Chapter 21: Shadow Clone Combat
Disclaimer: Naruto is the work of Kishimoto
The day pretty much ended with Kakashi telling him to think of the ways he could use Shadow Clones more effectively in battle than right now.
He also had to check on Sasuke and Sakura on their training so he couldn't just focus on him. Though Naruto snickered since that was an afterthought for Kakashi especially since he was the one to remind him of that.
Iruka never allowed him to Tree-Climb without him watching…at least with him actually doing it and not Shadow Clones.
Naruto shrugged and agreed since he knew he had an almost infinite amount of time to learn off Kakashi.
He could explain him knowing certain Jutsu later as him practising them without him knowing or just using a mass amount of Shadow Clones to explain his proficiency in them.
"Hey Sensei!" Sakura waved cheerfully on top of a branch near the top of the tree
The two arriving noticed that the Kunai that Kakashi had thrown at the pair stuck at the edge. Naruto noted to the side was Sasuke who was impressively a third up on the first day.
The Tree Climbing exercise take a Genin around a week to master though there were some exceptions being himself and Sakura in the extremes. For those with higher than the average Chakra Reserves; it would take longer with Naruto taking at least a month to get it down perfectly even with Shadow Clones aiding him (Though without proper life and death motivation to aid him).
Sakura on the other hand took a matter of hours or even shorter-
"This exercise is really easy! I got it on my first go!" she cheered though unintentionally insulting Sasuke in the process.
-Or even on the first go.
Naruto shook his head since that's what perfect Chakra Control did for you. All Sakura needed was simply to train on that, improve her stamina and Taijutsu for close combat and add in some Genjutsu before becoming a Medic-nin to become something special. Hell she could've gotten the Chunin rank for just that.
And she wasted all that talent on merely being a Fan-girl. What a waste of potential.
"Ho? So Sakura managed to climb up the tree in one go?" Kakashi mused not being surprised at all. However the Tree Climbing exercise was two-fold with the control part only half of it.
"So how many times did you climb up that tree? What is your time limit of doing his exercise?" he then asked in a bored tone though had that 'I already know the answer but will make you tell me anyway' look on his face.
"Umm…" Sakura looked around not sure what to say but muttered out, "Once?"
Kakashi outwardly sighed at his female student's actions and explained, "Chakra n laymen terms is like a muscle. The more you use it; the more it grows but you need to direct it in a certain way to control it.
Perhaps I should've explained that Tree-Climbing is also meant to build up your reserves like the Leaf Exercise."
"Hn. So we have to keep on doing this until when?" Sasuke asked stopping his attempted climbs.
"Well until you can stand completely still vertically on a Tree ideally. That's when you most likely have mastered it enough" Kakashi added, "Though you could take it further to add on using the Leaf Exercise at the same time."
A slight glance was all that Naruto needed to know his Sensei was referring to him.
"But most Shinobi master Tree Climbing and Water Walking to get enough control for the majority of the Jutsus they can learn" he added as an afterthought, "Those who take the extra method usually are trying to learn more chakra control intensive jutsus or have larger reserves like Naruto here and have to do so to get enough Chakra Control."
"Hn. Just need to train more to increase my reserves" Sasuke finally said after a few moment before starting to train again.
Naruto nodded and added, "Yeah, plus you already had more reserves than civilian born Ninjas. Those from clans, have bloodlines of some sort or have a special condition tend to have more Chakra Reserves starting off than others. Plus Clan members tend to train in their family's Jutsus as well causing them to increase their Chakra reserves that way as well" he shrugged at the end.
"And which of those do you fall under?" Sasuke asked curiously.
While he was part of the Uchiha Clan, he also had the Sharingan Bloodline in him; he could understand him having above average reserves for his age.
However he didn't know why Naruto had even larger reserves.
"All of the above" Naruto stated ignoring the warning glance Kakashi gave him.
Talking about the Kyubi was a bad idea in front of Sakura but Naruto had no intentions to letting that piece of information out especially when Sakura could easily spin a story where he was going to kill her/he is a demon to everyone else he knew to spite him.
Not that she would out of fear at least at the beginning. One slip up was all it took and frankly Naruto couldn't see her NOT slipping that up later on.
It was kinda sad to know about someone you should be able to consider family.
Konoha took the notion that the team was your family to a literal state at least for ninjas that is. Someone you fought, bled and almost die with is someone you can trust sometimes even more than blood family.
