Shadow Clone Jutsu

After he had convinced himself of his mastery over the Hidden Mist Jutsu, Komori grabbed the book he had on loan from the library off of the now dew covered grasses of the training grounds. Even though he had dispelled the jutsu, the air still felt damp. Although the more he thought of it, the more he began to think that it was just a side product of the night time air. He had not even realized when the sun had gone down, as he had been immensely engrossed in training which involved a very thick fog, which he had worked on maintaining throughout the sunset that he was oblivious to. The silver moonlight illuminated the streets of the cloud, casting shadows along the ground and giving a feeling of isolation that shrouded the village like a thick woolen blanket.
 
Aside from the rare glimpse of a passerby entering their homes, Komori was entirely alone. It must have been later than he had thought. The eerie feeling was oddly a welcomed one, as it kept him on his toes and prepared for conflict. He rather liked the feeling of readiness as it kept him alert and left him feeling like how a capable shinobi should. An old shinobi saying stated, “A ninja must be able to read what’s underneath the underneath.” This would require intense perceptional skills to maintain, which Komori so desperately wanted to be able to follow. Sometimes, he envied his brother, Komon Hyuga, for being the twin born with their mother’s visual prowess.
 
The boy then remembered something of importance. Komori had heard talks about what was regarded as the greatest of the clone jutsu, the Shadow Clone jutsu. The main significance of this jutsu was that these newly formed clones were able to perform actions on their own. This would be immensely beneficial in a combat situation, where he would be able to attack from multiple directions at once. Instead of having to rely on visual prowess, he would be able to have several sets of eyes looking in multiple directions to provide him an edge in a battle. This technique would also be beneficiary, as it would allow him to practice jutsu that has need of a target on a clone, instead of having the risk any of his friends’ well- being. He decided to focus on this jutsu the following day.
 
While Komori was rather enraptured in his own thoughts, he turned a corner only to bump into a familiar face. “Ouch,” came a delicate, familiar voice. Komori immediately realized what had happened and stood up, although he could not help but grunt due to his wounds. He regained his composure before he began to brush away dust on his legs, and without even looking, he held out his hand, “Sorry, Lilly.” He heard a faint giggle as he felt her soft, small hands grab his extended hand. “We really must stop meeting like this,” she told him as she used his arm to hoist herself up.
 
She noticed Komori using his free arm to apply pressure to his side and became worried before asking, “Are you still hurt from the other day?” He replied, “Huh?” before she pointed to his sides. He shrugged which caused him a bit of pain, put on a brave face, and held his arms behind his head in a relaxed manner. “Nah, I’m fine. Everything’s fine.” She poked him in the side with her finger which caused him to immediately drop his façade. He felt a wave of pain wash over him and hunched over as she leaned in front of him to get on his level. “It’s all ‘fine’ huh?” He gave a nervous chuckle which only hurt him even further. She grabbed his arm, “Come on, Komori, let’s get you patched up… again.” He ignored the pain and followed her on the path back to his house.
 
Komori awoke the next morning with a grin on his face, as his medical ninja friend Lilly had dropped by the previous evening and continued to work on completely healing his injuries that he had retained from sparring a few days ago. He stood up and swung his arms around, testing his flexibility. He also bent down to touch his toes in order to further test how his exercise would be affecting his still partially injured side. The medical jutsu techniques that Lilly had applied were leaps and bounds above the natural process of healing, although she was still a novice, and would not be able to heal to the best possible ability.
 
He remembered the promise he made to himself last night and grabbed the book on mastering the Hidden Mist Jutsu that he had checked out the day before. Upon arriving at the library, Komori found one of the librarians, Yuko, pushing around a cart filled with books and scrolls as she was hastily filing away and organizing the contents of the cart in an incredibly nerve-wracking manner. Komori felt it best not to bother her, and simply deposited his loaned book at the front desk, to another librarian who was working her shift. He then walked up a spiraling staircase tucked within a semi-circular pocket on the side of the wall that led to a second story, which consisted of a wraparound balcony with an open center that was overlooking the ground floor. The way that the library was organized, the higher level jutsu were usually associated with the higher level floor.
 
After a bit of searching, as he had never been on the second story before, Komori managed to find the section devoted towards non-elemental jutsu, and began rifling through the shelves, searching for the scroll on the Shadow Clone jutsu. He had stooped down to the floor to check the bottom shelves when he heard a deep, familiar voice ring out from behind him, “Looking for something, Komori?”, the man asked. Komori spun around to see his favorite instructor from the academy. He quickly stood up and bowed, as was the proper greeting of one’s master.
 
