After checking through all the materials, Akira Sato was extremely satisfied.
Compared to the basic knowledge available at the Ninja Academy's library, the materials stored in the Uchiha archives were practically advanced-level knowledge. Mastering this would bring him enormous benefits.
However, his top priority right now was power.
In the past, because he was focused on living an easy, laid-back life, he had never been in a rush to strengthen himself. But now that Danzo had his eyes on him, of course he was anxious.
Even having a top-tier powerhouse like Minato Namikaze as his team leader didn't mean he could just relax and feel safe.
You had to rely on yourself — period.
Otherwise, just like that future backstabbing white-eyed wolf, once the teacher wasn't around, it would all end in tragedy.
In terms of pure ninja talent, Akira Sato was actually subpar — at least compared to the descendants of the major ninja clans his age, who could crush him in every aspect.
But that didn't mean he had no way to improve his strength.
Sure, his ability to learn the Summoning Technique could be explained by hard work. But the chakra he needed to actually perform it — that was all thanks to his own research.
It was precisely because of his experiments that he had managed to raise his chakra to match the level of an average graduate from a ninja clan.
And you shouldn't underestimate that!
When he had first taken over this body, the original chakra level was less than one-third of what it was now.
Half a year ago, he had achieved some initial breakthroughs, which allowed his chakra to triple in just six months.
Even now, his chakra only barely matched the average for fresh graduates from the ninja clans.
It just showed how vast the gap was between ninja clans and ordinary civilians.
Carefully, Akira Sato lifted a potted mulberry tree about half his height onto the worktable.
This was a treasure he had cultivated by propagating branches from two mulberry trees in the courtyard.
If anyone knew the true value of this mulberry tree, they would be utterly shocked.
After all, Akira's chakra growth — and even the creation of Taiichi, his summon — all depended on this very tree.
As for how he managed to create something like this?
Of course, it was because of Akira's special trait.
His blood.
Yes — although he didn't have a system or stat panel or any of the typical cheat tools that transmigrators get, his body's blood had a unique effect.
It granted adaptability.
Hmm… kind of like the experimental body named "Shin" that Orochimaru would get his hands on in the future. That body could accept organ transplants freely without rejection.
In the future, Danzo's right arm — which fused Hashirama's cells and Sharingan — also only succeeded thanks to the help of Shin's tissue.
Akira's blood granted a similar effect.
No — even stronger, even more complete.
It could make fusions feel as if they had undergone the test of time, rather than being artificial creations riddled with defects and risks.
For example —Hybrid rice breeding normally takes countless rounds of crossbreeding, selection, and so on.
But using Akira's blood could skip over the long adaptation and growth process, delivering the final result directly. Of course, the exact outcome depended on how much blood and what materials were used.
His byproduct, the seaweed, originally had a "rapid growth" trait.
By using the effect of his blood, Akira had boosted that ability a thousandfold, allowing him to extract potent healing properties.
The process sounded simple but had actually cost Akira a lot of time, effort — and blood.
If his blood supply weren't limited, he definitely could've produced even more creations.
This particular mulberry tree bonsai had taken him over a year to gradually nurture.
It could slowly absorb traces of natural energy!
That was precisely why he had devoted himself to cultivating it.
At this point, it was already a special existence.
If a sage-mode master were present, they would instantly detect something unusual.
Thankfully, there were no sages in the Uchiha clan, so Akira wasn't too worried about exposure.
Taiichi's body had evolved as it did precisely because it stayed near the mulberry tree, passively absorbing some of that natural energy.
And natural energy represented one of the pinnacle powers in the ninja world.
Sage Mode!
Other people had to rely on the Three Great Sage Lands to even stand a chance of learning it.
But if Akira's mulberry tree cultivation continued, he might just manage to master it with the tree's help.
His chakra growth came from injecting himself with a special potion he refined using the tree as a base material.
That allowed his body to integrate filtered traces of natural energy.
Normally, raw natural energy was violently destructive — touch it and you die. But after countless cycles of adaptive evolution through the mulberry tree's "filter," it was no longer deadly — at worst, it just caused discomfort and pain.
His chakra increased because the natural energy strengthened his cells, enabling them to extract more chakra.
In short —
Akira's rapid progress was entirely thanks to the special nature of his blood.
Otherwise, even as a transmigrator following a research path, no matter how clever he was, any meaningful results would have taken years, if not a decade or more, to appear.
At the same time, Akira had countless "bold ideas" regarding his own blood.
But until now, he hadn't had the equipment or the space — plus, he was worried about causing too much noise and drawing attention — so he had kept everything extremely low-key.
The potion that boosted his chakra, he named the "Power of Nature" potion.
Since it was his own creation, he didn't care if the name clashed with ninja-world naming conventions.
"Looks like I'll have to pause research for now and focus on strengthening myself. Still, it's a good chance to gather more materials!"
Akira gently stroked the smooth leaves, sighing softly.
From here on, he probably wouldn't have much time for research.
But that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
At the very least, it would give him a chance to leave Konoha and collect more materials.
With the two major advantages of his transmigrator knowledge plus his blood, Akira was confident he could create many more valuable items.
Snap!
He painfully snapped off a large number of branches, revealing faint glimpses of the golden-red, jade-like interior of the tree's core.
Yes, this mulberry tree had already evolved into something extraordinary.
Refining the "Power of Nature" potion was different from refining the healing potion.
It required not only a lot of auxiliary materials but also his own blood as a primer to stabilize everything.
Because his blood, with its "fusion and evolution" trait, balanced the conflicting components of the potion.
In other words —If you lacked the right technique, just patch it up with blood.
If someone like Orochimaru or Tsunade were doing this, they could probably spend years developing the optimal formula.
But Akira didn't have that kind of time or expertise, so he just bypassed it by using his blood.
Dozens of minutes later!
Two vials of crimson-red potion sat in Akira's hand.
Although it was called the "Power of Nature" potion, that didn't mean it had to be green.
The red color came from the unique nature of the mulberry tree.
Holding the two vials, Akira walked over to the small private training ground he had deliberately set aside in the basement — it was almost several hundred square meters.
In the ninja world, it was pretty common for ninjas to build underground training rooms if they wanted to keep their techniques hidden.
"Summoning Technique!"
Akira performed the summoning.
Croak!
Taiichi appeared in the underground training ground, his sleek black-and-gold feathers gleaming.
If they were still in Akira's old rented place, Taiichi might have felt cramped. But here, even if Taiichi were ten… no, several dozen times larger, it wouldn't be a problem.
"Alright, I'm going to inject this potion into you now — hang in there."
Akira shook one of the prepared vials in his hand.
Croak!
Taiichi didn't know what the potion was, but his instincts told him it would greatly benefit him, so he nodded eagerly.
Because of the heavy toll on the mulberry tree, Akira had only ever produced three vials of the "Power of Nature" potion.
The first vial had already boosted his chakra to match his peers from the ninja clans.
The remaining two had just been created — and their effects far surpassed the first, since the mulberry tree had continued to grow and improve over time.
Very soon.
Akira used a syringe to inject one vial of the "Power of Nature" potion into Taiichi's body.
The changes began to appear almost immediately.
(To be continued…)