Chương 519: INTERLUDE_13.6 (519)

"What's he like?" Yamanaka Inenpachi lifted his attention from the charts of one of his patients to the young man nervously fidgeting in one of the leather loungers in his office. His name was Fujio, and he sported a perfect 70-30 part with his hair gelled down to perfection, along with a Leaf uniform that he only wore when required, which now wasn't, but Fujio wanted to make a good impression. The two of them had nearly a decade between them.

While Inenpachi was about to turn forty next month, Fujio was only in his early thirties.

"You have the file and my notes," Inenpachi said as he finished up his work. He looked up at the clock; there were five minutes to his next and last appointment of the day.

"Not as a research subject, but as a man." Inenpachi had a thorough psychological profile hidden in his office. He didn't think the person would be enthused about its existence or it being shared with others. Frankly, it was just something he had prepared after spending so much time working together as an occupational habit.

"He has his faults," and his share of demons, "like everyone else, but he's a rare breed. Honestly, he's the only reason why I'm still participating in the shadow clone research. Without him, I don't think there's a lot of value in pursuing this line of research."

"Pardon?" Fujio asked, completely taken aback. If there was no value in it, why was he here?

"The memory and experience transfer via spiritual energy—that's the part I'm personally interested in, but as you know, there are more efficient ways to go about exploring that avenue. Piggybacking on the Shadow Clone Jutsu was useful at first, but at this point, it's convoluted, and we can certainly come up with a better methodology."

"Then why don't you? Is it personal? Because of the research subject?" Fujio asked. Inenpachi's research involved a few subjects, but only one truly mattered—the original one. The rest of them could be excluded at any time without much, if any, impact. The only reason he had multiple subjects was that the funding authority wanted them.

"Because he brings in the gold," Inenpachi chuckled.

"Even if I go looking for it, I don't know if I will find someone willing to use clones as he does. If I do find someone, they won't last, not like him. Using multiple clones, day after day without fail, not because he's forced to do it, but because he wants to do it." Though he was still doubtful about that last part.

"Not just shadow clones, he uses water clones as well. Do you know why? Because he needs more clones. You can't replace his desire—his obsession—to get better at the jutsu. To truly immerse himself in the research, go beyond what any normal subject would ever do. Replacing him would mean assembling a group of subjects to achieve the same results without running them ragged. And we will do that someday—bring in more people to have a varied set of subjects."

"It's only smart." Inenpachi nodded.

"However, I don't think I'm willing to ditch him."

"He's that valuable, huh?" Fujio asked, increasingly curious about their research subject.

"He is the closest possibility you and I have to get our hands on a jōnin-level subject," Inenpachi said, a touch of pride in his voice. He dropped a statement that boggled Fujio.

"Jō—?! What does—What do you mean, Doctor Inenpachi?!" Before he could ask any questions, there was a knock on the door, and Inenpachi's secretary stepped inside to inform him that their appointment had arrived. Inenpachi told her to send him and walked out from behind his desk to greet him.

"One more thing, Fujio. It'd be better to treat him as a research partner rather than a subject," Inenpachi said as he stood beside him. The door opened again for a teenager dressed in the Leaf uniform to step inside. He whispered thanks to the secretary who guided him inside. A soft smile appeared on his face as he beheld Inenpachi, but in that instant, his eyes passed over Fujio for a moment, who felt as naked as though the gaze had pierced through him.

The feeling would have been uncomfortable if it hadn't vanished almost immediately like a dream.

"Let me introduce you both," Inenpachi said.

"Takuma, this is Doctor Fujio. He's the one I wanted you to meet. And Fujio, this is my young friend, Chūnin Takuma."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Doctor Fujio," Takuma said and stuck out his hand for a shake. Fujio shook his head and asked, "Are you a clone?" There was a moment of silence where Takuma showed no change in expression. He wasn't surprised or offended or amused; he just stood there.

"I hope you'll forgive him, Takuma. Doctor Fujio could be rather single-minded on matters that caught his interest. I assume he didn't mean any offence." Inenpachi immediately butted in before things could get awkward.

"None taken." Takuma's smile stretched a little.

"And to answer your questions, Doctor Fujio. No, I'm not a clone. Once you've been using clones for as long as I have been, you learn to establish ground rules." They sat down as he continued.

"Personal matters are never to be attended to by clones. I use clones for work, not for family."

"And you categorise this as personal instead of as work?" Fujio asked.

"I consider Inenpachi a personal friend," Takuma replied.

"Well, I do need the real deal at our meetings for them to be useful," Inenpachi said and shared a smile with Takuma.

