In the blink of an eye, it was already the fourth day.
This was the final day of this round of training.
As usual, Seimei raised his hand, formed the seals, and used the "Multiple Shadow Clone Technique," splitting himself into over a hundred shadow clones.
Then, based on the adjustments he'd made over the past few days, he divided them into several groups of varying sizes, assigning each group a specific skill to practice.
Most of the groups didn't get much of his attention—except for one in particular that he kept a close eye on.
This group wasn't the largest or the smallest.
What made them stand out was that they were practicing "Lightning Release: Raikiri."
After more than three days of hard work and investing over 400,000 points of chakra, Seimei could clearly feel he was just one step away from successfully engraving this technique onto his skill panel.
Maybe it'd happen in the next hour, or maybe a few hours from now.
Either way, he was certain that by the end of today's training, he'd have it locked in.
Once that happened, this grueling round of cultivation would be complete, having met all his goals, and he could finally head back to the village to rest.
With those thoughts swirling in his mind, Seimei pulled his gaze away, brushing them aside. He raised his hand, signaling all the shadow clones to get moving.
Then, he started his own training.
Like always, before "warming up," he cast "Palm Sage Technique" alongside "Human Control," strengthening his body from the inside out.
In the second round of training, he switched to "Lightning Release Chakra Mode," reinforcing his body from the outside in.
That said, after perfecting his "Lightning Release Chakra Mode," it had started contributing to some internal strengthening too.
So, by the time he got to the third round—using "Palm Sage Technique" and "Human Control" again—the efficiency was noticeably better.
This way, his overall progress kept improving.
Every hour or so, Seimei would recall his shadow clones, absorbing their training experiences and memories from the past hour and converting them into skill proficiency.
Then, using that as a foundation, he'd kick off a new round of cultivation.
…
Time ticked by, second by second.
Before he knew it, more than nine hours had passed.
During that time, the sun rose in the east, climbed to the sky's midpoint, hung overhead, and then began dipping toward the west.
By mid-afternoon, Seimei paused his physical training, just like he had every hour before.
With a flicker of thought, he dispelled the "Multiple Shadow Clone Technique."
In an instant, across the island—through the forest, over the sea, and in every nearby spot—all his shadow clones vanished into puffs of chakra, carrying an hour's worth of training experience and memories back to his main body.
Feeling the flood of memory hit him, Seimei quickly shut his eyes, sifting through it all and digesting it fast.
As he did, his understanding of each skill shot up, reflected on his panel as rising proficiency numbers behind every ability.
And beyond the gains in his existing skills, a brand-new one appeared on the panel—Lightning Release: Raikiri!
Suddenly, Seimei's eyes snapped open.
Recalling the spark of insight that had just flashed through his mind, he felt like his grasp of "Lightning Release: Raikiri" had jumped to a whole new level.
"Panel!"
With a thought, he summoned his proficiency panel.
A familiar, faint blue, semi-transparent screen popped up:
---
[Name: Uchiha Seimei
Age: 13
Physique: 24
Spirit: 26
Chakra: 325,000 (449,076 → 484,404)
Bloodline:
- Sharingan: Eternal Mangekyō (44/100,000 → 75/100,000)
- Byakugan (1/5,000 → 252/5,000)
Skills:
- Chakra Refinement Technique: Lv6 (4,183/10,000 → 4,735/10,000)
- Fire Release: Thousand Swallow Dance: Lv5 (3,320/5,000 → Lv6, 8,350/10,000)
- Fire Release: Focused Flame Strike: Lv7 (14,250/20,000 → Lv8, 25,300/50,000)
- Lightning Release: Raikiri: Lv0 (1/100)
- Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet: Lv4 (425/2,000)
- Earth Release: Weighted Boulder Technique: Lv3 (50/1,000)
- Earth Release: Lightened Boulder Technique: Lv3 (50/1,000)
- Izanami: Lv7 (1,200/20,000 → 11,200/20,000)
- Izanagi: Lv7 (1,200/20,000 → 11,200/20,000)
- Chakra Control: Lv7 (3,500/20,000 → 18,500/20,000)
Perfected Skills:
- Lightning Release: Thunderstrike Blade: Lv7 (0/0)
- Chakra Scalpel: Lv9 (0/0)
- Earth Release: Black Soil Rain: Lv7 (0/0)
- Earth Release: Earth Vein Dragon: Lv7 (0/0)
- Lightning Release: Thunder Beast Performance: Lv7 (0/0)
- Fire Release: Crimson Lotus Prison Flame: Lv9 (0/0)]
---
Seimei's eyes scanned the panel, instantly locking onto the new skill—Lightning Release: Raikiri!
His gut feeling had been spot-on. He'd successfully etched it into the panel.
Thinking back on the whole process of learning this technique, even Seimei couldn't help but feel how tough it'd been.
"But hey, I finally pulled it off!"
Muttering to himself, he ignored the other changes on the panel for now. Instead, he raised both hands and carefully went through the seals, one by one.
"Here goes!"
With a low shout, he thrust his right hand forward, fingers slightly curled. The chakra surging inside him instantly transformed into lightning, bursting out from the chakra point in his palm.
It gathered in his hand, forming a dazzling, spiky ball of lightning that looked a bit like a sea urchin.
At the same time, a sharp, piercing sound rang out from his palm—like a thousand birds chirping all at once.
Hearing it, Seimei couldn't help but murmur, "No wonder they call it 'Chidori.' That sound really fits!"
Technically, "Lightning Release: Raikiri" and "Lightning Release: Chidori" were the same jutsu at their core.
The story goes that Kakashi used the latter to slice through lightning summoned by a group of Rock ninja via a sealing scroll, giving it a legendary flair and earning it the name "Raikiri."
That said, they weren't exactly identical.
To be precise, "Lightning Release: Raikiri" was more like an advanced version Kakashi developed after further mastering the shape and nature transformation of lightning chakra, building on "Chidori." It was quieter, more focused, and naturally packed a bigger punch.
For Seimei, though, he didn't bother splitting hairs—he just called it "Lightning Release: Raikiri" and left it at that.
He wasn't planning to mimic Kakashi's fighting style with it anyway. Sure, he had the Sharingan—authentic, top-tier stuff—and could theoretically unleash its full potential even better than Kakashi. But that wasn't his goal.
It's not like he had some weird hang-up about it—his fighting style was already set, and there was no real need to change it up.
To him, this was just a tool to master lightning chakra's shape and nature transformations. No point in overthinking it.
That said, when the situation called for it, he wouldn't hesitate to use it.
Seimei was a practical guy. He didn't care who a jutsu belonged to or where it came from—if it was useful, he'd use it.
Step.
With a light leap, he hopped off the boulder he'd been standing on. A few quick flashes later, he was in front of a big tree.
He reached out, ready to test the power of the "Lightning Release: Raikiri" in his hand.
But just then, the already bright lightning chakra in his palm flared even brighter.
Instead of grinning, though, Seimei's face twisted into a grimace.
With a flicker of thought, he moved to cancel the jutsu.
Too late—the blinding light exploded, splintering into countless bolts of electricity that shot out in every direction.
Clearly, the technique had gone out of control.