Hiruzen Sarutobi chuckled and said to Minato beside him, "See that, Minato? I told you—there's nothing that can hide from this brat's eyes."
Barriers and seals usually didn't show themselves. Only when activated would they faintly release a barely perceptible trace of chakra. That chakra was so faint it could almost be ignored, and the stronger the barrier or seal, the less obvious it became.
Yet Roy had stopped right at the edge of the barrier.
That alone proved that the boy's sensitivity to chakra was excellent, in no way inferior to certain sensory jōnin from major clans such as the Hyūga or Inuzuka.
"He is Ren, after all. Fuguku-sama's son." Minato Namikaze smiled and waved to Roy through the window frame.
Roy gave him a slight nod. Then he glanced at Hiruzen and said lazily, "Forget it."
Without waiting for Hiruzen to form seals and remove the barrier, Roy raised a hand and summoned Swamp Space.
Right under Hiruzen and Minato's eyes, he slowly sank into the ground. When he reappeared, he rose like a ghost from the wooden floor between the two men, inside the study itself.
That effortless attitude, treating both barrier and space as if they were nothing, left the two of them staring at each other for a moment.
Earth Release?
No, not ordinary Earth Release...
Earth Release combined with space-time ninjutsu...
A sharp glint flickered through the lake-blue eyes of the future Fourth Hokage. Minato turned to Hiruzen with a smile.
"Looks like there's nothing that can stop the boy's steps either."
Hiruzen shook his head and gave a helpless laugh. He pointed at Roy, then gave up on forming the seal.
"Hmph. One or two of you brats get a little talent and start doing whatever you want. This old man can't keep up, so I won't bother fooling around with you."
Hiruzen swallowed his own embarrassment, gave a forced cold snort, and found himself a way down from the situation.
Then he slowly walked to the bookshelf against the southern wall, reached inside, and took out two scrolls.
One he handed to Minato.
The other he tossed to Roy.
"Read them here. Don't take them away."
Minato nodded. Before he could even open his own scroll, Roy frowned beside him, looked up, and glared at Hiruzen.
"Why is there only one jutsu?"
Roy held the scroll open.
On it were the clear words: Multiple Shadow Clone Technique.
After that, there was nothing else.
There was no Impure World Reincarnation, the technique he actually wanted.
So he immediately questioned Hiruzen in dissatisfaction.
Hiruzen had taken off his ceremonial Hokage robe and was wearing a loose, comfortable house outfit. In that moment, he didn't look like the Hokage, but more like a retired old man whose term of service had ended.
He skillfully took out his pipe, took a puff, and said quietly, "Child, I believe Fugaku should have taught you the principle that biting off more than you can chew is unwise."
The old man exhaled a smoke ring and looked at Roy earnestly.
"Since you insisted on reading the Scroll of Seals, I assume you already know that every jutsu recorded in it is extraordinary. They are not only immensely powerful, but also extremely difficult to learn. This old man is not deliberately trying to deceive you. Minato happens to be here, and he can testify for me."
Minato's blond hair fell behind him, loosely tied with his forehead protector strap. With one glance at the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique, he said gently to Roy, "I've studied this jutsu before. It really is just as Lord Hokage says. It isn't that simple."
"First of all, it is an expansion and extension of the Clone Technique. It requires an extremely high level of mastery over the Clone Technique itself. At the same time, it also tests the user's chakra reserves."
"If the user's chakra reserves aren't enough, and their control fails, there is even a risk of death. Scroll down..."
"There are notes left by the Second Hokage."
Minato pointed toward the end of the scroll.
Sure enough, there was a line of small red characters written in cinnabar ink:
[Those who lack confidence in their own chakra reserves must not learn this.]
[Senju and Uzumaki are excluded from this restriction.]
Roy fell silent. His attention lingered on the surnames "Senju" and "Uzumaki."
Then he heard Hiruzen take another puff from his pipe and add, "Those two clans are born with abundant chakra. The Senju need no explanation. The First and Second Hokage's reputations speak for themselves."
"As for the Uzumaki..." Hiruzen's expression turned serious as he looked deeply at Roy. "There is no harm in letting you know. From Lady Mito, who has passed on, to the current Kushina, that clan has always been one of the village's pillars. In secret, they have contributed immeasurably to Konoha."
