Lotm Rogue-like across worlds.

It was already late in the evening. Out of breath, I finally reached my apartment. Inside, I was greeted by a familiar sight: four clones settled in a room, each taking his place. Two of them were sitting at the kitchen table, one occupied the desk, and the other was lying on the bed. The one who was lying on the bed and who was sitting at the tables was reading, his neighbor was diligently writing in a notebook, and the last one who was at the desk was creating seals.

With the increase in the supply of chakra, the number of clones increased, and their existence could now last more than seven hours without additional nourishment. The exception was the one who dealt with seals — due to the consumption of chakra, his time was limited, but he practiced and made good progress.

I ignored them and headed for the shower. The workouts were getting harder, and even though I was a kid and still didn't smell like sweat, the feeling of dirt and stickiness was annoying. When I returned to the room, I noticed that the clones sitting at the kitchen table had moved to the floor, making room for me and carefully setting the table.

I sat down at the table and started eating the already tired chicken and rice. For the sake of variety, although realizing the futility of the idea, I asked the clones:

"How are you?" Any results?

The clone lying on the bed was the first to respond. Next to him was a stack of books on ijutsu and anatomy, which he reread, deepening his theoretical knowledge.

"The good news is, theoretically, we can use the Faceless One's abilities to improve our physique,— he began.

The reason for its openness was that the clone had pre-installed seals blocking the sound. In addition, there was always a waking clone in the room, which minimized the possibility of eavesdropping.

— The catch is that it's a little more complicated than it looks. Muscle growth does not occur due to an increase in the number of muscle tissues, but due to hypertrophy. It comes in two types: myofibrillary and sarcoplasmic. The first increases the length and thickness of muscle fibers by lengthening myosin and actin. The second is due to an increase in sarcoplasm, non—contractile structures and mitochondria. We also need to increase the number of capillaries near muscles, neuromuscular connections, and figure out how to improve the circulatory system.

I took a sip of water, without looking up from the conversation, and clarified:

— And how to do it?

— The work ahead is surgical, at the cellular level. Faceless allows us to change the structure of the body at this level, but there is a problem: we cannot normally feel changes at this level. It will be almost impossible to increase the length of myofibrils and the number of capillaries without detailed monitoring. The only way out is to understand the structure of all the muscles and see how the forces of the Faceless affect them in real time. But to do this, you need to dissect your body, which is excluded, and using others is pointless.

Indeed, such actions required my conscious participation. I could have made small incisions and tried to analyze the results, but that wasn't enough to generalize.

— Have you figured out a way out?

A clone joined the conversation, sitting on the floor and doing an academic program.:

— I have an idea. Do you remember our theory about the "durable clone"? We assumed that to create it, you need to fill the shell with "insides", that is, give it a human anatomical structure. If a clone is formed from a chakra that takes shape, then by giving it a detailed structure, we will get an exact copy of you from the inside. But to do this, you need to study not only the structure of muscles, but also the circulatory, skeletal, nervous, excretory systems and organs. It is not necessary to go into details — we can study some tissues that will be weaker than others. For example, we don't need and we won't be able to simulate the brain. But then any damage to the skull, even a slight one, will instantly dispel the clone. The same thing will happen if the digestive system is not improved and the stomach is damaged.

The clone paused, letting me think about what he had heard, and continued:

— When we create such a clone, we will begin experiments: we will dissect it, observe the changes externally, and it will share the results through the prism of sensations. This will help you understand how to influence the body on a micro level. But there is a disadvantage: pain and sensations will be transmitted. There are no solutions yet, but we can find or create a genjutsu to suppress pain. Painkillers are not suitable — they dull all sensations and are usually drugs that will not be sold to us.

The clone from the bed joined the conversation again:

— Given the amount of knowledge that we will have to master, we suggest that all clones focus their efforts on studying anatomy. If everything goes according to plan, the creation of such a clone will take from three months to six months.

"Pretty fast." Why such optimism?

— We focused on the training of Irenin and doctors. It takes six years. But they study diseases, pharmacology, and biochemistry, which we don't need. Some details about the organs, as we mentioned, can be skipped temporarily or permanently. We don't need to simulate an appendix from the inside, and we can only describe the brain in a way that we understand. Simply put, we have room for simplifications. This allows us to spend less time on learning.

— So if we don't have any other important tasks, I think it's a good idea.

The clone who was practicing Fuinjutsu at the table looked up from his typing and turned to us.

