Konoha: I Have a Gravity Training Room

For example, merging the clone with the original body for close combat.

Normally, once an opponent identified the clone, they could ignore its interference. But if the clone phantom merged with the original body, the opponent could no longer dismiss it.

For example, if I threw a punch, could the opponent tell whether it was a real punch or a phantom?

If they did not block or dodge, they might get hit if it was real. But if they blocked or dodged and it turned out to be a phantom attack, they would expose an opening.

This move was nothing impressive, but it was good enough to bully little kids in the early stages.

Xia Mu even gave it a name: the Clone Fusion Technique.

He created the puppet again, then formed hand seals and overlapped a clone phantom onto his body. He began fighting the puppet, only to get smashed on the head again after lowering his guard.

"Hiss! Get lost, get lost! Damn it, I've lost my mind. Why would a puppet dodge a phantom attack? I need to find a real person to spar with."

Xia Mu felt stupid for getting so absorbed in his research that he had been hit twice in a row by a puppet.

Still, his second research project could be considered complete. He could find someone to test it on later. Maybe he could use it during combat class—it should not be too outrageous.

Next came the third project: Chakra Shape Transformation and Chakra Threads.

Xia Mu grew serious. By developing the Rasengan, he had technically already completed Chakra Shape Transformation. But this time, he wanted to create Chakra Threads.

Chakra Threads were generally used to control puppets, making them fairly practical.

But if he could incorporate Chakra Nature changes as well, they might produce unexpected effects.

For instance, if he added Wind Release, would the Chakra Threads gain sharper cutting power? If he added Water Release—particularly viscous water—would the threads become highly adhesive like spiderwebs?

What about Lightning Release?

What about Fire Release?

All of those were worth researching. However, Xia Mu had not yet learned Chakra Nature changes, so he could only start by making threads. The thinner and tougher he could make the Chakra Threads, the better.

Xia Mu gathered a mass of Chakra in his palm, then began stretching it with his hands as though he were pulling noodles. Soon, he had drawn it into a long strip. But the next second, one careless move caused the Chakra strip to snap, wasting all his effort.

Fortunately, he was not discouraged. He simply continued, treating it like playing with dough.

Luckily, his Chakra control was extremely precise. As long as he concentrated fully, he could pull the Chakra thinner and thinner. Half an hour later, he finally managed to create a Chakra Thread as thin as a strand of hair.

It was already thin enough. Making it any thinner seemed pointless.

Besides, with a casual tug, he snapped the Chakra Thread. It was thin enough, but clearly lacked toughness. It still needed improvement.

Two hours later, Xia Mu raised his left hand, and five thin Chakra Threads shot from his fingers. They smoothly wrapped around a puppet across from him. With one pull, he dragged the puppet over. The Chakra Threads remained completely undamaged. At last, their toughness was guaranteed.

Chakra Threads might not have been difficult. What was difficult was making effective use of them.

Entangling things was merely a minor trick. Their true application was puppet control.

However, puppet control was not simple. It required many more techniques. Sunagakure was the expert in that field, and if Xia Mu wanted to research it himself, he would likely have to spend a great deal of time.

Fortunately, Xia Mu was not particularly interested in puppets.

Puppet Technique was fairly eye-catching in the early stages, but it became practically useless later on. Why waste all that effort researching it?

He would rather think about incorporating Chakra Nature changes and achieving a qualitative transformation in Chakra Threads. His requirements were not high—he only needed properties like cutting power and adhesiveness. Those could be extremely useful in battle.

The third project was complete as well. He still had more than six hours left.

Next was the final project: Chakra Nature changes and fusing Water Release Chakra into the Rasengan.

For a moment, Xia Mu was completely at a loss. He had no idea how to proceed, because he simply lacked the relevant knowledge and had no one to guide him. He could not just imagine something and expect it to happen, could he?

"Forget it. I'll try it according to my own ideas first."

Using his thoughts, he created a sheet of paper and placed it in his palm. Then he began imagining Water Release soaking the paper.

He was following the original story's method. Naruto had Wind Release Chakra, and when imagining Chakra Nature changes, he imagined cutting a leaf in half. That represented wind's cutting property.

Xia Mu possessed Water, Earth, and Lightning natures. Since he was trying Water Release first, he naturally imagined water's dampness.

As long as he soaked the paper, it should count as success.

The next second, Xia Mu felt a chill in his palm. The paper there was completely soaked. Yet instead of feeling happy, Xia Mu wore a strange expression.

He created another sheet of paper, then imagined it being soaked with water. The result happened instantly.

Xia Mu's mouth twitched. "This definitely isn't because I succeeded. It's because of the Special Laboratory State. Inside the laboratory, everything follows my will. If I want paper, I can create paper. If I want the paper to become damp, it becomes damp. This advantage of the laboratory is actually interfering with my research. Seriously, enough already!"

Complaints aside, Xia Mu could only give up for the time being.

Chakra Nature changes would be best practiced outside the laboratory—outside the Gravity Training Room.

