"Naruto, I really didn't want to have to say this to you, but I really didn't have a choice. It's your third time taking the graduation exam, and this is the third time you've failed the clone jutsu. I'm sorry, but you the genin exam."
Naruto, who had but one moment before been gushing with pride at how he, Naruto Uzumaki, the future Hokage of the leaf, had just passed the exam, deflated faster than an untied balloon.
"B-but Iruka-sensei, this is my last chance to pass the test!" Cried out Naruto.
"I'm sorry Naruto, really I am. But there's nothing I can do for you. You should've studied harder instead of slacking off!"
At this point, the other students in the class (nearly all of which became genin) were starting to laugh at him. Naruto, shocked and heartbroken, walked outside of the class, down the hall, out the building and sat on the rope swing.
Minutes and what seemed like hours passed by. Sure enough, a stream of academy students- all genin now, came out, cheerful as can be, excited to finally be recognized as true ninja, through and through.
A hand on his shoulder jostled Naruto out of his depressed state. It was the assistant teacher, Mizuki. While normally he was quite mean to Naruto, he figured that any comforting words at all would help his state of mind.
"You know Naruto, there is another way you can become a ninja today."
Instantly, Naruto perked up and was on his feet. Another chance? At fulfilling his lifelong dream? What is Mizuki, crazy? Just tell him how to do it already!
"Oh ho, I can see your excited huh? Well let me tell you a little secret. If a student who fails the exam really believes he can still be a ninja, he can prove his skills by sneaking into the Hokage tower and stealing the forbidden scroll of seals. Of course, you must also learn a jutsu with it. Think you can handle it?"
Mizuki-sensei was awesome! "Just tell me where, dattebayo!"
Mizuki chuckled in an entirely non evil or threatening manner. "Haha, I'll tell you everything…"
….
Wow, stealing the scroll was easy! All he did was tell the receptionist he was talking to jiji like normal, steal the scroll, use super secret super special sexy jutsu, and he was home free!
After arriving at the meeting point (with plenty of hours to spare) Naruto sat down and opened the scroll. Now, what jutsu to learn?
'Eight gates… sounds kinda boring… the reaper death seal…. Now that sounds cool, but it seems way to complicated, same with the flying thunder god… lightning armor? I mean, it seems pretty badass, but I could probably just buy some armor and it would do the same thing… Shadow Clone? I suck at clones, but maybe If I learn this one, I'll be able to pass the exam!'
His mind set, Naruto read the instructions.
'The shadow clone jutsu was created by Tobirama Senju during his reign as the second hokage. It is meant to be used as a supplementary jutsu useful for intelligence gathering, however it's variant the mass shadow clone jutsu can be used to overwhelm opponents with great numbers. However, the technique was forbidden by the second hokage due to the large chakra cost the technique requires. Do not attempt this technique without the chakra capabilities of at least a high-jonin…' Eh, he'll probably be fine. But enough of the stupid exposition, let's see how to actually use the jutsu! 'To use the mass shadow clone jutsu, put your hands in the cross seal and feel the chakra inside your body. After you have a good feeling of it all, split it evenly amongst you and however many clones you choose to create. Do not try to simply project your form like the regular clone jutsu, but try to split your very essence between your clones. If your clones dispels by poofing away in smoke very soon after you summoned it, it's ok, you are doing it right, you simply need more practice using it until you can make the clones sustain themselves for longer periods of time. Most normal shadow clones pop after around 8-12 hours if they are doing no strenuous activities, like fighting or training. However, practitioners with plenty of chakra can make clones last up to a week before being dispelled. Going back to mistakes with shadow clones, you can know you are doing it wrong if the shadow clones are just regular clones, or when you try to make multiple shadow clones but end up with only one. The latter is especially bad, because it means you are thinking and not feeling the formation of the clones. This results in using too much yin chakra, and can result in the horrific side effect of- ' Ok, screw the exposition, he already knows how to do the technique
After reading, he slung the scroll of seals back on his back (he didn't want it stolen while he wasn't looking) and started to learn the jutsu…
...and ended up being able to successfully make one of them in under an hour. And what did Naruto's first ever shadow clone, his wonderful masterpiece, the first of what would make him the most powerful and famous ninja throughout the world do upon entering the world?
"Wow, this jutsu is way easier than the regular clone jutsu! And he's solid too! I wonder what else these babies can do?" The clone exclaimed, poking the original Naruto a couple of times.
The clone decided to see just how much damage one of his clones could take, without realizing that he was the actual clone, and he punched Naruto square in the jaw.
Naruto yelped in pain. "What the hell dude, you're the clone! The jutsu instructions said that all clones should know that!" Well, didn't the instructions also say something about how making only one clone means something went wrong?
