Konoha: I Have a Gravity Training Room

"Exactly! That Xia Mu guy will definitely get one-shotted by Sasuke-kun!"

Xia Mu's mouth twitched. He hadn't even said anything. Why was the hatred Naruto had stirred up being dumped on him? Were these love-struck girls going too far?

At Iruka's signal, Xia Mu and Sasuke walked to the center and formed the Seal of Opposition.

"Begin!"

The moment Iruka finished speaking, Sasuke charged forward. He probably wanted to end this effortless battle quickly, but he had clearly underestimated Xia Mu.

Xia Mu needed to hide his true abilities, but he wasn't going to make himself look utterly useless, nor did he want to take a beating for nothing.

He used the basic punches and kicks taught at the academy and exchanged several moves with Sasuke, keeping his strength roughly on Sasuke's level. For a while, the two were evenly matched, trading blows back and forth.

Naruto's eyes lit up, and he immediately shouted his support. "Go, Xia Mu! Hit him! Hit him!"

But the girls' cheers were clearly more passionate. Their shrieks immediately drowned Naruto out completely.

Sasuke was getting incredibly annoyed, though he was also somewhat surprised by Xia Mu's strength. There hadn't been many arranged sparring matches in the month since school began, but very few people could trade more than a dozen moves with him.

The students in the class were simply weak at taijutsu, so it was only natural that he defeated them with ease.

This was his first time fighting this guy named Xia Mu. He hadn't expected him to have some skill, but basic punches and kicks were nothing. Before Uchiha taijutsu, they would absolutely lose.

So Sasuke decisively used the Uchiha-Style Taijutsu he had learned from his beloved big brother, immediately gaining the upper hand.

As Xia Mu dodged and blocked, he observed the Uchiha style of taijutsu. It truly was far more sophisticated than the ordinary punches and kicks taught at school. Not only was it as graceful as a dance, but its methods of exerting force were also rather unique.

If he added a line like Madara Uchiha's—Do you want to dance too?

That would really have the right feel!

Seeing that he couldn't win, Xia Mu still didn't intend to increase his strength. Instead, he suddenly retreated several steps and rapidly formed hand seals.

"Clone Technique!" Poof!

Everyone froze. They could all see that Xia Mu's hand seals were correct. It was indeed the Clone Technique, and Xia Mu had shouted the Clone Technique as well, yet not a single clone appeared.

"It failed?" Even Iruka was puzzled.

In Iruka's memory, Xia Mu wasn't particularly outstanding in ninjutsu, but he knew the Clone Technique.

Judging from those hand seals just now, there hadn't been the slightest mistake. It shouldn't have failed.

Naruto grew anxious too. "Xia Mu! What are you doing?! It's just the Clone Technique! How did you mess that up?!"

His friends were also surprised. Even Shino, who knew Xia Mu had been hiding his abilities, was confused. Even if he wanted to hide them, surely he wouldn't pretend he couldn't even use the Clone Technique.

"Heh, looks like you're so nervous that you can't even use the Clone Technique. Why not just admit defeat?" Uchiha Sasuke became even more smug.

Yet Xia Mu paid him no heed and charged straight forward, throwing a punch at Sasuke's handsome little face. Sasuke raised an arm to block, but his expression changed the next second, because the incoming fist passed right through his guard.

An illusion? When did that happen?

Immediately afterward, a fist struck him squarely in the stomach, sending him flying.

After rolling across the ground twice, he hurriedly steadied himself. Enduring the pain in his abdomen, he looked uncertainly at Xia Mu—only to see that Xia Mu now had four arms.

Four arms? What was going on?

Had that fist just now been an illusory attack?

The other students were dumbfounded as well. The girls' cheers came to an abrupt halt, each of them unable to believe what they had seen.

Sasuke, who was so powerful, had actually been sent flying!

Naruto finally came to his senses and shouted happily, "I don't know what happened, but nice one, Xia Mu, dattebayo! Hahaha! You stuck-up Sasuke, so there's a day when you get sent flying too, dattebayo!"

The girls glared at him furiously, but didn't know what to say. Quite a few of them looked at Iruka in confusion, seeking an explanation.

Iruka was a Chunin after all, and he immediately understood. "It was the Clone Technique! The Clone Technique didn't fail just now—it succeeded. The clones merely merged with the original body, so none of you could see them!"

The Clone Technique? So that was it?

They still didn't really get it!

"Xia Mu is very clever. Normally, the Clone Technique creates afterimages that interfere with an opponent from different directions, but they have no offensive power. Once an opponent sees through them, they can simply ignore them. But Xia Mu merged the clone afterimages with his body. The body and clones affect each other visually, making it difficult for the opponent to distinguish them. Once he attacks, if he can't tell whether an attack comes from the original body or a clone, he'll be at a great disadvantage!"

