"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Akira's figure flickered—
One became two.
"Not bad… this Avatar Incarnation is actually pretty good." ×2
The two spoke in perfect unison.
Both of them rubbed their chins, sizing each other up.
"No wonder it can rebel… same thoughts, same behavior." ×2
Unlike ordinary Shadow Clones that would disperse with a single hit—
This incarnation had flesh and blood.
It could even train on its own.
No one would ever be able to tell it was a clone.
At the same time, Akira's vision split into two perspectives—
One from his original body.
One from the incarnation.
The incarnation, however, had no system panel.
Every time it was created, it perfectly copied Akira's current abilities.
All skills—
Fully usable.
But if Akira upgraded afterward—
The incarnation wouldn't change.
Only recreating it would update its state.
"That means I don't have to worry about rebellion anymore…"
Akira suddenly fell silent.
Because—
The incarnation realized something.
It was the fake one.
"This is ridiculous," the incarnation muttered irritably.
"Hey, original—when are you dying so I can take over?"
Akira: "???"
That was way too fast.
It was already plotting his death?!
He quickly recalled everything about the incarnation.
It was a complete copy—
Talent.
Abilities.
Thinking.
Everything.
…Was he really this rebellious?
With a thought—
The incarnation dissolved into a mass of shadow and vanished.
"The chakra consumption is insane…"
Just creating one incarnation consumed half of his chakra.
But the advantage—
When it disappeared, everything it had gained—experience, chakra—would return to him.
If he could create multiple incarnations to train—
His growth would skyrocket.
Unfortunately—
He could only create one.
Of course, regular Shadow Clones were still available.
After all, once a skill reached level ten, he could still use the original version.
But—
Traits replaced the original chakra pathways.
If he wanted to use the base version, he had to manually adjust his chakra flow—
Which took longer than forming hand seals.
In actual combat—
That delay meant death.
Fortunately—
Shadow Clone wasn't an instant combat skill.
It could be prepared in advance.
"Incarnation… this will be extremely useful during peacetime."
Akira already had a plan.
Land of Rain.
A light drizzle fell from the sky, as if trying to wash away the scars of war.
A massive salamander stood upon the battlefield.
Hanzō stood atop it—
Looking down at the injured trio below.
Orochimaru.
Jiraiya.
Tsunade.
"This battle belongs to Konoha," Hanzō said calmly.
"So I'll spare your lives."
Konoha had won the battle.
But—
The three of them had lost to Hanzō.
If he truly wanted to kill them—
He could have done so easily.
"We don't need your mercy!" Jiraiya roared, supported by Tsunade.
"We can still fight!"
"Enough, Jiraiya," Tsunade said firmly.
They had already secured victory for Konoha.
There was no need to throw their lives away.
Hanzō looked at them.
"You three are strong."
"To survive against me in such a state…"
He paused.
"From this day forward—"
"I, Hanzō, name you the Three Ninja of Konoha."
"As the price of your survival…"
"Carry this title."
Thus—
The name Three Sannin spread across the ninja world.
But few knew—
It was a title granted by Hanzō as a victor.
A mark of humiliation.
The war had effectively ended—halfway.
Konoha had secured victory on all major fronts.
Even the Hidden Mist—
Seeing the other three great villages withdraw—
Chose to retreat as well.
Otherwise—
If Konoha reinforced that front, Kirigakure would have been in serious trouble.
With the Sannin's fame spreading—
The main war was over.
But—
The conflict itself had not fully ended.
Konoha's overwhelming victory forced other villages to abandon direct invasion plans.
Now—
Came the probing phase.
Each village tested the others, looking for weakness.
If any one faltered—
War would ignite again.
For now—
The fronts remained active.
Konoha's priority shifted to resisting probes—
And restoring its mission system.
War required money.
During the conflict—
Konoha had stopped accepting missions.
All ninja were deployed to the battlefield.
The village survived entirely on funding from the Daimyō.
But that funding was limited.
They needed to resume missions quickly.
Akira was among those being recalled.
He lay atop a transport cart carrying remaining supplies, a straw hanging from his mouth as he gazed at the sky.
The clouds that once covered the sun had finally cleared.
"My enjoyable war period… is over."
His voice was full of regret.
From now on—
Only small-scale conflicts remained.
Missions.
Espionage.
Skirmishes.
Nothing like the massive EXP gains of war.
His level had only just reached jōnin.
Though his actual strength—
Was already at elite jōnin level.
His original goal had been—
To grind all the way to Kage level during the war.
He was thirteen.
Nearly fourteen.
And still—
Just elite jōnin.
"I've brought shame to all transmigrators…"
Others became Kage-level monsters at thirteen or fourteen.
And him?
Still stuck here.
"…But."
A smile slowly spread across his face.
"There's still one more batch of EXP waiting."
He pulled out a scroll and unfurled it.
This was intelligence from Root.
Someone had slipped it into his tent before he left.
He recognized the seal.
Unfortunately—
It wasn't an assassination mission.
No Uchiha to kill.
What kind of Root operation was this without killing Uchiha?
The scroll contained only one line:
"The Hyūga clan is going to make a move against you."
Akira's lips curled.
"Perfect timing."
Just what he needed.
He wondered—
When the truth about the Caged Bird losing its effect was revealed—
What kind of expressions would they make?
An elite jōnin.
Freed from the Caged Bird.
Now facing the wrath of the Hyūga main house.
Akira couldn't help but laugh.
◇ I'll be dropping one bonus chapters for every 10 reviews. comment
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on P@treon if you're interested:
patreon.com/KuroTL