Konoha: I Have a Gravity Training Room

The seven second-years flushed red with anger at those words.

Oh, sure, each and every one of you was tossing the blame around. Did that mean none of you were at fault? Even if we were the first to call him a fox demon, that dead fatso was the one who threw the first punch!

Iruka's sharp gaze swept over the seven second-years, and they immediately shrank their necks.

Children were naturally afraid of teachers. Besides, teachers had the authority to report them to the Hokage, so they did not dare misbehave.

Finally, the leader of the group weakly explained, "Iruka-sensei, we lost to Neji Hyuga in a sparring match during class earlier, and we were upset about it. Then we happened to see the fox... cough, cough, this blond brat passing by. We didn't like the look of him, so we cursed him a little. Then this fat pig—cough, cough—this classmate eating chips came out to break up the fight. We got mad and cursed him too, but we never expected him to attack us directly. They really threw the first punch!"

Iruka stared at him for a while, confirming that he was telling the truth and roughly grasping the situation.

He rubbed his brow with a headache.

Students fighting was actually a minor matter. Some guidance and punishment would settle it. But Iruka wanted to be a good teacher and do his best to guide these children properly.

Especially since Naruto was involved, things were not so simple.

He said sternly, "I will report this matter to Lord Hokage. Lord Hokage will decide how it should be handled. Before I report it, I will ask you this: do you know what you did wrong?"

The seven second-years hurriedly nodded. "Sensei, we know we were wrong!"

Xia Mu, however, looked Iruka straight in the eye, his voice utterly unwavering. "Sensei, fighting at school is wrong, but I do not admit fault. Shikamaru and Choji are my friends, and once we graduate, they will be my comrades. If someone bullies them, I will never stand by and do nothing."

Shino kept both hands in his pockets. "Same."

Shikamaru scratched his head. "Tch! What a drag! Iruka-sensei, never mind who was right or wrong. Just go tell Lord Hokage first."

Choji, Kiba Inuzuka, and Naruto also wore expressions that said they were unwilling to admit fault. Choji especially felt that since they had called him a fat pig, it was only natural for him to hit them. Therefore, he had done nothing wrong.

Iruka's headache worsened. In the end, he could only punish them by making them do handstands while he headed to the Hokage Building.

Inside the Hokage's office, Hiruzen Sarutobi watched the scene in the school training ground through the Water Release: Magnifying Water Mirror, using the large crystal ball before casually taking out the student roster from a drawer.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was naturally familiar with Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shino, since they were all children of prominent clans.

But this Xia Mu was someone he had noticed for the first time.

Now that he looked through Xia Mu's file, he found nothing unusual. He was merely an ordinary orphan, with some talent in Ninja Tool Throwing and average performance in all other areas.

However, Xia Mu had become friends with so many children from prominent clans, and he had just said those things. Either he was deliberately trying to earn goodwill, or he truly valued loyalty above all else. That was hard to judge, and Iruka would have to be asked. Of course, he was only a six-year-old child, so there was no need for excessive suspicion.

Just then, Iruka arrived and quickly explained the situation.

"Lord Hokage, that is the situation. How do you think this fight should be handled? If possible, I hope they will be dealt with seriously so they understand their mistakes."

"Mm, Iruka, your intentions are good, but you cannot casually decide who is right and wrong."

Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke unhurriedly, in no rush at all. "Iruka, what do you think of these children? Take this Xia Mu, for example. He is quite loyal. Once he becomes a ninja, he should cherish his companions as well, shouldn't he?"

Iruka immediately recalled his memories of Xia Mu. "Come to think of it, Xia Mu is usually very well-behaved. He pays close attention in class and studies proactively afterward, often going to the library to read. He is also very active during Outdoor Class, and he performs quite well in Kunai and Shuriken throwing. Him suddenly getting into a fight today, and refusing to admit fault... that truly surprised me."

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded repeatedly as he listened. He found nothing strange about Xia Mu, so he set the matter aside.

It was only throwing technique. No matter how well he performed, it was useless. Any Uchiha who awakened the Sharingan would surpass him, so he was not some noteworthy genius. His ability to befriend so many children from prominent clans was probably due to his personality.

After thinking it over, Hiruzen felt they should still be punished. Otherwise, it would be troublesome if other students followed their example.

He decided, "Iruka, go back and make them run ten thousand meters. Also, have them copy the Will of Fire ten times. They must submit their copies within five days. Anyone with sloppy handwriting will copy it again."

"Yes, Lord Hokage!"

Having received his orders, Iruka hurried away.

Not long after, the office door was flung open with a bang. A middle-aged man with bandages wrapped around his right eye and his right arm in a sling stormed in, speaking fiercely.

