When Teacher Ibuki walked into the classroom carrying his teacup, he glanced below the podium out of habit.
Then he stopped.
His eyes landed on the little figure in red.
Shin-chan was sitting in his seat with a textbook open in front of him, head lowered as he read.
Teacher Ibuki blinked hard.
Then rubbed his eyes.
He looked up at the clock on the wall.
7:50.
No, that was right.
Slowly, he walked behind the podium, set down his teacup, and looked at Shin-chan again.
Shin-chan was still reading.
Teacher Ibuki cleared his throat.
"Ahem."
Shin-chan looked up. "Good morning, teacher."
Teacher Ibuki was visibly startled. He opened his mouth, then quietly asked the student in the front row beside him,
"When did he get here?"
"Really early," the student whispered back. "He was already here when I arrived."
Teacher Ibuki fell silent.
He looked at the clock, then back at Shin-chan.
Had he somehow gotten the time wrong today?
The bell rang.
Teacher Ibuki began the lesson.
"For today's class, we'll be learning the Clone Technique."
A rustle passed through the room.
Of the basic ninja arts, the Clone Technique demanded the most precise chakra control. A lot of students got stuck on this lesson for a long time.
"I'll demonstrate first." Teacher Ibuki formed the hand seals. "Ram, Snake, Tiger."
Poof.
The white smoke cleared, and an identical figure appeared beside the podium.
"The key to the Clone Technique lies in the distribution and maintenance of chakra. Clones have no physical substance, but if your chakra control is precise enough, the naked eye won't be able to tell the difference."
Teacher Ibuki dispelled the clone. "This jutsu isn't difficult. Come up one by one and show me."
The first student to go up was a boy. He planted his feet wide, formed his hand seals, and strained until his face turned red.
With a poof, white smoke burst out beside him.
When it cleared, there was a lopsided clone squatting on the floor. Its face was blurry, and its arms were as thin as rope.
The whole class burst into laughter.
Teacher Ibuki sighed. "Your chakra is too scattered. Next."
The second, third, and fourth students went up.
Some of their clones were missing arms or legs.
Some appeared only to collapse to the floor and stop moving.
Some were just vague white human-shaped outlines, without even any facial features.
Gradually, the laughter in the classroom died down.
Everyone realized this technique wasn't easy.
Before long, it was Shin-chan's turn.
Teacher Ibuki gestured. "Come up to the front."
Whispers spread through the room.
"Can he do it?"
"Isn't Shin-chan only good with sword stuff..."
"I've never seen him use any ninjutsu."
Shin-chan walked up beside the podium. His fingers moved through the air, and he finished the hand seals in an instant.
Poof.
White smoke burst out.
When it cleared, three Shin-chans were standing neatly beside the podium.
Red shirt. Yellow shorts. Potato-shaped head.
All three Shin-chans lifted their heads at the same time and looked at Teacher Ibuki.
"Teacher, is this okay?"
Their voices overlapped perfectly, completely synchronized in pitch and rhythm.
Teacher Ibuki's first instinct was to look at their feet. The flaw in the Clone Technique usually showed there—when chakra was distributed unevenly, a clone's feet would blur or float above the ground.
But the feet of all three clones were planted firmly on the floor.
"You learned this before?" Teacher Ibuki's voice came out a little dry.
Shin-chan shook his head. "Nope. I just listened to what teacher explained."
Teacher Ibuki was silent for three whole seconds.
"You... make another one."
Shin-chan formed the hand seals again.
This time, five clones appeared beside him.
Someone in the classroom sucked in a breath.
The five clones stood in a row. Every single one was sharply defined, natural in expression, even down to the folds in their clothes.
They all tilted their heads at the same time.
"Is this okay?"
Teacher Ibuki coughed and tried to make his voice sound normal.
"Y-Yes... that's fine. Go sit down."
Shin-chan nodded. All the clones vanished at once, their chakra reclaimed so cleanly that not even a trace of excess energy was left behind.
He turned and walked back to his seat.
The classroom stayed silent for a full five seconds.
Then it exploded.
"What was that?"
"Five clones?"
"When did he get this strong?"
"Doesn't he usually not even throw shuriken straight?"
Teacher Ibuki slapped the podium hard.
"Quiet!"
But even his own voice sounded a little unsteady.
The Shin-chan of today really did feel unfamiliar.
~~~
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