Konoha: I Have a Gravity Training Room

Let alone an orphan with no background like Xia Mu—he had no chance of resisting at all!

Therefore, the fact that Xia Mu was a genius had to be kept hidden!

Shino Visits (2)

In fact, Xia Mu did not know that Shino had always been keeping an eye on his friend.

During Outdoor Class today, Shino had noticed that Xia Mu was hiding his true abilities. He had been somewhat confused at first, but now he finally understood.

Naturally, he supported him.

His friend, Shino Aburame, could not be taken away too!

"Alright, I'll teach you the essentials first. I still need to cook later, so you can practice on your own."

As Xia Mu spoke, he began explaining the methods for practicing One-Handed Seals—what to watch out for and which techniques to use. Shino studied with great focus as well.

Once he had taught him most of it, Xia Mu asked Shino about his preferences before going to cook.

Shino stared at Xia Mu's back for quite a while before coming back to himself and beginning to practice seriously.

Shino naturally understood the importance of One-Handed Seals, especially the difference they could make at critical moments.

For example, in the original story, when Sasuke was locked in a stalemate with Haku's Senbon using Kunai, Haku suddenly formed One-Handed Seals and launched a ninjutsu attack. If Sasuke had reacted even a little slower, he would definitely have been seriously injured.

Although the Aburame Clan primarily cultivated the Insect Control Technique, they also learned ordinary ninjutsu such as the Three Basic Jutsu and Shadow Clone Jutsu. One-Handed Seals were therefore quite useful to them as well.

Before long, Xia Mu finished cooking and called Shino over to eat.

The food culture in the world of Naruto was similar to that of the island nation, with people more accustomed to individual portions. Xia Mu therefore divided the food into two servings according to the customs of this world.

Perhaps it was Shino's first time seeing Chinese cuisine. Surprised, he picked up a piece of meat and put it into his mouth. In an instant, his whole face lit up.

"Xia Mu, your cooking is really good. This food is delicious."

"Haha, it's just ordinary home cooking. I'm glad you like it."

Xia Mu was not being modest. Everything he made was just home cooking, but the island nation's food culture really was lacking. Besides, it was Shino's first time tasting a different flavor, so of course he found it delicious.

After finishing the meal, Shino did not linger and decisively took his leave.

"Do you want me to walk you home?" Xia Mu asked worriedly as he looked at the darkening sky.

"No need. I'm safe. See you tomorrow." With that, Shino turned and vanished into the night.

Xia Mu looked around and failed to spot Shino again. He shut the door, cleaned up the dishes, and headed straight into the Gravity Training Room, planning to do some Tree Climbing and Water Walking to settle his meal.

Meanwhile, Shino had just returned home, where his father, Shibi Aburame, was already waiting for him.

When Shibi Aburame saw that his son was unharmed, he relaxed slightly and asked, "Shino, why are you home so late today?"

Shino answered honestly, "I went to a friend's house for dinner."

Even Shibi Aburame's sunglasses gleamed. "Oh? You made a friend so quickly? And you even had dinner at his house? Good, very good!"

Clearly, he was delighted that his quiet, reserved son had made a friend.

"Dad, there's something I want to discuss with you about this..."

After a while, Shino explained Xia Mu's situation in detail and waited for his father to speak.

Shibi Aburame sighed. "Your friend really is a genius. He isn't from a ninja clan, yet at such a young age, he figured out One-Handed Seals on his own. That's truly impressive. And he seems like a good person too. He would rather sell his ninjutsu than take advantage of a friend. He would certainly be reliable as a companion. How about this? We'll pay him one hundred thousand ryo to teach you One-Handed Seals. I'll keep this matter confidential as well."

Shino calculated silently and hesitated. "One hundred thousand..."

Shibi Aburame rubbed his son's head with a large hand and scolded him with a smile. "Even a B-rank mission only pays eighty thousand to two hundred thousand ryo. That's already high pay. One hundred thousand is a very fair price. What, did you want to give him a million? If you think it's too little, just help your friend more in the future."

Shino nodded silently. Then his father stuffed a wad of money into his hands, leaving him stunned.

He had originally planned to use his own allowance...

Shibi Aburame smiled. "Shino, I'm truly happy that you made a friend. It's only some money. The family can afford it."

Shino gripped the money tightly. "Thanks, Dad."

At noon the next day, Shino took Xia Mu to the Dango Shop, treated him to dango, and handed over the money he had prepared.

Xia Mu could not help laughing. "You could have paid after you learned it. There was no need to give it to me so quickly."

