Starts In Konoha: Unlocking Shadow Clone

"Damn, this is just cruel," Naruto muttered, feeling on the verge of tears.

"There was once a system right in front of me, and I didn't cherish it. If God would give me another chance, even if it's a sassy and irrational system, I'd still take it!"

[Ding! The Sign-In System has been successfully bound!]

"Huh?"

Naruto was stunned by the system prompt in his mind, 'It actually happened again!'

'Oh shit, God really is looking out for me!'

But he wondered what exactly was this 'Sign-In System'? He wasn't too clear on how it worked.

Naruto refrained from voicing any complaints, afraid that a stray thought might cause this system to unbind itself and leave just as quickly.

'What is the sign-in system?' Uzumaki Naruto asked in his heart.

[The Sign-In System, as the name implies, allows you to receive rewards simply by checking in at various locations in the Naruto World.]

'Getting rewards just by signing in? That's way too easy, I like it.'

Naruto's face lit up with joy. Rubbing his hands together, he asked: 'System, if the rewards are random, what if I want a specific Ninjutsu? For example, the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique.'

[If you need specific Ninjutsu and other specific rewards, you can inquire with the system. The sign-in location for the Multi Shadow Clone Technique is the Hokage Rock. Note: Staying at the check-in location for one hour counts as a successful sign-in.]

'So cool?'

There was a gleam of light in Uzumaki Naruto's eyes, and all the worries he had just had were instantly swept away.

But before he could get too excited, his stomach let out a loud growl.

After searching his pockets, he found Naruto's little frog wallet. Opening it up, he found only two 10-ryo coins.

'There's so little… This isn't even enough for a bottle of water, right?'

Naruto couldn't help but sighed bitterly. He glanced at Iruka, who was giving a lecture in the classroom, and a plan quickly formed in his mind.

'I remembered that Iruka invited Naruto to eat ramen after going to Hokage Rock, so why not go to Hokage Rock now?'

'It was a good way to kill two birds with one stone. I could complete my sign-in and score a free meal in one go.'

Thinking of this, Naruto stealthily grabbed a fire extinguisher, snuck out of the Academy, and, after scanning his surroundings, spotted the prominent Hokage Rock.

"Here goes nothing!"

Hokage Rock looked close, but when he actually started walking, it turned out to be quite a trek. By the time Naruto reached the top, he was completely out of breath.

"Maybe I haven't fully adapted to this body yet. I still can't run as fast as the wind."

Naruto clenched his fists, trying to sense the changes in his body.

Indeed, right now, he could only feel the grip of his fist when he used all his strength, showing he still wasn't fully in sync. But it was much better than it had been earlier in the Academy, so he figured he'd fully adapt with a bit more time.

"If it weren't for carrying you, I wouldn't be this exhausted."

Naruto lifted the fire extinguisher he'd brought to the top of the mountain, opened the valve, and sprayed it at the Hokage Rock below.

In the original work, Naruto used paint to graffiti the Hokage Rock, which got Iruka's attention. However, he only had two 10-ryo coins, which were not even enough to buy a bottle of water, so how could he have money to buy paint?

If he really had that much money, he might as well spent it on ramen rather than wasting it on graffiti.

A huge cloud of white powder cascaded down, covering the entire Hokage Rock in a comical mess of white patches. The Yondaime Hokage's face, in particular, ended up with an extra layer of powder.

Satisfied with his handiwork, Naruto lay back on the mountaintop.

He wasn't the least bit nervous… in fact, he was ready to take a little nap.

After a short while, though, he felt something hit him on the head, followed by a thunderous roar: "Naruto, look at what you've done!"

"Iruka-sensei!"

Naruto opened his eyes, wincing in pain, but when he saw Iruka, a wide grin spread across his face. If one looked closely, they could even see a hint of mischief in his eyes.

"You still dare to smile? Defacing the statues of the past Hokage is forbidden, you little brat!" Iruka scolded him loudly, "I told you to stand outside as punishment. Now, not only did you skip class, but you also ran here to pull this prank. You're going to clean all of this up as punishment."

With that, Iruka somehow produced a rope and wooden board, rigging up a simple pulley platform.

Naruto climbed onto the platform and began wiping away the white powder with a dry cloth.

After wiping for a while, a system prompt sound suddenly came into his mind.

[It is detected that the host has stayed on Hokage Rock for one hour. Sign-in successful. Reward: Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!]

As soon as the message ended, a wave of memory surged into Naruto's mind, followed by a stream of warm currents rushing into his limbs and bones, as if he was soaking in a hot spring. His entire body felt comfortably warm. When the sensation subsided, he had fully mastered the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique, as though it had always been an innate skill.

'The sign-in was successful, and now all that was left was to trick Iruka.'

Naruto smiled secretly in his heart, but he put on a bitter face on the outside and complained: "Damn it, this is so unfair! I'm exhausted!"

Iruka, who was sitting on the top of the mountain to supervise, crossed his arms and said, "You're not going anywhere until it's spotless!"

"Hmph!"

Naruto snorted and said, "It doesn't matter. It's not like anyone's home waiting for me anyway."

Hearing this, Iruka's body froze. The sharp look in his eyes softened, even showing a hint of guilt. His tone shifted from reprimanding to hesitant, "Naruto..."

"What now?" Naruto squinted and said impatiently.

"Well..."

scratched behind his ear with his right index finger, then said in a coaxing tone: "Once you're done cleaning up, how about I treat you to some ramen tonight?"

"That's great! I'll work really hard, then!"

Naruto immediately beamed, with a look of triumph in his eyes.

Iruka was guilt-tripped into offering a meal because of that offhand remark about 'no one waiting at home'.

Although it was a bit manipulative, Naruto didn't mind.

In his previous life, he'd seen tons of streamers getting sympathy points by sharing sad stories, and his little ploy was nothing compared to that.

'But then again, implementing this plan of selling sadness is really miserable.'

'Lugging a fire extinguisher up the mountain and having to clean up afterward also took a lot of time and energy.'

'Fortunately, I took the opportunity to sign-in and learned the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique. It was the perfect chance to test it out.'

With that thought in mind, Naruto put down the dry cloth, feeling a small thrill as his hands moved instinctively, forming seals with muscle memory guiding him.

Ox - Dog - Dragon - Rat - Dog - Boar - Serpent - Tiger!

The Multiple Shadow Clone Technique requires the eight hand seals to be completed within four seconds, but since he'd received this Ninjutsu from the system, he completed all eight hand seals in just two seconds.

"What..." Iruka was stunned when he saw Naruto forming hand seals. Before he could even react, a series of white puffs appeared right in front of him.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

From each cloud of smoke, a Naruto slowly walked out.

Instantly, a large number of orange-yellow figures appeared on the entire mountaintop...