"So, gentlemen. I was told I'd be meeting someone new, but not why. If I were to guess, given Doctor Fujio's question about me being a clone, I'm assuming this has something to do with our research." Takuma looked to Inenpachi.

"I believe a change in direction is needed. How many clones can you currently create?" Inenpachi asked Takuma.

"Four clones. I think I'm ready for a fifth soon. A change in direction? Is something wrong?" Inenpachi and Fujio shared a glance.

"What?" Takuma asked.

"Your chakra capacity is growing, outpacing my estimates for you, Takuma. The requirement becomes more stringent with each subsequent clone because of how much chakra you need to create a minimally viable clone," Inenpachi said. Takuma shrugged.

"I'm a teenager. Rapid growth is to be expected."

"Yes, but not to these levels. You're gifted in terms of your chakra capacity. Do you do aggressive strength and conditioning, Chūnin Takuma?" Fujio asked. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Takuma glanced at Inenpachi, who gave him a nod.

"I do." Fujio had a smile of satisfaction. Because chakra was a mix of physical and spiritual energy, he made a safe assumption that Takuma's physical energy levels were increasing as his physique grew rapidly through his adolescence. And he was right. Of course, if Inenpachi's prediction models were to be trusted, then Takuma was getting exceptional results in terms of physical energy gains because not all people would be able to produce the same results even if they were working out equally hard.

Of course, Takuma was still a minor with an immature body; he could possibly hit a glass ceiling that would only shatter when his body grew further with age. Genetics played a significant role in all of it. Inenpachi took a breath as he thought of his next words.

"The B-rank Shadow Clone Jutsu splits your chakra with a clone every time you use it. For this particular scenario, let's say you start with 100% of your chakra capacity. When you create the first clone, you are left with half of your chakra. With a second clone, the amount you have goes down to a quarter of your maximum. A third clone cuts it down to an eighth. Finally, a fourth clone only leaves you with a sixteenth of your chakra. That's 6. 25% in decimal.

In fact, it's less than that, given that creating clones costs chakra. That's not a lot of chakra."

"Does that matter? What if the pie is so big that even a small fraction is substantial?" Takuma asked, looking between the two iryō-nin.

"You did just say that I'm growing beyond your expectations."

"It matters, yes. Even if your mind can handle it, your body won't," Fujio said, handing Takuma a page with very basic calculations showing how much chakra he had left after each subsequent clone. A fifth clone left him with a little over 3% in his reserves. A sixth clone bumped it down roughly 1. 5%. The last entry was the seventh, leaving Takuma with less than 1% of his maximum chakra.

Inenpachi added, "Even if a hundredth of your total chakra is greater than another shinobi's total reserves, your body won't like it if you regularly plunge down to such low levels and then force it to regenerate throughout the day while you yourself work and train."

"Your body needs rest, Chūnin Takuma. Just like muscles, your body's ability to regenerate the two energies needs rest as well after an intense workout," Fujio said, and then realised that Takuma might not know what it felt like.

"The difference between going down from 96% to 91% is nowhere near the same as going down from 6% to 1%. If you keep doing it daily, your body will start to feel every drop of expenditure at that low of a level."

Once again, if the shadow clones were being used for a short amount of time, the remaining energies would return soon enough, and the body wouldn't have to regenerate as much, but for Takuma, who kept his clones active for hours at a time, there could be varied complications depending on how his body took it.

"With your reserves, it's not a surprise that you haven't felt it," Inenpachi said. Takuma slowly nodded.

"Thus, the change in direction. What are you guys thinking?"

"Don't worry, I'll continue to develop the method for a fifth clone," Inenpachi reached to pat Takuma on the shoulder, "but for now, I've thought of another way to increase clones. And you're in luck because our funding has increased, and I've decided to bring in Doctor Fujio to explore this new juncture."

"Oh, new funding?" Takuma asked, his eye shining with curiosity.

"They have been satisfied with our results." Inenpachi looked pleased and satisfied.

"Take it away, Fujio."

"Yes, thank you," Fujio turned to face Takuma.

"The problem we are dealing with is a low level of chakra, but ironically, we are leaving a lot of it on the table."

"My clones," Takuma said.

"Right on the mark," Fujio smiled approvingly.

"Your first clone retains half of your chakra. Our new direction is to allow your clones to make further clones. I'm told that you tried doing it once on your own, but failed?" Takuma nodded.

