Konoha: I Have a Gravity Training Room

Summary

Megumi Kato and Tatsuya Yamashiro did not cheer in celebration. Instead, they continued forward and surrounded him.

They would not think a few moves like that could defeat a Special Jonin. As long as Aoba-sensei had not called an end to it, they had to keep fighting.

Aoba Yamashiro silently rose to his feet, slowly pulled the wire hooks from his clothes, then drew the kunai attached to the wires into his hand for a look. He actually gave them a thumbs-up.

"You really surprised me. You managed to catch me off guard with two special kinds of shuriken. For genin, you're pretty outstand~ing."

"But Aoba-sensei blocked that one punch of mine, didn't you?"

Xia Mu did not relax in the slightest. "It was my first time using the Four Demon Technique, and I used it while Aoba-sensei was trapped in the mist. I kept my arms hidden behind my back until I found a chance to launch a sneak attack. Yet in that instant, Aoba-sensei still managed to free up a hand to block it. Otherwise, I definitely would have smashed your sunglasses."

Aoba Yamashiro patted the dirt off his body. "So this ninjutsu that creates two extra arms is called the Four Demon Technique? Not bad. So, how do you plan to keep attacking? Or are you surrendering?"

Surrender? Absolutely not!

Xia Mu charged straight at him, his fist shooting for Aoba Yamashiro's face.

Aoba Yamashiro raised an arm to block, but the moment he came into contact with Xia Mu's fist, he sensed something was wrong. He immediately turned and guarded his lower abdomen, successfully blocking Xia Mu's punch. The previous punch passed right through Aoba Yamashiro's head—it had been an illusion.

"Your Clone Fusion Technique is written right there in your file. You can't catch me with that."

Though he said that, Aoba Yamashiro did not dare let down his guard.

It was actually easy to distinguish a clone with the Clone Technique. But when the clone merged with the real body and constantly disrupted one's vision, it became difficult to notice—unless one had the Sharingan or Byakugan. Moreover, Xia Mu's Four Demon Technique gave him an extra pair of arms. That meant four real arms and two illusory arms attacking in succession. It really was not easy to defend against.

Sure enough, Xia Mu entered a frenzied assault the very next second. His six arms swung so quickly they nearly smoked, making it impossible to follow with the eyes.

If Aoba Yamashiro had not been so skilled in taijutsu, he would have taken a punch long ago.

But that was not all. Megumi Kato and Tatsuya Yamashiro were not merely standing by and watching. They occasionally threw kunai and shuriken to support him. Though they did not deal much damage, they caused no small amount of trouble.

After ten minutes, Aoba Yamashiro was actually being forced backward, while the three students stayed on him step by step, clinging to him relentlessly.

Still, such a performance truly satisfied Aoba Yamashiro. He was already considering how to train these three little ones.

Suddenly, a shuriken Megumi Kato had thrown reached him. Aoba Yamashiro instinctively tried to dodge, but with a bang, the shuriken transformed into Xia Mu and directly wrapped itself around one of Aoba Yamashiro's arms.

Meanwhile, Xia Mu, who stood directly in front of Aoba Yamashiro, suddenly retreated.

Tatsuya Yamashiro smiled as he began forming hand seals. One look told Aoba Yamashiro it was the Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu.

Aoba Yamashiro hurriedly punched the Xia Mu clinging to his arm, but that Xia Mu suddenly exploded with a bang. It turned out to be a Shadow Clone.

In an instant, Aoba Yamashiro understood.

After the earlier Poison Mist Shuriken attack, Xia Mu had taken the chance to create a Shadow Clone. The Shadow Clone had transformed into a shuriken and hidden in Megumi Kato's hand, waiting for an opportunity to launch a sneak attack.

These little brats really knew how to play!

Wait a second? A Shadow Clone? Who said Xia Mu could only make one Shadow Clone? Definitely not! Where are they? Oh no!

But by the time Aoba Yamashiro realized it, it was already too late. Three of Xia Mu's Shadow Clones suddenly sprang up from the ground. One grabbed his feet, one locked down his arms, and one even climbed right on top of him.

At that very moment, Tatsuya Yamashiro finished his hand seals and opened his mouth to spit out a fireball.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"

Bang! Bang! Bang! The three Shadow Clones exploded beneath the fireball.

Bang! Aoba Yamashiro turned into a log.

"Tatsuya! He's behind you!"

Megumi Kato suddenly warned him. Do not think she could do nothing but throw shuriken. Ever since she had thrown the shuriken that concealed Xia Mu's Shadow Clone, she had kept Aoba Yamashiro locked on with Chakra, ensuring she would not lose track of him if he ran. So the moment Aoba Yamashiro escaped with the Substitution Technique, she noticed immediately.

"Haha! You're a clever girl! But you're too late!"

Aoba Yamashiro abruptly appeared behind Tatsuya Yamashiro, his large hand about to strike Tatsuya on the head.

However, with a swish, Xia Mu flashed behind Tatsuya Yamashiro and barely blocked the blow.