That one sentence was directed at two people.
It was said to Roy, but also to Minato.
After Hiruzen spoke, Minato's expression dimmed. He seemed to think of his fiancée, who spent her days confined inside the sealing chamber. The emotion naturally drifting from the top of his head turned a dull gray, and Roy quietly saw it.
In this era, tailed beasts were no different from nuclear weapons.
Used properly, they were weapons that could destroy the enemy.
Used poorly, they became blades that destroyed one's own side.
From generation to generation, Renchūriki were passed down. Who exactly was being imprisoned, and who exactly was truly supporting the village?
Roy understood.
Minato understood.
And Hiruzen understood even better.
The boy's black hair fell behind him, and the Uchiha clan fan crest was on his back. Strictly speaking, he should not have been here at all.
But after a brief silence, he still held to his view and said expressionlessly to Hiruzen, "I understand the reasoning. But you are you, and I am me. We're different."
Just as "Professor of Ninjutsu" belonged to Hiruzen Sarutobi, and "Yellow Flash" belonged to Minato Namikaze, Roy naturally had his own foundation too.
The boy met Hiruzen's eyes directly, pretending not to notice the old man's furrowed brows.
"So if I learn it, you'll give me the next jutsu?"
Hiruzen and Minato exchanged a glance.
Hiruzen slowly set down his pipe. After a long silence, he nodded solemnly.
"Of course."
"The condition is that you must actually learn it."
The Second Hokage had already made the difficult points of the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique clear. Hiruzen didn't need to emphasize them again.
He leaned back in his chair.
"I permit you to copy one version and take it with you. Come back once you've learned it."
Based on his experience, and the experience of several jōnin who had once tried to learn the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique, even if the boy was a heaven-sent genius, it would still take him several months at minimum.
Whether he could learn it at all was another question.
Minato was the best example. Back then, it was because he failed to learn Multiple Shadow Clone that he switched to the Flying Thunder God Technique instead.
And reality had proved that Minato's talent truly did not lie in clones.
It lay in space-time ninjutsu.
"No need."
"You can prepare the next jutsu now."
With one glance, Roy had already converted the key points, hand seals, and Senju Tobirama's annotations recorded on the scroll into Nen script and stored them in his mind.
Then he tossed the scroll back to Hiruzen without any hesitation and sank his awareness inward, beginning to reproduce the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique inside his mind.
As a forbidden technique developed by the Second Hokage, the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique indeed had several hidden prerequisites, just as Hiruzen and Minato had said.
For example, the user needed a sufficient understanding of the Clone Technique.
They also needed enormous chakra reserves, enough to support the simultaneous creation of hundreds or even thousands of solid chakra clones.
Unfortunately...
Roy knew very well that he did, in fact, possess both of those conditions.
Leaving aside the fact that he had already learned Swamp Clone from the Swamp Demon through the Monster Codex, his current chakra level was close to 0.8 Shukaku.
Unless someone was Super Kage-level, almost no one could match his endurance—excluding Renchūriki.
Buzz.
A faint thread of aura drifted from the boy's body.
After telling Hiruzen to go get the next jutsu ready, Roy simply closed his eyes and began practicing the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique on the spot, right in front of the two men.
He left Hiruzen and Minato standing to the side.
The two froze for a couple of seconds, then looked at each other in confusion.
"This child has anger in his heart," Hiruzen said quietly after a moment, giving Minato a look.
Minato said nothing. Instead, he propped up his chin and watched Roy. Then he suddenly returned a look of his own.
"Maybe he really can do it..."
For some reason, Hiruzen's old heart skipped half a beat.
He recalled the time the boy had walked with him through the southern forest and casually showed a glimpse of Wood Release.
The old man took another puff of his pipe, then smacked his lips.
For some reason, the tobacco tasted bitter today.
Not satisfying at all.
Can he really do it?
Hiruzen suddenly wasn't sure anymore.
A breeze rose, sweeping the noise from the study.
In the silence, Roy slowly digested and absorbed the key points recorded on the scroll. Referring to his Swamp Clone and continuing his usual path of learning, imitation, and reproduction, he tried to move the aura inside his body and divide it exponentially.