The clone only laughed. "Haha, come on, you can't fool me you stupid clone. After all, if I was a clone, would I be able to make more clones?" The Naruto who was obviously the clone put his hands into the cross seal, and with a pop, around 50 more Naruto's appeared!
What the hell? The clone could use jutsu too? "What?! No, I'm the real Naruto, I can do it too!" Naruto formed the seal himself and another 50 clones came into existence. Guess he actually was doing the shadow clone right. "Plus, look at this!" The original pulled out a kunai, and cut his hand. Blood dripped down into his palm, and he showed the clones.
"Oh yeah? I bet all Naruto clones can bleed!" The opposing clone motioned for one of his clones to stab himself to prove his point. Unfortunately, he just dispelled himself.
Simultaneously, all Naruto's in the vicinity flinched as they remembered stabbing themselves.
"...huh. I guess I really am a clone. And I guess the shadow clone jutsu transfers memories too, that's probably what the instructions meant by intelligence gathering." The clone who thought he was real said. "Well, now what?"
The Naruto's thought for a moment, and tried to decide what to do next. The original Naruto shrugged his shoulders. "I guess I'll just learn how to dispel you guys while I wait for Mizuki-sensei to get here-"
"No! I mean, that's a bad idea," The clone who thought he was the original said. "I mean, we have all these Naruto's here, all these copies of the scroll of sealing, and the shadow clone jutsu is supposed to be for intelligence gathering right? Well, why don't we all just learn jutsu from the scroll of sealing! Think about it, instead of killing us- I mean, dispelling us, we could just help you train!"
"Well, we can't do that because...That's actually a pretty good idea. But mizuki-sensei might come soon, so why don't you guys all go to my place and start copying the seal down, just in case you guys dispel?" The original Naruto was actually kinda surprised by how smart that one clone was. He was thinking of things even the regular Naruto didn't think of!
So Naruto started thinking. Could he really just use the shadow clone jutsu to train? I mean, he's never heard of anybody training like that, but it should be doable. He can make fifty easy, so imagine if he had 1000 all working on perfecting the ultimate jutsu throughout the land! He could read every book ever made, making him the world's smartest man! He could do fifty missions at once, making him rich! He could become the world's strongest ninja, making him the Hokage!
But the shadow clone couldn't be so… powerful could it? Of course not, the clones got popped after one hit, and they couldn't be that useful to train with, because they normally got popped within the day, and that was without activity!
However, Naruto wasn't that stupid to think that weaknesses couldn't be overcome. What if he found a jutsu that made his body stronger, or one that let him absorb chakra so he wouldn't run out? There had to be jutsu like that in the scroll!
Naruto made one more clone. "I'm gonna dispel you, and can you pass on what I want to be found to the other clones?"
The clone nodded his head. "I mean, I don't think I can stop the memories from transferring boss. Just hit me already." That clone had a point. Naruto punched him in the gut.
...
The Naruto clone who thought he was real, the first clone Naruto ad ever created, was sitting on the couch in Naruto's apartment, hurriedly skimming through the forbidden scroll of seals like his life depended on it. And in his mind, it probably did. 'Here it is, a chakra draining jutsu!... Crap, Iruka sensei says that draining chakra from someone else was impossible, because of the difference in your chakra coils. Ah, but the jutsu says that it will cause irreparable damage to your chakra coils… That still sucks. But what about clones? I mean, I'm supposed to just be big mass of chakra, right? I could definitely use this technique!'
"Everyone, turn to page 235 in the scroll." The original clone said. As the Narutos began reading the instructions and practicing the jutsu, any casual observer could see that out of all the clones, the only one that hadn't slacked off at least a little, stolen some instant ramen, or slept a little bit, was the first clone. He hastily tried and re-tried the jutsu, without pause, for such a long time that the other Naruto's were getting suspicious he was really one of them. However, the first clone was soon rewarded, as his hands starting glowing, giving him a strange rejuvenating sensation.
The first clone ruthlessly put his hands on the first clone he could fine. "Whoah, that feels really weird man...I'm getting kinda tired…" He would say no more, as he had popped out of existence. Meanwhile, the first clone could feel himself get stronger then he was even when he was first created! He made a clone and popped it to distribute the memories to the rest of the clones. They cheered, as they had found a way to prolong their lives! There would be nothing stopping them from becoming Hokage now!
"Ok guys, let's all go outside and practice the jutsu. We can see what we can absorb chakra from, and what we can't."
"Yatta!" A horde of Naruto Uzumaki streamed out of the apartment like an orange flood.
…
"He he, looks like I went a little overboard on Mizuki-teme, huh Iruka-sensei?"
Iruka, who was in awe of the academy student producing what seemed like thousands of clones, shook his head to get rid of the shock. He smiled. Naruto really was Konoha's number one most surprising resident.