"Hiruzen, you know about it, right? The Jinchuriki went mad and started fighting! Listen to me and hand him over for me to train. Otherwise, it will be trouble when he loses control! If you give him to me, I will definitely train him into an excellent war machine!"

"Danzo, enough!" Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression turned stern. "Naruto did not go mad, and he certainly did not lose control!"

Shimura Danzō ignored him and continued, "Hiruzen, why are you so stubborn! What Jinchuriki does not go mad? You cannot control him like this at all. When the Nine-Tails erupts again someday, you will bear an inescapable responsibility!"

"Shut up, Danzo. I am the Hokage!"

"You! Hiruzen, you will regret this!"

Bang! Shimura Danzō slammed the door behind him as he stormed off in anger.

Xia Mu knew nothing about the dramatic clash in the Hokage's office. He pretended to grit his teeth as he did a handstand, but he was actually observing the seven second-years.

They said they had lost a sparring match to Neji Hyuga, and when they happened to encounter Naruto while upset, they vented their anger on him. Xia Mu had not expected Naruto had been dragged into this by his future brother-in-law.

But Neji Hyuga?

He wondered how strong Neji was now, and whether he could beat him.

Among the Konoha Twelve, only Might Guy's Team was a grade ahead. And all three of them had it the worst: Neji Hyuga died, Tenten remained single, and Rock Lee's strength had probably stagnated because of the injury he suffered during the Chunin Exams.

In comparison, every one of Naruto's classmates had lived better than the last. People really could not be compared.

Then Naruto suddenly said, "Choji, Shikamaru, Kiba, Xia Mu, thanks for helping me."

Xia Mu rolled his eyes. "I was helping Shikamaru and Choji. Also, you forgot Shino."

Naruto froze. Sure enough, he saw Shino muttering to himself off to the side and instantly felt awkward. It was not really his fault. Shino's presence was just too weak, so Naruto had failed to notice him.

He quickly apologized, "Sorry, Shino. And thank you too."

Shino muttered, "As expected, Naruto did not notice me. I clearly helped a lot."

Naruto did not know how to respond for a moment, but he was still very happy. Although Xia Mu and Shino seemed to have come to help Shikamaru and Choji, they had indirectly helped him too, right?

Transformation Jutsu: Kami-e

After returning, Iruka announced the punishment decided by the Hokage.

Running ten thousand meters was no big deal, but copying the Will of Fire ten times was too much.

The Will of Fire was a fairly thin book, but it still contained plenty of words. Copying it ten times would break their hands, and it would brainwash them too. That old man Hiruzen Sarutobi was ruthless.

Whatever. He would obediently accept the punishment.

Xia Mu turned over and began running, with the others following one after another.

By the time school ended, they had finally completed the ten thousand meters. Everyone was panting from exhaustion, and Xia Mu had to pretend to be tired as well, forcing out quite a bit of sweat.

There was no helping it. If a six-year-old child ran ten thousand meters without sweating or panting, that would be far too strange.

At that moment, Xia Mu spotted a short-haired little girl with the Byakugan peeking at them from a corner. He could not help feeling speechless.

Who else could it be but Hinata, that little stalker?

When he watched the anime before, he had thought this girl was simply too shy and timid. Seeing her now made him even more anxious. Forget getting closer to Naruto—she did not even dare speak loudly.

Xia Mu looked at the foolish Naruto, then at Hinata hiding as though she were playing hide-and-seek, and the corner of his mouth twitched.

You two! Would it hurt if I gave you a little help?

"Hey! Hinata! Come over here!" Xia Mu waved Hinata over.

Hinata jumped in fright and instinctively ducked back. But after a while, she peeked out again. Faced with everyone's curious stares, her face reddened, yet she still slowly walked over.

The Hyuga Clan's upbringing was there. Since Xia Mu had called for her, she naturally had to come out.

Naruto looked utterly confused. "Hinata, what are you doing hiding in the corner?"

Hinata fidgeted with her fingers and said softly, "Na-Naruto-kun, everyone..."

Xia Mu directly said, "Hinata, Naruto's taijutsu is terrible. He got beaten up badly and is seriously injured. Do you have any medicine? Give him some."

"Naruto-kun is badly hurt? I have medicine!"

Hinata immediately became nervous and hurriedly took out some medicine. She wanted to check Naruto's injuries, but she was too shy to approach him.

Naruto said unhappily, "What nonsense are you talking about, Xia Mu? Who has terrible taijutsu? I, the great Naruto, was just going easy on them. Once I unleash my power, I will definitely beat them until they are crawling around looking for their teeth!"

There he went boasting again.

Kiba Inuzuka: Who are you saying will be crawling around looking for what?

Everyone was speechless, but no one said anything. Instead, they watched Hinata curiously.

The clever Shikamaru and Shino seemed to understand something. Seeing Xia Mu watching the show with a leisurely expression, then looking at Naruto's carefree manner and Hinata's shy, blushing face, realization suddenly struck them.