In that sense, through Kakashi Team 7 had an extended family that they would literally rely on if Kakashi ever asks or kicks the curb too early.
"Though the special condition is person and I don't want to talk about it. Like with Kakashi-sensei's Sharingan or what happen that night with you" Naruto added causing said two people to flinch a bit at the memories while Sakura remained blissfully unaware.
"Hmm…" Kakashi mused, "Though I DO know you are part of the Uzumaki Clan and they were distant cousins of the Senju Clan and partly helped found Konoha…I didn't know they had a bloodline."
Sasuke was immediately more interested that Naruto was distantly related to a former rival clan to his and that he actually had a bloodline. Over time Naruto managed to get the story of his clan…unfortunate end out of him and had agreed to help but not to interfere in the battle if he could.
With the massive number of Shadow Clones Naruto could make and that they could send back information of what they did to him made one of the few perfect tracking tools where death by being found didn't matter.
And now he also had a bloodline on top of that?
"Dobe is your bloodline powerful?" Sasuke asked though impolitely which caused Kakashi to glare at him a bit.
Kakashi had no comment since this was up to Naruto and Kakashi himself was interested in said possible bloodline. Even Sakura was interested in this.
"It could be depending on me since Bloodlines are another tools to train with and not to depend on" Naruto made that remark for when Sasuke actually managed to activate his Sharingan.
He didn't want the Teme to completely depend on it and…die.
"But for some reason my Bloodline can be split into a combination of three parts" he held out three fingers, "The first and most common is called the Uzumaku Body which is a stronger body which means more stamina, better endurance, pain tolerance, healing factor and sch. I KNOW I have this one since you guys seen me go on training for hours more than most Jonin. Plus this adds onto my Chakra reserves as well."
Everyone nodded, he was a freak of nature like that.
"The second is called Uzumaki Chakra which is more powerful Chakra but I have no idea if I have it or no. Apparently those with this part of the Bloodline can condense their Chakra so much that they can make weapons or chains from it" he added, "Never tested it since I don't even know how to start to do it if I have that part of the Bloodline."
Sasuke mused thinking of the many Shadow Clones Naruto could make…and add in all of them making weapons from their Chakra. Yep, he wasn't going to fight the Dobe every again if he had this power. Not even the Sharingan can stop a thousand chains from wrapping around him.
"And the last?" Kakashi asked though remembering a certain red-haired who created chains in battle…and when she was angry.
"Sensing to the highest degree called Uzumaki Sensing" Naruto stated bluntly.
"Isn't that kinda…" Kakashi started but Naruto cut him off, "To the highest degree meaning they could sense emotions and better yet sense malice meaning they could never be ambushed and any and every attempt of an attack would be seen through."
Kakashi was honestly speechless. That level of sensing was beyond anyone he knew of…to sense malice itself was not uncommon but to sense intent itself? That could allow them to immediately know whether someone was an ally or not. It was…frightening that such an ability existed.
With a sigh Naruto ruffled his hair and said, "I don't know whether I have this or not as well…though if I ever collapse out of nowhere when there is a large number of people wanting to kill me…well I know there are levels of sensing to this which Hokage-jiji talked about as well as with the Uzumaki Chakra."
He left the rest unsaid.
It was then that Sakura got the courage to speak up and asked, "So if your clan was so great, why did they die off?"
All three males there flinched. Naruto for the stupid question, Sasuke because that could easily be asked of his clan as well and Kakashi since he knew history and what it took to take the Uzumaki Clan out of the spotlight of power in the world.
"Actually they didn't die off but rather were attacked" Naruto stated in an emotionless tone to Sakura.
This girl was really good at angering him now that he didn't have a crush on her, "The Hidden Village of Whirlpool is actually located a bit north of Wave and is in ruins. But my Clan was not simply killed off on a whim but rather were targeted for a long time."
Seeing that Naruto didn't want to explain further, Kakashi who also knew did especially since he lived with an Uzumaki before and knew the story from her…hmm…he wondered if the Saindaime told Naruto of his mother yet…his father was off limits of course but…
"After the Second Shinobi War, every nation suffered a great deal though Konoha wasn't in a bad shape seeing we were on the winning side in the end. Whirlpool however didn't take place in the war that much only to aid their allies; Konoha. Due to this and their already high wealth; Whirlpool pretty much held a lot of power in sea trade" Kakashi explained, "Which caused Kumo and especially Mizu to dislike them to the point they allied with each other and a number of smaller countries and headed out to destroy that village."