Gorami took pride in his favorite student, as he noticed how Komori was always consistently training, attempting to hone his skills and become one of the strongest shinobi alive. Gorami also felt a tinge of guilt, as he knew the tragic truth behind Komori’s past, but he also felt reassurance, as Komori did not allow the event to affect him as much as it very well could.
 
“Well, Gorami Sensei, I was thinking about how I could improve the world,” Komori began to say as Gorami raised an eyebrow out of curiosity. “The world clearly needs more me’s running around, you know?” The boy said in a joking tone before laughing at his own statement. Gorami laughed at the boy’s joke as he continued, sounding more serious this time, “I was looking for a scroll covering Shadow Clone jutsu, but I can’t seem to find one.” Komori finished his sentence while turning back to the shelves to make sure he did not miss anything.
 
Not that Komori noticed, but Gorami waved his hand in a mock gesture. “You don’t need that scroll.” Komori perked his head up, curious to what the man was going to say. “I’ve known that jutsu for years of my life. If you’ll let me, I’d like to be able to teach you something once more.”  Komori eagerly accepted his sensei’s offer, and the two made their way down the stairs, with Komori waving a quick goodbye to Yuko as they walked out of the library.
 
Gorami brought Komori to his own home, cutting through for a moment before entering the fenced in backyard. A traditional Japanese garden occupied the property, with a small creek babbling in one corner with a small bridge crossing over it leading to a small stone sculpture which contained a candle. On the opposite side of the garden, a small tree grew from a small, most likely artificially made hill, surrounded by decorative stones. A square, stone patio with a straw mat covering most of its surface area extended from the house for about ten meters, stopping short of the creek. Circular stepping stones adorned the ground in front of the entrance and led to either the tree or the candle.
 
“This is an impressive garden you have here, Gorami Sensei,” Komori said aloud whilst taking in the scenery. The man grinned and thanked him before suggesting that they move onto the actual clone jutsu. They positioned themselves on opposite ends of the mat. Komori focused on what Gorami was doing and watched intensely. “Alright, Komori, here’s the basics of the Shadow Clone jutsu.” Gorami positioned his hands in the clone seal. “This is the only sign, and it is a relatively easy handsign to perform quickly, which allows this jutsu to be used quickly, and if handled properly, very effectively.”
 
The instructor channeled his chakra into the jutsu itself and two columns of smoke appeared on either side of him. When the smoke cleared, two separate clones of Gorami were left standing. “The primary reason that Shadow Clones are considered to be one of, if not the most effective clones are that they are fully functional on their own. Observe.” One clone darted over towards the creek and began manipulating the stream by using a water style jutsu to shape the water into the form of a sword. Another shadow clone performed a series of handsigns that ended in a tiger seal before inhaling a deep breath and using Great Fireball jutsu. The other clone used the water sword to cut through the fireball, and Komori made a mental note to learn that technique at another time. Before the fire could reach the ground, however, the ground rose up instead to intercept the blast before returning to the ground, as if nothing had happened. Komori turned around to see the final Gorami drop whichever handsign he had used and dispel the other two clones.
 
Komori had watched the entire event in sheer awe of his teacher and eagerly waited for the go ahead to practice. Gorami made sure that Komori was ready, before Komori hastily activated the seal, “Shadow Clone Jutsu!” A single column of smoke appeared next to him before falling to the ground frail and seemingly broken. He dropped his head in a lapse of resignation, letting out a deep sigh. He shook himself awake, avoiding eye contact with his teacher due to sheer embarrassment, and attempted the jutsu once more. This time, the clone that appeared was structurally fine, but was unable to do anything on its own. As Komori dispelled the failed attempt, Gorami opened his mouth to offer advice but was cut off by Komori immediately switching gears to summon yet another clone. This cycle continued for a rather lengthy period of time, and as the sun began to set, Gorami walked over to the stone structure and lit the candle inside of it.
 
Komori continually practiced the Shadow Clone jutsu until he was finally able to summon one perfectly functioning clone flawlessly, with whom he sparred shortly with afterwards. Confident in his ability, Komori tackled the jutsu with renewed effort, and in less time than before, he managed to be able to summon two shadow clones. Gorami was proud of his student and treated him to a homemade dinner. The two shared conversation between bites, until after the meal when Komori headed out the door.
 
He thanked Gorami for the lesson, and waved as he walked down the streets of the Village Hidden in the Clouds. Komori looked around the village to see if he could scope out the highest point for the best view of the city, so he would be able to get a bird’s eye view on his surroundings. His eyes drifted along rooftops, towers, and mountain peaks, before finally setting his eyes upon the Raikage’s office some distance away, and settling for it. He smiled to himself and set off on a run towards the massive building which was reflecting the orange glow of the sky.
 