Aoba Yamashiro was not surprised. His other hand shot out and struck the arms behind Xia Mu, blowing apart the fake pair of arms. Then, with one kick, he sent both Xia Mu and Tatsuya Yamashiro flying.

In terms of taijutsu, Aoba Yamashiro was still stronger.

The two rolled across the ground several times, but immediately flipped back to their feet. They shielded Megumi Kato behind them and continued guarding against the attacks ahead.

Aoba Yamashiro, however, clapped his hands. "All right, all right. I have a rough idea of your abilities now... Oh, no. Xia Mu, you probably haven't used your full strength yet. You were holding back to coordinate with your two teammates, weren't you? As for you, I'll spar with you alone another time. For now, I'll give you a summary. Come over here."

The three of them sighed in relief and walked over to their teacher with smiles on their faces.

Tatsuya Yamashiro and Megumi Kato in particular had never expected to hold their own against a Special Jonin to this extent.

Even if their teacher had gone easy on them, the three of them must have coordinated rather well. At the very least, they had not suffered too badly.

Aoba Yamashiro commented, "The three of you are centered around Xia Mu, right? You must have discussed the tactics beforehand as well. Very good. Xia Mu's command was appropriate, and Tatsuya Yamashiro and Megumi Kato coordinated closely with him. Although Team 9 was only just formed, your genin squad is already quite outstanding.

"However, your shortcomings are also considerable. First, Xia Mu cannot fully cut loose because he has to account for his two teammates. Tatsuya Yamashiro and Megumi Kato still need to improve their strength. Tatsuya in particular, your hand seal speed is too slow. If you had been even a little faster, I would not have had time to use the Substitution Technique."

Tatsuya Yamashiro scratched his head. "Aoba-bro..."

"Call me sensei at a time like this!"

Aoba Yamashiro irritably knocked his clansman on the head. "Still, you have grown. At least compared to how careless you used to be, you're much more mature now."

Tatsuya Yamashiro grinned foolishly. "It's all because of Boss. He said we should give our team leader a surprise."

It really had been quite the surprise!

Any team leader who encountered students like these would probably smile.

But you called Xia Mu Boss?

Aoba Yamashiro picked up the Steel Wire Shuriken again and asked, "Did you design these two special types of shuriken?"

The two teammates looked at their boss. "Boss gave them to us."

Xia Mu shrugged. "I designed them for my girlfriend. This morning, I thought our team leader might test us, so I brought a few along. They came in handy, didn't they?"

Q Meat BBQ

The three of them exchanged glances.

They felt this guy was flaunting the fact that he had a girlfriend, but they had no proof.

Still, they had not expected Xia Mu to have designed these two special shuriken. They were truly ingenious. Against enemies who did not know about them, they could indeed produce remarkable results.

Tatsuya Yamashiro hurriedly said, "Boss, Boss, can you get us some more?"

Megumi Kato added, "Yes, Boss. These two kinds of shuriken are really good. Prepare more for us. We can pay for them."

"Uh, well, I'll have to ask your sister-in-law when I get back."

Xia Mu looked somewhat conflicted. "I gave the design drafts to my girlfriend back then. She said she wanted them exclusively for herself. If I ask her for some when I get back, she should give me a few, but there won't be too many."

Tatsuya Yamashiro and Megumi Kato subconsciously looked at each other. They had the strange feeling that their boss had no authority at all in front of his girlfriend.

Still, they hurriedly thanked him. "Thank you, Boss. We'll pay for them."

Aoba Yamashiro did not want to keep chatting about such trivial matters. Seeing that it was getting late, he said, "That's enough for today. As your teacher, I'll treat you to grilled meat. We'll meet here at eight tomorrow morning, and I'll take you to accept a mission."

"Woo! Aoba-bro/sensei is the best!"

Not long after, Team 9 arrived at Q Meat BBQ, only to find that the other team had already arrived. Asuma was sighing as he flipped through his wallet, Shikamaru and Ino looked bored out of their minds, while Choji was eating with great gusto.

Clearly, Asuma had miscalculated when he decided to treat his students to grilled meat.

Aoba Yamashiro quickly greeted him. "Yo! Asuma, Team 10 came for grilled meat too?"

With a cigarette hanging from his mouth, Asuma smiled. "So it's Aoba. You're treating your students to grilled meat too? Better be careful. One of your students might be a big eater."

Meanwhile, Xia Mu started chatting with Shikamaru and the other two.

"Shikamaru, Choji, Ino, you finished pretty quickly."

"Well, it's only the first day. Asuma just tested the three of us, then said he'd treat us to grilled meat. Choji is already close to eating Asuma to tears."

Shikamaru kept watching Asuma's increasingly thinner wallet and could not help shedding a tear of sympathy for him. To meet a student like Choji and still dare to treat him to grilled meat—was he sick of having too much money? He would have been better off going to Ichiraku Ramen. At least ramen was cheap, and the broth could fill one's stomach. Choji definitely would not be able to eat as much.

"Hehe, Choji is going to eat through Asuma-sensei's marriage fund. If sensei ends up a bachelor, it'll all be Choji's fault." Ino laughed heartlessly.

