Chapter 10
By age eight, his internal library was vast. Dozens of flora and fauna, from medicinal herbs to hunting hawks. Over a dozen deceased Senju warriors, their combat styles and techniques preserved. Several fallen Uchiha, their fire-style jutsus and taijutsu forms meticulously cataloged. He never copied a living person without their imminent death; it felt like a violation of a magnitude he wasn't prepared for.
He used these copies to train. In secluded clearings, he would manifest a copied Senju spearman and spar, learning styles directly through combat. He would summon a copied Uchiha and practice countering their predictable, yet fierce, fire jutsu patterns. He was training with the accumulated combat experience of an entire war.