"Is it over?"

Tsunade thought as she dispelled her shadow clone.

A flood of memories returned, letting her know the cause and effect.

It had to be said—Natsuki’s performance was practically perfect.

Tsunade had originally thought this rescue operation would be extremely dangerous because Kumogakure had made extensive preparations.

This could be seen from how they captured Kushina right in front of Konoha’s ANBU.

The reason this rescue operation was so simple was entirely due to Natsuki.

Although her shadow clone had also participated, it only played a supporting role.

It was Natsuki who immediately pinpointed Kushina’s location through Kurobane. It was also him who decisively carried out the rescue.

Most importantly, he had sufficient strength.

Shadow Space combined with the modified Hiding in Mist Technique allowed him and her shadow clone to easily defeat those two Kumogakure Jonin.

Tsunade felt that even a Jonin stronger than Natsuki would find it hard to do it so easily.

Right at that moment, Nawaki and Minato arrived belatedly.

Their strength was inferior to Tsunade and the ANBU ninjas, so their speed was naturally slower.

"I-It’s resolved this quickly?"

Nawaki panted. "What a pity I... I couldn’t help."

"As long as Kushina is fine."

Minato looked at Natsuki and Kushina hugging each other. He felt a bit strange.

But he quickly regained his calm.

"Take these two Kumogakure Jonin back first to extract intel."

Tsunade looked at the group of ANBU ninjas. "Make sure to find out all the Kumogakure spies!"

"Yes, Lady Tsunade."

The ANBU immediately left with the dead Kumogakure Jonin.

"Kushina."

Tsunade joked. "How long are you going to hug him?"

Kushina instinctively pushed Natsuki away.

She lowered her head. A blush uncontrollably appeared on her face.

"Fortunately, it was a false alarm this time."

Tsunade rubbed her head. "Konoha also got a blessing in disguise—being able to eradicate all Kumogakure spies in one fell swoop."

[Congratulations, Host. You have unlocked Uzumaki Naruto Template Ability 2: Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu.]

Natsuki’s spirit jolted as a massive amount of information flooded his mind.

The Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu was actually very similar to the Shadow Clone Jutsu—but it removed the limit on the number of clones.

Theoretically, as long as one had enough chakra, they could create countless shadow clones.

For example, Uzumaki Naruto.

In every battle, he used the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu, creating thousands of shadow clones to implement his human wave tactics.

For a normal ninja, creating more than twenty shadow clones at once could lead to death from chakra exhaustion.

Natsuki now had the chakra of four Kakashis, so creating twenty shadow clones wouldn’t kill him.

But upon dispelling them, the return of memories, experience, fatigue, and various injuries would likely be unbearable.

In short, he should try not to create too many shadow clones.

Especially when using them for training—he needed to be extremely cautious.

Natsuki estimated he could create at most five shadow clones for training. Any more would be too painful.

However, five shadow clones were already enough.

With the unlocking of Ability 2, the Uzumaki Naruto template was completely integrated.

[You have awakened the Kirigaya Kazuto Template.]

A sudden line of text appeared before Natsuki’s eyes.

He couldn’t help but be stunned.

The Kirito template?

A Starburst Stream meme immediately popped into his mind.

Natsuki stroked his chin.

Why did I awaken the Kirigaya Kazuto template?

Undoubtedly, it was related to saving Kushina.

In Sword Art Online, Kirigaya Kazuto had also gone to save the captured Asuna.

In this regard, their actions were similar.

Natsuki pondered as he looked at his newly acquired template.

[Name: Kirigaya Kazuto] 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

[Period: Fairy Dance Arc]

[World: Sword Art Online]

[Rank: A-Rank]

[Ability 1: Night Vision — UNLOCKED] Effect: A Spriggan racial trait. Allows clear vision even in completely dark environments.

[Ability 2: Transcendent Reaction Speed — LOCKED] Effect: Only the player with the fastest reaction speed can use Dual Blades skills. Unlock Condition: Dodge 80% of attacks in a battle against three Tokubetsu Jonin or Jonin.

[Ability 3: Double Circular — LOCKED] Effect: Unleash a slash with twin swords while dashing forward. Unlock Condition: Possess a second sword or blade.

[Ability 4: Starburst Stream — LOCKED] Effect: Unleash a 16-hit combo using twin swords. Unlock Condition: Defeat three Fire Release Jonin.

[Ability 5: The Eclipse — LOCKED] Effect: Unleash a 27-hit combo using twin swords. Unlock Condition: Defeat a battlefield commander.

Natsuki couldn’t help but nod in satisfaction.

The Kirigaya Kazuto template was A-Rank, meaning his level in the Naruto world would be roughly equivalent to a Jonin.

Ability 1: Night Vision.

Although ninjas could use chakra to enhance their night vision, using chakra made it easy for enemies to detect them.

The Night Vision of the Kirigaya Kazuto template came from a racial trait—meaning it was an innate ability that didn’t require chakra.

In the future, when Natsuki executed night infiltration missions, he would have a significant advantage.

Ability 2: Transcendent Reaction Speed.

Natsuki immediately thought of Minato and the Flying Thunder God Technique.

Reaction speed was undoubtedly one of the prerequisites for learning it.

Right now, he was only missing spatial talent.

Of course, even if he couldn’t learn the Flying Thunder God Technique, Transcendent Reaction Speed would be extremely useful in combat.

It’s just that the unlock condition was somewhat troublesome.

It required him to dodge most attacks in a battle against three Tokubetsu Jonin or Jonin.

Dodging attacks was often harder than taking them head-on.

The remaining three abilities were all from Kirigaya Kazuto’s Dual Blades skills.

But not all of them—only three.

However, these three were the strongest among the Dual Blades skills.

The unlock condition for Ability 3 was the simplest.

Orochimaru had previously promised to give him a Kusanagi Sword.

Moreover, Ability 3 only required possessing a second sword or blade—it didn’t specify that it had to be a famous one.

In other words, Natsuki could just buy any random sword to unlock it.

The unlock conditions for Ability 4 and Ability 5 were the most difficult.

The former required defeating three Fire Release Jonin.

The latter required defeating a battlefield commander.

With Natsuki’s current strength, he could defeat a Jonin with a surprise attack.

However, there was still a possibility of failure.

But defeating a battlefield commander would be a massive test.

What was a battlefield commander?

For example, Orochimaru—who had been sent to the Land of Rain—was the battlefield commander for Konoha in that theater.

In other words, Natsuki would have to defeat a ninja on the level of Hanzo, Orochimaru, or Chiyo.

The only comforting thing was that it didn’t explicitly demand a one-on-one victory.

However, he wasn’t in a rush.

To unlock Ability 5, he had to participate in the Second Shinobi World War.

For Natsuki, that was something for next year.

By next year, his strength would have increased significantly again.

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