After careful consideration, Xia Li believed that only Haruno Sakura had any real chance of being replaced by him. When he considered everyone else's background and status, the probability was vanishingly small.
First, there were the tenth-grade trio: Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Choji, and Yamanaka Ino. As the traditional Ino–Shika–Cho formation of Konoha, they were practically inseparable.
Next was Team Eight—Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino, and Hyuga Hinata—each of whom possessed unique abilities. Hinata's Byakugan was irreplaceable within the Hyuga clan. As for Kiba and Shino, while their families weren't particularly wealthy or powerful in Konoha, could they really be replaced?
The answer was no.
Kiba's ninken and Shino's kikaichu insects both possessed irreplaceable tracking abilities. To replace either of them, Xia Li would have to demonstrate truly exceptional reconnaissance skills—and even then, he would likely be reassigned to another team. There were simply too many variables. During six years at the Academy, whether he would even have enough opportunities to showcase such talents was uncertain. Without that certainty, those possibilities had to be ruled out.
That left Team Seven.
Haruno Sakura was part of it.
Uzumaki Naruto, as the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki, was irreplaceable.Uchiha Sasuke, the last surviving Uchiha of Konoha, was equally irreplaceable.
After narrowing everything down, Xia Li's focus could only fall on Sakura.
She came from an ordinary civilian family. Although her theoretical aptitude was good, compared to Xia Li, it was insignificant. In this context, her only real advantage was—
She was a girl.
That wasn't a joke.
Although Konoha's team assignments weren't strictly regulated, most teams followed a two boys, one girl structure. To replace Sakura, Xia Li wouldn't only need to surpass her academically—he would need to be among the very best in the entire class. Only overwhelming ability could make that possible.
But that raised another issue.
If he truly became the strongest, he would be more likely assigned to an elite team. At that point, the question wouldn't be whether he could enter an elite class—but how the Third Hokage would distribute talents. Would a genius who excelled in every aspect really be placed in an ordinary team?
Fortunately, team composition wasn't rigid. Teams with three boys and one girl, or two girls and one boy, had existed before.
If Xia Li wanted to grow stronger, his target was naturally the elite ranks.
Even among elite ninja, the gap was enormous. Hatake Kakashi of Team Seven, despite being idle for years, still stood at the level of an elite jōnin. Sarutobi Asuma was considered an upper-mid jōnin, while Yuhi Kurenai of Team Eight was merely a standard jōnin who specialized in genjutsu.
If that was the quality of elite leadership, then there was no need to even consider lower-tier teams. Having an ordinary jōnin—or better yet, a tokubetsu jōnin—as a leader would already be fortunate.
Thus, no matter what, Xia Li had to force his way into the elite ranks.
Haruno Sakura could only be regretted.
Although he admired her, his highest priority had always been himself.
Moreover, Sakura's potential ceiling in the original story was painfully clear. Naruto and Sasuke—Konoha's new "Three Legendary Ninja"—were practically cheating compared to the previous generation. Sakura, however, could not keep pace with them indefinitely.
At best, she could only become another Tsunade.
And Tsunade was the princess of the Senju clan.
No matter how strong Sakura became physically, if she walked the same path as Tsunade, she could never surpass her. That was her limit.
If that was Sakura's ceiling—then what about Xia Li's?
He wanted to find out.
As an ordinary person, he had no intention of forcibly acquiring special bloodlines or kekkei genkai. But just how far could an ordinary human go? Could he surpass the greatest among ordinary men, like Jiraiya? Or someone who briefly opened the Eight Gates? Or would he end up even weaker than Sakura?
Either way, he had to try.
If one was reborn into this world and had nothing else interesting to pursue, then the only choice was to explore the limits of this world itself.
"Shenchuan Xia Li."
Iruka finally called his name.
Xia Li stood up and gave a brief introduction.
"My name is Shen Chuan Xia Li. I don't have a favorite food. The people I like are myself and my mother. I hate cilantro. I don't currently dislike anyone. In the future, I want to become the strongest ninja."
His introduction caused no reaction.
After all, "the strongest ninja" meant nothing tangible to children. Many aimed to become Hokage, and in their minds, the strongest ninja was probably Naruto anyway. Xia Li's words didn't stand out.
But when it was Naruto's turn—
Xia Li watched as Naruto loudly declared his goal, replacing "strongest ninja" with "Hokage," only to be met with laughter from the surrounding children.
Xia Li sighed.
It was still better than being beaten in the streets—but the influence of adults on children was already painfully evident.
After class, Xia Li had no intention of chatting or making friends. Sitting next to Naruto, he was naturally ignored as well. Xia Li didn't look special. His appearance was decent but not striking. Black hair, tall for his age—nothing remarkable.
Naruto glanced at him, wanting to speak, but hesitating.
Xia Li thought for a moment, then whispered,"In class, you don't need to be as careful as you are in the village. But we also don't need to be overly close. Just act like normal classmates."
