After a brief pause, Tomohisa Ishikawa smiled and continued, "I'm going to teach you all a ninjutsu."
"Sensei, are you serious?"
"Yes! We finally get to learn ninjutsu!"
"What kind of jutsu is it, Sensei?"
As soon as Ishikawa spoke, the entire classroom erupted with excitement. Veigar's eyes gleamed with anticipation as he fixed his gaze on the teacher at the podium.
The most enthusiastic of them all was Keiichi Takayama , who jumped to his feet once more, raising his right fist in the air as he shouted, "Sensei, hurry up and teach us! I'll be the fastest to learn it in the whole class!"
Seeing the noisy and slightly chaotic classroom, Tomohisa's expression turned stern.
"Quiet down!" he commanded.
"And you, Keiichi, sit down."
The moment he raised his voice, the entire class fell silent. Even the overzealous Keiichi quickly dropped back into his seat, looking slightly intimidated.
With order restored, Tomohisa turned to the blackboard and wrote three characters in bold strokes.
未—巳—寅
Veigar recognized the symbols instantly—they were the sequence of hand seals.
"Today, I'm going to teach you a ninjutsu called the Clone Jutsu."
"This technique is one of the Three Basic Jutsu mentioned in the Shinobi Handbook. The three characters I wrote on the board represent the sequence of hand seals required to perform it."
"Now, watch carefully as I demonstrate. Pay close attention to my hand seals."
With that, Tomohisa began his demonstration, deliberately slowing down his movements so that everyone could follow.
"Ram."
"Snake."
"Tiger."
"Clone Jutsu!"
Poof!
It took him about five seconds to complete the three seals. The moment he finished, a puff of white smoke burst beside him, and in an instant, an identical copy of Tomohisa stood at the podium.
Gasps filled the classroom.
"That's amazing! There are two Tomohisa-senseis now!"
"Wow! This jutsu is incredible—I have to master it!"
"Wait… if there are two senseis, does that mean we have to do twice the homework now?"
A groan from one of the lazier students.
"Hey, which Tomohisa-sensei is stronger? Will they fight each other?"
Clearly, some students just wanted to watch the world burn.
Tomohisa sighed as three metaphorical black lines formed on his forehead.
"Keiichi Takayama ," he called out. "Come up here and demonstrate the Clone Jutsu for the class."
The loudest student had been called upon once again.
"Yes, Sensei!" Keiichi responded enthusiastically.
Undeterred by the challenge, he stepped forward confidently, standing tall at the podium.
"Alright, begin. Show us your Clone Jutsu."
As Tomohisa dispelled his own clone, the classroom settled down, all eyes on Keiichi.
"Watch closely, Sensei!" Keiichi declared, his voice full of confidence.
"Ram—Snake—Tiger! Clone Jutsu!"
Poof!
It took Keiichi just over two seconds to complete the hand seals. But within half a second, the classroom erupted into roaring laughter.
"HAHAHAHA!"
"PERVERT!"
Several girls turned red, covering their faces as they muttered in embarrassment.
To everyone's shock, Keiichi's "clone" was actually just his discarded clothing—his jutsu had stripped him instead of creating a duplicate. He now stood nearly naked at the podium.
Keiichi, who had been certain of his success, turned beet red, quickly covering himself and diving behind the desk in humiliation.
The laughter only grew louder.
Even Tomohisa, who tried to maintain a professional demeanor, found himself struggling to suppress a smirk. His twitching lips betrayed his amusement.
"…Put your clothes back on."
Despite his best efforts to stay serious, Tomohisa handed Keiichi's clothes back to him.
A short while later, now fully clothed, Keiichi slunk back to his seat, still red-faced.
"Alright, that's enough laughing."
"Now, let's go over the key points of using the Clone Jutsu."
With Keiichi's failed attempt fresh in their minds, the entire class gave Tomohisa their full attention, afraid to miss even a single detail.
Time passed quickly, and by the end of the lesson, Veigar had gained a thorough understanding of the Clone Jutsu. Any parts he found difficult were carefully recorded in his notes.
The Clone Jutsu creates an illusionary duplicate using chakra. These clones have no physical form and no combat ability; even a non-ninja can easily dispel them with a single hit. Their primary use is deception.
"This concludes today's lesson. I expect all of you to practice the Clone Jutsu at home and work on mastering it."
"Class dismissed."
As Ishikawa left the classroom, Veigar closed his notebook, preparing for the next lesson.
...
The day passed quickly, and soon, the Ninja Academy was dismissed.
Blending into the crowd, Veigar quietly left the school and headed toward the forest alone.
As he walked, he mentally replayed everything he had learned about the Clone Jutsu in class.
By the riverside, he gathered his catch for the day, swiftly cleaning and preparing the fish. However, instead of heading home immediately like usual, he remained by the river, bathed in the golden glow of the setting sun.
It was time to practice his first-ever ninjutsu—the Clone Jutsu.
"Ram—Snake—Tiger! Clone Jutsu!"
Poof!
Standing by the water's edge, Veigar attempted the jutsu for the first time.
As he completed the seals, his chakra surged outward. A clone materialized—but it was a complete failure. The duplicate collapsed limply onto the ground, lifeless and fragile.
"…I failed."
"Again."
Veigar had never expected instant success. Lacking an extraordinary talent, he had long prepared himself to overcome his shortcomings with sheer perseverance.
If one attempt wasn't enough, he would try again.
If twice wasn't enough, he'd try three times. A hundred times. A thousand.
There was no guarantee that effort would always lead to success.
But without effort, failure was guaranteed.
As the sun dipped below the horizon, Veigar's shadow stretched long across the riverbank.
Failure after failure did nothing to discourage him.
With each attempt, he gathered more experience.
And perhaps—just perhaps—success was only one step away.
"Clone Jutsu…"
"Clone Jutsu…"
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