Komori ran to the edge of the cliff closest in proximity to the mountain that the Raikage’s office was built upon and jumped while channeling chakra into the soles of his feet in midair. He landed against the mountain side with a thud, before he began to wobble and lose his footing. He relaxed, reminding himself that if he channeled too much chakra into his feet, that the mountain would get a small crater blasted into the side of it, and he would probably plummet to his death. After regaining his balance, Komori scaled the side of the mountain and walked up it directly. Once he had reached a point where he felt comfortable with the amount of chakra control he had, he began walking along the windows of the Raikage’s office. Komori continued walking, albeit rather slowly and meticulously careful all the while. The office itself was enormous and even bigger up close as opposed to the further away view that Komori had grown accustomed to. He looked forward instead of at the glass, as the reflection of the sun could potentially be blinding and make him lose his concentration.
 
Once on top of the Raikage’s office, Komori activated the Clone handseal and turned to the newly formed cloud of smoke, which cleared away revealing a duplicate. “Okay, let’s test the range on this jutsu,” Komori literally said to himself, as he was speaking directly to a shadow clone he had created. The clone nodded to the original and walked to the edge of the roof before turning to the real Komori. “Uhm, I know this is easier for you to see and all, but how am I supposed to get down?” Komori’s eyes opened wide, as he realized his mistake and was making his clone do extra work. He quickly regained his composure and crossed his arms. He did not, however, want the clone to think the original was an idiot so the real Komori began to say, “Well, I wanted to have you as close as possible before testing the distance itself. You’ll probably have to go down the building the same way I got up here.” The clone squinted his eyes and glared at him before saying, “Are you sure that you just didn’t think this through and are just coming up with some bogus reasoning now?” Komori was dumbfounded at the inquiry, as his own twin brother did not know him. Then he really thought about it and realized that it actually made more sense, because nobody knows someone as well as they know themselves. “Positive. Now can we please learn the range of this move now? It’s really important in the long run, you know.” The clone signed and muttered something under its breath before it took a running start over the side of the building before running downwards along the glass of the building. Once gone, Komori held his face in the palm of his left hand and exhaled heavily. “Man, I’m hard on myself.”
 
The shadow clone ran down the side of the building flawlessly, even more steady than Komori himself had scaled it. Although, he had chosen to take a more difficult route up the building, and going down was almost always easier than going up. The clone ran until it was about two thirds of the way down the side of the building before taking a tremendous leap across to bridge the gap. The clone was able to run up the side of a building and dash along a few rooftops, with his arms extended out behind him due to his momentum.
 
As the clone was darting across the rooftops to buildings of the Village Hidden in the Clouds, it said aloud to itself, “I don’t really know why I’m doing this, but if I’m only a clone then what’s it even matter that I do this?” The clone, however, continued to run before he was struck with realization. “Wait a second, if I disappear then does that mean I’m gone forever?” He ran slightly slower. “Or do I come back the next time he uses Shadow Clone jutsu?” He slowed down a bit more but still continued forward. “What happens to me if I-” The clone dissipated into a column of smoke before having the chance to finish its thoughts about its own existential crisis, as he had reached about half a mile away from the original Komori.
 
When the clone finally disappeared in a cloud of smoke, the memories of that clone returned to Komori before he stood up with a shocked and offended look on his face. He shouted in a rather resigned manner although his voice became softer as the sentence progressed, “I can’t believe he said that!”, referring to what the clone had muttered under its breath before going over the side of the building. “Or, it said that?” He began to scratch the top part of his head. “Or I guess that I had said that…” Komori was left with the wonderings of whether or not he was responsible for what was said or if were some other entity that was based on him, as well as what exactly this jutsu meant, in addition to being left to ponder the thought the clone had left unfinished, regarding the afterlife of a Shadow Clone.
 
He decided to take the less dramatic way down, and enter the doorway on the roof of the office. He walked down the flights of stairs in a much less flashy manner. He continued down the several flights of stairs before walking out the front doors and into the village streets. The pain he felt from his injuries was now duller than he had been accustomed to, so he ran down the roads feeling free. Upon arrival at his home, he walked in the door, stripping himself of most of his apparel and leaving a trail of clothing scattered along the floor before collapsing on his bed and falling asleep.
 
--Exit—
WC: 3017

Requesting: 15 Stat Points and Shadow Clone Jutsu