Chapter 7

"Should I first complete the training for the Nara Clan's secret techniques or dive straight into mastering the Shadow Clone Jutsu?"

After hastily bidding farewell to Shikaku and Choza, Koshino rushed home, skipping dinner entirely. He immediately pulled out two scrolls from his ninja tools bag and frowned in deep thought.

But barely a second passed before he smirked at himself.

"Hah, with the help of the app, mastering the Nara Clan's secret techniques is practically instant, no matter how complex they are."

"I can't believe I was agonizing over which training to prioritize. Guess I've been stuck in the mindset of the grind for so long that I forgot I have a cheat code now!"

"Alright, decision made! I'll start with the Nara Clan's secret techniques!"

Forming the Nara Clan's unique hand seal, Koshino combined the unsealing technique from his memory with precise chakra control and slowly placed his hand on the scroll Shikaku had handed him. With a soft "puff," the seal on the scroll broke.

Skipping past the chakra training methods and the basics of the Shadow Imitation Technique, Koshino had a clear goal: to thoroughly analyze the scroll left behind by his parents.

He wanted to see just how many secret techniques of the Nara Clan were documented before diving into the training.

However, as Koshino finished reading the scroll and mentally noted down most of its content, he suddenly froze.

And it wasn't because there were too many secret techniques recorded.

It was because there were far too few! Instead, there was an overwhelming amount of content that Koshino found utterly useless!

"You've got to be kidding me!"

"Other than the Shadow Imitation Technique, the scroll only documents the Shadow Strangle Technique and the Shadow Stitching Technique?"

"And then there's all this stuff about medicinal recipes and herbs? Uncle Shikaku, are you sure you didn't mix this up with another scroll? Is this really what my parents left for me?"

It wasn't unreasonable for Koshino to doubt whether Shikaku had handed him the wrong scroll. The recorded techniques were just so scarce!

Counting the Shadow Imitation Technique, the scroll only had two Nara Clan secret techniques. Beyond that, the rest of the information consisted of chakra training methods and detailed records about medicinal herbs and recipes.

To Koshino, these seemed entirely irrelevant. What use were herbs and recipes in a battle? Was he supposed to defeat enemies by reciting herbology knowledge at them?

Ridiculous.

But little did Koshino realize, he had underestimated the importance of those herbal and medicinal records. In the shinobi world, such knowledge could be incredibly valuable, coveted by countless others.

This was because the medicinal recipes and herbology knowledge contained within represented the true legacy of the Nara Clan.

Beyond raising deer, the Nara Clan was famed in Konoha for developing medicinal formulas and supplying rare herbs to medical ninjas.

In the original Naruto storyline, Lady Tsunade, one of the legendary Sannin and an unparalleled medical ninja, often relied on the expertise of the Nara Clan.

Their ability to create powerful medicines and supply crucial ingredients made them indispensable.

Koshino recalled a key moment in the story: Naruto's squad attempting to retrieve Sasuke. The team was severely injured, with Neji and Choji in critical condition.

Without the Nara Clan's medicinal formulas, even someone of Tsunade's caliber might have been powerless to save them.

As Koshino reflected on this piece of lore, he took a deep breath and carefully stored the scroll in a hidden compartment at home, safeguarding it for future use.

Then, after mastering the training methods for the Shadow Strangle Technique and Shadow Stitching Technique, Koshino, relying on his exceptional chakra control, quickly added the two techniques to his progress bar. He then commanded the app:

"App, update the progress of Shadow Strangle Technique and Shadow Stitching Technique to 100/100!"

Ding!

"Player, Shadow Strangle Technique and Shadow Stitching Technique progress: 100/100. Congratulations on completing the training!"

"Whew, good job, app. If you'd let me down, I wouldn't even have had the appetite for dinner."

The app transferred the insights from the training directly into Koshino's mind. Without needing to experiment, Koshino instinctively knew he had mastered both techniques.

Still, to play it safe, Koshino decided to test them. First, he performed the Shadow Imitation Technique on a nearby vase.

Then, he activated the newly learned Shadow Strangle Technique. A pitch-black shadow formed into a hand that tightly gripped the vase. With a sharp "crack," the shadow hand shattered the vase under Koshino's control.

"The Shadow Strangle Technique, an advanced form of the Shadow Imitation Technique, is quite effective. Extending my shadow to choke an enemy to death… Only those Nara Clan members wh "Alright, next is the Shadow Stitching Technique!"

Thinking this to himself, Koshino noticed he still had enough chakra left, so he proceeded to use the Shadow Stitching Technique.

As he activated the technique, new insights suddenly came to him. While targeting another vase, he silently mused:

"The Shadow Stitching Technique is one of the more advanced secret techniques of the Nara Clan. Its effects should be divided into two main aspects—support and offense."

With that in mind, Koshino first utilized the support aspect of the Shadow Stitching Technique. He split the extended shadow into countless thin strands, which spread out to latch onto the vase in front of him as well as the surrounding tables, chairs, and other furniture.

"Support-wise, it feels like an advanced version of the Shadow Imitation Technique. However, it consumes less chakra and has slightly weaker binding strength.

The key advantage of the Shadow Stitching Technique lies in its ability to immobilize multiple targets at once, making up for the Shadow Imitation Technique's limitations in group combat. As for the offensive aspect..."

Bang!

The next moment, Koshino withdrew the previous support-form of the Shadow Stitching Technique.

His gaze locked onto the vase in front of him, and the black shadow beneath his feet turned into a streak of light, instantly darting into the vase's shadow.

A moment later, the vase shattered violently, the fragments reflected in his sharp eyes.

"As for offense, it directly injects the shadow into the enemy's body to cause internal damage."

"Yeah, its power far surpasses the Shadow Strangle Technique. This training wasn't a waste of time after all!"

Although Koshino felt somewhat disappointed by the limited variety of techniques he had mastered, he was genuinely pleased with their quality.

Having learned both the Shadow Strangle Technique and the Shadow Stitching Technique, Koshino confidently assessed himself.

While his chakra reserves still couldn't compare to that of a genin, his combat abilities had significantly improved.

With tree-climbing and water-walking training complete and three Nara Clan secret techniques under his belt, Koshino believed he could easily defeat an ordinary genin.

With the two secret techniques mastered, Koshino prepared to open the next scroll to learn the famous "cheat-level" Shadow Clone Jutsu. But before diving into that, an idea suddenly struck him:

What if he incorporated the Shadow Stitching Technique into shuriken attacks? Using shuriken to confuse enemies and then unleashing the Shadow Stitching Technique for a surprise attack could create a devastatingly unpredictable effect.

Just as this thought crossed his mind, the app unexpectedly issued a notification that made Koshino freeze in his tracks.

Ding!

"Player, binding the research feature. Please wait..."

o've mastered this can truly begin to hold their own in combat."