Chapter Fifty-Five: The Sublimation of the Way of the Sword

"Thud..."

He collapsed onto the ground, propping himself up with one hand. Waves of pain assaulted his head, so intense that Chu Yi almost wished he could sever his own head with the Blade of Asura just for a moment’s relief. One could only imagine how excruciating the agony was.

As the pain surged through him, Chu Yi vaguely guessed that this was the price for overusing the Multiple Shadow Clone technique.

In the Naruto manga, a technique like Shadow Clone required chakra. But Chu Yi, having awakened six times with the Multiple Shadow Clone as his material, had essentially transformed the jutsu from the Naruto world into a part of his own Devil Fruit ability.

Therefore, he didn’t need chakra, as in the Naruto world. Relying on his fruit power, Chu Yi could create shadow clones at will, and from the insights gained during his sixth awakening, there seemed to be no upper limit to the number he could produce.

Given that, why not go all out for once?

After all...

Creating shadow clones didn’t cost him much, did it?

With that simple notion in mind, when Lucci mentioned the Navy’s numerical advantage, Chu Yi, filled with disdain, suddenly triggered his six-times-awakened ability!

"Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!"

"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!"

The shadow clones appeared successfully!

On his first use of the fruit’s six-fold awakening, Chu Yi went all in, creating at least two thousand shadow clones at once!

So many clones surrounded Chu Yi, each one a manifestation of Asura, with demonic visages looming behind them. It was enough to shock Lucci and the Navy officers before him.

Alas, only Chu Yi knew the hidden suffering behind the display. While putting on a show, he was painfully aware of the price.

Especially as the pain in his head slowly faded and his sweat-soaked body allowed him to stagger to his feet, Chu Yi at last realized the true cost of using his six-times-awakened power: his once-mighty Asura body now felt utterly weak.

"Sigh, I thought diamond-grade materials would be flawless, but it turns out even diamond-level awakenings have their pros and cons!"

With that sigh, Chu Yi, having only used his six-times awakening once, basically understood the fundamental difference between his fruit’s Multiple Shadow Clone and the Naruto world’s jutsu.

First, the function of the shadow clones. Chu Yi’s clones worked exactly like those in Naruto, even sharing the double-edged, backfire effect of the original jutsu.

But there was one major difference: the condition for use.

As mentioned, in Naruto, performing the Multiple Shadow Clone jutsu consumed chakra. For a ninja just learning the technique, each shadow clone would take half their chakra, meaning their energy was divided among their clones. The strength of each clone depended on how much chakra was allocated.

A seasoned user, however, could freely control both the amount of chakra spent and the strength of each clone.

Now, look at how Chu Yi cast his shadow clones.

He didn’t need chakra. What he needed was...

His own physical strength!

Simply put, Chu Yi’s clones were created by dividing his own physical attributes!

If he made nine clones, his original body would retain only one-tenth of its original strength, and each of the nine clones would possess one-tenth as well.

The more clones he made, the weaker he became, and the weaker his clones became.

Now, with over two thousand clones created, Chu Yi’s physical strength was reduced to one two-thousandth of its original power!

Even if his base strength was formidable, with such a drastic reduction, he was now no stronger than an ordinary person in the world of pirates.

As for the clones...

They possessed Chu Yi’s Asura-like combat awareness and could even inherit his fruit abilities.

But just like Chu Yi, their physical strength could only match that of an average person in the pirate world.

Having grasped the advantages and drawbacks, Chu Yi couldn’t help but regret his bravado.

"I thought with so many clones, even just a small Shinra Tensei from each would overwhelm the Navy. But as things stand, these clones couldn’t manage even a minor Shinra Tensei; at best, they might use the freezing fruit power once before exhausting themselves."

"And once their stamina is gone, does that mean... the clones will vanish?"

"So, to make the most of their numbers and strength, I’ll have to use the swordsmanship I just started learning!"

With that thought, Chu Yi’s eyes sparkled. While suppressing the restless Lucci with his "gravity field," he simultaneously controlled his army of clones, each one using "Shave" to dash swiftly toward the Navy officers.

"Damn, they’re all charging in!"

"Don’t panic! Let’s see if these things are as terrifying as they look!"

"Right, these newcomers are probably that man’s fruit ability, maybe even illusions! Don’t panic—prepare for battle!"

The Navy’s officers, to their credit, had nerves of steel.

If it were ordinary pirates, they’d have been scared witless by the onslaught of clones.

But once they engaged Chu Yi’s clones, the awe in the officers’ eyes quickly faded.

Because...

Chu Yi’s clones were pitifully weak!

Apart from their rudimentary swordsmanship, which could barely scratch the officers, Chu Yi could only use the clones to unleash a burst of ice fruit power as their stamina failed, to slow the officers’ advance.

Having grasped the clones’ patterns, the Navy officers soon found them nothing to fear.

All they had to do was dodge the slow-moving swords and watch out for the "ice bomb" each clone might trigger before vanishing.

As a result, within minutes of battle, over half of Chu Yi’s clones were wiped out. But just as he lost half his army, Chu Yi, still controlling his clones, broke into a confident smile.

The reason?

He’d just discovered a new feature: when a clone disappeared, the physical strength used to create it returned instantly to his original body, without any need for gradual recovery!

Knowing this, Chu Yi felt much more at ease. After all, he could always make more clones.

Moreover, every time a clone vanished, the experience gained in swordsmanship and using the freezing fruit would be transmitted back to his original body. Though the flood of memories brought more intense headaches, Chu Yi felt his mastery in swordsmanship and the ice fruit rising rapidly.

This was precisely why the Multiple Shadow Clone material was classified as diamond-grade awakening material by the system!

Soon after, as the number of clones dwindled from over two thousand to fewer than a hundred...

"Buzz!"

Suddenly!

The accumulated swordsmanship experience from thousands of clones allowed Chu Yi to sense a barrier, then shatter through it.

The moment he broke through—

"Boom!"

A sharp sword aura surged from Chu Yi’s body and the remaining clones, shooting straight into the sky!

As the newly emerged sword aura slowly dissipated and returned from the clones to his own body, Chu Yi, gripping the Blade of Asura, was about to test the power of his newfound sword intent when a sudden system prompt echoed in his mind, halting him in his tracks.

"Hm? Smoker’s awakening material quest? That means..."

"He’s right here, near me!"