This Game of Life
Chapter 29
Experimentation
After the burst of joy about figuring out the clone technique had passed, I frowned, to which the clone seemed confused. Despite succeeding on the surface, I instantly could tell that something was different about her. After all, I'd never heard of a clone that looked different from their creator, as slight as that difference may be - and nor had I seen one that burnt the ground under their feet.
"Kakashi-sensei's water clone didn't drip water everywhere, did it?" I mumbled to myself, the other Sakura eyeing me quizzically.
"What's up?"
"Not sure, exactly." I responded. "I think we need to do a few tests. I need to know everything you can do, and then I can puzzle through exactly what I've done… But before that." I sighed, kneeling and placing my palms on the ground, letting my chakra flow out. With a start, I realised that my stores were far lower than I had realised - creating the clone had taken more MP than I had expected or realised, but… Not nearly as much as I would have expected a shadow clone to take…
Regardless, assuming that it would take the same amount of MP to create an earth clone, I had enough, though I likely wouldn't be doing much else immediately afterwards. That was fine, though… the clones could test each other out once I was out. I envisioned an image of myself forming in the ground, and as I pulled the caricature of me out of the ground, I pushed the clone technique through it as I had done before.
A skill has been created through a special action! Through manipulation of earth, and understanding one's self, the skill 'Steadfast Image - Stone' has been created!
I glanced over at her as I stood back up. Just like the fire clone, she looked different to me, ever so slightly. Her eyes were a muddy grey, and she lacked some of the liveliness of the other clone, simply choosing to stand straight and look at me impassively once she was born, as if waiting for orders, as the fire clone watched with impatience.
They seem to have different personalities… Is that because of how I was feeling when I made them, or down to the elements that they're made of? Perhaps both… I let out a breath I hadn't realised I was holding, and the fire clone's head snapped back to me from where she'd been staring at her sister clone.
"Okay… Now that I know I can make an earth and a fire clone, let's move on to what you guys can actually do." I sat down cross-legged, the earth clone immediately following suit, while the fire took a second to do the same, rocking back and forth.
"Are we gonna spar?" She asked excitedly. "I wanna spar! It'll be fun having a sparring partner who's just as strong as me!"
I waited a moment, but the earth clone had nothing to add. After realising that she probably wouldn't speak unless she was spoken to, i moved on, addressing my more talkative doppelganger. "Maybe not spar spar, I'm pretty low on chakra now after making the two of you, but we'll do a little work, even if only to discover what you guys can do…" I sniffled. "And first on that agenda, actually. Can you, uh. Lower your heat, or something? Or just stop burning the grass. It's starting to stink of smoke."
"Huh? Oh!" She jumped up to her feet, seemingly having not noticed the effect she was having on the world. "Uhhhh. Let's see." She closed her eyes, concentrating for a bit, and sure enough, the ground ceased smoking wherever she stood.
"How'd you do it?" I asked, curious.
"Oh, well I assumed I was burning since I'm basically sentient fire chakra, right? So I tried pulling all my chakra into the main pool in the stomach, and it looks like it worked. There's still some flowing through to keep up the appearance and everything, and there was a pool up at my eyes that I could barely pull any chakra from, but it looks like pulling back what I did worked!"
I nodded along, mentally taking notes. The chakra around the eyes is probably what's causing the eyes to be different. Since the other one has different coloured eyes, it's probably something to do with the method I'm using. Dunno if that's normal for someone who's unused to elemental clone techniques… If it is, I should be able to stop it happening with more experience with the clones. Worse comes to worst, they could always just transform to change their eye colour… Which moves us on to the next point.
"Okay, cool. Now that we've got that out of the way, let's go onto the major details. I assume you both can use techniques of your elements, so we won't bother testing those, but… what else can you do? Can you use other jutsu?"
The clones looked at each other and shrugged, the earth clone displaying its first real show of emotion. I sighed, continuing. "Why don't you try making a Magic Bullet? That should be pretty basic, no?"
They both nodded, and raised their hands to do just that. However, the fire clone just created a Fireball in her hand, while a ball of rock formed in the hand of the other - the earthen equivalent, I quickly reasoned. "Hmm. Interesting…" I stood, placing my hands on the ground, and used the last of my MP to create an earthen wall. I leaned against it, beckoning them forward. "Try and break through this using Vermillion Bird's Beak."