Xia Li reasoned that Danzo was unlikely to involve himself with an Academy class. He hadn't heard of anyone named Shimura among his peers either. Being Naruto's deskmate was an ordinary occurrence—nothing more.
Naruto needed a seatmate regardless. As long as Xia Li didn't appear unusually close to him, it should be fine.
Moreover, to achieve his goals, Xia Li would need to demonstrate enough talent quickly to attract the Third Hokage's attention. If he succeeded, even if Danzo noticed him, his safety would be guaranteed for a time.
The only uncertainty was when that opportunity would come.
Naruto's eyes lit up. Nervously, he asked,"Then… can we be friends?"
Xia Li looked at him—at the expectation in his eyes—and recalled how Naruto had been treated before.
He smiled.
"Of course."
The smile quickly faded, replaced by his usual indifferent expression. He scanned the room.
To others, it was best if he looked like someone forced to sit next to Naruto—a reluctant, unlucky desk partner.
Chapter 4: Shadow Clone Technique
On the way home, Xia Li reflected on what he had learned that day.
The answer was: nothing.
The current curriculum mainly covered Konoha's history, slowly introducing chakra as a concept. Once students developed interest, they would be taught chakra extraction. The textbooks would be distributed later for self-study.
As for the Three Basic Techniques, they weren't taught in the first year during this peaceful era. The first year focused only on theory and physical conditioning—allowing students time to accumulate chakra naturally.
Xia Li looked up at the sky. It was still early. Studying here was surprisingly relaxed.
His mother should still be at work.
Still, remembering her request to come home early, he didn't linger. Carrying his books, he jogged home. A few kilometers—just enough for warm-up. Naruto's physical base really was impressive.
"I'm home," Xia Li called out as he unlocked the door.
He froze.
His mother, who should have been at work, stood smiling beside a table filled with dishes.
"Welcome home!"
"Mom… why are you—?" Xia Li asked in surprise.
"Of course I came home early! Today is Xia Li's first day of school!" Xina said with a grin.
Xia Li's expression softened. From infancy, he had seen how much she sacrificed for this family. Even with memories of a previous life, he had long accepted Xina as his mother.
"I'm sorry," Xina said quietly. "I can only take today off. From now on, you'll still have to go to school alone. Other kids are picked up by their families, but I…"
"It's fine," Xia Li said, stepping forward to hug her.
Xina sighed. "I can't believe I'm being comforted by my own child."
Then she smiled again. "To make it up to you, you can tell Mom what you want."
"I don't really want anything right now," Xia Li replied honestly.
Xina looked uneasy, clearly wanting to do something for him.
Xia Li noticed and decided to speak up.
"Oh right—your teacher talked about ninja history today, didn't he? Xia Li, do you want to become a ninja?" she asked.
"Yes. I want to become the strongest ninja."
Her eyes lit up. "Then you can tell me what ninjutsu you want. Mom still has some connections."
She quickly realized the problem. She herself knew few techniques and hadn't used ninjutsu in years. Asking old comrades would be troublesome.
"I want to learn the Shadow Clone Technique," Xia Li said.
"Shadow Clone?" Xina frowned. "Why that? It's difficult, and it's not very useful in combat."
"I saw a jōnin use it once. The clones were real. I thought it was amazing," Xia Li lied smoothly. "Whether it's useful is another matter."
In truth, he had no intention of using shadow clones in battle. That was practically exclusive to Naruto or the Uzumaki clan.
What Xia Li wanted was the experience transfer.
Although Shadow Clone was only B-rank, its difficulty was overstated. The real issue was chakra consumption. Only jōnin had enough chakra to use it effectively.
Xia Li planned to use only one clone, gradually increasing if his body allowed it.
After much persuasion, Xina finally relented.
"Alright. Just don't regret it."
"I never will! Mom is the best!" Xia Li cheered.
Xina smiled. "Let's eat."
Chapter 5: Chakra and Xia Li
After dinner, Xia Li returned to his room and opened the book on chakra extraction.
He hadn't studied this seriously in his previous life.
Chakra was the fusion of physical energy and spiritual energy. Extracting it inevitably affected the body.
Spiritual energy determined how much chakra could be extracted at once. Physical energy determined total reserves.
Bloodline influenced this heavily.
Ordinary people had low bloodline coefficients, requiring intense physical conditioning to build chakra reserves. Clans like the Uzumaki had extremely high coefficients, granting enormous chakra pools naturally.
Xia Li had once wondered whether any natural treasures could enhance bloodline potential.
The answer seemed to be no.
Hashirama cells? Becoming half-monster wasn't appealing. Raising tailed beasts didn't align with his goals either.
Xia Li wanted to reach the pinnacle as a human.
If he could grow stronger, great. If not—so be it.
After reading for a while, he closed the book.
"Mom, I'm going out."
"Come back early."
He headed to a secluded training ground.
As expected—
Someone was already there.
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