"On another note, at the same time Iwa agreed to stall Konoha by skirmishing our land which was another reason of why the Third Shnnobi War happened" Naruto helpfully added.
"So? Two of the Great Nations attacked. It was natural they died off so easily" Sakura simply stated remembering something about an ally being attacked at the same time when the Third Shinobi War was beginning.
Naruto snorted and said, "Whirlpool was literally an island surrounded by Whirlpools making it one of the more dangerous natural defences a Shinobi Village could have and want in open waters. There are reasons for the names of each Hidden Village."
"The Village Hidden in the Mist is literally hidden in the Mist. The Village Hidden in the Sands has sandstorms and the heat is enough to create a natural illusion to hide in. The Village Hidden in the Stone is located in a place so naturally suited to hide that the Konoha/Suna forces in the Third Shinobi War actually circled around their village before realising it was there. The Village Hidden in the Clouds is also literally hidden by the clouds and would be next to impossible to find if not for people going in and out the place all the time. Then there's our Village Hidden in the Leaves. The Shodaime's Forest and the Trees are unique that not only are they large and stronger than any natural trees but they never lose their leaves making us literally hidden in the leaves instead of a Village Hidden in the Woods."
Naruto looked and each and every one of them, "The Village Hidden in the Whirpools or Uzu was hidden because no one wanted to get near the Whirlpools in the first place. Plus my Clan were known for our Fuinjutsu which could've easily made a storm out when they attacked."
Kakashi gravely nodded remembering said legendary Fuinjutsu used on him…primary as pranks and such, "Indeed. All of this and a combination of what I now know as their Bloodline allowed them to evacuate their civilians to Konoha while they faced the enemy. The battle lasted a full week with a mere 100 from the Uzumaki Clan and other Shinobi there adding up to no more than 1000 in total against a full 30 000 enemy Shinobi…and not one enemy survived at the cost of the Uzumaki Clan."
Sasuke and Sakura were gaping now. Konoha right now had at most around 12 000 Shinobi on active duty and maybe 5000 more inactive.
Plus it half of those forces were actually Genin and not only that but career Genin that would never get promoted. Konoha after over a decade after the Kyubi attack was finally regaining its strength in numbers but also quality.
Naruto had read about the forces back during the Third Shinobi War and even the Secodn Shinobi War and found a common point.
There were at most only 500 Jonins in total that the village had during peace times and up to 1000 Jonin during the heaviest part of war even if those numbers quickly dropped back down to 500 Jonins near the end of a war.
And apparently that was intentional under the orders of the Shodaime which the Nidaime and Sandaime supported all in turn.
Deception at its finest where there were many Chunins that were skilled enough to become Jonin. Many stayed at Special Jonin but there were those rare who actually made it pass Jonin and into the Elite Jonin level.
The Elite Jonins were there to intimidate enemies and show off that they had power in those forces backed by a good deal of other skilled fighters that may or may not add their ranks into the true Elites.
Due to this set up, there were at best a dozen Elite Jonins, 500 Jonin a thousand or so Special Jonins and the rest split between Chunins and Genins. And that's not even counting ANBU who counts in numbers officially but unofficially were much more skilled than they were ranked.
Who said ANBUs were the elite of the village?
Even in their ranks, Jonin ANBU were hard to find since they rather stay at Chunin or Special Jonin at best and the fact was that most Ninjas couldn't hide as well as they should compared to ANBU.
However the small abnormality was when there were Elite Jonins or those equal to that rank in ANBU. They could still be ranked Chunin as far as the village knew but on record there was only one Elite Jonin ANBU and that was only when he retired and rejoined the rest of the ranks.
And that person was in front of him as his teacher.
Even he couldn't even a thousand of him defeat a force that large with those numbers. Killing 30 enemies was easy enough alone. Having to deal with 30 000 enemies at once even back with a thousand as skilled as you would probably kill you.
With larger numbers, the proportion of the battle going bad was much higher.
And Uzu did not have 1000 Elite Jonin to fight for them but a small force that consisted of Jonins, Chunins and Genins spread out evenly.
Seeing the expressions on his students' faces Kakashi chuckled and said, "It IS a large number but back then there were more Shinobi in general since every country is demilitarising right now…with the exception of Kumo."
