Konoha: I Have a Gravity Training Room

"That's right. Your answer is sincere, and it satisfies me. I approve of you inheriting the Hatake Clan's swordsmanship. Once you learn Hatake Kenjutsu, make sure you protect your family and companions well." Kakashi's tone was gentle.

"Yes! Thank you, Kakashi-senpai!"

Xia Mu gave a solemn bow, his voice firm and powerful.

But at that moment, Might Guy suddenly cried out with tears streaming down his face, "Ohhh! What a youthful scene! I'm so moved!"

Tenten was nearly blown away by the wind. "Might Guy-sensei! Don't ruin such a great atmosphere!"

Xia Mu and Kakashi could not help but burst into laughter. Sure enough, wherever Might Guy was, there was no lack of joy. Especially now that there was an extra girl responsible for snarky remarks, it was even more entertaining.

Meanwhile, in the Hokage's office.

Hiruzen Sarutobi covered the crystal ball, a satisfied smile on his face.

This kid named Xia Mu could be cultivated without worry.

Hatake Kenjutsu

Kakashi handed Xia Mu a scroll.

"This is the record of the swordsmanship my father left behind. Study it yourself. I didn't learn it well when I was young, and I'm far inferior to my father. I'm afraid I won't be able to guide you properly. I once wanted to master this swordsmanship too, but I could never grasp its essence. So whether you can learn it or not will depend entirely on yourself."

Xia Mu accepted the scroll somewhat blankly and stared at Kakashi for a long while.

Kakashi was puzzled. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Xia Mu answered honestly, "I thought Kakashi-senpai had given up Sakumo-senpai's swordsmanship..."

"Hehe, so that's what you thought."

Kakashi smiled. "Indeed, perhaps it really is as you said. I once doubted my father because of his suicide, and I abandoned his swordsmanship as well. Later, I understood his will, but perhaps I no longer had the right to inherit his swordsmanship. I still haven't completely figured things out in my heart. That's probably why I can't learn this swordsmanship."

Xia Mu shook his head. He did not really understand.

Even though he had watched the anime, he still did not understand Kakashi.

People who had experienced too much were often complicated. Especially in this twisted world, some convictions were incredibly precious. Perhaps Kakashi understood his father, Hatake Sakumo, or perhaps he did not fully understand him. Maybe only after he died like in the original plot and met Hatake Sakumo again in that world, after father and son spoke from the heart, would he truly understand.

However, Xia Mu did not intend to think that much about it. He had gotten what he wanted.

Eight Gates plus Hatake Style Swordsmanship—enough for him to fear no enemy in the early stages!

He only had to wait for Hiruzen Sarutobi to die and for Tsunade to take over as Hokage, then see if he could get Flying Thunder God.

At Ichiraku Ramen, Xia Mu, Tenten, Kakashi, and Might Guy took their seats. Xia Mu had originally wanted to treat them to something nice as a small gesture of gratitude, but Kakashi insisted on eating Ichiraku Ramen.

Xia Mu could not argue with him, so he had no choice but to agree.

Perhaps Kakashi and Might Guy had never expected Xia Mu to repay them. They had passed down those things merely to cultivate outstanding juniors for the village.

Since that was the case, Xia Mu did not mind protecting the village a little.

Of course, he would protect the village that had himself, Tenten, his future father-in-law, Shino, Shikamaru, Choji, and the others—not the village of the F4. In any case, he would not sacrifice anything for those old bastards. Those relics of the old era ought to die sooner rather than later, so they would not continue harming the new generation.

"By the way, Xia Mu, you have quite a few techniques, right? Like the Six Styles." Kakashi casually struck up a conversation.

"Oh, Kakashi-senpai heard about it from Might Guy-sensei, right? The Six Styles are a Nintaijutsu I created. They're somewhat crude, but without opening the Eight Gates, they're enough to handle some powerful enemies. If Kakashi-senpai is interested, I can demonstrate them for you to copy."

Xia Mu did not mind letting the Six Styles spread. It was not that important anyway.

Kakashi had even given him his family's inherited swordsmanship, so there was no need to hide this little bit of Nintaijutsu.

Kakashi split apart a pair of disposable chopsticks. "There's no need to copy it. I was just curious. After all, there aren't many techniques that can earn Guy's praise."

Xia Mu placed the meat from his bowl into Tenten's. "You really don't want to copy it? One technique, Moon Walk, lets you run through the air."

Kakashi paused in the middle of eating his noodles. "Now that you mention it, it does seem necessary to copy it. After all, few ninja techniques allow flight. If I ever encounter a powerful enemy who can fly, it would be bad if I could only watch from the ground. That technique is called Moon Walk, right? Tell me about it in detail."

"Oh, you gather water vapor beneath your feet so the soles can use it as leverage, allowing you to walk and run through the air..."

