Konan, a Lower Ninja After One Month?

From far away, she coolly introduced herself to the three of them. "My name is Zhou Nan. I'm six years old." She seemed completely unwilling to approach them. If Zhou Yang's situation had not been partly their fault, she would not even have bothered introducing herself and would have marked all three of them as enemies.

"Huh? Bass, why do I get the feeling this girl is hostile toward us?" Taunt Bro called Bass's name again when he received no answer, but there was still no response. Growing impatient, he looked at his teammates and discovered that not only Bass, but even Qianbai, had gone blank.

"No, what's wrong with you two?"

"Did you hear how old she said she was?"

"Her age? Holy crap, six?"

"And she was only accepted as the teacher's disciple this month," Qianbai added.

"Wait, she used ninjutsu other than the Basic Three Technics at six years old? Doesn't that make her a Lower Ninja? A Lower Ninja after just one month?" Taunt Bro found it hard to believe.

"You can't quite put it that way. She has not received any formal instruction yet. But even so, she is far stronger than the three of you." Hanzo's words confirmed Taunt Bro's claim.

"Yes. Even I cannot compare to talent like that," Qianbai agreed.

"No, Qianbai, if you're saying that, doesn't that make us even more pathetic?"

"So~ there is always someone better out there," Qianbai said, glancing meaningfully at Taunt Bro beside him.

"No, Qianbai, what does that look mean? I admit I'm no match for this girl, but compared to that brat Zhou Yang, I'm still way ahead of him! Huh? Where is that kid?"

"Zhou Yang isn't as simple as you think," Qianbai replied. At the same time, he silently added that this was all the help he could give him. Otherwise, the teacher would probably warn him.

"Is that so?" Since his friend Qianbai had said so, there had to be a reason for it. Taunt Bro began to doubt himself, and just as he did, Bass suddenly cried out.

"What's with you, Bass? Can you stop jumping at every little thing and be quiet in front of the teacher?"

Everyone present had the same thought: Who was the loudest one here, exactly?

"Bu Yu, look over there!"

"Huh?" Bu Yu, also known as Taunt Bro, looked where Bass was pointing. Among the many bamboo stalks, there was one with a wooden plank laid across its top. A child sat on that plank. Wasn't that Zhou Yang?

"How is that possible? How is he keeping his balance?"

Yes, how was he maintaining his balance? Not only the three of them, but even Hanzo was somewhat puzzled. Of course, someone with sufficient Chakra could keep their balance like that—Hanzo himself certainly could. But there was no Chakra fluctuation around Zhou Yang right now. It was as if he had found a faint point of balance and simply stabilized himself there. Hanzo remembered that when Zhou Yang had first attempted this some time ago, he had scolded him harshly and ordered him to go back and recover, telling him to wait until his leg had fully healed. Yet Zhou Yang had been unbelievably stubborn, insisting that this might improve his strength. Hanzo had watched him fall many times. Fortunately, Zhou Yang's reactions were quick, or his leg would have been injured again.

In any case, the result now was that the boy could remain stable for a while. As for whether his strength had improved, Hanzo had no way of knowing. But from Zhou Yang's words, Hanzo had inferred that perhaps Zhou Yang had some understanding of his own Kekkei Genkai. Otherwise, why would he have come up with such an idea? Hanzo also recalled Zhou Yang saying, "I'm sorry for my bloodline," during battle. That made him suspect even more strongly that Zhou Yang knew something about his family. Therefore, Hanzo planned to let Zhou Yang arrange his own development, as long as he did not slack off.

Naturally, Zhou Yang, seated atop the bamboo, had heard the three of them arrive. But the matter merely flashed through his mind, because he had finally managed to enter this State of Merging with Nature. He could not allow anything else to disturb him.

As for why he had chosen this method of training, it stemmed from his judgment of the energy within his body. Since his body had not fully evolved into a Saiyan Body, Chakra should not have appeared within him in theory—unless the scroll that recorded Chakra had a problem. But after so many years, if there had truly been an issue with that scroll, it should have been discovered long ago. Therefore, the energy within him definitely could not be Chakra. But what was it?

Zhou Yang recalled the Kamehameha he had unleashed when his mind had been in chaos, and he could not help wondering whether this thing might be ki.

No one had ever taught him how to use it, so he could not be sure. But when he combined it with the anime from his memories, he found the possibility increasingly likely. As a warrior race, Saiyans had an innate ability to comprehend ki. Like Goku when he was little—after watching Master Roshi demonstrate the Kamehameha just once, he used it immediately. That was somewhat similar to Zhou Yang, except Zhou Yang had seen it on television while Goku had witnessed it in person.

Could my talent be better than Goku's? Zhou Yang narcissistically thought in front of the three of them.

What he did not know was that after Octopus Head had "destroyed" him, he had also been utterly confused. The spinal column within Zhou Yang was unlike the others, which had all come from Saiyans killed by them during the destruction of Planet Vegeta. This one had been found by the doctor in a tomb on Planet Vegeta. As for whose it had belonged to, Octopus Head had no way of determining. Yet after comparing the data, he discovered that despite being buried for an unknown number of years, its strength was terrifyingly high. After all these years, he had even found some spinal marrow still inside it. He immediately realized that this thing was extraordinary.

Yet during the experiment, he had never dared to use it. It was too rare! But after Zhou Yang provoked him repeatedly, and in order to ensure the operation's success, he really did graft it into Zhou Yang's body. In his original calculations, its strength was so high that his attack should have been incapable of damaging the spinal column. He would then be able to preserve it and study it himself. Who could have expected him to destroy it?

Even with all his scientific and medical knowledge, he had no idea how to explain it. He could only conclude that the spinal column had not been as extraordinary as he had imagined. What he did not know was that Zhou Yang had traveled to another world together with that thing.

Back to the matter at hand, Zhou Yang had begun training this way because of memories from his childhood. He remembered that Master Roshi seemed to have made Goku and the others train like this as well, but it had been so long ago that he no longer knew the reason. He could only imitate it blindly.

And sure enough, once he entered this State of Merging with Nature, the ki within his body actually increased a little each time it circulated through him. Although he had no idea what was happening, that was simply the fact. But whenever he tried to observe how it was increasing, he could no longer enter the State of Merging with Nature.