Chapter 045: Wait, Naruto, I Taught You Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu Not to Enhance the Sexy Jutsu!
There was only one week left until the Chūnin Exams.
But that was a normal person's one week.
For Sasuke, however...
"Ah..."
"This isn't right..." Sasuke muttered in disbelief.
"Don't say it's not right. In fact, I was quite hesitant about this," said Kitahara Kaede.
"Sasuke, weren't you the top of the class? Or... don't tell me you haven't even reached the basic Genin level?"
Kitahara Kaede continued, "Even though we're in peaceful times and the Academy's curriculum isn't as harsh, your level still surprised me."
"It's a bit... too lacking," Kaede remarked.
"..." Sasuke had no words.
"Ughhh..."
"Damn it..."
"It's just a library, isn't it?"
"I'll read it all!" Sasuke shouted as he lifted his head. What greeted him was a perfectly spiral arrangement of bookshelves, lined with thirty-six thousand books on ninja history and knowledge. No, not little yellow books—actual serious texts.
"The problem is, you have to let me rest," Sasuke complained.
"I already let you rest," Kaede replied.
"...Using the Rinnegan... that doesn't count as rest!" Sasuke protested.
Finally, Sasuke and Naruto understood why that day at Tenten's ninja tool shop, Kaede had "taken care of business" with Naruto so quickly.
The reason was… his eyes were different from the rest.
Rinnegan.
According to ancient texts, the Sage of Six Paths had these exact purple ripple-patterned eyes.
Just like reincarnation—thus they were named the Rinnegan.
Using these eyes, Kaede pulled Sasuke and Naruto into an illusionary realm he created.
They wanted to pass the Chūnin Exams, so Kaede decided to train them to safe Jōnin-level standards.
Referencing Kakashi Hatake wasn't quite valid—Kakashi's generation came from wartime, where Genin were essentially cannon fodder, so the standards were low.
But now, the Chūnin Exams included both written and practical tests.
So the difficulty skyrocketed.
To raise someone from a normal Genin knowledge level to Jōnin combat ability in one week seemed impossible.
For normal people, yes. But not for Kaede.
Rinnegan. One look was all it took to draw someone into a full illusion.
A genjutsu.
And inside this absolute genjutsu, everything was under Kaede's control.
Even if someone was forced to study for 300 years in this illusionary world, only a second would pass in the real world.
That's why Kaede agreed to take on Naruto and Sasuke's request even with only a week left.
Time meant nothing in front of his genjutsu.
At first, Sasuke felt:
Jealous.
But then he questioned himself—could he really improve this way?
People are fearless in ignorance.
But once rationality kicks in, fear follows.
And yes—
He was scared.
At the moment, he was inside a library. But not the real Konoha library—this was one Kaede constructed within the genjutsu.
In a genjutsu world, everything depends on the creator's imagination. The fact that Kaede could recreate Konoha's library so perfectly...
Meant one thing:
He had read everything in the library.
Not just read—memorized.
Only then could he manifest the books with their exact original contents.
Naruto experienced the same.
"Ahhhhhhh…" Naruto A.
"I want to cry…" Naruto B.
"No way…" Naruto C.
"Ah…" Naruto D slammed into a desk.
Yeah.
Naruto was falling apart.
The Narutos came from the Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu, which Kaede had let Naruto develop inside the illusion over a simulated year.
Unlike regular clone techniques, Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu could retain experience and return it to the user.
So the moment Naruto learned it, he deployed all his clones to read.
But... since the clones were all based on Naruto—Konoha's #1 dropout—they all sucked at studying and were now trapped in book hell.
Screaming in despair.
Sasuke somewhat understood them.
For someone like Naruto, reading through the entire library was hopeless.
And Kaede's teaching method was... insane.
He wouldn't answer questions. You had to read everything, and only afterward could you ask him anything.
At this point, they had read for 300 hours.
