Naruto: The Chosen Undead

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Chapter no.41 Of Clones and Camouflage

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Naruto strolled into Training Ground 7—two hours late, as usual—with a smug grin plastered across his face. Tucked under his arm was his latest "treasure": the Uzumaki Clan history book.

Of course, he still couldn't show it off—it would raise too many questions. So, he crafted a plan befitting his expertise.

"Yo, Sakura! What's up?"

She looked up, her eyes going wide as they locked onto the book in his hand. "Na-Naruto… you can read?!"

"Of course I can read, Sakura. What do you think I've been doing all these years, eating the books?"

Sakura looked ready to fire back but hesitated, her expression shifting to something more uncertain. "Uh… what're you reading?" she asked, her tone unusually polite, like she wasn't sure if she really wanted to know.

Naruto smirked, his backup plan already in motion. In a split second, the Uzumaki Clan history book vanished into his inventory, replaced by a highly questionable smut book he totally didn't steal from Iruka's secret stash. Both books had identical covers—an ingenious touch Naruto had thought of himself—so he could seamlessly switch between the two without raising suspicion. Foolproof. Absolutely foolproof.

Sakura froze, her face immediately flushing bright red as her gaze darted to the bold, scandalous lettering. Her expression shifted from shock to rage in a matter of seconds. Naruto had to bite back a grin as she clenched her fists, the air around her practically crackling with fury.

"You pervert!" she shrieked, storming off toward the training dummies. She muttered under her breath, her voice just loud enough for him to catch: "Kakashi-sensei corrupted Naruto-baka. If he corrupts Sasuke-kun, he'll feel the wrath of Sakura Haruno, the beautiful maiden of war!"

Naruto barely held back a laugh as he glanced at Sasuke, who was sitting nearby, pretending not to listen while reading a scroll. Naruto decided to push his luck.

"Yo, teme," he called. "Wanna read?"

Sasuke didn't even look up, but Sakura did. Her head whipped around so fast Naruto half-expected it to snap.

"Don't you dare, Naruto!" she screamed, her voice shrill enough to make nearby birds scatter. "I'll fight you with the heart of a maiden of war in love!"

Naruto burst out laughing, doubling over at her ridiculous outburst. Sasuke, meanwhile, finally glanced at her, his expression as unreadable as ever. Sakura's face softened immediately, turning bashful, as if she hadn't just declared war seconds ago.

"Hn." Sasuke's noncommittal grunt was all she got before he returned to his scroll.

Naruto grinned wider. Sasuke didn't care, and Sakura's crushed expression only made it funnier. Winding her up was almost too easy.

"Oh my, what a lively team I've got," came a familiar, lazy voice.

"Kakashi-sensei, you corrupter! Deviant! Pervert!" Sakura yelled, pointing an accusatory finger at him, her face still flushed from earlier.

"Mou, mou, Sakura-chan, what did little old me do?"

"You corrupted Naruto with your ways!"

Naruto casually handed Kakashi the smut book with a perfectly straight face.

"Good taste, Naruto," Kakashi said, flipping through the pages briefly. "But the cover made from a camouflage cloak? Why?"

"It's so I can use Transformation Jutsu to hide it," Naruto replied with a sly smirk. "Wouldn't want Sakura getting jealous of some pretty women."

Sakura's death glare was immediate and laser-focused, boring into the back of his head like a drill.

In truth, though, Naruto had a different reason. The camouflage cloak and Transformation Jutsu weren't about hiding smut—they were about hiding the actual history book he was reading. But hey, plausible excuses were a shinobi's bread and butter, and this one was perfect.

"Alright, everyone, sit down. I need to reveal today's plans."

Naruto plopped down with a contented sigh, his plan having worked perfectly. Sakura sat as far from him as possible, muttering under her breath while glaring daggers at him.

Naruto glanced her way, noticing how uncharacteristically quiet she was compared to her usual loud tirades. Was this some kind of miracle? For a moment, he considered if he should be worried… then shrugged. Nope. Sakura being quiet was definitely proof that the gods were on his side today.

"Today's our first real training day. Here's the plan: we'll go until noon, training each of you individually. After that, you'll get a two-hour rest before we meet some special people, and in the evening… our first mission."

A surge of excitement hit Naruto. Our first mission!

But then Kakashi made three shadow clones, each one beckoning them to follow separately. It took a second, but it finally clicked. Individual training, huh?

Naruto glanced at the real Kakashi, expecting him to lead one of them, only to see him walking over to a tree and lying down for a nap. Naruto sweatdropped along with Sasuke and Sakura.

Lazy bum!

Before he knew it, Kakashi's clone had a hand on Naruto's shoulder, and in a flicker of movement, they were deeper into the forest. Naruto barely had time to blink before they stopped.

"So, what are you planning to teach me, Cyclops Instructor?"

Kakashi's clone handed him a folder instead of answering. Naruto took it, his grin fading as he looked down. The file had his name on it—his academy records—but it looked thicker. More... detailed. He flipped it open.

"What is this?"

"It's your current report," Kakashi said. "An assessment of your skills."

Naruto couldn't help but feel uneasy. Reading through, he saw:

Taijutsu skills: B

Genjutsu skills: F

Ninjutsu skills: A

He skimmed past the other categories, not wanting to read every detail. Looking back up, he said, "These aren't the results I got at the academy."

"Of course not," Kakashi replied. "This is my report. My evaluation of your skills."

