"And he's decisive and ruthless, too. Someone like that is perfect for Root."
"I can't let that bastard Hiruzen recruit him."
"I need to find a way to approach him and win him over."
"You have to start brainwashing your enforcers young!"
With only one eye exposed, Danzo grew more excited as he spoke, his lone eye gleaming eerily in the darkness.
It was late at night. After days of arduous travel, the children were all fast asleep.
Following Hiruzen Sarutobi's orders, an Anbu ninja arrived outside the Thatched Hut where Zhou Cheng was staying.
This ANBU had a long head of purple hair and a ninja blade strapped to her back.
She had just landed on a branch of a giant tree outside the Thatched Hut.
Then she saw someone tiptoe out of the Thatched Hut's doorway and head toward the nearest woodland.
Her gaze sharpened.
Who could that be at this hour, and what are they going to do?
Could they be a spy from another village?
Puzzled, she followed with a few leaps.
Under cover of night, Zhou Cheng made his way to a giant tree by moonlight.
After making sure the Thatched Hut was no longer visible,
he waited quietly for another ten minutes or so.
Only after confirming that nothing was amiss did he let out a deep sigh of relief and think to himself.
Konoha wouldn't just trust these children. They're bound to send Shinobi to watch us.
I deliberately waited until late at night, when people are most tired, to come out. Hopefully, no one noticed.
He focused his mind and straightened up.
He recalled the hand seals for the only ninjutsu he remembered.
He wanted to test just how incredible his top-tier talent for chakra manipulation really was.
Could he perform ninjutsu without ever having learned it, relying solely on his Chakra Manipulation ability?
He acted on the thought at once, forming hand seals and drawing on the chakra inside him.
"Shadow Clone Technique!"
A puff of white smoke rose, and someone who looked exactly like him appeared at his side.
"It worked! It really worked!"
Zhou Cheng jumped with excitement.
Looks like I was right!
I'll have to find opportunities to get my hands on more ninjutsu scrolls. As long as I remember the hand seals, I should be able to perform the techniques.
But chakra nature test paper isn't something I can get right now. I'll just have to take things one step at a time!
With the Shadow Clone Technique, I have a cheat that can multiply my training.
Tonight, I can have my shadow clone practice climbing trees with chakra here.
My real body can go back to sleep. That way, I won't draw attention.
Although I have top-tier chakra control talent and all the rich theoretical knowledge I gained through Replication, what I lack is practice.
Tree climbing with the feet is exactly the kind of exercise that trains chakra manipulation.
With that thought, he looked at his shadow clone and smiled.
"Stay here tonight and practice tree climbing with the feet."
"I need to go back to sleep. I'll dispel you when the sun rises!"
"You got it, original!"
Then Zhou Cheng glanced around and tiptoed back to his Thatched Hut.
Next time, I'll save a drop of talent original liquid to put into sensing. Then I won't have to work so hard, sneaking around like a thief.
He thought his precautions were flawless.
What he didn't know was that the voyeur Hiruzen Sarutobi and the Anbu ninja he had sent had seen his every move.
In the Hokage Office.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was holding the Crystal Ball, finally focused his gaze.
That's the Shadow Clone Technique!
How does he know ninjutsu?
Could he really be a spy sent by another village?
No, that doesn't seem right. No village's spy would be foolish enough to do something like this.
If he isn't a spy, that can only mean his talent is far greater than I imagined!
I could certainly raise him as one of my direct followers. With talent like that, if he grows to his full potential, he might become a strong contender for Hokage.
Meanwhile, outside the Thatched Hut.
On a giant tree some distance from Zhou Cheng's shadow clone.
The Purple Hair ANBU watched him with a strange look in her eyes.
A spy? He doesn't look like one!
If he were a spy, he should know that he'd definitely be under surveillance until he'd earned their complete trust.
Then he's just a war orphan?
Does he really have the extraordinary talent Lord Hokage mentioned?
He succeeded on his first attempt at extracting chakra, and now he can even perform ninjutsu.
This is the Shadow Clone Technique, a B-rank ninjutsu!
Although the hand seals are simple, and so is the way the chakra flows,
it still isn't something you can get right on your first try!
The Shadow Clone Technique is even on the Graduation Exam at the Ninja Academy!
His chakra reserves are already at genin level!
No wonder Third-sama wanted me to watch him!
What a monster. It took me a full half month to extract chakra for the first time!
She left Zhou Cheng's shadow clone to train undisturbed, choosing a giant tree from which she could see both the Thatched Hut and the clone, and settled in to carry out her surveillance mission.
The rest of the night passed uneventfully. Early the next morning, just as the sun rose.
Zhou Cheng dispelled his shadow clone.
A flood of practical chakra-control knowledge rushed into his mind, leaving him so dizzy that he nearly cried out. He couldn't help marveling to himself.
No wonder the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique is classified as a forbidden technique.
If just one shadow clone has this effect, several or even dozens would surely overwhelm the original's mind and turn him into an idiot.
It took quite a while before his head stopped spinning and he recovered.
He glanced at Haku beside him. He kept feeling that something had changed in the way Haku looked at him.
His gaze had become clearer, without a trace of anything else.
Could this mean he trusts me completely?
Heh, that would be ideal.
In the Shinobi world, before you became truly powerful, having a teammate you could trust completely to watch your back was incredibly important.
Soon, Konoha genin arrived outside the Thatched Hut and led them to the Square where Hiruzen Sarutobi had given his speech the day before.
They hadn't gone far before Zhou Cheng saw the boys he had kicked away yesterday.
Perhaps channeling chakra into his feet had made his kicks far too lethal for ordinary people.
Those boys were now cold corpses.
"Gasp!"
"They actually died!"
"That guy killed people! Why aren't the Konoha Shinobi doing anything?"
"Doing anything? In this world, strength is everything. Being weak is a sin!"
"Why would a ninja village as big as Konoha care whether a few outsiders live or die?"
Whispers once again filled the long procession.
The Shinobi walking beside them had certainly heard those words, but they all acted as though they had heard nothing.
Perhaps they simply couldn't be bothered to listen.
Hearing them, Zhou Cheng merely gave a cold smile.
He never left potential threats unresolved.
I never hold grudges. I settle them on the spot.