But had only finished less than 100 books. With over 30,000 remaining...
[Ding!]
[Today's Descendant Chat Group (^_-) is now open]
[@Hashirama, Tobirama, Kakashi, Might Guy, Mei Terumi, Ōnoki, Minato Namikaze, Nine Tails]
[Let today's group chat begin!]
[Big Dumb - Hashirama]: Hmm... This illusion space is really incredible.
[Big Dumb - Hashirama]: I can't believe ten days passed inside, while it was only one second outside.
[Tobirama]: ...
[Tobirama]: Looks like ocular powers aren't all useless after all.
[Tobirama]: If I had this buff, I might actually be able to develop Wood Style cells and big bro's Wood Style myself.
[Tobirama's Achievement - Izuna]: Hmph...
[Minato Namikaze]: Still, Kaede-kun is truly a genius. I've never seen genjutsu used like this before.
[Minato Namikaze]: And Naruto managed to recreate your Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu within just one year of illusion time. That's my Narubaby.
[Tobirama]: In that regard... Uzumaki Naruto does indeed have talent.
[Tobirama]: But let's be clear—the original creator of the Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu is me.
[Tobirama]: I am the official source.
[Big Dumb - Hashirama]: C'mon, Tobirama, they're just using it. No big deal.
Hashirama didn't seem to care much.
Compared to before, the emotions of the former Hokage members had calmed significantly.
Tobirama had also started to recover from his sulking.
After all, within the memory of those in the chat, ten days had passed.
Ten days was enough for anyone to cool down.
The group chat's time seemed to be synced with Kaede's illusion time.
So as long as Kaede remained in genjutsu, the chat continued to flow based on illusion time.
Within that ten-day span, seeing Kaede and the kids reading all day in the illusion, the old guard started reading too.
Books calm the soul.
And so, Tobirama calmed down.
Konoha's archives were vast and impressive, so it never got boring.
But one tailed beast had a different take—
[Big Dumb - Hashirama]: Nine Tails, are you sure you don't want to read a little?
Every time the chat went live, Nine Tails would show up—but instead of reading, he'd close his eyes, cross his paws, and lay his head down to sleep.
Such an independent spirit.
[Nine Tails - Kurama]: No… I'll pass.
[Minato Namikaze]: Why?
[Nine Tails - Kurama]: ...Back when I was inside your kid, he was constantly reading and studying. All I saw was books...
[Nine Tails - Kurama]: And now, the livestream shows them still reading...
[Nine Tails - Kurama]: What kind of world is this.
[Nine Tails - Kurama]: Forcing a tailed beast to study?!
[Nine Tails - Kurama]: Outrageous!
Kurama let out a roar of protest.
Ever since Kaede thrashed him with Wood Style and then blew him away with his own Tailed Beast Bomb, Kurama had gone soft.
He updated his "Do Not Mess With" list.
Originally, Hashirama sat at the top.
But now, Kaede was up there too—maybe even higher.
This guy wasn't human.
Because he was sealed inside Naruto, Kurama had to relive Naruto's childhood of learning and literacy. So he technically became well-read too.
In a way... Kurama was also a bookworm now.
But—
Kaede was a total demon.
Once Sasuke and Naruto showed they wanted to take the Chūnin Exam, Kaede's first step was—
Books.
Yeah.
Konoha's Chūnin Exam had always tested both theory and field skill.
The first round was usually a written test.
So to pass it, Kaede forced them to study like maniacs—and not just exam content. No, they had to memorize the whole damn library.
With that kind of breadth and depth of knowledge, any written exam would be trivial.
Chūnin Exam written portion: cleared!
But—
This was pure insanity.
Kurama refused to join in the academic grind.
So he absolutely refused to read.
That said, it wasn't all about studying.
Kaede also invited Kakashi Hatake to join in.
Kakashi was deeply moved.
He tried to refuse—only to find himself already inside the illusion realm and unable to escape.