The next day.
Morning.
Seimei slept in until he woke naturally.
Opening his eyes, he lingered in bed for a bit before reluctantly getting up.
After freshening up, he started preparing breakfast for himself.
Yep, he was doing it all by hand.
Since he didn't have training today, he had plenty of time and didn't mind "wasting" a little.
Plus, it was his way of unwinding.
About half an hour later, Seimei finished making breakfast.
His cooking skills were, frankly, pretty average. The breakfast didn't look great, and the taste was nothing special.
Still, Seimei ate it earnestly.
After all, he'd made it himself, so no matter what, he was going to finish it.
Time ticked by.
Another half hour later, he finally polished off his meal.
Then, he spent a few minutes cleaning up the dishes.
Once everything was done, he grabbed his gear, stepped out the door, and headed straight for the Uchiha clan's library.
Originally, he'd planned to wander around, but considering the tense atmosphere in the village and the two Anbu ninja tailing him, he decided to keep a low profile.
Besides, his Katon: Shūen Geki (Fire Release: Focused Flame Strike) and Raiton: Raikiri (Lightning Release: Lightning Cutter) were on the verge of reaching max level. This would push his mastery of the nature transformations for these two chakra types to the threshold needed for fusing with other attributes.
Once his Doton: Chōkajūgan no Jutsu (Earth Release: Super Weighted Rock Technique) and Doton: Chōkeijūgan no Jutsu (Earth Release: Super Lightweight Rock Technique) also hit max level, he could start developing Kekkei Mōra (Bloodline Encompassing).
Per his plan, he wouldn't jump straight to fusing all seven chakra attributes. Instead, he'd take it step by step.
First, he'd fuse two attributes to master the knack for creating Kekkei Genkai (Bloodline Limit).
Next, he'd try fusing three attributes to gain the ability to develop Kekkei Tōta (Bloodline Selection).
Finally, building on those foundations, he'd fuse the nature transformations of all seven attributes in one go, ascending to the power of Kekkei Mōra.
To that end, he figured he should read up on related topics to expand his knowledge base.
Sure, with his proficiency panel, as long as he could get the relevant abilities registered, he could brute-force their development by pouring in massive amounts of chakra.
But there was a catch: the more foundational knowledge he had, the less chakra he'd need to grind those skills.
That, in turn, would boost his training efficiency significantly.
So, he couldn't slack on studying.
With these thoughts swirling in his mind, Seimei greeted the Uchiha ninja guarding the library, showed the pass given to him by the Uchiha elder, and walked inside.
Historically, not many Uchiha had attempted to fuse the nature transformations of two chakra attributes to achieve Kekkei Genkai, and even fewer had succeeded.
But the library wasn't limited to Uchiha records. For instance, the research notes that helped him learn Doton: Kajūgan no Jutsu (Earth Release: Weighted Rock Technique) and Doton: Keijūgan no Jutsu (Earth Release: Lightweight Rock Technique) were left by Tobirama Senju.
So, he was confident he'd find some relevant books.
As a result, he spent the entire day immersed in the library, only leaving when night fell.
Afterward, he hit up the "Gourmet Street," indulging in a feast to satisfy his cravings before heading home.
But he didn't rest right away. Instead, he went to his training room to carry out his routine nurturing of his Byakugan.
Two hours later, with the moon high in the sky, Seimei finally opened his eyes, ending the Byakugan nurturing.
"Ha~"
Yawning with his hand over his mouth, Seimei opened his proficiency panel with a thought. Seeing that his Byakugan's evolution progress had increased by another ten points, he nodded in satisfaction and closed the panel.
Then, he got up, left the training room, did a quick wash, and headed to his bedroom to rest.
Soon, the faint sound of his snoring filled the room.
---
The next day.
Early morning.
As dawn barely broke, Seimei was already awake.
After freshening up, he left a shadow clone to watch the house and departed from the Hidden Leaf Village.