As for now, there seemed to be nothing else to research. It felt like he was going to waste time again.

"Research requires a foundation. Aside from Chakra and the Three Basic Jutsu, I have nothing. Even though I've learned quite a bit from textbooks and the library, it still isn't enough to support my research. I need more things, such as ninjutsu. If I had learned a Water Style Ninjutsu earlier, I wouldn't be completely clueless right now. Looks like I'll have to ask Shino again. But what can I trade this time?"

Xia Mu agonized over it for a long while before finally sighing. For the moment, he could not think of a good solution.

However, he could not waste his time in the Special Laboratory, so he turned to researching something else.

He created a shuriken with his thoughts and began considering the possibilities of ninja tools.

"What if—what if this shuriken wasn't just a shuriken? What if it were made from fragile material, filled with sleeping drugs or poison, and painted black on the outside to disguise it as a normal shuriken? Once it was thrown, it would explode when the enemy blocked it, poisoning them right in the face. And even if they dodged, I could form hand seals to detonate it. Wouldn't that make it impossible to guard against?"

"And what if this were a hollow shuriken with steel wire installed inside? The moment it landed, it could trigger a mechanism and release the wire, snagging the enemy's clothes or skin. Wouldn't that restrict their movements?"

"Mm-hm, these ideas seem pretty good. They'd be fine for bullying little kids in the early stages. But I don't have money to commission them right now, and this kind of shuriken would require better throwing techniques. Just thinking about it isn't enough. Being able to do it in this laboratory isn't enough either. I'd need someone to help me make it in reality."

Aiming for a Target

Xia Mu thought for a moment, then ruled out Shino, Shikamaru, Choji, and the others. They were not skilled in this area either.

Sasuke's throwing skills were impressive, but dragging him into this would probably mean he could not be bothered with Xia Mu. Besides, the conflict between the Uchiha and the village was becoming increasingly... complicated. Better not involve Sasuke.

"Tenten... Hmm, maybe I should find Tenten."

Xia Mu recalled the girl with the Chinese-inspired style and became lost in thought for a moment.

It could be said that Tenten was a rather regrettable character among the Konoha Twelve. Her Chinese-inspired style was adorable, but she had few highlights in combat. Aside from throwing ninja tools, she threw more ninja tools, perhaps attaching some Explosive Tags at most. Her brightest moment had been picking up the Bashosen, one of the Six Paths Tools, and using a single swing to blow up Kakuzu's heart.

As for the Amber Purifying Pot and Benihotaru that she picked up later, she never got to use them.

However, Xia Mu thought of Tenten mainly because her family might own a Ninja Tool Shop, and they should be quite wealthy. Tenten would be the best person to approach if he wanted to commission special shuriken like these. Perhaps he could even sell the design to her and solve his money problem at the same time.

Besides, after graduation, Tenten would become Might Guy's student!

Thinking of that strange kappa-like jonin, thinking of the man who had nearly kicked the story straight into its ending with one kick, Xia Mu could not help feeling his blood boil.

It was not as though he had never considered asking Might Guy to teach him the Eight Gates.

In fact, when Xia Mu had first begun considering how to grow stronger, he had already set his sights on several targets: the Eight Gates, Hatake Style Swordsmanship, and Flying Thunder God.

Hatake Style Swordsmanship and Flying Thunder God would be difficult to obtain for now, but he could start working toward the Eight Gates by winning over Might Guy. Comparatively speaking, that would be easier. And with the help of his Gravity Training Room, he could definitely learn the Eight Gates quickly. Especially in the Special Laboratory State, even opening the eighth Gate of Death would not kill him.

However, Might Guy was merely straightforward, not stupid.

You could not earn his favor simply by copying his daily workouts and shouting about youth and passion.

Just look at Rock Lee. His situation was similar to Might Guy's, and he had trained desperately for a long time. Might Guy had observed him for a long time as well before finally acknowledging him.

So Xia Mu could not just assume that Might Guy would be easy to fool.

Besides, Xia Mu refused to wear a green bodysuit and turn himself into a kappa.

Since that was the case, he could approach things from another angle—Might Guy's students. Rock Lee probably would not casually teach the Eight Gates to someone else, and Neji was difficult to get along with. That made Tenten the best person to focus on.

So perhaps he could use the excuse of making special shuriken to approach Tenten, try to build a good relationship with her, use that connection to get to know Might Guy, and then naturally get to know Kakashi as well.

Once he had a good relationship with those two jonin, they presumably would not refuse to teach him the Eight Gates and Hatake Style Swordsmanship.

As for Flying Thunder God, he could worry about that after Hiruzen Sarutobi died.

"Still, the plan sounds good, but reality won't be that simple. Besides, this isn't the time to think about that."

Xia Mu patted his head, tossing those messy thoughts aside for now. Then he drafted two new research projects: first, to continue exploring Chakra Shape Transformation in greater depth; second, to research the Body Flicker Technique.

Chakra Shape Transformation came in many varieties. The Rasengan and Chakra Threads were merely two of them.