Again, they nodded, and as soon as I moved away, they both tried, and failed, simply scratching the rock with the technique, or rather…
The fire clone attempted again, seemingly getting frustrated and losing her concentration, as the ground began to smoulder again, while the earth clone seemed to come to the same conclusion as I had, as she stepped back, disappointment on her face. "You can stop now." She spoke for the first time, talking to the fire clone.
"NO! I'm almost there, I can feel it! This stupid rock-"
"She's got a point, and you're not going to get anywhere like that. You can't use the technique, so stop trying." Hearing me say it seemingly got through to her, though she growled, kicking the wall in anger. "There's one last thing I want to test, before I go through what I think I've done with the two of you. Both of you, come here."
They obliged, both standing in front of me, my flame clone scowling, and my earthen one impassive. I studied them for a moment, before rearing back and punching my fire clone in the face as hard as I could. As soon as I made contact with her skin, my hand began to burn as if I had tried to punch… well, fire, and she stumbled back, spitting out blood from a split lip, and holding her cheek where a bruise was beginning to form.
"Ow! What the fuck, other me?" I watched the blood she spat, staring as it reformed into a small flame upon leaving her body, before sputtering out. What was perhaps more interesting however, was the fact that her lip was still split, and her cheek was still bruising.
Not what I expected, but good to know… I turned to the other clone, who already knew what was coming, it seemed. Wasting no time, I punched her as I had the other one. My knuckles split upon making contact with her, as the smallest, tiniest fragment of rock chipped from the impact. She didn't even flinch.
I pulled my hand back, split knuckles already restored. On a whim, I looked at my status, and looked at my skills, and finally everything clicked for me. "Okay. Come on, Fire. Let's talk."
"No way! You're gonna hit me again!"
"Aren't you the one who wanted to spar? ...Anyway, I'm not gonna hit you. I just needed to make the final test. Seriously, let's just talk."
"Well… okay." She cautiously approached, and once she was close enough, I nodded, and decided to continue.
"Okay. So as far as I can tell, from what we've seen today… You two aren't clones, or at least in the way ninja normally understand them." They both seemed surprised by that, but also were willing to hear me out, so I went on. " I've got multiple reasons for thinking that, first and foremost being your eyes. You both have eyes different to mine, and I had initially thought that was due to my inexperience with making you guys, but after thinking about it, that doesn't make much sense.
"The way I made you guys was by forming a medium, saturated by my chakra, and then using that medium and chakra to cast the basic clone technique. And that's the thing - while I wouldn't say I'm a master at the clone, I use it more than like… everyone in our graduation year, and I was already the best at it to begin with. I'm far past the point where I should be making mistakes in my clones - and add The-" Earth coughed, and I instantly became aware of the crowd that was still watching us. Conceding the point, I continued.
"And add our… special abilities into that too, and making mistakes like that shouldn't really be possible. Like, at all. It doesn't make any sense… unless, of course, you're meant to look like that. And you are, because you aren't clones - your skills say as much. You aren't the Fire Clone and Earth Clone, you're the Vision of Ferocity and the Steadfast Image - so of course you don't follow the same rules.
"The second thing that really set me off was the fact that both of you were not only intelligent, but you also seemed to differ in personality, too. I've never heard of any clone that really had a mind of its own, except for the Shadow Clone, and I think that that's part of what makes it unique - which brings me to the third point. Both of you took an inordinate amount of chakra to make."
I gestured over to the pretty much undamaged Earth Style Wall as I spoke. "The two of you and that wall over there took all of the chakra I had to make, which was over half of my total store, and pretty much the baseline that i'd be comfortable fighting with. If you were regular clones, you shouldn't have taken nearly as much - I should know. The cost of casting the Clone and forming the materials I made you with is exponentially lower than what it actually cost to make you, which is why I think you have the properties the two of you do.
"In addition to the intelligence we've already established, you also have the ability to use my techniques. However, I believe you're limited to techniques of your element - but if you try to use a technique that does not normally have one but is compatible with your element, you can use that elemental version, which is what happened with the Bullets you made.
"And finally, probably the most important detail… Underneath looking like me, you're still the elements you're made of. That's why you were burning the ground when you weren't paying attention, Fire - because you are fire, and if you don't take care to not burn things, you just will. And you're so sturdy, Earth, because you're essentially a sentient statue - and that's the final difference.
