Hatake Kakashi had to rest forever just to recover the chakra he spent on a single Shadow Clone. Uzumaki Naruto, on the other hand, recovered One Kakashi's worth of chakra as easily as drinking water.
And that wasn't even counting the restoration granted by the Nine-Tails. With that included, his regeneration became downright absurd.
This was still Naruto's early stage. When he reached his peak, on the level of Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama, he could throw out massive jutsu nonstop and keep fighting for an entire day.
If Kakashi ever saw that kind of chakra pool, he'd probably weep.
Out of all the ninjas in the world, was he really the only one starving for chakra? Why was he always the standard everyone used?
And the fatigue that returned when a Shadow Clone dispelled was enough to break an ordinary ninja. It was like exercising hard for an entire day, only for that exhaustion to suddenly double. Most people wouldn't be able to handle it.
Worse, if someone made a hundred clones, the fatigue would multiply a hundredfold. A normal ninja might literally get shocked into stupidity.
In short, this jutsu might as well have been tailor-made for Naruto. It let him maximize every strength he had.
"You can use it like that?" Naruto stared in disbelief.
He'd only learned Multi Shadow Clone recently. He hadn't figured out any of its special applications yet.
"Yeah. Even I'm jealous," Kaede Kitahara said.
"Bro Kaede, you don't know the Clone Technique?" Naruto blinked, only now realizing.
"That's right," Kaede said openly.
"Then how about this? You teach me Great Breakthrough, and I'll teach you Multi Shadow Clone." Naruto jumped at the idea.
He didn't think the jutsu was anything special. He'd stolen a look at the Scroll of Seals and the Third Hokage barely scolded him.
"Sure." Kaede wasn't embarrassed. He wasn't learning it from the Scroll of Seals anyway. He was learning it from Naruto. Clean and justified.
Naruto hurried to teach him the hand seals for both Shadow Clone and Multi Shadow Clone.
"Ninja Art, Clone Technique!"
Kaede watched once, then created a Shadow Clone instantly.
He didn't try Multi Shadow Clone. Even he wasn't sure his mind could handle the impact.
"You learned it from one try. You're amazing, Bro Kaede," Naruto said.
Kaede just smiled. If this had been the old him, learning a jutsu in one go would've been impossible. The kind of prodigies who picked techniques up at a glance were rare.
He dispelled the clone and felt the drastic drop of chakra in his body. Half his reserves were gone.
Kaede then guided Naruto through training until late into the night. By then, Naruto had finally managed a barely passable Great Breakthrough.
Kaede realized that although Naruto's chakra was muddied by the Nine-Tails, his talent wasn't bad at all. If anything, he seemed like the kind of genius who hid behind a goofy exterior.
After sending Naruto home, Kaede returned to his own house, showered, and got ready to record his diary entry for the day.
He was excited. Once he finished writing, he'd get to draw the next reward.
[Not bad at all. Today was a huge win. I learned Multi Shadow Clone from Naruto. It's one of his two core abilities. One is the ball-rolling thing, and the other is Shadow Clone.
But the technique isn't nearly as useful for normal people. Splitting off a clone means losing half your chakra. It's a fatal flaw. Not everyone starts with a hundred Kakashi of chakra. And that's not even counting Kurama's reserves.]
Finally, it came.
In the Hatake Clan compound, Kakashi had been lounging in his casual sleepwear. He suddenly sat up straight. He sensed the diary updating.
He quickly opened it.
"Multi Shadow Clone?" Kakashi thought for a moment. He could use Shadow Clone, but he'd never learned the multi version.
Shadow Clone was essential for Jonin, and even many elite Chunin used it regularly. It was extremely practical.
But Multi Shadow Clone was different. It was a forbidden jutsu recorded in the Scroll of Seals. Anyone without special permission couldn't learn it. Kakashi's standing was more than high enough to qualify, but he had no reason to.
His chakra was already stretched thin during normal battles. Learning Multi Shadow Clone would be pointless.
Besides, he'd copied over a thousand jutsu. He had more tactical choices than he needed. One more wouldn't change anything.
But what was that "ball-rolling" thing?
Kakashi's eye twitched. He hated how Kaede Kitahara slapped nonsense nicknames onto important things.
And "Kurama" inside him? Was that referring to the Demon Fox, the Nine-Tails?
Why call it Kurama?
Kakashi didn't understand. But then he saw a phrase that made his blood pressure spike: "a hundred Kakashi of chakra."
At first he had no idea what that meant. Then it clicked. He remembered secretly using the Sharingan to gauge Naruto's chakra before. The Sharingan wasn't as clear as the Byakugan, but he could sense general amounts. His estimate had been that Naruto had roughly a hundred times his own chakra.
Which meant One Kakashi was literally based on him.
He felt himself go numb.
Was he seriously the baseline for low chakra in the entire world?
Why him?
It was outrageous.
In the former Uchiha Clan compound, Uchiha Sasuke read the updated passage. He didn't understand every term, but one thing was obvious: Naruto's chakra was enormous.
So big that Kaede Kitahara, someone associated with the Uchiha Clan, felt the need to point it out specifically.
Was that dobe really that impressive?
—
Land of Rain, inside an Akatsuki base. Uchiha Itachi quietly flipped through a copy of Kaede Kitahara's diary.
It had fallen from the sky two days ago. He hadn't had time to read it until he finished the latest Akatsuki mission.
He'd already confirmed it wasn't poisoned or cursed. It was just an ordinary diary.