Shino quietly ate his dango. "It's all the same. Besides, I'll learn it soon."

Xia Mu did not stand on ceremony and put the money away. He also asked about Shino's progress. There was no need to watch over Shino's training constantly. Shino was not Naruto; he trained diligently and would actively ask questions if he encountered problems.

And given Shino's talent, once he understood the trick, learning it would not be difficult.

With this one hundred thousand ryo, Xia Mu no longer had to worry about going hungry for the time being. Naturally, he needed to properly plan out his training.

During the day, he would mainly attend class and read through all the textbooks in his spare time. If there were Outdoor Classes, he would study them seriously as well. The basic knowledge of being a ninja could be firmly built up at the Academy.

Outside of class, his main training time at home would be at night and early in the morning. Naturally, he would train in the Gravity Training Room.

For now, he would only set the gravity to twice normal. He was still young and should not overburden himself, or affecting his physical development would make it not worth the cost.

As for his training methods, he would follow the Turtle School's example: delivering milk, plowing fields, mining, swimming, and so on. The intensity did not need to be too high, but it would be enough to train the whole body of a six-year-old. Combined with sufficient food and nutrition after training, he should make considerable progress during his Academy years.

Of course, as he grew older, the gravity in the training room would have to increase gradually, along with the volume and variety of his training.

Those were matters for the future.

Besides that, he needed to heed Master Roshi's teachings: train well, eat well, sleep well, and study well.

Eating well and sleeping well were particularly important for a child's development.

Food was currently guaranteed, so Xia Mu decided that, aside from the first day of every month, he would not be allowed to stay up late training. He had to stop before midnight every night and get himself properly into bed. Once he had slept enough, he could get up early in the morning to deliver milk.

Early that morning, inside the training room under double gravity, Xia Mu carried a basket of milk as he climbed a mountain on foot. He had already walked an unknown distance, and he was panting heavily, drenched in sweat.

His legs were trembling, but he had to grit his teeth and persist.

He had set the milk delivery route rather far, and it involved crossing mountains and rivers along the way. Since he was not allowed to use Chakra, it was naturally exhausting.

After a long while, he finally delivered the milk to the designated location.

Then he picked up a bottle and gulped it down, only to roll his eyes the next second.

As expected, food generated in the training room had no taste. Otherwise, why would he need to worry about having nothing to eat? Still, he did not demand too much. This Golden Finger was already amazing enough; wanting more would be excessive.

Xia Mu finished his training, took a bath, ate breakfast, and hurried to the Academy.

Invitation

Shino had arrived long ago. When he saw Xia Mu, even his sunglasses reflected light.

He said quietly, "Xia Mu, I've learned it."

Xia Mu was not surprised. "It's only been a few days, and you've already learned it. Your talent really is impressive."

"It's because the trick you taught was good."

Shino humbly said, "This has helped me greatly. I feel that my Chakra control has become much more precise, and my strength has improved too. Xia Mu, thank you."

Xia Mu waved a hand. "What are you thanking me for? You paid for it. Besides, the stronger Shino is, the safer I feel. If we end up in the same class in the future, I'll definitely feel at ease leaving my back to Shino. Of course, I'll train hard too, so Shino can feel safe leaving his back to me."

Well, that sounded a little suspicious, but do not get the wrong idea.

It was a promise between companions to protect each other. It was moving and full of passion, alright?

Shino said nothing more and simply nodded solemnly. For a ninja, someone to whom one could entrust one's back was a companion through life and death, the most trustworthy kind of friend.

He, Shino Aburame, would not betray his friend's trust!

Today's lesson was Chakra extraction and hand seals.

Although quite a few students had already learned them, some had never been exposed to such things before. They had only begun learning to read and write in recent days, along with some history, but Chakra extraction and hand seals were the most important things that absolutely had to be taught.

Iruka explained earnestly from the podium, afraid the students would not understand. He was truly doing his best to be a good teacher.

But it would have been one thing if the students who had already learned it did not listen. Some of the students who still had not learned it were not paying attention either, and he immediately became furious.

He grabbed the blackboard eraser and threw it, striking a certain blond kid right in the head.

Then came a roar. "Naruto! Have you even learned hand seals, and you're already slacking off? You still dare to boast about becoming Hokage like this? Get up here and demonstrate the hand seals!"

The blond kid immediately wilted. He silently walked to the podium and began forming seals at a snail's pace.

Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Ram, Monkey, Bird, Dog, and Boar were the basic hand seal gestures. They were not actually difficult; what mattered was proficiency. In particular, one could not get flustered in battle and form the wrong seals, or that would be dangerous.

