Board Thread:Versus Debates/@comment-43403813-20200102180859/@comment-9782468-20200117205433

If he made only one clone, his clone could only use the MS tech once before becoming too low on chakra to use another. So he'd waste the chakra making a clone only to have it able to use one MS tech.

Remember, a Shadow Clone divides your chakra evenly, but it's not like one clone would contain 50% of your total chakra. You use up chakra to perform the technique in the first place. So let's say it takes Itachi 4% of his chakra to make a Shadow Clone. Now his Shadow Clone and himself each have 48% total.

For someone like Itachi, who's MS techs take up 25%-30% of his chakra, wasting chakra to perform techs of that magnitude isn't really practical. Especially since MS techs are techs he generally only uses against dangerous opponents. To waste chakra in such a situation wouldn't be smart for someone who has low reserves.