Oh. Naruto couldn't stop the little smile creeping back onto his face. Kakashi's assessment was definitely worth more than any report card. See? I'm awesome! But before his ego could fully inflate, Kakashi popped it like a balloon.

"But don't get ahead of yourself," he said, bringing Naruto back down to earth with a thud. "We've got a lot of work to do if you want to catch up to Sasuke and Sakura."

Naruto felt a chill run down his spine, like a breeze passing right through him. When he looked down, he froze—he was in his underwear. What the—

He blinked, and everything was back to normal. Naruto gritted his teeth, muttering, "Genjutsu."

"Exactly," Kakashi replied. "You might be better than the average academy student, but if you really want to catch up to your teammates, there's a lot you still need to learn."

Naruto clenched his fists, the old, familiar fire building inside him. "I'll definitely catch up!" he shouted.

Kakashi motioned for him to turn the page. Naruto did, and his face fell at the sight of his academic scores. The horror must have been clear on his face because Kakashi didn't even smirk—just watched him.

"Come on, Sensei, what good is the academy's 'useless' knowledge gonna do me?" Naruto waved his hand dismissively. "Like, what's the powerhouse of the cell? Who cares?"

"Alright, let's say you have a mission in the Fire Capital. You need to sneak in without anyone noticing. Which route do you take?"

"The... least obvious route?"

Kakashi's face remained blank, unamused. Naruto got the message. "Fine. But how am I supposed to become stronger if I'm stuck with books and basics?"

"Shadow clones."

Naruto scratched his head, trying to piece together Kakashi's point about shadow clones. His mind churned through everything he knew about the jutsu until something clicked.

"You're gonna use the memory transfer to boost my training," he blurted out.

"How do you know about that?"

Uh oh. Naruto hadn't exactly shown this jutsu off to anyone yet. To cover himself, he quickly flashed through the hand sign, creating a dozen clones that popped up around him, all grinning expectantly at Kakashi.

Guess that throws out the possibility of Naruto learning his strange jutsu or collecting those bizarre items from some kind of hidden treasury in the forbidden scroll. Kakashi sighed inwardly. A pity—I actually liked that idea.

"Great. Saves me from teaching you the Shadow Clone Jutsu."

"No, no, teach us, teach us!" the clones chorused.

"Alright," Kakashi said, humoring them. "If you can get a higher score than Sasuke and Sakura in the academic tests."

The clones glanced at each other, exchanging determined nods. "Yosh! Let's study!" they shouted.

"Pop the clones, Naruto," Kakashi said with a smile. With a nod, Naruto dispelled them all.

Then Kakashi handed him a scroll. Naruto unrolled it, seeing a list of subjects and notes.

"Now, make two clones for each subject," Kakashi instructed, "and an extra clone to follow me. Your textbooks and everything you need are in that scroll."

Naruto created the clones and assigned each to their study group, watching as a second Kakashi clone guided them to a makeshift "classroom." Naruto turned to follow the original deeper into the forest.

"Uh, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked. "I can make way more than just a dozen clones. Wouldn't it be better if I made, like, hundreds?"

Kakashi gave him a pointed look. "A human mind can only process so much information at once. Even if you had a hundred clones reading a single line, your brain would barely register it after dispelling them. The overload would overwhelm your mind, and it might even shut down completely."

"Really? You're sure about that?"

Kakashi nodded. "Think of it like trying to shove a hundred bowls of ramen into your mouth at once. You wouldn't taste or enjoy any of it—and you'd probably pass out before getting through half. Your brain needs time to digest the information. So for now, we'll stick to a dozen clones."

Naruto still looked skeptical but reluctantly nodded. "Okay, but... what're we doing, then?"

"You and your clone will be practicing the Academy Katas," Kakashi said.

Naruto groaned. "Come on, Kakashi-sensei! Give me some cool taijutsu! Katas are so stiff—it's like a dance move. How's that supposed to help in a real fight?"

Kakashi didn't respond. He simply threw a punch, so fast that Naruto barely had time to react. He raised his palm to block, but Kakashi shifted, his body invading Naruto's space. Before Naruto could process it, Kakashi hooked his leg behind Naruto's and shoved, sending him tumbling to the ground.

"Hey! What's the big deal?"

"Kata number five," Kakashi said calmly.

Naruto replayed the sequence in his mind. Kata number five... a side dodge and jump. If he'd followed the movement instead of resisting, he could've sidestepped the attack entirely.

"The academy's taijutsu isn't some flashy fighting style," Kakashi explained. "It's a series of katas created by the Second Hokage—designed to keep you alive. Each kata is a response to a common attack. It's a foundation. Master these, and you'll be prepared for a lot more than you think."

Naruto looked down, the weight of Kakashi's words settling over him. Better to learn now than regret it on the battlefield, he thought.

"Good," Kakashi said. "Now, spar with your clone. Fix your katas, and then—if you get it down—I'll teach you a very important jutsu."

A grin spread across Naruto's face. "Yatta! New jutsu!" he shouted, charging at his clone with excitement.

Kakashi facepalmed. He missed the part where this was about katas.

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[ Personal Note: First off, thanks a ton to all of you for sticking with this story. Seriously, you guys are awesome. Now, if you're interested in supporting me on P treon, let me just say that over there, I post these massive 5k-word chapters. But heads up, if you're jumping to P treon, you'll need to start from Chapter 21, since that's where this chapter lines up with the content there.

To everyone here just reading along, please don't forget to leave a comment! Honestly, your comments make my day, and they let me know you're as invested in this story as I am. So yeah, thanks again, and I hope you have an amazing rest of your day!