— We can already put the rudiment on the seal of a hundred. But our chakra control has become worse than before, so we can't recharge. Apart from that, we don't have anything important.

After these words, the last clone joined in, he studied the "basic theories of human sensations," and also had books "psychology and weaknesses of the enemy" and "Horrors of War" next to him. By no means was he going to be a psychologist, but on the advice of the librarian, these were the best books for building the foundation of genjutsu.

— My work is meaningless so far, considering that we are learning genjutsu for the ritual. As for progressing through Prometheus, I believe that in order to digest it, we will have to present ourselves as a "benefactor" in one way or another, while either cheating or stealing, which sets us up very badly. I think that another possible, but almost impossible task would be to learn how to change the signature of the chakra. Perhaps we should learn the technique of absorbing someone else's chakra and try to imitate the White Zetsu so that we can create a full-fledged new personality. Then we can digest both Faceless and Prometheus without risks. However, I don't even have any ideas how to develop in this direction.

This issue was also acute. But we still had options. For example, if I can complete the academy this year, I'll gradually be able to digest the potion while disguising myself on missions. In general, the status of a genin, although dangerous, will still give me room for maneuver.

"Considering that we will study the points of the chakra with anatomy, we may find clues to solve this issue,— the clone on the bed added.

— Well, since there are no more tasks, we will start implementing them tomorrow.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

The pain in my muscles has become familiar, like a morning ritual. After training with Maito Guy, the body seemed to be an immobile mechanism, constrained and requiring effort even for simple movements. However, this feeling no longer interfered, it became part of the routine. I stood on the training ground, peering into the faces of the other students. I'm sparring with Sasuke today.

The pairs were ranked according to the results of the entire semester. I was in second place, and now I was standing in front of the first. Sasuke looked at me confidently, waiting for the signal. We have already met more than once at similar training sessions. Although I managed to win the last few fights, the difference at the beginning of the semester played a role in our places.

The instructor gave a sign. We folded the seals, greeting each other. For a few moments, everything froze. Sasuke took the first step. Two short steps forward, his right hand darted to my stomach, testing my stance. I tried to grab his hand, but it turned out to be fake. He abruptly raised his left hand and grabbed my shoulder, while with his right hand he grabbed my outstretched arm, aiming his foot at my jaw.

The blow was unexpected, but risky. This put him in an open position. I decided not to walk away from the blow.: My legs weren't as responsive after training with Guy. He took a punch to the stomach, simultaneously reaching for his neck with both hands. The hold was short—lived - I yanked Sasuke down, forcing him to lose his balance. He twisted around, rolling out of a dangerous position, and immediately got to his feet.

His eyes narrowed. He realized that the attempt to take the initiative had failed. Sasuke's next move was more circumspect. He circled around me, watching my every move intently. Then a sharp lunge — the right hand aimed at the chest, the left ready to parry a possible response. I dodged his attack and stepped to the left, aiming my elbow at his ribs. Sasuke retreated, the blow passed by casually.

I noticed that his style became more aggressive. He took a step forward, throwing a series of quick, direct punches—one to the head, the other to the stomach. I blocked the first one, the second one just grazed my shoulder. The pain passed like a wave, but I didn't slow down. I grabbed his right arm and pulled him towards me, at the same time hitting his inner thigh with my knee. Sasuke lost his balance, but instead of falling, he used the momentum to push away from me and step back.

His breathing became a little more noticeable, but he did not give up. Now he's changed his tactics. Instead of aggression, it was a defensive position, he was waiting for my mistake. Deciding not to give him time to recover, I launched an attack. Ducking under his protection, he feinted with his left fist, forcing him to raise the block. The real blow came from the right—my elbow slammed into his side. He reacted quickly, his hand slid to my wrist, trying to seize control, but I stepped aside before I could secure the grip.

Now I noticed that his movements had slowed down. He tried to hide it, but his fatigue was making itself felt. I decided to take advantage of it. Taking a step forward, he launched a series of short attacks at his body. He blocked two punches, and the third landed on his shoulder. Sasuke retreated, trying to break my rhythm again. But I didn't give him a chance. A short downward lunge — he thought it was a hook, and raised his leg. But my kick turned out to be a direct one, hitting the knee of his supporting leg. He staggered and fell to one knee.

I took advantage of the moment to step forward. The fist stopped threateningly at his chest. Sasuke raised his hands in surrender. I took my hand away, stepped back, and sealed the seal of reconciliation, respecting his efforts.