As Xia Mu spoke, he set down his bowl and chopsticks, got up, and used Moon Walk to take a few steps in midair. After landing, he continued, "This technique doesn't consume much Chakra. As long as your Chakra control is good enough, running ten-odd kilometers in the sky won't be a problem."

Kakashi silently pulled down his forehead protector and covered his Sharingan.

He had already copied the Nintaijutsu.

He could see Xia Mu's intentions. Hatake Kenjutsu was simply too valuable, so Xia Mu wanted to repay him somehow. Treating them to a meal alone could not put Xia Mu at ease. Since he had asked about the Six Styles, it conveniently became Xia Mu's repayment.

And honestly, Moon Walk did solve the problem of fighting enemies in the air. It was not bad.

Tenten stared at Kakashi in surprise. "Kakashi-senpai, your eye..."

Kakashi smiled faintly. "It's just an old story, not something children like you should know about. Still, the title of Copy Ninja does indeed rely on this eye. There's nothing worth boasting about."

Tenten recalled Xia Mu mentioning the Sharingan and Copy Ninja while speaking to Kakashi earlier. So that was what it was.

Fortunately, she was merely curious and would not pry into someone else's secrets.

Besides, if she wanted to know, she could ask Xia Mu later. Her Xia Mu knew a lot of things, anyway.

After the meal, the group said their goodbyes outside the shop.

Xia Mu and Tenten walked home hand in hand, then looked at each other and smiled.

Tenten leaned against Xia Mu's shoulder. "Xia Mu, you've finally achieved all your goals now. You're happy, right?"

Xia Mu pinched her delicate nose. "Yeah, and it's all thanks to my most beloved girlfriend. How should I thank you? How about we just get married?"

"Hmph! Keep dreaming! You're only eleven, little brother!"

Tenten's charming smile left Xia Mu staring in a daze. The two looked at each other and slowly drew closer.

Mm, today's kiss tasted like ramen.

That night, in the Gravity Training Room, the gravity had been returned to normal. Since he needed to study swordsmanship, it was best not to let gravity interfere yet, or he would only get half the result with twice the effort.

Xia Mu opened the scroll and studied it for a long time. In the end, he could roughly sum it up in one word: fast!

The essence of Hatake Kenjutsu was speed—unparalleled speed. It had similarities to Flying Thunder God and the Cloud Village's Lightning Release.

There were indeed many techniques recorded on the scroll. They looked rather ancient, as though they had been passed down from the Warring States era. The key lay in combining the techniques with Lightning Release Chakra, and it also demanded extremely high movement speed.

Simply put, Hatake Sakumo had been powerful because his Body Flicker Technique was fast, while his sword was twice as fast as he was!

By the time an enemy saw him, his blade had already severed their head!

"No wonder Kakashi couldn't learn it. This is genuinely ridiculously difficult! Kakashi learned some of it as a child, but after Hatake Sakumo's death, his swordsmanship was basically ruined. When he later tried to pick it back up, the Sharingan's severe Chakra drain meant he simply couldn't learn it. My talent isn't better than Kakashi's, is it? Can I really learn this?"

Xia Mu felt as though a bucket of cold water had been poured over him, cooling some of the excitement he had felt after obtaining Hatake Kenjutsu.

But he was not someone who gave up easily.

He was still young, extremely young. He had plenty of time to slowly hone himself. He refused to believe he could not make something of it. Even if he only grasped a little of its essence, combined with the speed and strength of the Eight Gates, cutting down a few Shadow-level opponents should not be difficult, right?

Thus, he gritted his teeth and began studying it.

The Gears of Fate

Time was like leaves on a tree, with one leaf after another withering and falling.

In the blink of an eye, it was nearly time for Xia Mu's class to graduate.

Naruto, that troublemaker, did not cause chaos nearly as often anymore. His card addiction was still quite serious, and whenever he had time to make trouble, he would rather play a few more rounds of cards.

Besides, Naruto believed his graduation was already a certainty.

Ever since he had mastered Tree Climbing and Water Walking, his Chakra control had improved greatly. Using the Three Basic Jutsu was no problem for him.

However, reality proved that Naruto was too naive.

This day was the graduation exam, and Iruka-sensei announced the test: the Clone Technique!

Naruto immediately became full of confidence. His Clone Technique had become incredibly smooth, and somehow, he had even mastered Xia Mu's Clone Fusion Technique. During Outdoor Class sparring, he had defeated quite a few classmates with it.

So even Xia Mu thought Naruto's graduation exam should be no problem.

"Next, Xia Mu. Uzumaki Naruto, get ready."

Upon hearing that, Xia Mu immediately got up and went to the classroom next door, where Iruka and Mizuki were responsible for grading.