"Plus during the Third War, the Third Raikage in order to save his men stood and fought off 10 000 Iwa Shinobi over 3 days and 3 night before dying" Naruto added though part of him didn't want to undermined his clan's achievement in taking down 30 000 enemy Shinobi in one battle.
Hearing all of this about a clan that he was pretty sure was only referenced once or twice at best from what he remembered, Sasuke asked, "So you're studying Fuinjustu as well then?"
Naruto smiled to that and answered, "Yep, almost finished the basic level where I have storage seals and explosive tags. I heard cool stuff about the advance level dealing with elemental chakra and time and space dimensions so I want to work towards that!"
Sakura on the other hand was silent; afraid of what Naruto could do to her now. He had a Clan and furthermore a Bloodline! Konoha lived Bloodlines and prided themselves based off them! The Baka literally had a HIGHER standing than her now!
The shock from him putting her down badly wore off and now she was starting to feel the effect of not having his support anymore and even became vicious to her!
Everyone in her team were parts of Clans or had Bloodlines! Sakura remembered that her Sensei was part of a Clan or something and was the last member or something. Plus he was powerful enough to train Sasuke-kun!
She had to do something to make sure she wasn't at the bottom of the team. She HAD to get something to allow her to be above at least the Baka.
But those thoughts thankfully stopped when her Sensei ordered, "Sakura. If you have enough time to sit there; go train up your reserves. That way you won't drag others down with you when you can't keep up."
With that, Kakashi leaned on the side of a tree while Naruto shrugged and created a Shadow Clone to make more Shadow Clones to train some more. Every bit of training counted in making sure he was stronger.
The next day Tazuna needed someone to guard him.
And since Sasuke still needed to finish mastering Tree-Climbing and Naruto needed to work on his Shadow Clone Combat as he was a key figure in the upcoming battle, the honour fall onto Sakura much the Tazuna's displeasure.
"Do I really want girly here to protect me?" Tazuna asked ignoring the pissed off look Sakura had for not having the time to pretty herself up with make-up, "The blonde brat can make those clone things. Why can't a bunch of them come with me instead?"
"Naruto's Shadow Clones can only take a single hit. If they don't brace themselves meaning if they are ambushed then they will pop with any minor hit and disappear. And with that your protection" Kakashi explained, "Though I can send a few with you if you wish but Sakura needs to be there because Sasuke is still training. Plus if a Clone popped then Naruto gets the memories and we'll know if you're in danger."
Tazuna sighed in relief at least. While he didn't have perfect protection with the girl, he still had some protection even if those blonde clone things weren't actually real or could take a hit.
Moving along, Sasuke started back on his day training with trying to master the Tree-Climbing exercise with a Shadow Clone keeping an eye on him and telling him some advice as Sakura pretty much would never have a chakra control issue in her life.
"So what tips do you have for me dobe?" Sasuke asked.
Although his words were the same, his tone was much different compared to what it used to and Naruto took it in strides. Better to have the guy as an ally he could trust with his back then one who may backstab you.
"Other than what you know?" The Shadow Clone shrugged, "You pretty much have the idea and theory down. It's just that your body needs to learn to instinctively do it on its own."
"But is there a faster way of learning this?" Sasuke asked again but this time more assertively. He needed and wanted to get stronger faster and wasn't the type of person to exploit people if he knew then well enough.
The Shadow Clone pondered for a bit. His original managed to practise with enough Shadow Clones to get the exercise down pretty well in a single day but spent a good amount of time mastering it. Sasuke here didn't need to master it to that extent but rather have a good concept of it.
There were frankly several ways of getting down the Tree-Climbing exercise. The one that Kakashi told them about was to allow them to instinctively get the exercise down which was the most important thing in the future.
You didn't want to need to think to stick to a wall else you may be paste a second later.
The second method was much slower but allowed the person to know the amount of Chakra they needed to stick to something. Mainly it was taking things one step at a time…literally. You would take a step vertically and bit by bit walk up with control. Though you may want a good bit of upper and lower body strength to not fall down with the pressure on the front of your body.
This method may work with Sasuke but this was more about building up reserves than anything else; though Sasuke may want to know about it later.
The last method Naruto knew of was a combination of both where you would run up as much as you could and then walk down. The former would build up the body's instincts to mold Chakra in a certain way and the latter would build up the conscious control needed as well.
This would give a person the most benefit until they had enough control.