It would be useful to develop more forms now for future applications. For example, a spinning top form would likely work well with Earth Release Chakra in the future. Or a spinning disc form—he could imitate Krillin's Destructo Disc from Dragon Ball, incorporate Water Release Chakra, and create a Water Disc.

In short, he would treat it as playing with dough. He would create several more forms and prepare for future Chakra Nature fusion.

As for the Body Flicker Technique, it was simply using Chakra to increase one's speed until it almost reached the level of teleportation, similar to Soru from the Navy's Six Powers or Shunpo from Shinigami.

Although no one was guiding him, it was much simpler than Chakra Nature changes. He should be able to achieve something.

After spending the entire night awake, Xia Mu arrived at school with dark circles under his eyes and immediately collapsed onto his desk to sleep.

When Shino arrived and saw his friend like that, he instinctively recalled last month. It seemed Xia Mu had also been like this on the second day of last month. His friend apparently liked staying up late to train on the first night of every month.

Was it some kind of habit?

He gently nudged Xia Mu. "Xia Mu, did you stay up training again last night? Didn't Iruka-sensei warn you not to stay up late?"

Without even lifting his head, Xia Mu waved a hand. "I'll tell you later. Let me catch up on sleep first. Wake me when the teacher arrives."

Fortunately, their first class turned out to be self-study.

The reason was that Naruto did not want to copy the Will of Fire. To protest, he had gone early in the morning to paint graffiti on Hokage Rock, enraging Iruka-sensei.

Iruka-sensei was currently taking Naruto to the Hokage's office to apologize.

By the time Iruka returned with Naruto, Xia Mu had gotten a nice nap. It was not enough, but at least he was no longer so sleepy.

"Xia Mu, did you stay up training last night?" Shino asked again.

"Yeah. I came up with a few good ideas and couldn't resist trying them out. I got excited and forgot to sleep. Sigh, training and getting stronger are just that addictive. There's nothing I can do about it." Xia Mu sighed emotionally, though he had no idea whether Shino believed him.

However, Xia Mu did not continue the topic. Seeing Iruka repeat his lecture on Chakra extraction and hand seals, he simply stopped listening, took out his notebook, and began copying the Will of Fire.

The thin book on the Will of Fire could clearly have ended with a single sentence—"Wherever the leaves of Konoha dance, fire shall burn on"—yet Hiruzen Sarutobi had somehow turned it into an entire book. The same principles were repeated over and over, like brainwashing. Through long-term recitation and copying, even if students were not brainwashed, they would inevitably be influenced to some extent.

In any case, Xia Mu found copying it painful, yet he did not dare be careless. Sloppy handwriting meant copying it all over again.

Seeing that, Shino began copying as well.

In fact, Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba Inuzuka, and the others were all copying too. Only Naruto was slacking off. It was already bad enough that he was not properly completing his punishment, but he was not even listening in class. It was truly speechless.

Had he forgotten who had caused this punishment in the first place?

Wasn't it because of that blond brat?

Fortunately, although copying it ten times was a lot, everyone had fast hands thanks to their long-term hand seal practice. By the end of one class, they had copied it four times. They should be able to turn in the assignment today.

Next came Outdoor Class.

Iruka led the entire class through warm-up jogging first, followed by throwing practice. Then he began arranging sparring matches between students.

They mainly fought using taijutsu. Most students had only learned some basic punches and kicks in class so far, and few could use ninjutsu yet. Ninja tools were dangerous, so limiting things to taijutsu was safer.

However, the Three Basic Jutsu were still allowed. After all, combining the Three Basic Jutsu with taijutsu was as basic as it got.

Battling Uchiha Sasuke

"First match: Sasuke Uchiha versus Xia Mu!" Iruka read from the record sheet.

Oh? I'm fighting Uchiha Sasuke?

Xia Mu instinctively looked at the cute and handsome Sasuke, only to find Sasuke looking back at him. The kid wore an arrogant expression, clearly convinced that victory was already his.

The rain had stopped, the sky had cleared, and Uchiha Sasuke thought he was unstoppable again!

Good. Since Uchiha Sasuke was getting cocky, this fight would be easy!

Naruto immediately shouted, "Iruka-sensei, me, me! I want to challenge Sasuke, dattebayo!"

Veins bulged on Iruka's forehead. "Naruto, we're not done dealing with the trouble you caused this morning!"

Naruto immediately shrank his neck and did not dare keep shouting. Still, he truly could not stand seeing Sasuke surrounded and admired by girls. He desperately wanted to punch Sasuke's cute, handsome face.

He did not have the chance this time, but Xia Mu did!

So he raised a fist at Xia Mu. "Xia Mu, beat up that annoying Sasuke, dattebayo!"

However, Naruto had forgotten about Sasuke's cheering squad:

"Ah! Sasuke-kun is so handsome!"

"Sasuke-kun, do your best!"

"Naruto, shut up! Sasuke-kun is the strongest! No one can beat Sasuke-kun!"