Iruka got on one knee. "Naruto, come over here for a second, and close your eyes. I got something for ya."
Naruto closed his eyes as he felt something being tied around his forehead. When he opened his eyes again, he say Iruka's teary eyed face- without his hitae-aite. In the reflection of his eyes, he say that the headband had changed ownership. Growing teary eyed himself, Naruto realized what that meant.
The academy teacher grabbed Naruto in a hug. "Thank you for saving my life Naruto. You pass. Now you're not the class knucklehead anymore, you're the Leaf's Number One Knucklehead Ninja."
Naruto couldn't think of anything to say. It was the best thing anyone had ever done for him in his entire life! So he and his teacher just hugged it out, as ANBU and eventually the Hokage arrived on the scene to sort things out.
Later, Naruto found himself in the hokage office.
"Naruto, it's official. I'm making you a genin of the leaf, starting today. Make sure to go to team placements in one weeks time at the academy, alright Naruto?"
"Yeah, yeah, gramps," The brand new ninja scoffed. How could he ever forget team placements?"
Hiruzen just chuckled. "Sorry Naruto-kun, I just can't be too sure. After all, you do have quite the reputation for not making it to the academy in time."
Naruto tried, but he couldn't shuffle out of the room fast enough to hide his blush from the wise and old ninja…. Actually, maybe just old.
…
"I'm home!" The original Naruto exclaimed as he walked into his house, expecting to find at least some of the clones there. Instead, he only found his house littered with instant ramen cups, clothes, copies of jutsu from the scroll of sealing...and that's really all he had inside his house. He never really had much money, but that's not the point. His house was a complete mess. He made a couple clones to clean up the mess.
"Aw, boss, why do we have to do it! We want to go train, not clean up your mess!"
Naruto just scoffed, "It was you clones who did it in the first place!" At least he had someone cleaning up now, and he also knew where all the clones were. He already knew that some had gone to training ground 7 because of the memories transfer thingy, but he didn't know all of them had gone.
He ran there, expecting to see mayhem as Naruto clones practiced their new draining technique on each other. However, he only saw one clone directing them, as there were groups of clones training the leaf sticking exercise, throwing kunai and shurikens, and practicing the new technique.
"Hey Naruto, I hope you don't mind, I've kinda taken control of everything while you were gone." The clone said while surveying his subjects.
"Nah man, it's fine. Can I ask why I'm practicing on the leaf sticking exercise though?"
The clone sighed. "Yeah, it sucks, and its stupid. However, it's the only chakra control exercise we know, and after reading through the scroll I found out that's what we need the most. In order to perform precise jutsu, we need superior control then what we have now. In case you haven't noticed, we have much, much more chakra then other people. That's why we were able to make so many clones when fighting Mizuki, even though the scroll says most jonin can't make more than one hundred. The problem is, the more chakra you have, the harder it is to control."
Naruto narrowed his eyes. "That's quite a detailed answer." They widened again. "But that's great! Imagine how much better our techniques will be! Maybe we can actually do the regular clone if we get good enough?"
The clone smiled. "Yeah, that's what I was thinking! And also, I think I found out a solution to the problem with how easily clones pop."
Naruto's eyes widened with surprise. Naruto knew he had a ton of chakra, and now his clones could gain indefinitely more chakra with the chakra draining technique. If he could find a way to make clones solid, there was no end to the possibilities! He could have an endless army of clones as skilled as he was (and he would be the Hokage, so that's an army of kages) as much time as he needed to train in a technique, and he could learn theoretically anything with enough time!
"I bet your thinking about how awesome it would be, huh? Well, I got another idea too. After we make clones solid, we could transform into civilians and get jobs! Imagine how much money we could make! We would never worry about cash again, and have as much ramen as we want! And even better… We could infiltrate ninja villages, and learn their jutsu!"
This clone had plenty of aspirations, and Naruto didn't know if they were good yet. "Let's just work on getting clones solid. How can we do it?"
The clone smirked, putting his hands in a cross seal. "Oh I'll tell you how!" A pop was heard and a pop was heard again, as every Naruto in the vicinity knew exactly what to do.
Of course, the answer had to be in the hardest shinobi art there was.
Fuinjutsu.
While Naruto didn't understand it, since he was a genin know, he could check out up to fifty book at the Konoha Ninja Library.
And fifty clones reading fifty different beginner fuinjutsu books was a lot of different insights and knowledge on the world of sealing!
Soon enough, Naruto thought to himself as he fell asleep that day, the clones still in the training ground practicing every jutsu he knew. Soon enough he would build the ultimate Shadow Clone Combo Jutsu...and use it to become the greatest ninja the five nations had ever seen!