Becoming Kakashi's student had been his greatest gain over the past few days. Not only could Zhou Cheng learn more ninjutsu, but he also gained a backer and connections.
Although the Hatake Clan had declined, Kakashi's own strength and the reputation he had earned with his Sharingan made him a minor power in Konoha.
After the Fourth Hokage, Minato, died, Danzo had planned to assassinate the Third Hokage upon his return to office, and had approached Kakashi beforehand to win him over.
In the end, that plan had failed because Kakashi switched sides.
Kakashi's later appointment as the Sixth Hokage was hardly a random choice made because Konoha had no one else available.
His strength, prestige, background, and other qualifications all met the requirements to become Hokage.
Now that Zhou Cheng had become Kakashi's student, he had to bind Kakashi firmly to his side.
Then he would use his social skills to build good relationships with the Konoha 12.
What worried Zhou Cheng most now were the Third Hokage and those other old foxes. He had managed to avoid becoming their student.
But their appearing together and calling Zhou Cheng aside alone had left him deeply uneasy.
With how calculating the Third Hokage and Danzo were, they could not possibly give up so easily.
Moreover, when he proposed joining the ANBU, Danzo had not shown much excitement or anger.
They were definitely plotting something.
Serving in the ANBU meant being right under the Third Hokage's nose. Nothing would escape his eyes.
Zhou Cheng would have to be exceptionally careful and make absolutely no mistakes that would give the Third Hokage leverage over him.
Then Zhou Cheng felt that he had to grow stronger even faster. Until he reached jonin level, everything he did would be constrained.
He was beginning to want a team of his own, a force of his own!
A force strong enough to stand against the Third Hokage, Danzo, and the others.
But all of that depended on him being strong enough first. Who would stand on the same side as a mere genin?
Zhou Cheng decided that, starting tomorrow, he had to demonstrate even greater talent, making Kakashi value him more and teach him everything he had learned throughout his life.
Zhou Cheng's thoughts returned to what had happened that night.
He had looked through the Scroll of Seals and memorized several ninjutsu.
Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!
Flying Thunder God Technique!
Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags!
He had already committed those three ninjutsu to memory and could begin training his proficiency in them.
The Multiple Shadow Clone Technique was the ultimate training cheat. However many shadow clones he could create, that was how many times faster he could train.
Naruto had used this ninjutsu to drastically shorten the time he spent learning the Rasengan, and even developed it into the S-rank ninjutsu, Rasenshuriken!
With the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique, Zhou Cheng could drastically shorten the process of incorporating Tai Chi into taijutsu and creating a new taijutsu system.
He could also create a dozen or more shadow clones to practice a single ninjutsu simultaneously, not only greatly improving his proficiency but also experiencing more chakra flows in the same amount of time.
Whether he wanted to increase a ninjutsu's power or reduce the number of hand seals, he could use multiple shadow clones to speed up his progress.
Next was the Flying Thunder God Technique. Zhou Cheng had chosen to learn it first to keep the Third Hokage and the others from scheming him to death.
Whenever he faced a life-or-death crisis, he could escape using coordinates he had set up beforehand.
However, the Flying Thunder God Technique consumed far too much chakra. He had used it twice to save Iruka, then a third time to kill Mizuki instantly.
Those three uses had drained all his chakra, even though they had only been short-range teleports.
If he teleported over a long distance, a single use might exhaust his chakra.
Zhou Cheng considered how he still needed to increase his chakra reserves. They were a shinobi's foundation, just as internal energy was a martial artist's foundation in wuxia novels.
Increasing chakra through training alone was far too slow. He would either have to capture a tailed beast and become a jinchūriki, or find a way to obtain a Sage Body.
Capturing a tailed beast was still far beyond him. He was not strong enough.
Replication of a Sage Body was his best option at present.
Judging by Zhou Cheng's experiences with Replication so far, he always received the highest-grade reward.
Examples included the very best talent for chakra control, and the Eight Gates of Life that would not kill him even if he opened all eight gates like Guy.
Then, if he used Replication on a shinobi with Asura's bloodline, there was a good chance he would obtain a Sage Body like Asura's.
A Sage Body offered more than merely vast chakra reserves.
A Sage Body was a physique, a superhuman physique.
It was a latent talent.
A talent that greatly enhanced physical capabilities.
This talent could amplify the power of a shinobi's ninjutsu or taijutsu dozens or even hundreds of times over.
Without the bloodline, it was impossible to awaken a Sage Body.
It differed from Sage Mode, which could be acquired through training.
The Sage Modes of the Three Great Sage Lands were all temporary. Once the gathered natural energy was depleted, Sage Mode could no longer be maintained.
Someone with a Sage Body could also enter Sage Mode, further enhancing their ninjutsu, taijutsu, and other abilities.
Sage Mode, however, could not awaken a Sage Body.
Only a handful of people in the Naruto World had the potential to develop a Sage Body.
First was the Senju Clan, descendants of Asura, who were born with vast amounts of chakra.
However, after the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, implemented his plan for the Senju to integrate into the civilian population, the Senju Clan's bloodline had long since become diluted and was no longer pure.
Besides, almost all of them were dead.
Only Tsunade remained in the public eye, but she had no fixed residence and wandered from casino to casino.
There were at least eight hundred casinos in the Naruto World, if not a thousand. Searching for her would take far too much time.
Then there was the Uzumaki Clan, descendants of Asura who possessed even greater chakra reserves than the Senju Clan.
But their clan had already been wiped out.
Only a few clan members remained.
Naruto counted as half an Uzumaki, but his bloodline was not pure. Using Replication on him might not yield a Sage Body.
Nagato was another, but going to the Land of Rain now would be suicide!
There was also Karin Uzumaki. She should be in the Land of Grass, but even if he went there, he might not be able to locate her.
She would come to Konoha with the shinobi from the Land of Grass to participate in the Chunin Ninja Exams.
That would be Zhou Cheng's only opportunity to use Replication on her!
The last technique, Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags, was a money-burning ninjutsu. Although explosive tags were not expensive, they were still rather costly for Zhou Cheng.
He had not taken any missions to earn rewards. It had only been a day since he became a genin and joined the ANBU, so he could not collect his salary yet.
The orphan allowance provided by the village alone could not possibly cover the cost of using explosive tags.
It seemed he would need to go out on missions in the days ahead.
Every world was the same. Without money, nothing could be done.
Once he was strong enough, he could also take bounty jobs at a Bounty Station.
The rewards there were much higher than those offered by the village.
For instance, Asuma Sarutobi had a bounty of thirty-five million ryō.
Thirty-five million!
Zhou Cheng had never seen that much money in either of his lives.
Then there was one final, crucial question: had the Third Hokage seen him looking through the Scroll of Seals through the Crystal Ball?
How could the Scroll of Seals possibly have been so easy for Naruto to steal?