"He? He seems to sleep through class all the time," Naruto said when he noticed the boy as well. He sat down next to him and began paying closer attention.
"Yeah. You can try talking to him," Xia Li nodded. Shikamaru was easy to understand—because of that, he could see many things more clearly than others.
That was why Shikamaru didn't hold any particular prejudice against Naruto. It was just that Naruto himself was lazy and didn't like trouble, so he needed to take the initiative.
Xia Li vaguely remembered that Shikamaru, because of his habit of sleeping, was often sent to detention groups, and that he and Naruto had always gotten along quite well—though Naruto himself had never really noticed it.
As long as Naruto could connect with Shikamaru, Choji would naturally follow. Choji was even easier to deal with. Kiba was a bit troublesome, Shino was too dull, but as long as Naruto was willing to interact with Kiba, things would work out fine.
In short, as long as Uzumaki Naruto picked the right target, making friends wasn't actually that difficult.
As for Xia Li himself—why couldn't he make friends on his own?
After giving Naruto some guidance, Xia Li turned back to his own matters. He temporarily stopped participating in school extracurricular activities, but even during breaks there was plenty he could do. Time was precious and couldn't be wasted.
Chapter 16: The Cultivation Plan
The first focus was fine chakra control, but Xia Li didn't yet know how to continue improving it.
Tree-climbing and water-walking were things he could already complete with ease.
To be precise, from the very beginning, Xia Li's chakra control had surpassed the requirements of those two exercises. What he needed wasn't better control—it was to push what he already had to its absolute limit.
This was a matter of quantity accumulation. He could improve it gradually in the future, but for now, he had no clear method to go further, so he temporarily set it aside.
Next was chakra form transformation.
At present, Xia Li was still in the stage of sensing and connecting to condensed chakra. Even without the guidance of seals, directly condensing chakra outside the body and controlling it wasn't particularly difficult.
Fortunately, Xia Li's chakra reserves were still small, and he wasn't drawing out large amounts, so the difficulty of control was reduced. At the moment, he had already established some connection and could exert limited control.
However, shaping it precisely was still a long way off.
Although both were chakra, one type was internal chakra.
For Xia Li, internal chakra was like a well-behaved baby—something he could freely manipulate, shaping it into countless variations. His inability to go further wasn't due to lack of talent, but rather the absence of a teacher and a clear path forward.
External chakra, on the other hand, was like a wild child that had run away from home, constantly resisting control.
Xia Li had only just managed to regain some authority over it, and it was impossible to command it as obediently as internal chakra. That simply wasn't realistic—at least not yet.
What Xia Li truly needed to focus on now was something else entirely:
The prerequisite for immortality.
Of course, he didn't know how to absorb natural energy. But based on Naruto's experiences in the original story, he understood the requirements.
The first condition was physical and mental stillness, a state that allowed one to sense natural energy.
Naturally, even if Xia Li could sense natural energy, he would never dare absorb it. Without the supervision of the Great Toad Sage, turning himself into stone would be the end of him.
But all of that was meaningless anyway—because Xia Li couldn't even calm himself down.
Keeping his body still was already difficult enough. Even when motionless, it felt like countless ants were crawling all over him. He could endure it, but only barely.
Mental calmness was an even greater challenge.
As a modern person, how was Xia Li supposed to achieve true inner peace?
That kind of calm seemed to belong only to people with exceptionally pure minds.
Xia Li simply couldn't stop thinking. Even when he tried to relax, stray thoughts inevitably surfaced.
There was only one situation where he could truly reach calmness—deep, dreamless sleep.
But Sage Mode required awareness, not sleep.
Because of this, Xia Li found it extremely difficult to even meet the basic conditions for learning senjutsu. And yet, Sage Mode was something he had to master.
The enemies waiting for him in the future were absurdly resistant to ordinary ninjutsu. Without Sage Mode, the only way to deal meaningful damage would be taijutsu.
But in terms of physical ability, no matter how hard he trained, Xia Li would never surpass Might Guy.
Physical strength required long-term accumulation—and Xia Li didn't have that kind of time.
Even Guy could only unleash one kick before his leg shattered. Xia Li's body was weaker than Guy's—what was he supposed to do? Freeze to death?
Therefore, if he wanted to make a difference, Sage Mode was non-negotiable.
After long and painful experimentation, Xia Li eventually realized something unfortunate:
There was no perfect solution.
In normal circumstances, clearing one's thoughts was impossible. But when someone entered a certain state—something like a "sage" or "enlightened" state—their distracting thoughts naturally diminished.
Unfortunately, Xia Li couldn't achieve that.
He was still too young. Even if he somehow had the ability, doing so at this age would still fall under "forcing growth," which would negatively affect physical development.
That was unacceptable.
Still, this realization gave him some inspiration.
After intense physical exercise, exhaustion could suppress excessive mental activity.
So Xia Li tried it.
The method worked—but with side effects.