"We know from experience that clones and shadow clones both disperse upon a single hit, and from what I remember of Kakashi-sensei's fight with Zabuza, water clones seem to do the same. But you guys don't. Fire, you seem to take damage like a regular person - but Earth, you're practically indestructible. I reckon that you're probably more powerful offensively though, Fire." I hastily added, seeing the overeager clone start to get down.
"And that leaves me with my final question. Since it takes more than a single hit, what does it take for you guys to disperse? Other than losing all your chakra, obviously… There's only one real way to figure that out, I think."
Fire's eyes lit up as she caught on to my way of thinking. "Hell yeah! Just you wait, I'm gonna kick your-"
"Oi, oi. You're fighting me, not her." Earth stated calmly. "Or am I wrong, Boss?"
I blinked. Boss? "No, you're right. I want to see your limits, and since I'm fresh out of commission again, you two are the only ones I've got."
"Oh, okay. Well…" Fire grinned at the other clone. "You're no real Sakura, but you can't be that weak. This should still be fun!"
"Yes, I agree." Earth smiled, seemingly feeling more at ease all of a sudden.
This should be good. "Stick around, all of you!" I shouted, grabbing the attention of the crowd that had begun to bore. "The real show's just about to start. 3, 2, 1… begin!"
The difference between the two clones couldn't be made more clear by how they reacted to the beginning of the match. Fire charged forward, while Earth leapt backwards, calling an Earthen Bolt to her left hand as she palmed and threw three shuriken from her dominant. Fire parried them easily with a kunai, halting her momentum as she did so. This gave Earth the time to fire the attack in her hand, and the time spent by Fire dodging the blast of rock was enough for her to hit the ground, throw her hands up and out, before driving them into the ground in front of her.
The resultant Earth Flow Spears she used were much larger and devastating than any I'd used myself, and even seemed to sprout out of the ground faster. Fire's only option was to go airborne herself, where she spouted a gout of flame down at Earth. The clone frantically rolled out of the way, but still got clipped by the resultant explosion that cleared away her attack, if her smouldering clothes were any indication. Seemingly unperturbed however, she made contact with the ground again, and a pillar of earth rose out of the ground directly beneath her, sending her flying towards my more impulsive clone at breakneck speeds.
Caught off-guard with no way to maneuver in the air, Fire simply grunted, catching the other clone and spinning with her momentum and throwing her back down to earth with a shout. It seemed like Earth had expected that, though, the clone simply slipping straight through the ground instead of slamming into it.
Fire touched down, looking around warily for her counterpart. Quick as a flash, the clone appeared behind her, throwing a punch at my fiery double image, but the other combatant was quick enough to block the hit with her forearm, wincing as she did so. "Holy fuck you're solid, rock bitch!" She disengaged quickly, Earth swiping at her with her other hand, and sending another wave of spikes at her immediately after.
Fire took a glancing blow to her thigh, even as she crushed a Fireball in her hand and fired a countless number of smaller fireballs through the gaps of her fingers. The small incendiaries peppered Earth, singeing her and her clothing, but she pushed through, actually charging at Fire through the attack and nailing the surprised girl with a solid hit to her jaw.
The end of the fight in sight, the eager earth clone went for another punch, her eyes and mine alike widening as Fire used the momentum from the first hit and her naturally recoiling body to flex and bend backwards, the punch sailing over her head. She wasn't done however, punishing the now over-extended earth clone by continuing the bend into a full on flip, sending her foot flying straight into the other clone's chin.
Earth reeled backwards as Fire landed gracefully on her feet, smirking, as I was left wondering if I could do that. I hadn't realised I'd become so flexible… or acrobatic. It just proved how necessary this was - Earth approached the fight similarly to how I normally would, if missing some of my creative flair, but Fire - she was all creativity, and if it gave me more ideas, well…
Fire's eyes narrowed, and her hand reared back, her arm itself catching alight and shining the same colour as her eyes, though seemingly not being burnt by the flames whatsoever. Earth reacted instantly, jumping back as soon as she did so. That was something else I had noticed over the course of the battle - both clones, while limited to each of their elements, seemed to have a much greater mastery and affinity over them than I, resulting in even instinctual moves like what I was looking at now being far more powerful than even my strongest elemental attacks.
