The next morning, Shin-chan's state at Namikaze Minato's home was completely different from yesterday.
He sat on the chair, swinging his feet, while humming the "Little White Snake Turning Into Poop Song."
Kushina came out of the kitchen carrying a glass of water. When she saw this scene, her steps paused.
"Why are you so happy?"
"Today, I only have to finish the morning lesson." Shin-chan raised one finger. "Then I can rest in the afternoon."
"Aren't you supposed to learn ninjutsu theory in the afternoon?"
"That's already been solved." Shin-chan swung his feet even wider.
"How did you solve it?"
"I just need to have a shadow clone go to class."
The living room fell silent for an instant.
Kushina's eyes widened. "The you right now couldn't be a shadow clone, could you?"
Shin-chan stood up from the chair and gave a solemn bow.
"Nice to meet you. My name is Nohara Shinjiro."
He straightened up and held out five fingers. "I only appeared this morning. If we count from the time I appeared, then I should also be five years old."
"Just like the main body, I hate eating green peppers." When Shinjiro said this, he showed an expression of deep empathy. "That thing is bitter and hard to chew. I don't know why adults always say it's good for the body."
"Stop." Kushina reached out a hand to interrupt him.
Shinjiro closed his mouth.
"You're saying Shin-chan used the Shadow Clone Jutsu this morning and split you off."
"Yes."
"And then he had you come to class."
"Yes."
"And he ran off to rest?"
Shinjiro thought about it. "He probably went to enjoy life."
Namikaze Minato walked over and stopped beside Kushina. The two of them looked together at this shadow clone who called himself Shinjiro.
"When the main body left," Shinjiro recalled, "he said, 'I'll leave it to you,' and then he ran away."
"Where did he run to?" Kushina asked.
Shinjiro tilted his head and thought. "I don't know."
"You really don't know?" Kushina confirmed.
"I'm just a shadow clone." Shinjiro lowered his head and looked at his own hands. "When the main body made me, he didn't give me much information. He only gave me the sealing technique knowledge he had learned and the task of 'come to class.'"
He lifted his head, his expression extremely sincere.
"I don't know anything else."
Namikaze Minato observed Shin-chan for a moment. "Your chakra control is very stable, and the clone's form is also very complete."
"Because the main body didn't want to be discovered," Shinjiro replied. "The main body said I am his light of hope."
"Light of hope?"
"Yes." Shinjiro nodded. "I go to class for him, and he gives me freedom. This is called..."
He tilted his head and thought, finally digging that word out of his mind.
"Each taking what they need."
"A shadow clone will disperse once its chakra is exhausted," Namikaze Minato said. "In your current state, about how much time do you have left?"
"I don't know either." Shinjiro scratched his head. "But the main body should have calculated it. He said the morning lesson wouldn't exceed three hours."
"He even calculated the time?" Kushina's voice rose slightly.
"Yes." Admiration flashed in Shinjiro's eyes. "The main body is so smart."
Kushina took a deep breath and planted both hands on the table.
"You know that when a shadow clone is released, all its fatigue goes back to the main body, right?"
Shinjiro nodded. "I know."
"And you still used a shadow clone?"
"Because we tried it before." Shinjiro tilted his head. "We tried using shadow clones to learn sealing techniques before. After it was released, the main body only yawned."
He held up one finger, his expression like he was announcing a scientific conclusion that had undergone rigorous verification.
"The effect on the main body is approximately zero."
Namikaze Minato was silent for a while. "The main body will become very tired."
"There's nothing that can't be solved by sleeping once." Shinjiro's tone was extremely certain. "Sleep is the strongest medical ninjutsu in this world."
"What if sleeping once doesn't solve it?"
"Then sleep twice."
"Even if what you say makes sense," Minato continued asking, "after the clone is released, Shin-chan will suddenly gain an entire morning's worth of fatigue. What if he is doing something else at that time?"
Shinjiro blinked. "The main body probably doesn't have anything else to do right now."
"How do you know?"
"Because he handed the class over to me."
Namikaze Minato and Kushina looked at each other.
"This 'Shinjiro' of yours..." Kushina sat back down. "Even the way you think is exactly the same as the main body."
"Of course." Shinjiro puffed out his chest. "I am a perfect shadow clone."
Kushina closed her eyes and rubbed her temples with her fingers.
Namikaze Minato glanced at her. "Are you still holding class today?"
"Yes." Kushina opened her eyes. "Since he made a perfect shadow clone come here, then I'll let him perfectly finish this lesson."
Shinjiro sat upright on the chair. "Big Sister Kushina."
"Mm?"
"Are you a little angry?"
"No."
"Your chakra is drifting." Shinjiro pointed around her shoulders.
Kushina took a deep breath and withdrew the chakra leaking out of her body. "Class."
Shinjiro raised his hand again.
"Speak."
"The main body said the morning lesson wouldn't exceed three hours."
"That was the time he told you." Kushina folded her arms. "I don't remember agreeing with him on a dismissal time."
Shinjiro blinked. "Then he calculated wrong?"
"Very, very wrong."
"Then how long will this morning's lesson last?"
"Until I'm satisfied."
Shinjiro opened his mouth, then picked up his pen and wrote a line in his notebook.
Kushina glanced at it.
"Nohara Shinjiro, Day One, Clear Weather, Main Body Tricked Me."
Kushina didn't give him much time. She tapped the table. "Draw the basic sealing formula I taught you yesterday."
Shinjiro picked up the pen, and very quickly, a complete sealing formula appeared on the paper.
"Finished."
Kushina picked up the notebook and glanced at it. Unexpectedly, she couldn't find anything wrong with it.
"Continue."
The tip of the pen touched the paper. A few seconds later, there was another complete sealing formula.
"These..." Kushina pulled the notebook out of his hands. "When did you learn all of these?"
"The main body learned them. I only inherited the main body's knowledge."
"I know the main body learned them." Kushina was very surprised. "What I mean is, since when did he become so good at learning?"
Shinjiro tilted his head and thought. "From the beginning."
"What do you mean, from the beginning?"
"It means..." Shinjiro organized his words. "On the first day, the main body already learned it."
Kushina's hand holding the notebook paused. "He knew how to do it the first time he learned it?"
"Probably." Shinjiro nodded. "The main body learns things pretty quickly."
A cross-shaped vein began to appear on Kushina's forehead. "Then why does he say every time that he can't learn it?"
"I know this one." Shinjiro raised his hand. "If he says he learned it right away, then he'll be taught new things."
"Mm?"
"But if he keeps saying he can't learn it, then he can learn slowly."
"So he's been pretending he couldn't learn it the whole time?"
"It's not pretending." Shinjiro shook his head. "It's strategic learning."
"Strategic what?"
"Strategic learning," Shinjiro repeated. "It means taking something you've already learned and learning it again in different ways to see if there are any new discoveries."
"Nohara Shinnosuke!!!"
"My name is Nohara Shinjiro." Shinjiro sat obediently, looking as if this had nothing to do with him.
~~~
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