The gentle moonlight draped over them like a layer of fine gauze, as if concerned they might catch a cold.
That night, Uchiha Nagi and Shinobu Kocho once again stayed up, sitting on the rooftop and talking the entire night. The first half of the night was spent discussing the basics of chakra; the second half, discussing life.
Uchiha Nagi played some of his favorite melodies for Shinobu on his flute: "Floating Fragrance in the Dark Night," "Elegy," "Snowy Fields," and others.
Shinobu, in turn, recounted everything she had experienced—how she became a Hashira. Due to the inherent lack of physical strength in women, coupled with her own less-than-stellar talent, she had resorted to using poison as a substitute. Eventually, she successfully slew a Lower Rank Kizuki and was promoted to Insect Hashira.
However, her control was impeccable. Uchiha Nagi recalled that Tsunade was also a medical ninja. He wondered if her Monstrous Strength fist technique would suit Shinobu. He'd have to find time to copy Tsunade's Monstrous Strength.
The chances were slim, though. Tsunade had the First Hokage's lineage, making her resilient and full of vitality, and she also possessed self-healing abilities, which was why she could use Monstrous Strength.
If Shinobu managed to grasp chakra extraction, he could have her try Medical Ninjutsu like the Mystical Palm Technique. Combined with her poisons, she could try to innovate and create her own unique fighting style. Otherwise, relying solely on her Insect Breathing would give her no chance against an Upper Moon.
It wasn't until dawn, when the sun appeared and began to illuminate the earth, that the two realized an entire night had passed.
"Oh my, the whole night has gone by already. So fast! Well~ Let's call it a day then. I need to go back and tend to my medicinal herbs. I've gained a lot from tonight's 'cultivation'; I think I should be able to extract chakra very soon."
Shinobu smiled, her eyes crinkling. "I'll be going first, Nagi-kun."
Uchiha Nagi nodded. "Mm, I've gained a lot too. Take care, Miss Shinobu."
Shinobu opened her mouth as if to say something, glanced at Uchiha Nagi—his handsome face looking even more striking under the bright sunlight—and faltered for a moment. She hurriedly turned away, and with a flash, jumped off in a flustered manner.
Uchiha Nagi: "......."
It wasn't that Uchiha Nagi hadn't noticed anything. It was just that in his previous life, he'd been single since birth. His looks in that life were the kind that would get lost in a crowd. Coupled with the various pressures of adulthood—housing, cars, betrothal gifts, the burden of raising offspring—he had remained single his entire life.
In this life, the Konoha higher-ups were constantly plotting the Uchiha clan's demise. Under the threat of death, Uchiha Nagi had never dated and had no experience. So, how exactly was he supposed to react to a girl who seemed to have feelings for him?
He wasn't even sure if he liked her back. Scratching his head, Uchiha Nagi couldn't figure out how to handle such things. It was probably best to wait a while longer.
"Oh well, I'll just let nature take its course."
Uchiha Nagi jumped down from the roof and went to eat breakfast.
After receiving treatment at the Butterfly Mansion, the Flame Hashira had already returned to his own home to recuperate. He likely wouldn't be going out for several months. Tanjiro had gone with him to look for records about Sun Breathing in his family's archives and, incidentally, because he had lost his Nichirin Blade, was once again being chased by Hotaru Haganezuka.
After finishing breakfast, Uchiha Nagi created more than ten Shadow Clones. He was attempting something: to have his Shadow Clones use Breathing Styles.
Naruto could have hundreds of Shadow Clones create Rasengans and fight. That was because the Rasengan itself was a chakra nature transformation. However, Breathing Styles required coordinating breath with the physical body to be executed.
Did Shadow Clones need to breathe? Yes and no. A Shadow Clone itself was a mass of transformed chakra, yet it could mimic every human action, whether it was a heartbeat or the scent of breath. That was why even the major dojutsu—the Rinnegan and Tenseigan, let alone the Sharingan and Byakugan—couldn't see through them. But a Shadow Clone was fundamentally a clump of chakra; it didn't need oxygen. It merely took on the same form as its master.
So, what Uchiha Nagi was doing now was having his Shadow Clones attempt to use Breathing Styles. In future battles, hehe, a hundred Shadow Clones charging forward with Nichirin Blades would make any Upper Moon wet their pants in fear.
However, the kunai and Nichirin Blades transformed by Shadow Clones were still ultimately chakra. A demon had to be beheaded with a real Nichirin Blade to be killed.
But, when he returned to the ninja world, the power would be immense. Ninja were generally high-offense, low-defense; a single kunai could kill them. A large group of Shadow Clones using various Breathing Styles would be an unstoppable force, slaying anyone in their path until their chakra ran out.
And don't forget, Breathing Styles were like a panacea. Various ninjutsu could be countered using different Breathing Styles. Even when Tanjiro was tossed around high in the air like a sandbag by telekinesis, he didn't fall to his death because he could use Water Breathing sword techniques to land.
Poof!Poof! Poof! Poof!
A large cloud of smoke appeared. As Uchiha Nagi had expected, it failed at the beginning. Although Shadow Clones could simulate breathing, they didn't have blood vessels or internal organs. Any slightly intense Breathing Style would destabilize their chakra, equivalent to the Shadow Clone itself suffering an external impact.
"Sigh, the road is indeed long and arduous..." Uchiha Nagi sighed.
Breathing Style sword techniques had to be coordinated with breath; otherwise, they were just ordinary sword skills, their power on a completely different level. But Shadow Clones lacked real human internal organs, creating a self-contradiction.
Unless… Shadow Clones could evolve further, becoming like real humans…
Wait—
A flash of inspiration struck Uchiha Nagi; he seemed to have thought of something. Like real humans… there was a type of clone that was just like a real person. As long as its chakra wasn't depleted or it didn't suffer a fatal blow, the clone wouldn't die no matter how much it was hit, making it extremely durable.
That was the Wood Clone. A type of clone that was incredibly resilient. Uchiha Nagi blinked. It might actually work. Wood Clones were countless times more stable than Shadow Clones. If they used Breathing Style sword techniques, it might actually succeed.
Uchiha Nagi raised his half-white arm. It contained White Zetsu's cells, which meant he could use Wood Style. Madara, with only a small piece of Hashirama's flesh on his chest, could use super-large-scale Wood Style. Since Nagi had an entire arm, he could naturally use Wood Style too. Whether the scale would be large or not depended on whether he had a "chakra ton"…
A black-clothed, long-haired youth with vacant eyes walked woodenly into the courtyard of the Butterfly Mansion, watching Uchiha Nagi practice. It was Muichiro, the genius Mist Hashira, the only one who had managed to extract chakra.
"Ah, Muichiro-san, you're here," Uchiha Nagi said, stopping his practice when he noticed him.
"Mm~" Muichiro nodded. "You told me that day that if the Shadow Clones were successful, there was a way to increase training speed tenfold. I... a while ago, when you all went to investigate the Mugen Train, I succeeded."
Uchiha Nagi: "......."
You couldn't take the world of geniuses seriously, or you'd only end up discouraging yourself.
Nodding, a few of Uchiha Nagi's Shadow Clones walked over to demonstrate and explain to Muichiro the biggest "bug" of Shadow Clones: grinding experience…