After a moment, Earth's eyes widened as she realised she'd been baited. She'd assumed that Fire would attack immediately, but it had been a bluff - and now she was airborne and wide open. Fire's arm flashed forward, a searing hot stream of flame flying forth from her hand. Earth was completely undefended, but then - the barest tip of her sandal brushed the ground beneath her. The contact for less than a second, with less than a toe touching the soil - but it was enough for her to cast a jutsu through, an Earth Style Wall appearing, saving her from the fire.
She immediately hunkered down behind her quickly erected defence, reinforcing it with two more walls cast more traditionally with her hands. I noticed that these were thicker - which was probably down to a multitude of factors, but honestly, I was more amazed that she was able to erect a wall in the first place with so little time and contact, leaving me wondering if I could do the same.
Fire grit her teeth, the flames erupting from her roaring as she poured more chakra into them and they grew in intensity. The walls started to crack and break apart under the intense force and heat, and Earth understood she was fighting a losing battle, clasping and locking her arms together as they turned brown, forming a large, round, rocky shield.
The walls gave way under Fire's unrelenting attack, but the shield formed from Earth's body proved to be made of stronger stuff, holding strong even as it began to glow red-hot - despite ostensibly being made from the same rock. I saw Earth's feet also return to their base earthen state, pinning her to the ground to avoid being pushed back by the inferno. After a few seconds, Fire seemed to get frustrated, cutting off the attack as she charged forward, her other hand beginning to glow. The moment she did this, time seemed to slow to a crawl.
The earth rippled, and a single earthen spear ripped out of the ground at simply blistering speeds. Earth, despite not even being able to see Fire behind her shield and the flames, had counted on the short tempered clone to get irritated at the seeming lack of effect of her attack, and now the clone was about to pay the price.
But as she had the entire fight, Fire, acting on pure instinct - for I simply knew she hadn't seen the spike, or anticipated it, and even if she had, she wasn't fast enough to react to it at the speed it was moving - twisted to the right, listening to her screaming danger sense. If it had been me in her place, maybe she would've won - I could have used a skill she couldn't, or perhaps I was faster - but she wasn't so lucky.
Instead of the spear impaling her through the chest and arresting her movement completely, it instead tore straight through the left side of her body, leaving her with only the right half of her head and chest, and completely tearing through her legs, showering the training ground in a spray of gore-turned-sparks as the blood left her body. Earth's eyes widened, even as the crowd watching gasped, horrified. But the light hadn't left Fire's eyes.
She reared her only remaining limb, still glowing from whatever attack she had originally planned to hit Earth with, and threw her hand forward, sending a violent Fireball full of whatever was left of her chakra at the shocked clone. Surprised as she was at both the damage she'd inadvertently caused, and the fact that the other clone had survived it, at least long enough to attack, Earth was sluggish to defend herself, and so the Fireball hit her straight in the chest, detonating in an explosion that knocked me back with its shockwaves.
The dust cleared, revealing the two clones, both with most of their bodies destroyed. Earth had only her torso and arms left, and even they were turning brown and cracking to dust as the last of her chakra left her body. Fire however looked almost ethereal, her whole body having become fire once again, yet still retaining a humanoid shape and my distinguishing features - at least, those that remained after Earth's final attack.
"Heh." She grinned at her crumbling counterpart. "I'll take a draw." Fire stated, a smug smirk overtaking her face as she faded into the air.
"I'll be better prepared… next time." With those words, my stone visage crumbled, leaving nothing but soil and pebbles in its wake.
I let out a breath that I hadn't realised I was holding, as my first two clones effectively, well… died. Their fight had been… epic, especially considering that well, they were me. I could do all of those things that they did, or I had the potential to, at the very least. I chuckled to myself, as I dusted myself off. They'd given me a lot to think about.
"Touka," I called out lightly, not turning to the crowd as I observed the aftermath of the spar, looking where the ground was torn up, and small fires still burned. "I know you're there."
"Y-Yes, Sakura-sama?" She called out. I frowned at her tone. I hope watching this hadn't scared her… Oh, who am I fooling? Of course it had.
"You know how you marked out my training area before? Mind asking Mikuro-san if it can get expanded to… oh, I don't know, where the fires stop?"