The Pot King Takes Action

Spring had arrived, and Ninja Academy was back in session...

He was almost seven years old, and the night of the Uchiha massacre was drawing ever closer.

Even a child like him had heard some troubling rumors, mainly about the Police Force's brutal enforcement methods. There had even been casualties.

These rumors had not stopped since he had killed those three troublemakers last time. He had not expected that public outcry to continue spreading until now, only to be brought up again because of another murder case.

This murder case definitely had not been his doing. He had not made a move at all. It had to be that old scheming bastard Danzo copying his methods and framing the Uchiha, making this storm of public opinion rage even harder. The goal was naturally to smear the Uchiha and build momentum for their extermination.

Once the Uchiha's evil had sunk deep into people's hearts, once they were seen as rotten to the bone, even if only one Uchiha remained after the massacre, no one would care. After all, the blade was not at their own throats. Other people would not feel the pain.

The new semester had just begun, and he saw Second Pillar's sour face again. It was probably related to the recent rumors, or perhaps the guy was still unwilling to accept being defeated by him. He had not shown Lin Chuan a pleasant expression since then, wearing that smug face all day long.

Lin Chuan did not care. He was just a little brat anyway. Once this little brat's clan got wiped out and he no longer had a brother, Lin Chuan could bully him properly. He would beat the little brat until he called him Dad. Just thinking about it felt great. He would not stop until that brat's face was swollen—then he would see who still said Sasuke was handsome.

As the class bell rang, Iruka came to teach as usual. Naruto still could not understand anything and slept through class. Shikamaru lazily spun a pen, Choji secretly snacked, Sakura Haruno secretly glanced at Sasuke, occasionally glaring at Ino, while the others tossed paper balls now and then.

Whenever Iruka talked about ninja subjects that interested Lin Chuan, he would settle down and listen. As for knowledge he already knew from his previous life, he could not be bothered to listen. It was elementary school material, after all. There was nothing worth hearing.

Lin Chuan continued practicing chakra control. Sticking chakra to the soles of his feet to climb trees and walk on water was merely basic chakra-control training.

Ninjas could also release chakra from specific parts of their bodies, precisely controlling its shape, movement, and density to alter its flow and form.

Condensing chakra into threads, blades, or spheres involved complex chakra shape transformations and counted as advanced chakra-control training.

There was even more advanced chakra-control training: adding chakra nature transformation on top of shape transformation, such as Wind Release: Rasenshuriken.

In the classroom, he would condense chakra into thin blades and maintain their fixed shape for a while, using the chakra blades for wood carving. Sometimes, both hands would shape two different forms of chakra at once, training his ability to control chakra on multiple tracks.

He was trying to practice every field that involved complex chakra shape transformations.

The morning classes passed quickly. After lunch, it was time to skip class again. Iruka had already gone numb when it came to Lin Chuan skipping class.

Normally, if the afternoon class was something special, Iruka would remind Lin Chuan, and Lin Chuan would generally stay for it. But if it was merely basic training—running, throwing kunai, playing ball, or ninja games—then whenever Iruka said nothing, Lin Chuan would definitely skip class.

Iruka had been right. On the first day of the new semester, Lin Chuan skipped class again.

This time, Lin Chuan did not go to the training grounds. Instead, he went to the river to practice Water Dragon Bullet. After training throughout an entire winter break, he had finally gotten the basics of Water Formation Wall and Water Dragon Bullet down.

[Ninjutsu]

[Water Release Ninjutsu]

[C-rank Ninjutsu: Water Release: Water Clone (Genin: 104/1000)]

[C-rank Ninjutsu: Water Release: Water Shock Wave (Genin: 102/1000)]

[B-rank Ninjutsu: Water Release: Water Formation Wall (Beginner: 2/10)]

[B-rank Ninjutsu: Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet (Beginner: 1/10)]

Water Formation Wall was not too bad; it did not require many hand seals. But Water Dragon Bullet's forty-four hand seals had held him up for a full two months. He had only learned to use Water Dragon Bullet last week, and he had cast one by the river.

He summoned a water dragon from the river, and it directly snapped the second large tree he had been using for training. When he saw the trunk break apart, he had been utterly stunned. B-rank ninjutsu really was different from C-rank ninjutsu. It had taken half a year of blasting the first big tree with Water Shock Wave to break it, but the second tree had fallen to just one Water Dragon Bullet.

All he could say was that B-rank ninjutsu was amazing. If B-rank ninjutsu already had such power, he really did not know how terrifying A-rank and S-rank ninjutsu would be.

Unfortunately, his chakra reserves were too small. Even if this body became a Chunin and learned A-rank ninjutsu, using an A-rank ninjutsu twice would drain all his chakra. If he used it a third time, he would fall unconscious and might even die.

Even B-rank ninjutsu could not be used too often, much less A-rank ninjutsu. He could only suppress the restlessness in his heart. His top priority was to find Maruboshi Kosuke and become his apprentice. Considering that Maruboshi Kosuke was an approachable Genin, he could find a time to have his nominal father invite Maruboshi Kosuke over as a guest.

