The Daily Life of the Analysis Maniac and His First Glimmer of Talent

Time at the Ninja Academy flowed steadily through the cycle of day-to-day lessons.

For the other children, this was perhaps a childhood shared between boredom and play.

But for Ling Xuan, every day was a secret, gluttonous feast.

His Eye of Truth greedily absorbed and analyzed every piece of knowledge within his line of sight.

During theory classes, as Iruka explained chakra nature, ninja history, and strategic tactics.

Ling Xuan appeared to be listening as intently as the other students, even jotting down "key points" in his notebook at appropriate times.

However, only he knew that the words in the notebook were merely a cover.

The true torrent of knowledge had already passed through his eyes, been branded, parsed, and stored deep within his mind.

[Chakra Nature Transformation: Fire: Increases the average kinetic energy of molecules, manifesting as high temperature and combustion... Its core lies in the extreme activation and morphological control of Yang-attribute chakra...]

[Dance of the Crescent Moon: An A-rank ninjutsu. First, use the Shadow Clone Technique to summon two clones, then the clones and the original body quickly flicker in front of the enemy to strike their vitals from the left, top, and right directions.]

He would even take the initiative to go to the school library to borrow books that were relatively advanced for lower-grade students.

The librarian thought he was just a studious child, unaware that as Ling Xuan flipped through the Detailed Explanation of Basic Sealing Techniques, his mind was flooded with the grand scenes of Minato performing the Four Symbols Seal and the Eight Trigrams Seal years ago.

Comparing the two, the shallow theories in the book instantly became crystal clear.

The basic Three Body Techniques had long since been parsed and optimized by him to an unfathomable degree.

During a Clone Technique classroom test.

"Next, Naruto Uzumaki!" Iruka called out.

"Watch me! Clone Technique!" Naruto's face turned red as he formed the hand seals.

"Poof..." With a sound like escaping air, a listless "defective" Naruto appeared on the ground, looking as if it would fall apart at any second.

"Hahaha..." The classroom erupted in laughter.

"Naruto! You big idiot!" Sakura Haruno mocked him mercilessly.

Iruka rubbed his forehead in resignation: "Naruto, it's like this again... Next, Ling Xuan."

Ling Xuan walked up calmly, his hands completing the hand seals for the Clone Technique with subtle adjustments almost invisible to the naked eye.

"Poof!"

A "clone" identical to Ling Xuan, even possessing a hint of liveliness in its eyes, appeared beside him.

The clone stood steadily, as if it possessed an independent life.

Iruka's eyes lit up, and he walked over to observe closely.

"Ling Xuan, your Clone Technique... it's simply perfect! The chakra is condensed, the form is stable, and it's almost impossible to tell it's a clone. How did you do it? How can you maintain such a clear image?"

Ling Xuan bowed slightly, answering in a tone that was flat yet sounded as if he had "thought very hard" about it.

"Iruka-sensei, when I was forming the seals, I just tried very, very hard to imagine what another me should look like. I thought about every detail, and then I tried to channel the chakra into it evenly."

This was half-truth, half-lie. He did indeed "think" that way, but he relied on the Eye of Truth's perfect replication of his own cellular structure and chakra distribution, rather than mere imagination.

Iruka nodded in appreciation: "I see, focus and precise imagination are very important! Everyone should learn from student Ling Xuan!"

Naruto looked at Ling Xuan's clone with envy, while Sasuke cast a scrutinizing gaze once more, seemingly more wary and subtly curious about this orphan who could always complete tasks perfectly.

In taijutsu class, Ling Xuan performed "excellently" as well.

His physique was not tall among his peers, and his strength was not top-tier.

But during sparring, he could always avoid an opponent's attack with the smallest range of movement and counterattack with the most concise and effective techniques.

Once, during a sparring match with Kiba Inuzuka. Relying on his family's taijutsu foundation, Kiba attacked fiercely, shouting: "Take this, Gatsuga... the prototype!"

Ling Xuan did not dodge or evade. Just as Kiba's fist was about to make contact, his body tilted at a minute angle while his foot executed a clever trip.

"Thwack!"

Kiba fell face-first to the ground, getting a mouthful of dirt.

"Kiba, your stance... seems a bit unstable."

Ling Xuan extended a hand to help him up, his tone remaining flat.

The surrounding students were stunned, and Kiba's face was bright red, unable to understand how he had fallen.

Only Kakashi, who was observing from the corner—occasionally coming to check on his future students—narrowed his eyes slightly, thinking to himself.

This brat... his grasp of timing and control over his body is simply not like a child's. No wasted movements; every ounce of strength is used where it counts.

Of course, Ling Xuan's true "optimization" results were only displayed in the deserted corners of the orphanage late at night.

He had once "observed" senior students practicing Wind Release: Great Breakthrough.

[Wind Release: Great Breakthrough: Compresses air and expels it at high speed to form an impact... Chakra conversion efficiency is about 45%... Hand seals can be optimized...]

At night, facing a broken wall, he attempted his own optimized "Miniature Wind Blade."

No hand seals were used; he simply brought his right index and middle fingers together, highly compressed a tiny amount of chakra, and gave a light flick.

"Shing!"

A thin, half-inch deep incision appeared on the wall, its edges as smooth as a mirror.

"The power is decent, the consumption is extremely low, and the key is that it's instantaneous and stealthy."

Ling Xuan nodded in satisfaction. This was merely one of his countless secret experiments.

He was like a silent sponge, frantically absorbing every bit of nourishment the Ninja Academy could provide.

Then, through the Eye of Truth, that super-purifier, he discarded the dross and selected the essential, refining it for his own use.

This "ascetic" style of learning and analysis also allowed his understanding of chakra to deepen day by day.

While other children were still struggling to distinguish between chakra natures, Ling Xuan could already clearly "see" the seeds of the five basic elemental chakras within his own body.

They were like five-colored stars; though faint, they were undeniably real.

"Iruka-sensei said that tomorrow a Special Jonin will come to give us a practical lesson and explain some useful combat techniques."

After class, Sakura in the front row was discussing it excitedly with Ino.

A Special Jonin? Ling Xuan's heart stirred.

This meant there would be an opportunity to analyze higher-level jutsu or more sophisticated combat experience.

In a corner where no one noticed, the corners of his mouth curled into an imperceptible arc.

New "nourishment" was delivering itself to his doorstep.

The next day, when the children walked into the training ground full of anticipation, they discovered that, sure enough, there was a stranger present in addition to Iruka-sensei.

It was a young ninja who looked to be in his early twenties, wearing the standard Konoha chunin vest with his black hair tied back.

His gaze was sharp, a ninja sword was strapped to his waist, and his expression carried a touch of stern, humorless gravity.