"Well Teme" the Shadow Clone started to explain the concept of all three exercises and why they were important, "Kakashi's method is viable in that you would probably won't need to think to control your Chakra but the second method I told you about will make it somewhat easier to get the control when you need it."
Sasuke nodded and added, "But the third method would allow me both and it would allow me to quicken my training as well. This would allow me to get to the more advanced stuff I want to learn to take that person down."
The Shadow Clone laughed at that. If there was anything he knew in his 2 Years in the Time Loops is that there are no shortcuts-ever. Doing so would only bring you down later on. Power, Speed and Stamina are the basics which all Shinobi have and yet there are many, so many legends so took this basics and dominated.
"Teme think of that person you want to kill. Tell me, was it those supposed advanced techniques you want to learn that allowed him to take down your Clan?" the Shadow Clone inquired even though he knew that Sasuke would get angry due to this, "I remember that day quite clearly than most. The reports says that no one knew about it until it was too late."
"So?" Sasuke gritted his teeth. He hated talking about that day for a reason.
Well unfortunately for him, Naruto knew a bit about Uchiha Itachi.
"Think about it this way, can you honestly see those advanced techniques helping you that much compared to making yourself stronger, faster and last longer in a fight? If there's one thing the Ninja knows about Uchiha Itachi, is that he managed to nearly wipe out a Clan based around being powerful, fast and with countless Jutsus under their belt and with one of two known Dojutsus that made them legendary using nothing but the basics."
With that, the Shadow Clone gave Sasuke some advice, "If anything Teme; even if you know every single Jutsu and Technique in the world; Itachi can still kill you easily if you keep thinking that getting advance techniques of any kind will make you stronger in the long run."
The Shadow Clone popped just then to give the memories to the original.
Elsewhere with the real Naruto and Kakashi, the former stopped for a second to comprehend about the memories that were just given to him.
"Interesting…" Naruto pondered while making another Shadow Clone to keep watch over Sasuke's training.
Though this time discreet since said Teme wouldn't exactly be focusing on training but rather on him since he talked about Itachi of all people. What the hell was his Shadow Clone thinking?!
"Hmm? What is it Naruto?" Kakashi asked, "Something wrong with Sasuke?"
Shaking his head, Naruto replied, "Oh my Shadow Clone had the great idea to bring up Uchiha Itachi in front of Sasuke and dispelled before getting his reaction."
Kakashi looked alerted at this quite quickly and demanded, "What were you two talking about that led up to that?!" he knew that that topic was a VERY sore spot for the Last Uchiha at the very least being killing said traitor being one of his life's goals now.
"Sasuke wanted to know a faster way of getting the Tree-Climbing technique down. I gave him some suggestions but then he had to go on about learning more advanced techniques" Naruto shrugged before seeing Kakashi's glare and adding, "So I used Itachi as an example of what the basics can do for a person who mastered them beyond what others did."
"…."
In his head, Kakashi piled on the benefits and outright troublesome situations that may happen now that Naruto frankly provoked Sasuke using his brother.
Well it wasn't his issue right now and he needed at least one person on his team and hopefully two with Sasuke in working order to face against unknown enemies with unknown strengths in their first supposed C-rank.
God that sounded horribly even in his head!
"Anyway Kakashi-sensei, let's start my training before we think about what's going on in the emo's head for a bit at least" Naruto whined seeing his Sensei stalling; deciding whether to see if the Teme was all right. Naruto knew Kakashi was partly responsible for Sasuke since he was the Last Uchiha though ironically he was also stuck with the Last Uzumaki as well on the same time.
Huh, that just made Sakura more of a minor person now than ever.
But back to talking, "If you're worried about Sasuke, I already sent a Shadow Clone to him and since it hadn't popped…." Naruto said slowly to make sure his Sensei knew that the Teme was fine in all…as far as he knew.
"Right right" Kakashi decided to wave his worries off for a while at least, "Anyway have you come up with ideas of what you're missing with your Shadow Clone combat?"
Naruto nodded, "Yeah…I was going with only pushing enemies somewhere that I didn't think of luring them to the same place by letting my clones get destroyed. Then there's suicide set-ups in making a blind-spot and stuff with the smoke and bodies…other than the general swarm tactic that I usually use."
Kakashi nodded thanking that Naruto knew what he was talking about to a certain extent but Kakashi knew that Naruto barely scratched the surface of true Shadow Clone Combat.
