Second Chance

Chapter 06

Chapter 06: Brutal Training, Best Results
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The training with Kakashi, Naruto and Sasuke was proving to be quite brutal for Hinata but she was absolutely adamant about catching up to her teammates and being of use in the coming war. She had just never noticed how weak the academy had made many of the shinobi when compared to where they needed to be. Sasuke and Naruto had explained to her that the other countries had much better academies even if their methods were questionable. From what she heard of the future she was inclined to believe that. She had heard that Shino was having a very difficult time with his team as well. Kiba and Sakura must be holding him back. She was a little miffed at Kurenai for not getting those two in line by now. Sure she saw the jonin as a surrogate older sister but at the same time she was acting so much different than she remembered. Then again Kurenai hadn't done much to help her confidence either. Stretching she stepped out of the shower, dried off and began to dress for the new day.

Breakfast was a quiet affair like normal, although she noticed that Neji kept staring at her as if there was something that he wanted to ask like usual. She never understood why he hated her so much but she was bound and determined to mend the rift that had grown between them. Placing her dishes in the sink she grabbed the bag she always brought to training and darted out the door. Kakashi-sensei said that they were going to be doing some rather harsh training today and she wanted to at least be warmed up before he decided to half kill them. Reaching the training field in record time she noticed Sasuke and Naruto do a quick spar and critiquing each other's form. She had found that their daily habits seemed odd at first but then had come to the realization that they were making each other stronger.

The two combatants ended their spar when Hinata stepped into the clearing. Naruto ran his eyes over her and then nodded. Stretching they headed over to the heiress and smiled warmly at their teammate.

"Well, all those chakra building exercises are coming in handy. You are ready to learn the shadow clone. That means that we can get more done faster. Now the thing you need to know about this method Hinata is that if you overdo it, you will die. So please try not to advance it past the limits that we give you okay?" Sasuke asked. Hinata couldn't help but beam at the praise.

"Bear in mind though that Sasuke and I can use it far more freely than everyone because we have had practice, far more chakra and we've learned how to deal with the mental backlash that comes with it." Naruto stated. "I can use it more than Sasuke can because of the fox. Now the shadow clone is an advanced clone that allows you to make a solid copy of yourself that has its own chakra network. As a result the clone can cast jutsu and use your techniques although I am not certain how well your byakugan will work with a shadow clone. It also takes a lot of chakra. Most jonin avoid using it because of how draining it can be. However, you can easily send your clone into enemy territory and scout for information and then simply have it dispel when it finds what it is looking for. The information that it gains will be sent back to you, along with remaining chakra. However, it also sends back the exhaustion as well."

"The payoff is worth it. The exhaustion and mental backlash of the memory transfer is what makes it dangerous as a training tool. However, proper training and meditation help to minimize the backlash. Never make more clones than you can handle either. Always dispel the clones after approximately four hours of training or two hours of reading that way you will get used to the effects faster. During training if your clone finds a way to improve the technique or makes headway with a technique dispel that clone in order to transfer the knowledge of what was discovered. That way the rest of your clones will be able to take it even further. Physical training cannot be done with the shadow clones either. Muscle memory yes but strength, endurance, speed and resistance training no. Jutsu and elemental manipulation as well as fuinjutsu and iryo-jutsu can." Sasuke continued. Hinata nodded in understanding. Just from what they had told her it was clearly a very useful but dangerous training method if used improperly.