After Iruka's explanation, the students immediately understood.

They were all astonished. They had probably never imagined that the Clone Technique could be used this way, even causing Sasuke to suffer a loss.

Shino nodded faintly. He knew Xia Mu wouldn't hide his abilities that excessively. He had to show at least some of his strength, and this special application of the Clone Technique was truly eye-opening.

However, to those shadowy rats, it probably wouldn't amount to much, so there was no need to worry about attracting their attention.

Sasuke recovered as well. The pain in his abdomen had eased considerably, and he said seriously for once, "Xia Mu, right? I admit I underestimated you. That move of yours is indeed pretty good. But if you think that's enough to defeat me, it won't be so easy."

"Then I'll wait for you to break this move, Sasuke."

As Xia Mu spoke, he charged again. Clone fists and original-body fists attacked one after another, forcing Sasuke to retreat continuously.

Sasuke talked tough, but for the moment, it really was difficult for him to distinguish the attacks of the clones from those of the original body. Sometimes, he would defend against a clone attack and immediately expose an opening. Other times, he would fail to defend, only for it to be an attack from the original body. In short, he took quite a few punches.

But Sasuke was clever too.

He suddenly retreated several steps and swiftly formed a series of hand seals.

"Clone Technique!" Poof!

No clones appeared. Instead, Sasuke sprouted two additional pairs of arms. In such a short time, he had actually copied the move, and he had even hidden two clones within his original body.

Battle Results

Not only had he learned it on the spot, he had surpassed the original.

All one could say was that he truly was Uchiha Sasuke, truly an Uchiha. His comprehension was genuinely impressive.

Don't assume that because the Clone Technique was simple, merging clones with the original body was simple as well. In reality, controlling clone afterimages was not easy. Not only did one have to keep the clones from dispersing, but one also had to ensure they overlapped with the original body as closely as possible. Otherwise, they wouldn't confuse the opponent.

Merging even one clone with the body was somewhat difficult, yet Sasuke had merged two, making it far more difficult.

His comprehension truly was outstanding.

Before the Chunin Exams, Sasuke had nearly been brutalized by Rock Lee's Morning Peacock. Yet after seeing it only once, Sasuke had learned the technique that Rock Lee had worked so hard to master.

It was no wonder everyone praised Sasuke as a genius. He truly deserved the title.

Compared to Itachi Uchiha, though, Sasuke was merely a conventional genius. Itachi Uchiha was just absurdly overpowered.

"Ah! Sasuke-kun is amazing! He learned that move instantly!"

"Sasuke-kun really is a genius!"

"Hahaha! Sasuke-kun has merged two clones now, while Xia Mu only merged one! Sasuke-kun is guaranteed to win!"

Calm down, you idiots. The number of clones had nothing to do with winning or losing!

Could you love-struck girls stop screaming already?!

Naruto immediately yelled, "Sasuke, you're shameless! You actually copied Xia Mu's ultimate move, and you even dared to use it openly, dattebayo! Aren't you embarrassed?!"

Sasuke's face reddened, and he roared, "Shut up, Dead Last!"

"What?! You're the Dead Last..."

Naruto was about to keep yelling when Iruka grabbed him and tossed him aside. Faced with Iruka's threat, Naruto finally behaved himself.

Xia Mu remained calm and smiled. "As expected of an Uchiha. I worked so hard to come up with that move, and you learned it instantly. I can only control one clone, yet you directly controlled two. That's really impressive."

Sasuke immediately looked pleased. "Then it's time to end this battle!"

With that, he lunged forward.

Xia Mu was unafraid and met him head-on. The two began fighting again.

Only this time, it was even more intense. Everyone saw countless arms swinging between them, unable to tell which were clone afterimages and which fists belonged to the original bodies.

The two exchanged several dozen more moves. Sasuke took plenty of hits, and Xia Mu took several punches as well.

Seeing that it was about time, Xia Mu suddenly leaped backward at high speed. The clone on his body vanished with a poof, and he put on an exhausted, panting expression.

"I-I surrender. I'm out of Chakra."

Xia Mu surrendered decisively, causing the charging Sasuke to stumble and nearly fall flat on his face.

Iruka quickly announced, "The spar is over! Uchiha Sasuke wins!"

Yet Sasuke wasn't happy in the slightest. Not only had he failed to knock Xia Mu down, he had even taken far more punches than Xia Mu. By all accounts, he was the one who had suffered the greater loss.