It was an art that the Saindaime Hokage Mastered even if he only used at most 2 Shadow Clones at most and only used it when he still had enough Chakra Reserves to pull it off to massacre the enemy more than he usually did anyway.
"Good but I'm going to talk about the Shadow Clone Combat that the Saindaime Hokage developed and how it compares with yours" Kakashi stated as his student agreed, "First off, you typically shouldn't make more than 3 Shadow Clones against a single enemy at a time" said teacher held up a finger as Naruto reacted….badly.
"Whaaaaaaaa? I don't get it, I can make SO many Shadow Clones" Naruto complained seeing that this supposed better version reduced the number of Clones he could use.
"Now now, let's me explain at least" Kakashi chided as Naruto pouted, "There are two reasons for this and the first doesn't really apply to you which is to conserve Chakra. The second reason is that with more than 3 Shadow Clones against a single enemy, your attacks in close range would interfere with each other. Typically it's fine to use at least 5 Shadow Clones with a long range attack. Of course the other exception is that you're facing an enemy that can quickly dispatch your Shadow Clones in which case you typically need a lot more."
Naruto thought trying not to show it agreed with that. With Gai and Lee, both were Taijutsu monsters to which they easily can take down a dozen Shadow Clones with ease in mere moments. But with the standard enemy around Sasuke's level; he really didn't need more than 3 Shadow Clones at once else it would be overkill.
Hell Kakashi was right in that using more than 3 Shadow Clones at once interfered with each other's' attack in the end unless he was swarming them again.
"Okay Kakashi-sensei…I agree with using 3 Shadow Clones at close range max due to interference…but is there another reason for that number? I mean I can use the swarm tactic pretty well" Naruto asked, "I mean even if you can waste more Chakra and make say 5 or 10 Shadow Clones for one guy or even a hundred for someone way above my skill, it shouldn't matter that much right?"
Kakashi sighed seeing that Naruto somehow didn't connect the dots quite as quickly as he hoped. Therefore he had to explain, "Naruto, three Shadow Clones along with yourself is already 4 people. What else in Konoha carries that formation?"
Perking up; said Blonde answered, "A team? So I'm basically going to mimic a 4 manned team with this?"
"Yes, though a team of three is the smallest number of people in a group that can have all the vital roles in a team. A close range expert based around Taijutsu, mid-long range expert based around Ninjutsu and a support usually a medic or Genjutsu user" Kakashi answered, "But I believe you can take this style even further. I mean who says that you can't use 3 teams of 3 against a single enemy or more attacking on all sides or use Shadow Clones to set the battlefield up to allow your main attacking Shadow Clones an advantage? Plus the swarm tactic is really unrefined and leaves lots of blind spots in the formation."
During these words, Naruto's mind was spinning wildly at the possibilities this could make. Before he set in the idea that he should use the Shadow Clone Jutsu at mass; sure he split them up against Zabuza but that was against a highly skilled enemy and he had to.
But to do the same in a smaller scale against weaker foes to make things easier for him? He chuckled at the possibilities.
Even with just Taijutsu, he could make Teams of Shadow Clones that could intentionally charge in to take a hit using Tai Chi to defend themselves while other Teams of Shadow Clones could do their thing and take them down.
Those Trapping skills of his would get a good workout…he would be godlike if he could use Genjutsu as well…but he had to settle into using Ninjutsu until his Chakra Control was good enough else he found a way to increase his control for a while when he needed at least.
Plus he was getting good at summoning Shadow Clones quickly now and may sooner or later be able to summon one during an attack from either side to add onto his attack or block one from the enemy. He could see it now; him attacking with a straight combo and BAM! One Shadow Clone kicking the guy up in the air and then two more appearing alongside with him as they juggle the enemy in the air and into the ground.
And there were these 'Teams' Kakashi was talking about. With his Transformation Jutsu which altered his real body as well as his Shadow Clones; he could literally make these 'Small Teams' into armies and no one would be the wiser.
But still there was Ninjutsu and he wanted to learn some at least at last!
He looked up and saw Kakashi with a strange smile as if he knew what the Blonde was thinking of as he asked, "So Naruto, how would you like to learn two particular Jutsus I know that will make you fear when used with your Shadow Clones?"
