Chapter 6: Interception and Speculation
Just like the school bullying in Japan from his previous life, the Naruto world—a product of Japanese anime—also suffers from severe bullying.
In his past life, even the emperor's grandson experienced bullying, and the Naruto world is no different.
Those who are unconventional, socially withdrawn, exceptionally handsome, or academically outstanding—as long as they don't fit in—are easily targeted by both classmates and upperclassmen.
Moreover, the troublemakers in the Leaf Village couldn't care less about your background.
Whether you're a commoner or from a ninja clan, they'll bully you all the same.
Whether it's Kushina, who was destined to become the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki, under the protection of Uzumaki Mito and Tsunade, and closely monitored by the Third Hokage and the Anbu; or Hinata, the eldest daughter of the Hyūga main family, which would later become the top ninja clan in the Leaf and the shinobi world after the Uchiha clan's demise—both faced bullying in school.
Yet their families, backers, and even the school itself never intervened.
Similarly, when others were bullied, neither their families nor the school stepped in.
They even tacitly permitted and encouraged the bullying!
In this era of war, where even child ninjas could be sent to the battlefield if manpower was short, it was better to be driven out of school by bullying and live as an ordinary person than to die at the hands of the enemy.
If you lack the courage to resist, how can you ever face bloodshed and assassination?
What use is a waste as a ninja?
Yoru understood this within a week of enrolling. He deliberately crafted an aloof persona, provoked conflicts with upperclassmen, and used his mature mindset and early mastery of ninja basics to defeat a sixth-year student, instantly making a name for himself.
In the eyes of the school's teachers and certain individuals, Yoru was now a civilian genius.
With both parents being Jōnin and descendants of martyrs, his future seemed bright.
His only flaw was his inability to fit in.
This might have stemmed from the trauma of losing both parents in childhood.
If this could be resolved, he was highly likely to become a pillar of the village in the future.
But to unravel Yoru's inner turmoil, a catalyst was needed.
Would that catalyst be a person or an event?
...
Entering the classroom, Yoru took his seat at the second desk in the last row.
The desks at the Ninja Academy were designed for three students each.
However, Yoru sat alone.
It wasn't that he had driven his desk mates away; rather, after the entrance exam, the school had an observation period.
During this period, if a student still couldn't refine Chakra, it meant that although their physical and mental energy met the standards, they lacked the qualities of a ninja and would be advised to withdraw.
Every first-year class had cases like this.
Class One had three such dropouts, including Yoru's two desk mates.
As soon as Yoru entered, the previously noisy classroom grew noticeably quieter.
At the very least, the students around him didn't dare speak loudly, only whispering among themselves.
The students in the row in front of him kept their heads down, not even daring to talk.
Only the female students who admired his looks and strength still stole glances at Yoru, but they too kept their distance.
This was actually a good thing—at least no one bothered him.
Yoru rested his chin on one hand while spinning a pen with the other. Outwardly, he seemed to be killing time, but inwardly, he had already fallen into his habitual state of deep thought.
After awakening his Space-Time Ability, Yoru no longer updated his game guides and rarely entered the basement.
With this power comparable to Kekkei Tōta, Yoru no longer needed to follow the original game guides to turn himself into a patchwork monster.
Thus, most guides aimed at gaining power were discarded by Yoru.
However, some guides were still retained by him.
Among them was the very beginning of the game guide—intercepting Kushina!
In the original story, Minato's rise was not only due to his talent but also relied on two key figures.
One was Jiraiya, who provided him with connections and the Flying Raijin Jutsu; the other was Kushina, who brought him Tsunade's support and the Uzumaki clan's sealing techniques.
With the help of these two, Minato effectively gained the recognition of two Sannin and the Hokage. Once Kushina could activate the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, he even had the strongest in the Leaf Village as his backing, making him impervious to even Danzō's schemes.
Just like how some people in his previous life skyrocketed to success after marrying the right partner.
As long as he could intercept Kushina, Yoru, as a transmigrator, was fully confident he could soar to great heights.
If his talent wasn't good enough, if his background was lacking, or if he wasn't in the same class and age as Minato, Yoru wouldn't have dared to entertain such thoughts.
But upon discovering he was in the same class as Minato, Yoru knew this was a chance to defy fate.
To this end, he abandoned the idea of befriending his peers and forming close bonds with children from ninja clans, instead crafting an image of an unsociable genius.
Only bonds could resolve his inner conflicts.
Kushina, whose clan had just been destroyed, was his kindred spirit—they were each other's remedy.
With such groundwork laid, Yoru believed that Hiruzen Sarutobi and the influential Uzumaki Mito would never stop him from approaching Kushina, unless Minato was Sarutobi's own father and Kushina was sent specifically to honor him.
In that case, Yoru would accept it.
Otherwise, Kushina was someone he was determined to intercept!
Yoru's current weaknesses were very clear: Chakra control and the volume of his Space-Time Chakra.
As a transmigrator, he had long mastered tree-climbing and water-walking with his feet; his Chakra control was actually quite strong, surpassing even that of a freshly graduated genin.
However, this level of Chakra control was still insufficient to perform Ninjutsu using Space-Time Chakra.
The fact that Space-Time Chakra could manifest externally meant it could definitely be used to cast techniques—it was just extremely difficult.
How could he further improve his Chakra control?
Yoru had several methods.
One was to train in the Rasengan, the hand-seal-less A-rank Ninjutsu developed by Minato, which not only represented the pinnacle of shape transformation but also required advanced Chakra control.
This was the only Ninjutsu in the original work with a fully disclosed training method, and Yoru remembered it vividly. As soon as he could move his hands and feet, he wrote down the training steps immediately.
If not for his insufficient Chakra capacity and control, he would have started practicing long ago.
The second method was to train in medical Ninjutsu. If he could master the Chakra Scalpel, not only would Yoru's Chakra control improve, but his hands might even transform into black blades.
The third is sealing techniques, the pinnacle of chakra control and an ability with absurdly high lower and upper limits, much like space-time abilities.
Sealing techniques are utterly unreasonable—even the Progenitor of Chakra fell victim to them.
Yoru was deeply curious: could the Yin Seal resolve the issue of his space-time chakra capacity being locked?
If so, he would gain another life-saving trump card.
This was the immediate thought that occurred to Yoru after discovering the "bottleneck" within his body.
It was also why he became even more determined to intercept Kushina.