But his opponent had surrendered, and Iruka had declared the match over. What could Sasuke do?

"How could you surrender?! I haven't knocked you down yet!" Sasuke viciously formed the Seal of Reconciliation.

"I couldn't help it! I'm out of Chakra." Xia Mu formed the Seal of Reconciliation too, though he wore a beaming smile.

Having beaten up Uchiha Sasuke, he had to admit he was in a very good mood. Sasuke was so arrogant and smug that if Xia Mu didn't teach him a lesson, his tail would be sticking up in the sky.

The girls all cheered for Sasuke's victory, completely failing to notice his dark expression.

Iruka picked up the record sheet again. "Second match: Naruto Uzumaki versus Shino Aburame!"

As Xia Mu stepped off the field, he heard that and gave Shino a thumbs-up. "Good luck!"

Shino nodded and slowly walked to the center.

Naruto, meanwhile, charged forward energetically and shouted, "Heh heh! Even though I didn't get to fight that stuck-up Sasuke, Shino, you'd better prepare yourself! I, Naruto Uzumaki, am the man who will become Hokage! Let me show you how awesome Lord Naruto is, dattebayo!"

Then he charged forward.

The next second, K.O.!

"Mm, I've seen how awesome you are."

Shino left behind those words, turned around coolly, and walked off the field, leaving Naruto sprawled on the ground as his classmates laughed at him.

It wasn't that the students were being rude, nor were they deliberately targeting Naruto this time. Naruto had bragged so much, only to be defeated that easily. He deserved the ridicule.

"Nicely done!" Xia Mu gave him a thumbs-up.

"You too."

Shino's sunglasses faced Xia Mu directly. "Your development of the Clone Technique is quite good. It won't be easy for ordinary people to beat you. If I didn't rely on my insects, I probably couldn't beat you either. Xia Mu, did you stay up late last night to research this?"

Xia Mu smiled and shook his head, lowering his voice. "It's only the Clone Technique. Why would I need to stay up late researching it? What I researched was something even more powerful, but I can't tell you about it for now."

Shino didn't mind. He only needed to know that Xia Mu was powerful.

There was nothing much to watch in the following matches. They were basically weaklings pecking at each other. The girls even pinched faces and pulled hair, making everyone roll their eyes.

Oh, Hinata was somewhat impressive. The Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist was genuinely formidable. Even though Hinata hadn't learned it very well, it was more than enough against the little girls at this stage.

I wonder what Naruto-kun thinks of my performance?

Hinata murmured inwardly and instinctively searched for her beloved's figure, only to see him fawning over a pink-haired girl. Her heart instantly shattered into pieces.

Xia Mu watched the scene with regret that he didn't have any melon seeds on hand.

In the days that followed, Xia Mu finally breathed a sigh of relief after completing his punishment of copying out the Will of Fire. Only then did he have time to reconsider the idea he'd had in the Special Laboratory.

First, he had to create design drafts for special Shuriken. It would be best to design several more special ninja tools as well, then approach Tenten.

Of course, he could also look for Might Guy in his spare time. Perhaps he could become friends with him directly. That route was highly uncertain, though, so Tenten's route had a better chance of success.

But he needed to pursue both routes. He absolutely couldn't let the Eight Gates slip away.

Whether he could attain Super Kage-level strength, or even Six Paths-level strength, might depend entirely on the Eight Gates.

After all, the Gravity Training Room mainly enhanced physical strength, raising the upper limit of the Eight Gates. If his body became strong enough, perhaps opening only the Sixth Gate would be enough to kick Six Paths Madara to death.

In comparison, Hatake Kenjutsu and Flying Thunder God had their limits. They might truly be inferior to the Eight Gates.

"Why think so much? Just do it first!"

Taking advantage of his free time, Xia Mu wrote down the two types of special Shuriken he had devised, while also considering other types of ninja tools, such as Short Gunblades and Long Gunblades.

The Shinobi World seemed to already have firearms, but they were matchlock guns and flintlock guns. They were cumbersome to use, had laughable rates of fire, laughable range, and laughable accuracy. In short, they were only suitable for ordinary people, and shinobi looked down on them completely. By the time of Boruto, someone seemed to have used a Gatling gun and nearly shot Boruto to death. That had been deeply satisfying.

Tenten

Ahem. In any case, gunblades might have great potential.

He would design them first and worry about the rest later.

Matchlock and flintlock guns were inconvenient, so he would design a gunblade that used Chakra to activate ammunition. Better yet, he could use Space-Time Ninjutsu inside the magazine. Every shot could summon fresh ammunition in turn, and he could even summon special ammunition loaded with Explosive Tags. Wouldn't that be amazing?