Naruto could only grin as Kakashi explained them to him, "The first is called Earth Style: Underground Projection Fish Jutsu which allows you to go freely underground like a fish in water. Basically it allow for you or your clones to go undetected by the enemy else if they can sense you through the ground or otherwise. I trust you know what this means with your Shadow Clones."
Naruto frantically nodded as Kakashi explained the second Jutsu.
"The second Jutsu I want to teach you is called Earth Style: Double Suicide Decapitation Jutsu and it drags the enemy into the ground to their necks allowing for a quick and easy decapitation if you wish later" Kakashi explained, "This Jutsu needs to be combo with the Underground Projection Fish Jutsu in order to work but you will be able to mass pull down armies into the ground."
Naruto pondered for a bit and then suddenly asked, "Hey Kakashi-sensei. Can I use these Jutsus on the bridge?"
"Unfortunately no. The bridge is made of mostly cement and metal and the Underground Projection Fish Jutsu can only go through Earth…though I suppose you could test it out later. I've heard of some Iwa-nin able to go through Metal using the Jutsu."
Naruto grinned as he now had a pretty good goal in making sure this mission ends up being a breeze. Even if he couldn't get his Clones to hide in the middle of the bridge (literally); he could still Transform a large number of them.
A/N:
Rehashed content from earlier chapter but I still managed to squish in some other info about Konoha's forces.
The idea that Konoha may intentionally lower the number of Jonins they had on force to deceive enemies was from Déjà vu no Jutsu by Vixen Tail.
It actually made sense in a way that you really don't want to broadcast on whether you had your strongest force gathered in the village or not. Having a good deal of other Shinobis the same strength but lower rank to protect the village and rest of the Nation would be a good idea.
Not to mention it also made sure that any enemies outside the village and Nation, namely the other Shinobi Villages from truly knowing what the village is actually capable of.
And its a bloody good surprise for enemies when they expect a Chunin to kill but get a Jonin in skill kicking their asses in battle.
As for the numbers of the Shinobi forces, I mostly made that up but 12 000 Ninjas isn't that unreasonable.
The Alliance Shinobi Forces in the 4th Shinobi War consisted of a total of 80 000 Shinobi. Divide that by 5 per major village you have 16 000 Ninjas per village. Here I have Konoha having 12 000 active and 5000 inactive.
With the time skip, even more numbers would be added to this.
So yeah, 12 000 in numbers isn't that bad.
According to Naruto Wiki on each village, Suna is the lowest (2/5 Pop, 2/5 Military, 2/5 Eco) while Mizu is barely better (2/5 Pop, 3/5 Military, 2/5 Eco), next up is Kumo (3/5 Pop, 4/5 Military, 5/5 Eco), Iwa (4/5 Pop, 4/5 Military, 2/5 Eco) and finally Konoha (5/5 Pop, 3/5 Military, 2/5 Eco).
According to this Konoha had an average number of Ninjas in their village. Therefore it made sense that Iwa and Kumo had more Ninjas than them and even more Genin which was probably why some Fics had the quality of Iwa pretty bad.
But now onto something else I wanted to talk about.
Using Shadow Clones in combat else Shadow Clone Combat as the title of this chapter.
This...is actually quite interesting and has been done in a couple different ways. However most of them consisted of two things.
Swarming the enemies with numbers at random else trying to make sense of those numbers in battle. Then there are Fics that made use of Naruto's Transformation Jutsu as well.
There are literally a near infinite number of ways to use Shadow Clones in actual fights actively.
The example the Third Hokage was once of them where he created an extra two Shadow Clones to aid him and create a full squad to slaughter enemies at mass. That is a the reason why Kakashi is teaching Naruto that method despite it contradicting what he already knows.
Obviously Naruto won't be using that method.
However he would be using parts of it, like parts of different Taijutsu styles he was taught and parts of different tactics as well to create something unique to him.
Yeah, its more complicated than you think.
I spent some time building up what is to be Naruto's way of fighting which thanks to Gai can go from swarming with raw numbers, pressuring an opponent or even using traps against them.
But Naruto had no other Jutsu can the basics and he rarely used the Transformation Jutsu with Shadow Clones. Reasons? Other than the fact that I kinda forgot, that amount of information is simply too much to take in at once.
But then again, having sets of certain Transformed Shadow Clones for certain acts would be useful for Naruto to have in the future. Unfortunately, Naruto is still near the beginning of creating an entire fighting style for himself.
Even with Gai's help, he was only able to create a base foundation.