Time flies like an arrow, and days pass like a shuttle.
In the blink of an eye, more than three weeks had gone by.
During this time, Yukikaze didn't cause any trouble. In fact, she was remarkably cooperative with his requests.
Of course, that might be because she realized that following his instructions helped her improve her control over Ice Release, unlocking more of the potential in her bloodline.
Whatever the reason, her cooperation was a huge help to Seimei.
Seimei estimated that in about a month, he'd successfully fuse Wind and Water chakra natures to develop the Ice Release kekkei genkai.
By then, he'd have mastered another chakra fusion technique, bringing him one step closer to combining all seven chakra nature transformations and unlocking the power of the kekkei mora.
As for the Hidden Mist Village…
When they noticed Yukikaze was missing, they did launch an investigation.
But too bad for them—Seimei's tracks were too well-hidden, and the capture was clean and precise, leaving few useful clues.
After coming up empty-handed, they had no choice but to give up for now.
This saved Seimei a lot of hassle.
Beyond deepening his understanding of Ice Release, the past three weeks also brought his Spiritualization Technique to the brink of a breakthrough.
With a thought, Seimei opened his proficiency panel.
There it was: his Spiritualization Technique had reached lv9 (99,150/100,000), just 850 proficiency points shy of hitting lv10 (0/0)—the realm of perfection.
At his current training pace, he'd rack up those points in about three hours.
By then, the technique would level up.
To be honest, if you counted from the start, he should've maxed out this technique ages ago.
But over the past three weeks, he'd taken two breaks and gone on two missions, losing over four days in total. That's why it dragged on until now.
Still, no big deal—it was only a matter of a few days.
With that thought, Seimei closed the panel, raised his hands, and formed seals to cast Multiple Shadow Clone Technique, creating 151 shadow clones.
As usual, 150 of them continued training the Spiritualization Technique and working on Ice Release.
The last one used Flying Thunder God Technique to zip off to the isolated island where Yukikaze was being held.
As for Seimei himself…
In the last round of training, he'd used the Heart Reflection Technique to push his Sharingan's evolution.
So this time, it was all about strengthening his body.
With that in mind, Seimei channeled chakra and activated Lightning Release Chakra Mode.
Crackle!
A thunderous sound rang out as a layer of Lightning Release aura coated his body.
Then, Seimei locked onto a Flying Thunder God mark at the bottom of an ocean trench and cast the technique.
That's right—this time, he didn't teleport near the trench but went straight to the bottom.
The reason was simple: over the past three weeks, he'd adapted to the extreme pressure changes between the trench's depths and the island.
No need to waste time stopping halfway anymore.
The trench's bottom was now his go-to spot for physical training.
And for the foreseeable future, he probably wouldn't switch locations.
Why? Because there wasn't anywhere nearby with harsher conditions.
He had to admit, his earlier decision to preemptively invest 50,000 chakra points into physical enhancement was a stroke of genius.
At the very least, it meant he didn't need to divert extra chakra after reaching the trench's depths.
With these thoughts flashing through his mind, Seimei quickly adjusted to the environment. Once the Lightning Release aura on his body stabilized, he cleared his mind and dove into physical training.
Time ticked by, second by second.
Three hours passed in a flash.
Seimei completed three rounds of training.
Whoosh!
Silently, his figure reappeared on the island.
Dripping with seawater, Seimei channeled a layer of Fire Release chakra with a thought.
In an instant, the water evaporated.
After a brief pause, a memory popped into his mind—it was from the shadow clone that had gone to the island in the deep ocean.
Clearly, after over twenty days of working together, his shadow clone was in perfect sync with him.
He'd just finished training, and the clone dispelled itself without wasting a single minute.
Closing his eyes, Seimei quickly reviewed the memories.
Soon, he'd internalized the insights and experiences the clone had gained from Yukikaze.
Next, he dispelled the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique, dissolving the other 150 clones.
Instantly, a flood of memories poured into his mind.
Seimei focused, digesting the training experiences and memories from the clones.
Normally, this step took him about fifteen minutes.
But this time, it took a full half-hour before he opened his eyes again.
The reason was simple: his Spiritualization Technique had leveled up.
Recalling the new insights and the sudden surge in mental energy, Seimei couldn't help but smile.
"Panel!" he muttered.
The familiar translucent blue screen appeared:
---
Name: Uchiha Seimei
Age: 14
Physique: 26
Mental: 26 → 27
Chakra: 542,000 (737,844 → 783,924)
Bloodlines:
- Sharingan · Eternal Mangekyo (4,937/100,000) → (7,982/100,000)
- Byakugan (3,538/5,000) → (4,020/5,000)
- Wood Release (850/1,000) → (970/1,000)
- Lava Release (1/1,000) → (150/1,000)
Skills:
- Chakra Refining Technique: lv6 (8,719/10,000) → lv6 (9,559/10,000)
- Spiritualization Technique: lv9 (99,150/100,000) → lv10 (0/0)
- Chakra Control: lv8 (3,600/50,000) → lv8 (4,100/50,000)
Perfected Skills: [None listed]
---
That's right—his Spiritualization Technique had reached lv10 (0/0), the realm of perfection, and his Mental stat had unexpectedly increased by one point.
That explained the sudden spike in mental energy he'd felt.
Seimei figured this happened because the Spiritualization Technique was deeply tied to the soul.
It's common knowledge that mental energy stems from the soul. If the soul undergoes a transformation, it's only natural for mental energy to increase.
In fact, Seimei suspected that his Mental stat had previously risen with his Sharingan's evolution for the same reason—its growth triggered a subtle transformation in his soul.