So that was it!

No wonder this girl had been peeking at them!

Yet Naruto noticed nothing at all. When he saw Hinata blushing, he even leaned forward and touched her forehead, thinking she was sick. To his surprise, Hinata's entire face instantly turned crimson, and she fainted on the spot.

"Hinata? Hinata, what's wrong?" Naruto shouted while holding Hinata, who had blissfully fainted in his arms.

Xia Mu could not help laughing.

Xia Mu had no issue with Naruto and Hinata as a couple, nor did he have any intention of eliminating Boruto at the source.

Hinata had fallen deeply in love with Naruto long ago. There was no room for anyone else to interfere. Xia Mu could only blame himself for awakening his memories of his past life too late and completely missing the chance to get involved.

Besides, even if he had had the chance, Xia Mu still would not have wanted to interfere.

Setting aside how good Hinata was, the Hyuga Clan's rules alone were enough to make people keep their distance.

If he married Hinata, would his future children be branded with a slave mark like the Caged Bird Seal?

That alone was enough for Xia Mu to refuse. Rather than consider such a possibility, he would rather avoid it from the start. The Shinobi World did not lack other good girls, and it was not as if he absolutely had to get married.

So it was enough to quietly enjoy shipping the couple from nearby. He could even give them a little help from time to time, so they would not leave people anxiously watching.

Naruto was left in charge of Hinata, while everyone else dispersed. They still had to go home and copy the Will of Fire.

Xia Mu rushed home even faster. After eating dinner and letting it settle, he entered the Special Laboratory the moment it turned seven and began his research projects.

Project One: Could using the Transformation Jutsu to turn into thin paper serve as the Six Powers' Kami-e?

Project Two: Developing the Clone Technique for combat use.

Project Three: Chakra Shape Transformation and Chakra Threads.

Project Four: Researching Chakra Nature Transformation and infusing water-nature Chakra into the Rasengan.

He had arranged quite a few projects, but the first three would not take too much time. The fourth was the main one. Xia Mu was not confident that he could complete the fusion of Chakra Shape Transformation and Nature Transformation in a single night.

Naruto had spent a long time creating the Wind Style: Rasenshuriken. Xia Mu might boast that his talent surpassed Naruto's, but with no teacher to guide him and having to figure everything out on his own, success would still be difficult.

Most importantly, he had never seen Chakra Nature Transformation before!

If he knew even a single Water Style Ninjutsu, even a D-rank one, he could observe the process of Chakra turning into water. But now, he was completely in the dark and could only research with a try-it-and-see mindset.

If it truly did not work, he would have to trade with Shino again. Presumably, it would not be hard for Shino to obtain a D-rank ninjutsu scroll.

"Thinking about it is useless. Let's begin. First, the first project."

Xia Mu imagined the form of thin paper, then swiftly formed hand seals. The next second, with a puff, he truly transformed into a sheet of paper—except it was as thick as a book.

This showed that he had not mastered the Transformation Jutsu well enough. He could not transform freely as he wished.

Moreover, Xia Mu did not merely want to become a sheet of paper. More accurately, he wanted to become a thin paper cutout, one that would sway with the slightest breeze and be pushed away by the force of a punch without tearing.

Only then would it resemble Kami-e, one of the Six Powers from One Piece.

This move was excellent for evasion and worth researching, especially since Xia Mu did not have many other things to study right now.

He continued his efforts, imagining and transforming over and over. Finally, half an hour later, he successfully transformed into a thin paper cutout. He even created several wooden puppets with his mind to attack himself. No matter how hard they struck, the paper cutout easily avoided their attacks. Even when hit, it took no damage.

"Whew! Transformation Jutsu: Kami-e, complete!"

Xia Mu returned to his original form, deeply satisfied with the success of his first research project.

Before he could even celebrate, though, one of the wooden puppets punched him on the head, making him bare his teeth in pain. He had forgotten to dismiss them.

He quickly ordered the puppets to get lost, rubbed his head, and inhaled sharply. Even without taking damage, it still hurt. But he did not dare waste time and continued to research his second project.

Developing the Clone Technique for combat use.

This was not difficult, but it was still worth trying.

The Clone Technique used Chakra to create one or more illusory copies without physical bodies or attack power, meant to confuse opponents. It sounded quite useful, but it had major flaws.

Once an opponent identified the clones, they could basically ignore them. The Clone Technique became nearly useless and wasted Chakra as well.

Therefore, the Clone Technique had only appeared in the early parts of the original story, such as during the graduation exam. Sakura and Ino had also used it during their battle in the Chunin Exams. In short, it was a textbook technique that everyone looked down on.

Difficult Problem

However, if its usage was changed a little, it might not be unusable.