My Techniques are a bit off

"Are you sure you're ready?"

Link asked for confirmation once again.

Iris patted his chest confidently, exclaiming, "Of course! I have 100% faith in you, Boss!"

I don't even have that much faith in myself…

Link internally grumbled. After a brief hesitation, he raised his hand and reminded him, "If you feel any discomfort, let me know immediately. I can cancel the technique at any time."

For a week, he had been testing the technique on his own shadow and animal shadows. Only after that did he bring up the idea of testing it on his teammates.

Both Iris and Ami agreed without a second thought, which made him start worrying about potential hidden risks of the Shadow Clone Technique.

For Iris and Ami, their feelings toward Link had evolved into admiration, more like idolization than simple camaraderie.

When someone is exceptionally talented, calm, mature, and consistently helps you succeed, it's inevitable that admiration will follow. Over time, repeated success under his guidance turned into blind trust, without consideration for the risks inherent in experimenting with a new technique.

Blind trust and idealization…

Watching Iris's cheerful and relaxed demeanor as he even chatted with Ami about how amazing the boss's jutsu must be, Link chuckled self-deprecatingly.

"Indeed, admiration is the furthest emotion from understanding."

Gathering chakra, dividing it evenly, forming seals, and releasing—

Shadow Clone Technique!

Link carefully and meticulously separated the shadow beneath Iris's feet.

"Huff~"

Iris's breathing became momentarily labored. After a pause, he said, "Boss, it feels like I suddenly used up a large amount of chakra."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Link didn't focus on the technique itself but instinctively checked on his teammate.

Taking a deep breath, Iris looked curiously at the shadowless ground beneath his feet, intrigued by the strange sensation. He casually replied, "I'm fine, just a little tired."

After a brief pause, Link asked, "Can you estimate how much chakra you've used? Was it about half?"

Frowning in thought for a while, Iris replied hesitantly, "I think… it might be half?" Then he added, "Anyway, it's a lot."

Nodding, Link commanded Iris's shadow to stand up and move.

The speed and strength matched his physical abilities perfectly.

Based on his prior week of testing, shadows retained the same physical attributes as their originals. Shadows would consume stored energy to heal injuries, but irreparable damage wouldn't regenerate. Moreover, shadows could be destroyed without affecting the original, but harm to the original or death would directly affect the shadow.

"Boss," Iris called eagerly. He seemed excited to test his combat abilities against his shadow.

Link signaled readiness for combat and gave the shadow a simple command: [Fight].

While controlling the shadows of animals, he had relied on their instinctive behaviors for movement. This was his first time controlling a human shadow other than his own.

"Bang!"

Iris and his shadow clashed, mirroring each other's taijutsu style. It was like watching a fight between two identical opponents, as though in front of a mirror.

They tussled for a while before Iris formed hand seals and used a basic Clone Technique. The shadow targeted the wrong clone, and Iris kicked it away, exclaiming, "Boss, it can't use ninjutsu!"

As soon as the shadow hit the ground, it reverted to a two-dimensional form before springing back into three dimensions and charging toward Iris again.

Relentless and fearless, the shadow might lack ninjutsu, but its taijutsu prowess made it a formidable foe.

Once again, the two identical figures clashed. After a flurry of movements, Iris managed to knock the shadow away using a clever trick. Gasping, he said, "Boss, my stamina is suddenly draining really fast!"

"Stop," Link instructed the original to pause while making the shadow move independently. "Focus and check—are you losing stamina?"

Frowning, Iris took a moment to sense his condition before confirming, "Yes, I am."

"When a shadow separates from its original, it takes half the original's stamina. Once that stamina is depleted, it starts draining from the original. The shadow inherits the original's combat instincts but cannot refine chakra. Physical attacks barely affect it…"

Link summarized the characteristics of the technique.

After some rest, Iris suddenly said, "It's back!"

Looking up, Link saw that the shadow clone had indeed dissipated, with the shadow returning beneath his feet. However—

Why?

Why had the shadow returned before exhausting all the original's stamina?

What caused the technique to end?

With new questions in mind, Link initiated a second test.

The second test yielded the same result: after consuming the separated stamina, the shadow began drawing from the original's stamina but suddenly terminated, returning to the original without depleting all his stamina. The duration of the technique even varied slightly, ending sooner this time.

After conducting two more tests, Link identified a key factor and realized an important nuance about chakra:

Chakra and stamina, to some extent, are interchangeable. Stamina is a critical raw material for chakra. However, there's a crucial distinction—

A person's total chakra isn't the same as their chakra reserves at any given moment, nor does it equate to their total stamina.

What does this mean? Stamina depletes and replenishes over time. It's only when stamina is completely exhausted repeatedly that someone's reserves are entirely drained.

However, shadow clones divide current chakra reserves at the moment of casting!

Even his shadow clones locked onto the chakra available at separation. So, when the target's entire available stamina was consumed, the technique ended, but any stamina regained during the process wasn't accounted for.

In simplified terms:

If the target's stamina was 100 points, Link's shadow technique would immediately drain 50 points, then gradually deplete the remaining 50 points. Once the reserves hit zero, the shadow would return to the original.

But people aren't static. Stamina replenishes naturally over time.

Using half his own stamina to deplete a significant portion of the opponent's stamina while creating a temporary fighter with equal taijutsu abilities—was it worth it?