So, while this boost seemed unexpected, it made perfect sense.
Pushing the thought aside, Seimei raised his hands and swiftly formed seals to cast the Spiritualization Technique.
The upgraded technique felt smoother than ever.
In an instant, his soul slipped out of his body, carrying about 90% of his chakra and floating in the air.
Yup, 90%.
At lv7, it could only carry 50% of his chakra. At lv8, it rose to 60%. At lv9, it jumped to 80% after a qualitative leap.
Now, it was 90%.
Don't let that 10% increase fool you—the closer you get to the limit, the harder it is to improve.
So, that 10% was a big deal.
With 90% of his chakra, his soul's active duration and range increased significantly, and its offensive power got a major boost.
Beyond that, his perception also leveled up.
Seimei closed his eyes, sensing his surroundings.
The salty tang of the ocean air.
The soft swish of fish swimming in the water.
The distant sound of seabirds diving for food.
Everything was crystal clear.
Seimei couldn't help but lose himself in it.
After a while, he opened his eyes again.
Reflecting on it, he concluded that, as expected, this upgrade had boosted his perception range tenfold—both for general senses and specific chakra detection.
In other words, his Spiritualization Technique now gave him a base perception range 10,000 times greater than normal and 100,000 times for specific chakra signatures.
It was starting to feel like his earlier dream of "knowing the world without leaving home."
That near-omniscient sensation was intoxicating.
But sadly, maintaining this state burned too much chakra, and Seimei was cautious about the separation between soul and body. So, after testing, he dispelled the technique.
His focus returned to the Mental stat, and he began assessing the other benefits of its increase—mainly his theoretical chakra cap and recovery rate.
Last time, when his Physique stat rose, his chakra cap jumped by 1,500,000 points, and his recovery rate increased by 800,000.
This time, the boost might not be as dramatic—last time was special since his Physique and Mental stats rebalanced—but it wouldn't be small either.
The higher the base stat, the harder it is to improve, but the rewards scale up too.
So, Seimei expected a solid gain.
To confirm, he'd need to test it.
With that, Seimei went all out with the Chakra Refining Technique, tapping into his body's potential.
Time ticked by.
About half an hour later, Seimei paused.
Based on his body's changes, he estimated the Mental stat boost had raised his theoretical chakra cap by… 1,200,000 points!
Not quite the 1,500,000 from last time, but still impressive.
This brought his theoretical chakra cap to an unprecedented 6,550,000 (= 5,350,000 + 1,200,000) points!
Looking at his actual chakra cap of just under 800,000 on the panel, Seimei felt the long road ahead.
Still, after all this time, his Chakra Refining Technique had reached lv6 (9,559/10,000), only 441 points from lv7.
At his current rate of 24 proficiency points per day, he'd hit lv7 in just under 19 days.
By then, his ability to tap into his body's potential would skyrocket.
No more staring at untapped potential in frustration.
Clearing his mind, Seimei made some adjustments and tested his chakra recovery rate.
As he'd noted before, this had two parts: chakra recovered via the Chakra Refining Technique and natural recovery.
The former hadn't changed since the technique hadn't leveled up, and he was already running it 24/7, so no need to test it.
He just needed to measure his body's natural recovery rate to see the increase.
With that, Seimei stopped the passive Chakra Refining Technique, zeroing out its recovery.
Then, he timed it, watching the chakra value on his panel.
One second, two seconds, three seconds…
One minute, two minutes, three minutes…
Ten minutes passed.
Seimei stopped.
In those ten minutes, his chakra had increased by 29,166 points!
That's 29,166 in ten minutes, 174,996 per hour, and 4,200,000 per day.
Before this, his daily natural recovery was 3,600,000 points.
So, this was a 600,000-point increase.
Not as much as the 800,000 from his last Physique boost, but still solid.
And this was just the start.
After a month of stimulation, his Sharingan's evolution had gone from (4,937/100,000) to (7,982/100,000).
At his current rate of investing 2,000,000 chakra points daily for 100 evolution points, he'd break through the (10,000/100,000) milestone in about 20 days.
By then, his Mental stat would likely rise again.
That would boost his chakra cap and recovery rate even further.
Plus, with the Spiritualization Technique now perfected and his Mental stat up, he had an extra 2,100,000 (= 1,500,000 + 600,000) chakra points to use daily.
He wasn't going to let those sit idle.
Seimei decided to tweak his plan, allocating 500,000 points to his Sharingan to max out its capacity.
This would push his daily Sharingan evolution to 126–127 points.
That meant hitting the (10,000/100,000) milestone in just over half a month.
When that happened, another Mental stat boost would further increase his chakra cap and recovery rate.
So, yeah, this was just the beginning.
Focusing again, Seimei looked at his remaining chakra—2,100,000 minus 500,000 left 1,600,000 points.
He planned to put 1,000,000 into nurturing his Byakugan and the remaining 600,000 into developing Ice Release.
This would speed up both his Ice Release progress and Byakugan evolution.
As for time constraints…
No need to worry!
Sure, boosting his Sharingan investment would mean more time spent on Heart Reflection Technique.
And the 350,000-point investment in his Byakugan would extend its nurturing from two and a half hours to three and a half.
But now that his Spiritualization Technique was perfected, he didn't need shadow clones for it anymore.
Those freed-up clones could handle the extra 600,000 points for Ice Release and cover the additional time for Heart Reflection and Byakugan nurturing.
Plus, with his Mental stat increase, he could summon even more shadow clones for intense training.
That would offset any time demands.
So, time wouldn't be an issue.
Still, he'd need to put some thought into fine-tuning the allocation.
(Chapter End)