"Since Asuma-sensei is treating us, naturally I cannot disappoint the food. This is my ninja way!" Choji was even more heartless.

"You guys, at least spare a thought for me..." Asuma looked like he wanted to cry.

Xia Mu could only cast a sympathetic look at thirty-five million. This was truly bad luck, ending up with students like these.

Aoba Yamashiro had already ordered several plates of meat and beckoned his three students over to sit down.

He casually started a conversation. "Xia Mu, you know Kakashi? Back at the Hokage's office, Kakashi even praised you."

Xia Mu nodded. "My girlfriend is Might Guy's student, and Might Guy introduced me to Kakashi-senpai. Kakashi-senpai even taught me Hatake Kenjutsu."

"Kakashi taught you Hatake Kenjutsu?!"

Aoba Yamashiro could not help being shocked. "No wonder he praised you so highly. He even passed down his family's kenjutsu to you. That shows how much faith he has in you. It seems you've hidden quite a lot of your strength. When I get the chance, I'll have to test you and see how much of Hatake Kenjutsu you've mastered."

To Aoba Yamashiro's generation, Hatake Kenjutsu was a name like thunder.

After all, Aoba Yamashiro had entered the academy in the same generation as Kakashi. Back then, Kakashi graduated after only one year, and his name as a genius resounded throughout Konoha. Combined with Konoha's White Fang's fame throughout the Shinobi World, there was no way Aoba Yamashiro would not know of him.

He simply had not expected that one of his own students would inherit Hatake Kenjutsu.

Could he truly teach such a prodigy well?

Of course, Xia Mu had brought it up deliberately. There was no need to hide something like this. Saying it would earn Aoba Yamashiro's attention, and he would have more weight when offering suggestions within Team 9 later. After he sparred with Aoba Yamashiro alone, Aoba Yamashiro should also understand his strength and no longer treat him as an ordinary genin when they went out on missions.

Furthermore, when he made requests of Aoba Yamashiro in the future, they likely would not be refused.

For instance, if he wanted to learn the Mind Reading Technique, Aoba Yamashiro would probably teach him.

In short, the benefits would not be small.

"Aoba-bro, is Hatake Kenjutsu really that powerful?" Tatsuya Yamashiro asked curiously, while Megumi Kato also perked up her ears.

"It's more than powerful—it's incredibly powerful!"

Aoba Yamashiro praised, "You're still young. There are things you shouldn't know yet, and things that are inconvenient to discuss. I'll only tell you about Kakashi Hatake. He entered the academy in the same generation as me, but he graduated after only one year and became a jonin at twelve. As for your teacher, I'm still only a Special Jonin even now."

The two were stunned. "That Kakashi-senpai was actually that amazing? And someone that amazing taught his family's kenjutsu to Boss?"

Aoba Yamashiro nodded. "Exactly! So you two need to work hard. Otherwise, Xia Mu will leave you far behind. When that happens, teaming up with him will only hold him back. Understand?"

"Understood! We'll work hard!"

Tatsuya Yamashiro and Megumi Kato could not help swallowing. They felt immense pressure.

Shikamaru and Ino had overheard some of it. They did not dare interrupt without permission, but they looked curiously toward Asuma and received his nod.

For a moment, both of them were deeply shocked. They had never expected someone so formidable to be teaching Xia Mu kenjutsu. Did that not mean Xia Mu would only grow stronger in the future, perhaps even stronger than their teacher Asuma?

Would they still be able to remain good friends then?

At that thought, even Shikamaru, who was usually so lazy, felt a sense of urgency. Being left too far behind by a friend was not a pleasant feeling. As for Ino, she was actually a little envious of Tenten. Tenten's boyfriend was growing more and more impressive, and he even seemed to be getting more handsome.

Choji, on the other hand, was still eating grilled meat and had not heard a single word.

Asuma glanced at Xia Mu, merely curious but not thinking much of it. He was not like that old bastard Hiruzen Sarutobi, with so many schemes in his heart.

At that moment, more people entered Q Meat BBQ, and Asuma's eyes immediately lit up. "Kurenai, you brought your students too? Come over here. There are seats here!"

Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino exchanged looks: So that's how it is!

Shino, Hinata, and Kiba Inuzuka, who had come in with her, were not stupid either: So that's how it is!

It had to be said that Kurenai Yuhi was truly beautiful, and she had a good figure as well. It was only natural that Asuma would like her.

D-Rank Mission

Xia Mu was not interested in matters between Asuma and Kurenai Yuhi. He greeted them, "Shino, you guys came too. How was it?"

Shino quickly came over to Xia Mu's table, nodded in greeting to the others, and said, "You're having grilled meat too, Xia Mu. I think it went pretty well. Kurenai-sensei is a very capable teacher."

"That's good. Our Aoba-sensei is very capable too..."

The two chatted familiarly. They had been desk mates and friends for so many years, so there was no need for formality.

Aoba Yamashiro looked at Xia Mu again. Xia Mu's file said that the boy had good relationships with the children of several ninja clans. It seemed he was quite skilled at socializing.