the Heavenly Book—specifically to "Clone" and "External Incarnation."
After carefully comparing the two, Aozora discovered that "Clone" was essentially an optimized version of Shadow Clone Jutsu. It didn't increase power, but merely refined the chakra circulation pathway, slightly reducing chakra consumption.
"External Incarnation," however—even with only fragments revealed—sent his imagination soaring.
Compared to shadow clones, incarnations created through External Incarnation were true physical bodies. They wouldn't disperse with a single hit, could cultivate and grow independently, and possessed their own consciousness in daily life. Yet at critical moments, the main body could fully assume control, and could synchronize the incarnation's awareness at any time.
After seeing its potential, Shadow Clone Jutsu suddenly didn't seem so appealing anymore.
Unfortunately, External Incarnation remained gray, with no cultivation method available at all.
After drooling over it for quite some time, Uchiha Aozora finally began practicing the hand seals for Shadow Clone Jutsu.
He didn't actually need hand seals to perform ninjutsu—but he had no intention of exposing that secret too early.
The Uchiha clan already had Shisui of the Body Flicker. One was enough. Any more anomalies, and neither Konoha's upper echelons nor the Uchiha themselves would be able to accept it.
The next morning, shortly after dawn, the three members of Team Three had already arrived at the rice fields.
Looking at the golden sea of ripened rice, Uchiha Aozora felt his spirits surge and declared,"Everyone, let's push hard today and finish this in one go!"
Inuzuka Aya eagerly echoed,"Yeah! Ganbatte!"
Gekkō Hayate looked at the two overly energetic youths and coughed lightly."There's no need to rush, is there? The mission deadline is four days. Today's only the second day."
"And—" he deliberately paused.
Pointing at yesterday's progress, he continued,"We only harvested about one-quarter yesterday."
"Even if we're more skilled today, there's no way we'll finish."
Uchiha Aozora shook his head."Yesterday, I was just sparing your feelings."
Inuzuka Aya snorted."Hmph! That's nonsense. I was clearly hiding my strength."
As she spoke, she suddenly thrust out a fist toward Aozora."Uchiha Aozora! Want to compete? Let's see who harvests more rice today!"
Aozora fought the urge to roll his eyes.
First claiming she'd been holding back, then immediately issuing a challenge?
That level of intelligence—her pet dog must've eaten most of it.
Even so, he didn't refuse.
"No problem."
Then his eyes flickered as he added,"But just competing is boring. How about a wager? Something with stakes."
Aya didn't hesitate for even a second."Sure. You're losing anyway. Say it—what are we betting?"
Ignorance truly is fearless, Aozora thought.
"One ninjutsu scroll. C-rank or higher. How about that?"
He looked at Aya provocatively.
Of course, she wasn't about to back down. She immediately agreed and asked Gekkō Hayate to act as witness.
No matter how much Hayate tried to dissuade them, it was useless. In the end, he reluctantly became the referee.
Standing on the ridge between fields, he drew an imaginary line."This is the center line. One person on each side. We go until sunset. Whoever harvests more wins. If someone finishes their side first, that also counts as victory."
Uchiha Aozora felt something was off.
Before he could think it through, Hayate had already waved his hand."Begin!"
Before the words fully landed, Inuzuka Aya shouted at Aozora,"Uchiha Aozora, you're definitely going to lose!"
She waved to her small white dog, who leapt onto her body.
"Secret Technique! Beast Human Clone!"
A burst of smoke erupted, and the white dog transformed into another Inuzuka Aya.
"Let's go, Shiro!"
With that, the two of them buried their heads and started harvesting.
Uchiha Aozora shook his head with a faint smile."That's it?"
"Ninja Art! Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
With a poof, two shadow clones appeared beside him.
"Go! Shadow clones!"
The clones clearly felt offended—but still unwillingly stepped into the field to harvest rice.
Shiro's Beast Human Clone wasn't truly human and lacked finesse in using tools. As a result, Aozora's two shadow clones quickly overtook Aya's progress.
Seeing victory within reach, Aozora leisurely prepared to chat with Gekkō Hayate.
A gentle breeze brushed through Hayate's hair as he stood on the ridge, looking serenely at peace with the world.
Aozora's face darkened."Hayate, you're pretty sly."
Hayate laughed awkwardly."My health's not good! Cough! Poor health!"
Looking at Hayate's frail frame, Aozora relented."Just this once. But this afternoon, you're helping too. Let's finish the mission today."
Hayate nodded quickly."Alright!"
During the midday break, Inuzuka Aya had fallen far behind. She furiously stuffed herself with food, rested briefly, then charged back into the fields under the blazing sun.
Aozora and Hayate couldn't very well stand by and watch, so they joined in as well.
Finally, before sunset, Team Three completed their very first mission.