"A while back, I tried having my shadow clones make another shadow clone, but I wasn't skilled enough. The clones turned unstable and often popped the moment half of their chakra parted from them. Water clones, being a simpler jutsu, are easy enough because they only take a tenth of the chakra, but given my skill, half was too much for a shadow clone's physiology. The failure rate was too high."

"A while back, you say. What about now?"

"I can make them now, no problem."

"You haven't been using clones of clones during your daily life, have you?" Inenpachi asked, casting a suspicious and critical eye on Takuma. The method they had developed to process information through manipulation of spiritual energy wasn't modified, much less optimised, to handle a clone processing another clone's experiences. They would need to take into account and address a whole new layer of complexity.

"No, I have not. I have been using clones extensively recently. I can't afford a lapse in health because I decided to do something ill-advised. I'm too busy for that," Takuma sighed, squeezing the back of his neck. Somehow, the dark circles underneath his eyes didn't inspire confidence.

"If this is the direction you're going, I wholeheartedly approve. I'm in need of more clones, and tapping into the clone's chakra reserves certainly takes care of the chakra requirement." By the time Takuma created a fourth simultaneously existing shadow clone, the first three clones had more chakra than the original. The first three clones were in a more suitable position to create clones than he was.

"How far do you plan to subdivide?" Takuma asked.

"For the first stage, we are only planning for the first clone with half of your reserves to make a clone, leaving them both with a quarter of your chakra. Our overall goal is to reach a point where your clones of clones have an eighth of your chakra," Fujio said.

"Excluding my fourth clone, which will remain at a sixteenth."

"That's correct."

"That will give me eight clones in total," Takuma said, calculations and potential sparking behind his eyes.

"That's good. That'd certainly help. Yes, let's do that."

"You understand the limitations?" Inenpachi asked, knowing exactly what Takuma was thinking. Takuma nodded with a sigh.

"At this level, time management gets complicated…" A clone could only exist as long as its creator existed. For Takuma, he could keep his clones up as long as they had the chakra to sustain them. Of course, that was the theoretical limit. The practical reality of memory and experience overload limited him to a much shorter duration. With Inenpachi's latest method, he could keep clones for eight hours each, which gave him a total of thirty-two hours of extra labour every day.

However, if Takuma's direct clones made clones, the sub-clones could only exist as long as the direct clone—which currently was eight hours—and that was only if the direct clone made a sub-clone immediately after its inception. It would require quite a lot of planning to make the most of the sub-clones if he didn't want to waste their lifetime. The real-life logistics didn't end there. Takuma also had to consider whether he wanted his direct clones to create sub-clones.

His first direct clone, with half of his chakra, was always on training duty. The clones couldn't regenerate chakra, so the first clone needed substantial reserves to properly train different ninjutsu.

"We can't do anything about that," Takuma said after pulling away from his thoughts, quickly moving on without getting stuck.

"Let's focus on what we can influence. Of course, the two of you would be doing the lion's share of the work. As usual, you have my full cooperation as long as my schedule is respected."

"Of course," Inenpachi said, long used to how they worked. Fujio watched as Takuma and Inenpachi discussed things and thought back to the latter's words.

"Chūnin Takuma, if I may ask a question: Doctor Inenpachi is confident that you'll be a jōnin in the future. Wouldn't most of what we discussed today be irrelevant if you get the A-rank Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu? You won't have to juggle any of this added complexity if you could evenly divide your chakra among multiple clones?" Takuma looked at him and then at Inenpachi.

"I appreciate the confidence, doctor." Fujio noticed that he didn't deny it, which meant he was at least confident in his chances.

"To answer your question, Doctor Fujio. There are too many variables in play. I have no way of knowing when—if I do at all—will become a jōnin. As you know, it's not easy. That's why there are so few of them in the world. Let's say if I do become a jōnin, I'm not sure if I'll get the A-rank version of the jutsu if this one continues to serve its function."

"Oh, that's surprising," Inenpachi said. Takuma shrugged.

"Not saying I'm not interested, but A-rank jutsu aren't handed out like candy. Most who do get them only ever get one. If there's only one in my future, I do not want it to be the Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu. Not to mention, this particular jutsu is kinjutsu—forbidden. I'm not sure they're going to hand it to a new jōnin."

"And it doesn't matter if all of this becomes useless for him; it'll remain useful to us," Inenpachi said.

"Exactly," Takuma smiled before getting up.

"I hope you're good, Doctor Fujio. I'll give you my cooperation, but I expect results in return." Fujio shook his hand and asserted confidently, "You won't be disappointed."

"Excellent." The next day, a background check on Fujio was initiated within ANBU at the request of ANBU Lieutenant Ratel.