Once Maruboshi Kosuke came to the house, Lin Chuan could take the chance to show off Water Dragon Bullet. Coupled with the older generation's fondness for talent and their willingness to nurture promising juniors, Maruboshi Kosuke might teach him a simplified version of Water Dragon Bullet. Then he could seize the opportunity to become Maruboshi Kosuke's apprentice.

As for how his nominal father would invite Maruboshi Kosuke home, that was his nominal father's problem. Lin Chuan had asked before, and his nominal father told him that they had done missions together in their younger days and had some history.

That was not strange at all. Maruboshi Kosuke was practically a permanent NPC for Genin missions in the Mission Department, often teaming up with Chunin and Genin for missions. Lin Chuan's nominal father happened to be a Chunin, so it was perfectly normal for the two to have worked together.

Moreover, his nominal father worked in the Mission Department. Whenever Maruboshi Kosuke came to accept missions, the two had continued their old working relationship. His nominal father had even assured him that they were very close.

Still, Lin Chuan was somewhat uneasy. After practicing Water Dragon Bullet once by the river, his chakra was nearly depleted, so he headed to the Mission Department where his nominal father worked. He had come often during winter break, so many people knew him. He had even become the kind of other people's child that elders used to lecture their own unmotivated children.

"Little Chuan is here! You're looking for your dad again, right? He's in the mission records room!"

"Little Chuan got first place again, didn't he? First place every time—you're amazing!"

"If my little brat had even half of Little Chuan's ability, I'd finally be able to sleep peacefully..."

"Thank you, Uncle." Lin Chuan happily accepted the praise from all the elders one by one, though he still had to put on a humble expression.

There was no helping it. He had earned all this through hard work. After grinding himself to the bone for so long, was he not allowed to enjoy it a little?

"Such a sensible, well-behaved child..."

"Sigh, my little brat doesn't even greet people when he sees them..."

However, these parents had not realized one thing: the well-behaved child they were praising had skipped class to come here. What kind of good child skipped class?

After bidding farewell to the older generation in the mission hall, Lin Chuan found his nominal father in the mission records room. Missions issued by the Mission Department had to be sorted and archived for future reference, and they could also provide ninjas going to the same region with relevant local information.

"Little Chuan, why are you here?" Lin Chuan's father sat behind a desk. The door was not closed, so when he looked up, he could see Lin Chuan poking his head out from behind it.

He could only set aside his work and go outside to find an empty corner, where he asked Lin Chuan, "Little Chuan, did you come for something?"

"Dad, I've learned Water Dragon Bullet! When you see Grandpa Maruboshi Kosuke, invite him over to our house," Lin Chuan said, looking up at his nominal father and revealing the purpose of his visit.

"You're worthy of being my son, learning a B-rank ninjutsu so quickly." Hearing that Lin Chuan had learned Water Dragon Bullet, Lin Chuan's father could not help but smile. But this was the Hokage Tower, so he held back from laughing out loud. His genius son had brought him plenty of prestige among his colleagues. Learning Water Dragon Bullet truly was something worth celebrating.

"Little Chuan, Senior Kosuke just left on a mission. If you want to invite him over, you'll probably have to wait a while..."

"That's fine. There's still time." Hearing that he had already gone on a mission, Lin Chuan's furrowed brows relaxed again. He had only come to notify his father. Since Maruboshi Kosuke was not around, he could continue practicing Water Dragon Bullet for a while longer.

For the time being, he would devote all his ninjutsu practice time to Water Dragon Bullet. He would even stop practicing Body Flicker Technique and Water Shock Wave, dedicating all his chakra to Water Dragon Bullet.

"Probably ten days to half a month. I'll invite him over when the time comes, so make sure you perform well. I'll get back to work first." Lin Chuan's father gently patted him, then turned and went back to work.

He knew perfectly well what his opinionated son wanted to do. It had been his son who first brought up becoming an apprentice, and they had already discussed it. Even if Lin Chuan could not become Maruboshi Kosuke's apprentice, he still had to learn the simplified version of Water Dragon Bullet from him.

When he had teamed up with Maruboshi Kosuke, he had seen him use the simplified Water Dragon Bullet, as well as his elusive genjutsu swordsmanship. He did not believe that was swordsmanship an ordinary Genin could master.

During one picnic, someone had casually asked about it, and only then had they learned that Maruboshi Kosuke had studied ninjutsu under the Second Hokage. Combined with his remarkable strength, no ninja who teamed up with him on missions treated him as a mere Genin.

Judging by the strength he could unleash, he was already comparable to certain Jonin. If one teamed up with him for low-level missions, there would be no danger to one's life at all. Most ninjas had been saved by him, including Lin Chuan's father. That was a life-saving debt, and he had always remembered it.

Watching his nominal father return to work, Lin Chuan left the Mission Department. He did not want to run into Danzo here. Root was not a place for normal people; it was far too oppressive.

But he did not yet know whether Danzo had set his sights on the little genius. It was not up to a genius's own will. Once the darkness of the ninja world locked onto a young genius, he was like a lamb holding a torch in a dark forest, destined to be unable to escape unless he defected from the village.

However, Danzo did not currently have the energy to pay attention to a child. Those matters were for his subordinates to handle. He still had the far more urgent matter of the Uchiha to deal with, a whole armful of Sharingan to collect, and the transplantation of Hashirama Cells. He was not far from obtaining the jutsu he desired.