His body was exhausted, yet his mind remained highly active.
Even so, it was better than before, so he persisted.
Years passed.
And yet, something still felt off. His mind never truly fell silent.
After extracurricular activities ended, Xia Li dragged his exhausted body and tried again.
Just like always, he felt close—but never close enough.
To outsiders, Xia Li looked half asleep, sitting there drowsily.
In reality, even though he hadn't reached complete stillness, his perception had already undergone a qualitative leap. If anyone tried to touch him, he would sense it in advance. A single silent stare was enough to make them feel chills down their spine—and they wouldn't dare try again.
As a result, others viewed Xia Li as lazy.
Lazy like Shikamaru.
Or even lazier.
After all, Shikamaru needed to lie down to sleep. Xia Li could fall asleep sitting upright—no desk, no support required.
Xia Li didn't care about these impressions.
Even if he couldn't reach full calmness, meditation still greatly benefited chakra form training.
After exhausting the last of his chakra on form transformation practice, the day's lessons came to an end.
Xia Li went home, ate, rested briefly, recovered some chakra, and then sparred with Xiao Li. The recovered chakra was still enough for basic techniques.
His schedule was meticulous.
With effort and planning like this, rapid progress was inevitable.
But others didn't know that.
So when Xia Li behaved this way, everyone assumed he was lazy.
After several days, Iruka finally couldn't take it anymore and walked over to him.
"Xia Li, you can't keep being this lazy," Iruka said with disappointment. "You have talent. Don't waste it."
Xia Li was confused.
Lazy?
Why didn't he know he was lazy?
At this age, he believed he was not only the hardest-working student—but easily among the top 0.1% of his peers.
Chapter 17: A Shocked Iruka and a Library Card Ding! Iruka Receives a Massive Shock
"Iruka-sensei, why do you think I'm slacking off?" Xia Li asked, genuinely puzzled.
"During extracurricular training, you only complete the minimum requirement, then rest the entire time," Iruka said. "That's unacceptable."
"Oh, that's what you mean," Xia Li thought for a moment. "Actually, I rest for a very good reason."
"So you're admitting you're lazy?" Iruka complained.
"You'll understand soon," Xia Li replied.
Then—poof.
He vanished into a puff of white smoke.
Iruka's eyes widened.
A clone?!
And not just any clone—this one had clear independent intent.
Only Shadow Clones could do that.
But Shadow Clone Technique was a second-tier ninjutsu!
How had Xia Li learned it? Family inheritance? Even then—how?
Iruka froze.
If Xia Li said to wait, then his real body should be arriving soon.
And sure enough, moments later, a boy drenched in sweat appeared before him.
"Iruka-sensei, this is the answer," Xia Li said calmly.
"So… you send a shadow clone to class, train with your real body, and rest during school training?" Iruka asked, stunned.
"Yes. The school's training volume and intensity are too low. I have my own targets. Training openly at my level would take too long and draw attention—I don't want to be treated like a spectacle."
"I see… I misunderstood you," Iruka said blankly.
So young, yet already this disciplined.
And so talented.
How far could this child go?
Then Iruka suddenly remembered something.
"Wait—Shadow Clone Technique has side effects! That's why no one uses it for training or studying!"
"You mean fatigue transfer," Xia Li nodded. "I knew that from the beginning. Shadow clones inherit the user's state, and you've seen me every morning. My plan avoids overload."
Iruka thought about it.
Indeed—Xia Li was always energetic.
So the rumors weren't wrong.
It was just that this child could handle it.
Talent plus effort…
Iruka clicked his tongue.
If Xia Li knew what Iruka was thinking, he'd probably complain that in the Naruto world, this combo only mattered early on—the real limit was bloodline.
Could an ordinary person even become a Ten-Tails jinchūriki safely?
Even Xia Li didn't know.
"By the way, Iruka-sensei," Xia Li added, "do you have higher-grade textbooks or elective books on the way of the ninja?"
"Yes, but why?" Iruka asked.
"I've basically finished first-year content through self-study."
"…So you weren't even listening in class?!"
"Not exactly. If a teacher has insight, I listen. But most just read the book. Your classes are excellent, though."
"Should I be happy?" Iruka wasn't happy at all.
After some thought, he said, "Alright. I'll test you. If you pass, I'll get you a library card."
"Really?" Xia Li's eyes widened. The ninja library was no joke.
"No preparation?" Iruka asked smugly.
"No need."
Some time later…
Iruka stared at the nearly perfect test paper.
"…Alright. Come tomorrow to get your card."
"Thank you, Iruka-sensei. May I go home to wash up first?"
"Oh—and remember, train in moderation."
"I understand. That means I'm the fastest-improving student, right?" Xia Li nodded seriously.
Iruka froze.
…He wasn't wrong.
"Go, go, go. Come back quickly," Iruka collapsed into his chair.
He honestly didn't know whether having such a student was a blessing or a curse.
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