Xia Mu obediently formed hand seals and created two clones. He quickly received full marks from both teachers and was asked to leave. Outside the door, Naruto gave Xia Mu a brilliant smile.

It was as if he were saying, It's just a graduation exam. Easy!

Naruto stood before Iruka and Mizuki and formed the hand seals without a single mistake. With a puff, a limp clone flopped onto the floor, looking utterly strange no matter how one looked at it.

"Th-this isn't right! How did it turn out like this, dattebayo?!" Naruto could not believe it.

"Naruto, what's going on with you?"

Iruka frowned. During their usual Outdoor Class combat lessons, Naruto had used the Clone Technique smoothly without any issues. So what was this?

Was Naruto deliberately fooling around? Impossible!

Naruto wanted to become a ninja more than anything. He would never mess around during the graduation exam!

Could it be the Nine-Tails' seal...

Iruka immediately became serious. "Naruto, try some other ninjutsu. Use the Transformation Jutsu and Substitution Technique too. Let me see whether something has gone wrong."

Naruto was panicking as well. He obediently did as told, forming hand seals and using the Transformation Jutsu.

However, his best Sexy Jutsu came out differently. He should have transformed into the blonde beauty Naruko, but instead he became a middle-aged woman with a barrel waist. The Substitution Technique was abnormal too. In any case, everything was strange.

Iruka made a prompt decision. "Naruto, your graduation exam is suspended. I'll go find the Hokage!"

With that, he hurried off.

Naruto was dumbfounded. "Iruka-sensei! What's going on, dattebayo?! I could clearly use the Three Basic Jutsu properly before! Why did they suddenly become like this, dattebayo?!"

Mizuki's eyes flickered, and a calculating glint flashed through them.

Outside the classroom, Xia Mu had not had time to leave before he saw Iruka-sensei rush out, followed by Naruto's stunned, distraught voice.

For a moment, Xia Mu frowned in astonishment.

"So Naruto has a problem, and he can't even use the Three Basic Jutsu that he was once proficient in? Is it the power of the plot, or has the Nine-Tails' seal loosened? No, it shouldn't be the power of the plot. If the plot had power, then what about me winning over Tenten and learning the Eight Gates and Hatake Kenjutsu? It should be the Nine-Tails' seal loosening. The Nine-Tails' Chakra disrupted Naruto's Chakra, which is why his Three Basic Jutsu went wrong. But if that's the case, hasn't it returned to the original plot? Or did Hiruzen Sarutobi do something to prevent Naruto from graduating?"

Xia Mu could not determine it for the moment. The friends around him were all confused as well.

Of course, there were also some unpleasant comments, such as "fox demon" and "serves him right." It was best to pretend not to hear them.

Naruto walked out dejectedly, his face full of misery. "Everyone, I..."

This time, he really cried!

Kiba Inuzuka even added insult to injury. "Naruto, you really suck. Don't tell me you were so nervous that you forgot how to form the hand seals for the Three Basic Jutsu?"

Naruto immediately argued, "No, dattebayo! I remember the hand seals perfectly! I didn't make a single mistake, but I don't know why something went wrong!"

As he spoke, he formed the hand seals for everyone to see. They were indeed correct.

But with a puff, Naruto's clone flopped limply onto the ground like a dying fish.

At that point, no one knew what to say. Judging from Naruto's usual performance in Outdoor Class, his Chakra control was not poor, and he could smoothly use the Three Basic Jutsu. His hand seals were correct now as well, so something must have gone wrong with his body or Chakra.

Shikamaru and Shino instinctively exchanged a glance, as though they understood something.

The Nine-Tails...

Seeing the boy she liked so heartbroken, Hinata gathered her courage and said, "N-Naruto-kun, don't worry. Iruka-sensei has gone to find the Hokage. The Hokage will definitely be able to solve Naruto-kun's problem."

"Yeah, thank you, Hinata."

At this point, Naruto could only rely on the Third Hokage. If even the Hokage could not solve this problem, then he might not be able to become a ninja in the future.

He absolutely did not want that kind of future!

However, not long after, Iruka returned with a troubled expression.

Naruto hurriedly rushed over. "Iruka-sensei, Iruka-sensei, what did Grandpa Third say? Can my problem be fixed?"

Iruka gave Naruto a complicated look, then shook his head and sighed. "Naruto, your situation is somewhat special. The Hokage said he will find a way to solve it. But this time, you cannot be considered to have passed the exam. I'm afraid you'll have to wait until next year."

"Huh? How can this be?!"

Naruto's face immediately fell, but he quickly raised his head again. "I'll go ask Grandpa Third myself, dattebayo!"

With that, he turned and ran straight toward the Hokage Building. Iruka did not stop him, merely watching Naruto's retreating figure in silence, his eyes filled with complicated emotions.

Xia Mu fell into thought, feeling that something was increasingly suspicious.