Now that the tone has been set, Uchiha Kiyo will naturally proceed as planned.
This point of intelligence must be established as soon as possible. Otherwise, I will suffer a loss if I am one step behind others in everything in the future.
Therefore, the means of information transmission should be developed as soon as possible.
Uchiha Kiyo is not in a hurry on this point—he already has an idea.
The so-called technique of transmitting information is about relaying intelligence back efficiently, and it is best to keep it secret.
Going a step further, it would be even better to transmit information directly into the main body's memory.
And there is a technique that can do just that.
Shadow Clone Technique!
One of the most broken abilities in the ninja world.
As long as one can endure it, increasing training efficiency by several times—or even dozens, hundreds, or thousands of times—is possible.
Of course, normal people can't endure such an overwhelming influx of memories.
Too many memories pouring in at once would at best cause mental shock and at worst lead to complete soul collapse, leaving the person incapacitated or dead.
The principle behind the Shadow Clone Technique is relatively simple: it creates a physical clone with independent consciousness. Once the clone is dispelled, the accumulated memories of that clone are transmitted back to the main body's mind instantly.
The most practical use of shadow clones isn't necessarily training but intelligence gathering.
Sending shadow clones out for reconnaissance significantly reduces risk to the main body.
Using shadow clones as a training hack is something only a handful of individuals can handle.
After all, it's not as if no one else has realized that shadow clones can accelerate training.
People aren't stupid.
It's just that training with shadow clones is extremely chakra-intensive.
The first limitation is chakra consumption.
A shadow clone takes away a significant amount of chakra from the main body.
The chakra division is even.
That is, if one creates a single shadow clone, the chakra is split in half. If two clones are made, each clone receives a third of the total chakra.
Theoretically, multiple clones can be created at once, but the number remains limited due to the base chakra requirement per clone. When converted into Uchiha Kiyo's chakra measurement, the lower limit per clone is about 200 calories. If a clone is created, its chakra must be above this limit, effectively restricting the number of clones that can exist at one time.
This is the first hurdle.
The second is chakra control.
Shadow clones, after all, are still a variation of the Clone Technique. Thus, they require a high level of chakra control.
Splitting into too many shadow clones demands exceptional control over chakra, which many ninjas simply lack.
This is the primary factor limiting the number of shadow clones an individual can create.
The Multi Shadow Clone Technique builds on the standard Shadow Clone Technique by adjusting the chakra distribution mechanism, reducing the control requirement but significantly increasing the number of clones created per use.
However, this comes at a cost.
The technique forcibly summons dozens—sometimes hundreds—of clones at once.
The memory overload from dozens of clones can be overwhelming. If the clones remain active for too long, the user may be unable to withstand the influx of information upon dispelling them. Many would either collapse mentally or outright die.
This is why the Multi Shadow Clone Technique is classified as a forbidden jutsu.
It is simply too dangerous!
The solution, however, is straightforward.
Ultimately, it all comes down to chakra control.
With high enough control, one can precisely manage the chakra division process when casting Multi Shadow Clone, thus summoning fewer clones at once.
That said, if one's chakra control is already that advanced, they can achieve a similar effect by using multiple normal shadow clones, eliminating the need for the forbidden technique.
For most ninjas, a dozen or so clones are more than enough to accelerate training.
So, what's the point of Multi Shadow Clone?
Fortunately, Uchiha Kiyo meets the necessary conditions.
With his level of chakra control, managing ten shadow clones is effortless.
What concerns him now is the second major difficulty of using shadow clones for training:
The burden of memory absorption.
This challenge depends on the individual's mental endurance and possibly the resilience of their soul. A prime example is Naruto, who, due to the influence of the Nine-Tails' chakra from birth, has an extraordinarily tough soul.
Uchiha Kiyo, with his naturally strong soul, finds it significantly easier to handle memory influx.
In his case, absorbing memories from six shadow clones simultaneously poses no issues and does not disrupt his normal activities.
Of course, this isn't even considering the "training hack" side of shadow clones yet.
Right now, Uchiha Kiyo is focusing on the core function—transmitting information back to the main body upon dispelling the clone.
This is where the Shadow Clone Technique gets mysterious.
And it is what separates shadow clones from elemental clones like Water Clones or Earth Clones.
"How exactly do these memories return?"
Uchiha Kiyo refuses to believe that memories are transmitted via some external medium.
Instead, he believes that these memories never actually leave in the first place.
Yes, they were always his to begin with.
When a shadow clone dissipates, the memories aren't "transferred"—they are unsealed within the main body.
Thus, there is no additional chakra cost for the memory return process.
This suggests that the clone's memories have always existed within the main body's soul, merely being "locked away" while the clone was active.
If this hypothesis is correct, it implies that shadow clones and the main body share the same soul.
Perhaps shadow clones have independent consciousness because of this?
It's as if creating a clone adds a secondary focal point to the soul, enabling it to manifest independent thought.
Then why does it feel so seamless?
Uchiha Kiyo theorizes that it might be similar to the "brain usage" concept from his past life.
Most shinobi do not fully utilize their soul's capacity.
In fact, many ninjas don't even tap into their soul's potential at all. Uchiha Kiyo himself is no exception.
This means that when a shadow clone is created, it uses the unused portion of the soul.
Thus, while active, this part of the soul is allocated exclusively to the clone. A temporary "boundary" forms between the clone and the main body, creating an artificial separation of memories.
Once the shadow clone is dispelled, this boundary vanishes, and the memories integrate seamlessly with the main body.
"So, the Shadow Clone Technique is fundamentally an application of soul manipulation? Once someone fully masters their own soul, creating shadow clones for training would be redundant?"
"Moreover, if complete soul mastery is achieved, why even bother splitting one's thinking? A fully controlled soul could process multiple thoughts simultaneously without the need for clones."
"In that case… Naruto's thousands of shadow clones helping his training means that he normally utilizes less than one-thousandth of his soul?"
"Hah! No wonder he's a bit… slow."
"Wait, that's not entirely correct."
The main body also carries all past memories, meaning it uses significantly more of the soul's capacity than a single shadow clone.
So the percentage of soul usage by a shadow clone must be much lower.
The key factor is not how much of the soul is used but rather that the shadow clone maintains a functional connection to the main body's soul, granting it independent awareness.
This likely involves a subtle interaction between the soul and chakra—perhaps chakra temporarily acting as a memory storage medium, retrieving data once the connection is reestablished.
"I have no idea how the Second Hokage developed this technique."
Uchiha Kiyo's respect for Tobirama Senju increases the more he analyzes the jutsu.
Truly a genius.
Tobirama not only created the Shadow Clone Technique but also developed Edo Tensei and the Spirit Transformation Technique—both advanced techniques concerning the soul.
There's no doubt that he understood the fundamental principles behind shadow clones.
"Back to my main objective—developing an information transmission technique."
If shadow clones function by linking to the soul, wouldn't it be possible to use a similar method to directly send messages into the soul?
After pondering for a long time, Uchiha Kiyo still can't figure out how to imprint information into the soul.
How would one even "input" something like that?
…Wait.
Memory!
Uchiha Kiyo suddenly realizes something.
"I don't need to send a message.
Since the one relaying information is my shadow clone, I just need to have the clone pre-share the memory."
So, the technique I need to develop is an advanced form of shadow clone memory sharing?
"Wait a minute—doesn't this resemble the visual sharing ability of the Rinnegan's Six Paths?"
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