Glancing back at the village shrouded in its barrier, Seimei turned away, activated his Byakugan, and confirmed no one was around. Then, he locked onto the island in the southern seas of the Land of Fire and used Hiraishin no Jutsu (Flying Thunder God Technique).
His vision shifted instantly.
In a blink, Seimei went from outside the Hidden Leaf to the island.
As usual, he patrolled the area to ensure nothing was amiss, then cast Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Multiple Shadow Clone Technique), summoning over a hundred shadow clones to begin a ten-day training grind.
One day, two days, three days…
Since every day was packed, Seimei barely noticed time passing.
In the blink of an eye, a week had gone by.
After twelve days of intense training, his Fūshin Sakuon: Keiyaku Shunshin no In (Heart-Sealing Soul Lock: Contract Instant Movement Seal) finally broke through to lv7, just as he'd predicted.
At the island's center, atop a giant rock, Seimei opened his eyes, reflecting on the insights flooding his mind. His understanding of Fūshin Sakuon: Keiyaku Shunshin no In had leaped forward significantly.
Now, if he used the technique, its overall effect would far surpass the patchwork measures he'd previously relied on.
Moreover, after its second transformation, he no longer needed to form hand signs. He could apply the technique directly through Sharingan genjutsu.
In other words, as long as he could catch someone with his genjutsu, he could practically guarantee turning them into his pawn.
This level of stealth was leagues beyond his earlier methods.
Seimei was thrilled with the result.
He decided that once this training session was over, he'd head to the Hidden Mist and Hidden Rock Villages to replace the measures on his pawns with the upgraded Fūshin Sakuon: Keiyaku Shunshin no In.
Luckily, his recent breaks had allowed him to stockpile plenty of chakra in his forehead's alternate space, so even after the long trip, he wouldn't need to worry about delaying his training.
Nodding to himself, Seimei casually opened his panel, focusing on two other techniques.
This time, it wasn't just Fūshin Sakuon: Keiyaku Shunshin no In that hit lv7. After twelve days of practice, both Doton: Chōkajūgan no Jutsu and Doton: Chōkeijūgan no Jutsu had reached the cusp of advancing from lv6 to lv7.
Seimei estimated that, at most, by tomorrow, both techniques would level up.
When that happened, he'd be one step closer to fusing the nature transformations of all seven chakra attributes and mastering the power of Kekkei Mōra.
Suppressing his excitement, Seimei closed the panel, took a few deep breaths to calm himself, and cast Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu again, summoning another hundred clones to start a new round of training.
Just like that, three more days flew by.
In a flash, the ten-day training session came to an end.
As Seimei had calculated, on the eighth day, both Doton: Chōkajūgan no Jutsu and Doton: Chōkeijūgan no Jutsu successfully advanced to lv7.
That meant three skills had undergone their second qualitative leap during this training round.
Seimei was overjoyed.
But not everything was smooth sailing.
Just today, while training Katon: Shūen Geki, he felt a noticeable bottleneck.
Clearly, the technique had entered a phase requiring serious effort to overcome.
From here on, he'd need to pour in massive amounts of chakra to refine the technique while slowly grinding its proficiency.
Thankfully, he'd mentally prepared for this.
So, he wasn't too rattled.
"Next up, as planned, it's off to the Hidden Mist and Hidden Rock Villages."
With that thought, Seimei looked out at the sea under the setting sun.
The golden shimmer was breathtaking.
Sadly, he didn't have time to enjoy the view.
With a thought, Seimei tapped into the chakra stored in his forehead's alternate space, refilling his reserves.
Then, he formed hand signs, activating Fūton: Kaze no Tsubasa (Wind Release: Wings of Wind) and Chakra Hagoromo (Chakra Cloak), and used Doton: Chōkeijūgan no Jutsu to lighten his weight.
With a flap of his wings, he took to the sky, soaring toward the Hidden Mist Village across the ocean.
(End of Chapter)