Because of the Kannabi Bridge campaign, Tsuchikage Ōnoki had already admitted defeat in the war. If Iwa ninja attacked Konoha's shinobi at this time, it would be extremely disadvantageous to the current Land of Earth. At the very least, increased reparations would be unavoidable. Danzo had seized on this point and rashly concluded that the attackers were Iwa ninja.
In Danzo's mind, it was all for the village.
"Hiruzen, why are you still so naïve? It benefits us most if the attackers were Iwa ninja. That alone is enough. I'll send Root personnel with evidence to demand an explanation from the Tsuchikage. Leave this matter to me." The speaker had a cross-shaped scar on his chin and bandages wrapped around his head. He was Shimura Danzō, one of the Hokage Advisors and the leader of Root.
Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura stood nearby, like rigid old antiques. Neither said a word, both hesitant and unable to offer an opinion.
Knock, knock, knock. Just as the Third Hokage was about to say something else to persuade Danzo, someone knocked on the office door.
"What is it? If it's more intelligence about the border frictions with the Land of Lightning, bring it later." The higher-ups were in a meeting. Unless it was urgent, the Third Hokage would normally speak through the closed door. He was about to dismiss whoever was knocking.
"Reporting! I am Morino Ibiki. There has been a new development in the destruction of Team 16..." A loud report came from outside the door. It was completely unlike the gloomy air he had carried while interrogating Xing Ran earlier, instead conveying a soldier's decisive efficiency.
"Come in..."
Before awakening Superman's powers, Xing Ran had discovered, constrained by his talent and aptitude, that no matter how hard he worked, he could not become a powerful shinobi. Reaching Special Jonin would have been a blessing beyond measure; under normal circumstances, Chunin would have been the strongest he could ever become.
So, back then, Xing Ran had somewhat let himself go. Laziness and indifference toward becoming stronger had gradually become his defining traits.
But people were like that. When they could not see any hope of becoming powerful, those who still worked desperately were rare, stubborn geniuses. Most people gave up then. Yet once those who had given up were shown a clear hope, the conviction to grow stronger that erupted from them was absolutely no weaker than that of those stubborn geniuses.
There was a real-world basis for this theory. Online games, for example, had developed and flourished according to this principle. Why did so many people enjoy online games? Because they could clearly see the path to achieving their goals. If they followed the steps, there would always come a day when they became the strongest. That made people unable to stop. The path and the goal lay clearly before their eyes—who would be inferior to anyone else?
Ever since awakening Superman's abilities, Xing Ran had spent some time observing himself in the sun and discovered that he was constantly growing. As long as he could still bask in sunlight, that process would not stop.
It was just an extremely slow process. To produce a qualitative change through accumulated quantity, it would be impossible without ten or even several decades of buildup.
But so what? Slowness was not the problem. What was frightening was having an endpoint that lay only near someone else's starting line. Even more frightening was an endpoint one could never reach in an entire lifetime.
After awakening Superman's abilities, Xing Ran could confidently say that the endpoint of most people in the entire shinobi world lay only near his starting line. And the endpoint he was destined to reach would be a place even Kaguya Otsutsuki could not touch.
It was as though his life had been filled with motivation again. Even after learning that he had serious shortcomings, Xing Ran quickly recovered from the blow. Find the problem, solve the problem, and become a powerhouse capable of destroying heaven and earth—that was all he thought about now. He was already one of the luckiest people in the world. What could he not overcome? Overcoming his own weaknesses and growing stronger was far more interesting.
Xing Ran quickly made a plan for his future growth. First, sunbathing every day was indispensable. Second, he needed to master his existing abilities as quickly as possible. Though none of those abilities were particularly strong, an ability he could not control was not truly his ability. Xing Ran had understood that principle very well in his previous life.
He needed to gain complete control over his Super hearing and Super vision as soon as possible, study what help his current level of Heat vision could offer in actual combat, and adapt to his explosively increased muscular strength and speed. As for frost breath... he would forget it for now. That ability was easy for others to notice and had little practical combat effect, so Xing Ran placed it at the very bottom of his priorities.
He needed to begin combining Superman's power with Chakra as soon as possible, allowing them to produce multiplied effects.
Most importantly, he had to practice the Yamanaka Clan's secret mental arts even more diligently, so his weaknesses could be improved.
Once he had fully adapted to his increased power, he could begin preparing to find Orochimaru and devise a plan to obtain the spiritual and soul secret arts within Living Corpse Reincarnation.
Over the next few days, Xing Ran shut out all outside matters and devoted himself entirely to training as he adapted to his new powers.
Super hearing and Super vision were the first abilities Xing Ran brought under control. In Superman's Steel Body, General Zod had taken only a very short time to adapt to the enhancements Earth's sun gave him: his explosively increased strength and speed, the chaotic sounds across a vast range, seeing distant things with his eyes, controlling the power of Heat vision, and so on. As long as one worked hard enough, all of it could be quickly adapted to and controlled.
Xing Ran was not as amazing as General Zod, but fortunately, all his abilities were still underdeveloped. Completing his adaptation in a short time was not an arduous task.
As he gained a deeper understanding of his abilities, Xing Ran discovered that they had likely been accumulating for over a year in the past, until that day in the hospital, when they finally reached the point of erupting into visible powers.
But that eruption was a process that gradually stabilized. Although his strength had not surged again over the past few days, all his abilities were still growing. After carefully comparing his condition before and after, Xing Ran felt that this period of rapid growth should last around a month. It was still hard to say what level his various abilities would ultimately reach, but relying solely on physical strength without Chakra enhancement, reaching the level of a taijutsu-focused Chunin should not be a problem.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—
That day, Xing Ran was training Shuriken Throwing Art alone in a secluded corner of Konoha.
He had discovered that, at his current stage, it was an attack method that suited his powerful neural reflexes and visual tracking abilities extremely well.
After nearly half a month of training, Xing Ran discovered a powerful ability he had overlooked from the very beginning: Superman's mental capacity. He possessed extraordinarily powerful calculation and learning abilities, as well as the neural reflexes and visual tracking abilities that had inevitably emerged to match Superman's incredible speed.
That was also why, when he had fought the Anbu in the Dog mask, everything had felt so clear and entirely under his control.
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