At one moment, his clear eyes opened.
His hands formed seals, and he said softly:
"Multiple Shadow Clone Technique—open."
Poof. Poof. Poof.
Ten clouds of hazy aura steamed outward in a row.
Then ten Roys stood side by side, revealing themselves.
He did it?
Hiruzen leaned forward.
Minato craned his head to look.
The two of them stared into the smoke. Ten Roys had just landed on their feet. Five of them immediately went limp like noodles and collapsed to the ground.
Even if it wasn't a perfect success, from Minato's perspective, this was already far better than himself, who had only been able to split into two clones at full effort.
Clap, clap, clap.
A series of applause rang out.
Light flashed in Minato's eyes. Just like back when he first tested Roy and saw him reveal Light Release, Minato did not hold back his praise.
"To create ten clones on your first attempt, and have five successfully stand..."
"That's already quite impressive."
"Yes... he really did succeed..." Hiruzen murmured.
He had no idea how many years it had been since he last saw someone successfully use the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique.
The last time...
seemed to have been in his youth, when he first saw his teacher, Senju Tobirama, split into a hundred clones and hold off an entire ninja coalition by himself, buying precious time for Hiruzen, Danzo, Koharu, and Homura to escape.
Hiruzen stared at Roy, lost in thought.
For a moment, he seemed to hear his teacher's words again:
"I am your teacher. If someone must hold the enemy back, of course it can only be me."
Thinking back on those days, that era of glory and struggle was already gone.
Poof. Poof. Poof.
The five collapsed Roys disappeared, and the remaining four clones were also dispersed back into aura with a wave of Roy's hand.
The boy's black hair swayed in the breeze as he frowned.
"That doesn't count as success."
His eyes opened and closed. He did not indulge in the joy of Minato's praise at all.
Instead, he continued focusing his mind, once again dividing his aura, carefully trying to make it finer and more precise.
After a few short breaths,
he opened his eyes again and said in a low voice:
"Multiple Shadow Clone Technique."
This time—
poof, poof, poof.
Twenty shadow clones appeared.
Two collapsed.
The success rate had risen noticeably compared to last time.
But if any collapsed, then it was a failure.
Roy was not a perfectionist, but once he did something, he wanted to do it as well as his abilities allowed.
And clearly, with his clone experience and abundant aura reserves, twenty clones with two failures was nowhere near his limit.
Again.
The boy's brows lowered. Without even looking at Hiruzen or Minato, he closed his eyes once more.
Then—
fifty clones, three collapsed.
One hundred clones, four collapsed.
Two hundred clones, five collapsed.
Five hundred clones, six collapsed.
Poof. Poof. Poof.
Hazy aura appeared and faded, faded and appeared again, like flowers blooming and withering as seasons turned.
In an instant, Hiruzen and Minato, who had been quietly watching, were left in stunned silence.
What kind of terrifying improvement speed was this?
Was ninjutsu really something that could be learned this easily?
Poof. Poof. Poof.
Another six hundred Roys appeared.
Hiruzen and Minato's eyes were filled entirely with Roys. Their pupils were packed full of him, and they couldn't even tell how many had collapsed this time.
But Roy knew.
The instant the divided aura left his body and landed, he already had the answer.
Four.
Six hundred clones. Four collapsed.
Still had to continue.
Poof. Poof. Poof.
Five hundred ninety-nine clones were mercilessly withdrawn back into Roy's body.
The boy closed his eyes and formed seals again.
Behind the desk,
by the window frame,
only Hiruzen Sarutobi and Minato Namikaze—one the current Hokage, one the future Hokage—stood there facing each other in silence, gradually growing a little shaken and unsure of themselves.
Poof. Poof. Poof.
Poof. Poof. Poof.
Morning sunlight streamed through the window and lit the quiet study with a gentle glow.
About ten minutes passed.
After who knew how many attempts, finally—
one thousand clones.
Zero collapsed.
For the first time, it worked.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's residence in Konoha was instantly filled with dense rows of Roys.
And right at that moment, Sarutobi Asuma returned after buying his gift and reached out to open the courtyard gate.
All at once, a courtyard full of Roys slowly turned to look at him.
The cigarette in the boy's mouth—
dropped to the ground with a hiss.