But Naruto was a poor student to begin with, and he did not study seriously either. He made one mistake after another.

Watching the blond kid's disastrous hand seals, Xia Mu could not help facepalming.

Naruto really was somewhat dumb when he was young. He kept saying he wanted to become Hokage, yet he did not work very hard, making him seem like someone who only knew how to boast. Coupled with the lack of any teacher to guide him, he naturally became the Dead Last.

If Jiraiya had not carefully taught him later, let alone becoming Hokage, he would probably have remained a genin for life and ended up as a joke.

That fiery determination was the protagonist's privilege. If Naruto had not been the protagonist, all those impassioned declarations would have been nothing but empty boasting.

He went on and on about becoming Hokage, yet why could he not study properly?

It did not matter if he could not do it at first. He could listen carefully in class and ask the teacher for guidance afterward!

Iruka was furious too and roared, "Naruto! Don't leave after school! Come to my office. I'll give you one-on-one instruction. You're not leaving until you learn it!"

Naruto was dumbfounded. "Huh? Iruka-sensei, you can't do this, dattebayo! I was planning to ask Sakura to go shopping after school!"

"You think you can ask a girl out looking like that? Keep dreaming!"

"But..."

"No buts! Come to my office after school, understand?"

"...Okay, dattebayo."

Naruto finally yielded. He probably knew that Iruka meant well, but he really liked Sakura and truly wanted to go on a date with her.

Yet as Naruto walked back to his seat, Sakura's cold voice rang out. "Naruto, don't flatter yourself. I won't agree."

Crack! Naruto's heart shattered into pieces.

Of course. Sakura had always liked that pretentious Sasuke, so when had she ever given Naruto a kind look? No matter how sweetly he talked or how much he tried to please her, he received not the slightest warmth in return. Instead, he got yelled at or even beaten. Yet he still liked Sakura. What could he do?

Watching Naruto's dejected back, Xia Mu rolled his eyes just like Hinata.

This guy kept saying he wanted to become Hokage, yet he spent all day thinking about picking up girls. Was that how he planned to achieve his dream?

And he was only a little over six years old. Was that not far too mature? More importantly, if he wanted to chase a girl, he should at least choose a better one. Hinata was so cute and had eyes only for him, so how could he be so blind?

It was truly unbearable to watch!

Fortunately, Xia Mu was merely complaining internally. He had no intention of interfering in the protagonists' affairs.

After school, Naruto was dragged away by Iruka.

Xia Mu naturally planned to take Shino home, to see whether Shino had truly learned One-Handed Seals. He would also treat Shino to another meal and deepen their friendship.

Right, since he was deepening friendships, he might as well invite two other friends too.

He said to the two people preparing to head home, "Shikamaru, Choji, do you want to come to my house for a meal? The vegetables in my yard are on their last harvest. I'm planning to eat them all today and plant new ones afterward. Shino and I probably can't finish them all. Do you want to come?"

The moment he heard there would be food, Choji decisively agreed. "I'm going! I'm going!"

Shikamaru scratched his head. "What a drag! Tell me where your house is first. I'll go home and get some venison. We have too much venison lately, and my family can't finish it all. Everyone can help use some up."

See? He said it was troublesome, but not only agreed, he even offered to bring meat. Who would not like a friend like that?

Shino also said, "There aren't many kinds of vegetables in your yard, Xia Mu. I'll go home and bring some vegetables too. Everyone can try the fresh, tender vegetables grown by the Aburame Clan."

Choji crunched on potato chips and casually added, "Then I'll bring some snacks from home."

"You guys..."

Xia Mu facepalmed. "Do whatever you want, but you don't need to be so polite when you come to my house in the future. We're all friends. I just want everyone to have a meal together."

The others merely smiled. In any case, none of them could possibly visit empty-handed.

Xia Mu let them do as they pleased. After giving them his address, they separated. He went straight to the market and bought some pork and pig trotters, along with eggs and tomatoes, as well as two chickens.

He did not know many home-style dishes, so since he was inviting friends over today, he naturally had to give it his all.

However, he did not know how to cook venison, so Shikamaru would have to handle that himself.

After returning home, he immediately cooked a large pot of rice. Choji had a huge appetite, so anything less would not be enough. The quantity and variety of dishes could not be lacking either. His family was not wealthy, but one could not be stingy when entertaining guests.

Just as Xia Mu was preparing the pig trotters, Shino arrived carrying two large baskets of vegetables.