Interception and Speculation

Just like the school bullying in his past life's Japan, the Naruto World, as a product of Japanese otaku culture, was no less severe when it came to bullying.

In his past life, the emperor's grandson was bullied, and the Naruto World was no exception.

Those who stood out or were withdrawn, or who were handsome or excelled academically—as long as they didn't fit in—easily became targets of bullying from classmates and upperclassmen.

And the unruly civilians of Konoha didn't care about your status at all.

Whether you were a commoner or from a ninja clan, they'd bully you just the same.

Whether it was Uzumaki Kushina, who was to become the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, backed by Uzumaki Mito and Tsunade, and closely watched by the Third Hokage and the Anbu; or Hyuga Hinata, the eldest daughter of the Hyuga Clan's main family, which had become the top ninja clan in Konoha and the ninja world after the Uchiha Clan's fall—both were bullied at school.

And their families, backers, and the school itself did nothing to intervene.

Likewise, when others were bullied, their clans and the school wouldn't step in either.

They even tacitly approved of and encouraged bullying!

In this world of war, where even child trainees could be sent to the front lines if manpower ran short, it was better to be driven out by your own people and quit school to live as a civilian than to die at the enemy's hands.

Without the courage to fight back, how could they ever face bloodshed or assassination?

What use was a coward as a ninja?

Gojo Yoru understood this less than a week after enrolling. So he deliberately crafted a cold, aloof persona, provoked a conflict with an upperclassman, and used his mature mentality and pre-learned ninja fundamentals to beat down a sixth-year senior, making a name for himself overnight.

In the eyes of the school's teachers and certain others, Gojo Yoru was already a civilian genius.

With both parents as jonin and the child of fallen heroes, his future looked bright.

His only flaw was that he didn't fit in.

This was likely a result of the trauma from losing both parents in childhood.

If that could be resolved, he'd probably become a pillar of the village in the future.

To untie Gojo Yoru's knot, an opportunity was needed.

So what would that opportunity be—a person or an event?

Walking into the classroom, Gojo Yoru sat down at the second desk in the last row.

The desks at the Ninja Academy were all for three people.

But Gojo Yoru sat alone.

Of course, he hadn't driven his deskmates away. After the entrance exam, the school had a probation period.

During this period, if a student still couldn't refine chakra, it meant their Physical Energy and Mental Energy met the standards, but they lacked the qualities of a ninja, and they'd be advised to withdraw.

Every first-year class had cases like this.

Class 1 had also seen three students dismissed, including Gojo Yoru's two deskmates.

When Gojo Yoru entered, the classroom, which had been a bit noisy, quieted down considerably.

At least the students around Gojo Yoru didn't dare speak loudly, only whispering.

The students in the row in front of Gojo Yoru kept their heads down, not even daring to speak.

Only the girls who liked Gojo Yoru's looks and strength still secretly glanced at him, but they didn't dare approach him either.

That was a good thing—at least no one bothered him.

Gojo Yoru propped his chin on one hand and twirled a pen with the other, looking like he was just killing time, but he was already thinking out of habit.

Since awakening his Space-Time Ninjutsu ability, Gojo Yoru had stopped updating his Game Guide and rarely went into the basement anymore.

With a power no less than Kekkei Mōra, he no longer needed to follow the original Game Guide and turn himself into a patchwork monster.

So most of the guides aimed at gaining power had been discarded.

But some parts of the guide he kept.

Among them was the opening of the Game Guide—stealing Uzumaki Kushina!

In the Original Work, Namikaze Minato's rise wasn't just due to talent; he also had two benefactors.

One was Jiraiya, who brought him connections and the Flying Thunder God Technique; the other was Uzumaki Kushina, who brought him Tsunade's support and the Uzumaki Clan's Fuinjutsu.

With their help, Minato gained the recognition of two of the Sannin and the Hokage. Once Kushina became a perfect Jinchuriki, he even had the strongest in Konoha as his backing, so unassailable that even Shimura Danzō couldn't touch him.

Just like in his past life, where some people shot to success by marrying a good wife.

If he could steal Uzumaki Kushina, Gojo Yoru, as a transmigrator, was fully confident he could also soar.

If his talent weren't good enough, if his background were poor, or if he weren't in the same class and age as Minato, Gojo Yoru wouldn't dare have such thoughts.

But realizing he was in the same class as Minato, Gojo Yoru knew this was a chance to change his fate.

To that end, he abandoned the idea of befriending his peers or becoming close with the ninja clan kids, and crafted a persona of an unsociable genius.

Only bonds could resolve his heart's knot.

Uzumaki Kushina, whose clan had just fallen, was his kindred spirit. They were each other's cure.

With this groundwork laid, Gojo Yoru believed that Sarutobi Hiruzen and Uzumaki Mito behind him would absolutely not stop him from getting close to Uzumaki Kushina—unless Namikaze Minato was Hiruzen's own father, and Kushina was sent as a gift to honor dear old dad.

If that were the case, Gojo Yoru would accept it.

Otherwise, Uzumaki Kushina was his for the taking!

Gojo Yoru's current weakness was very clear: chakra control and the quantity of Space-Time Chakra.

As a transmigrator, he had long mastered climbing trees and walking on water with his feet; his chakra control was actually quite strong, even surpassing that of a freshly graduated genin.

But this level of chakra control was still insufficient to perform ninjutsu with Space-Time Chakra.

The fact that Space-Time Chakra could manifest outside the body meant it must be usable for techniques, just extremely difficult.

How could he further improve his chakra control?

Gojo Yoru had several methods.

First was training the Rasengan—this markless A-rank ninjutsu developed by Namikaze Minato was not only the pinnacle of Shape Transformation but also a highly advanced form of chakra control.

It was also the only technique in the Original Work with a fully disclosed training method. Gojo Yoru's memory of it was crystal clear, and as soon as he could move his limbs, he wrote down the training steps immediately.

If his chakra capacity and control weren't still lacking, he would have started training long ago.

Second was training Medical Ninjutsu. If he could master the Chakra Scalpel, Gojo Yoru's chakra control would not only improve, but his hands might even turn into Black Blades.

Third was Fuinjutsu—the most advanced form of chakra control, and like Space-Time Ninjutsu, a skill with absurdly high floors and ceilings.

Fuinjutsu was utterly unreasonable; even the Mother of Chakra had fallen to it.

Gojo Yoru was very curious: could the Yin Seal solve the problem of his Space-Time Chakra quantity being locked?

If it could, then Gojo Yoru would gain another life-saving trump card.

This thought had struck him the moment he discovered the "bottleneck" inside his body.

And for this reason, Gojo Yoru became even more determined to intercept Uzumaki Kushina.