Without a care, Gu Qi pulled his hand out of the desk he had punched through and said coolly, "Just now, who was it that called my dog stupid?"
Naruto, who had thought Gu Qi was standing up for him and had been thrilled, heard what he said and couldn't help shrinking into a corner to cry.
"Uh... I-I-I was only joking..." the boy who had said it stammered.
In a flash, Gu Qi leaped from his seat onto the boy's desk. "Saye and the others are my family. I don't want anyone making fun of them!"
After living with Saye and the others for so long, Gu Qi had long since come to see them as family.
And since they were willing to risk their lives for him whenever he was in danger, how could Gu Qi possibly treat them coldly?
Standing on the desk and looking down at everyone, Gu Qi introduced himself. "Let me introduce myself. My name is Kakashi Gu Qi! My dream is simple: to have the strongest power and protect my friends and family!
"Anyone who dares to hurt them is my enemy!"
With those incredibly domineering words and his handsome looks, Gu Qi won over most of the girls at once.
"Gu Qi is so cool!" Naruto seemed to have caught the spirit of it, cheering from the back of the classroom.
"I-I'm sorry!" The boy standing in front of Gu Qi apologized sincerely.
"Mm, I accept your—"
"Kakashi Gu Qi!" a furious roar interrupted him.
Smack!
Iruka slammed his hand down on the desk and shouted in a rage, "Go get your parents!"
"Huh? Huh!" Gu Qi, who had been enjoying the thrill of acting cool, wilted on the spot.
"Yes, yes, yes. I'll make sure to teach him properly when we get home. Yes, you're absolutely right!"
In the teachers' office, Konoha's elite jonin, the head of the Hatake Clan, and the future Sixth, Kakashi Hatake, was nodding and bowing as he endured Umino Iruka's verbal assault.
As soon as they left the office, Kakashi went from a meek grandson to a grumpy old man. "Well, aren't you something? You didn't just break a desk at school—you put on quite a show in the classroom, too!"
Kakashi, who had been on the receiving end of Iruka's lecture, stared at Gu Qi expressionlessly.
Knowing he was in the wrong, Gu Qi muttered cautiously, "Who knew the desk was so flimsy? I barely even used any strength!"
Kakashi gave a dry laugh. "Think you're impressive, do you? Come on. I've got nothing on today, so let's spar!"
At that, Gu Qi's mouth twitched. Right, he was obviously looking for an excuse to beat him up.
Even though he knew he couldn't beat Kakashi, he couldn't lose face. "A spar is a spar! Don't worry, I'll go easy on you."
Kakashi only replied with two words: "Sure. Sure."
Training Ground Number 42!
"You picked the wrong opponent, Kakashi. How about that? Know your place now?"
Kakashi sat leaning against a tree, panting hard. He was nowhere near as smug as before.
He stared at Gu Qi, whose face was swollen and bruised, and rolled his eyes. The kid was already hurt that badly and still wouldn't stop mouthing off.
"Since you're my foolish older brother, I'll show you mercy and let you off today! If you want to beat me, then hate me and curse me! Go on living a miserable life!"
With that, Gu Qi walked away without looking back.
Kakashi watched him stagger off with the expression one might give a fool. He really couldn't understand how a perfectly normal person had suddenly turned into this.
"Did I hit him too hard and damage his brain?" Kakashi stroked his chin, lost in thought.
Meanwhile, Gu Qi was walking along, grimacing in pain.
"Damn Kakashi! He really went too far!" Gu Qi didn't even need to look to know he must have a face like a pig's head.
And he had Kakashi to thank for it all.
That guy had hit him brutally, aiming nowhere but at Gu Qi's face.
Although Gu Qi had often practiced Taijutsu with Po, an excellent sparring partner, he was still no match for Kakashi.
After all, he was outmatched in speed, strength, and everything else.
Back home, Gu Qi took a syringe from the medicine box and gave himself an injection.
"I've got to finish developing a proper Healing Potion soon. If I keep taking this stuff every day, I'll turn into a drunk." Gu Qi burped and muttered to himself.
Gu Qi had been researching the Healing Potion for a long time.
But the formula provided by the system was extremely complicated. He had to analyze it one part at a time, then adjust the proportions to remove the parts related to alcohol.
As for the results, all he could say was that he'd made some initial progress.
Secret Brew had originally been about as strong as the baijiu of his previous life. After Gu Qi's modifications, it was now roughly as strong as liquor, while retaining the same effects as the original.
Previously, diluting Secret Brew with distilled water had greatly reduced its healing effects.
Distilling it, on the other hand, increased its healing effects. But that also made Secret Brew just like pure alcohol.
In other words, Secret Brew's healing effects were directly proportional to its alcohol content.
Still, judging by Gu Qi's progress, he might be able to completely eliminate the alcohol soon.
Once the injuries on his face had healed, Gu Qi headed straight for the underground laboratory.
He checked the mechanisms and, after confirming there were no signs of an intrusion, finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Conducting research in the real world was such a hassle. Some of the more taboo research was simply impossible to do.
And he had to constantly worry about someone breaking in, which was a real headache for Gu Qi.
Unfortunately, Kakashi was often in the village now, so Gu Qi didn't dare go to the laboratory space to do research in broad daylight.
"Ah, what a headache."
Putting on his lab coat, Gu Qi shook his head and began researching new equipment.
The success of his previous web-shooting bracelet had given Gu Qi even more experience with biological equipment.
So this time, Gu Qi planned to build on that success and develop a pair of climbing gloves.
He had two ideas for how they could work.
One was to use tiny barbs like a spider's. The other was to use suction cups like those on an octopus's tentacles.
As for which to choose, Gu Qi favored the former.
Suction cups had too many limitations, and they were a little disgusting.
Barbs were different. They were so tiny that they couldn't be seen with the naked eye.
The only problem was how to control them. Once the barbs caught on to something, they couldn't be retracted.
"Right, I nearly forgot about chakra."
After thinking it over, Gu Qi suddenly realized he could use chakra to activate the barbs.
They could stay hidden inside the gloves when not needed, and he could use chakra to activate them when he needed them.
With an idea in mind, Gu Qi got back to his intensive research.
Before you continue