Four Years of Change (Please Bookmark)

And so, Uchiha Kiyoshi refused to enter an orphanage. With the village's subsidies and the clan's support, he began living on his own.

In the blink of an eye, four years passed.

Over those four years, aside from becoming "withdrawn," Uchiha Kiyoshi had not displayed any exceptional talent in front of others. Everything about him was perfectly ordinary.

This was the persona Uchiha Kiyoshi had crafted for himself: someone who had become withdrawn after the blow of losing his parents, with even a slight fear of death.

Well, Uchiha Kiyoshi had not yet had the chance to reveal that fear of death, but it would be soon. Before long, he would be attending the Ninja Academy. Once introductions came around, this persona would be firmly established.

Although he had not been an actor in his previous life, nor had he ever studied acting, Uchiha Kiyoshi was not afraid of messing it up. After all, to some extent, he was simply being himself.

Of course, Uchiha Kiyoshi himself would never admit that.

Over the past four years, Uchiha Kiyoshi had also figured out the point in time he was living in.

It was now Konoha Year 28, after the First Shinobi World War and before the Second Shinobi World War. This was undoubtedly good news for Uchiha Kiyoshi.

At the very least, he did not need to worry about the clan massacre. Moreover, judging by the current situation, he would at least be able to graduate normally and have several years to hone himself before war broke out.

With such a perfect period for growth, Uchiha Kiyoshi naturally would not let it slip away.

After revising it several times, Uchiha Kiyoshi had also made his plans for the early stages.

Naturally, Uchiha Kiyoshi had not wasted these four years. Although he had not extracted Chakra, he had never neglected physical training.

That was right, Uchiha Kiyoshi had not refined Chakra!

In truth, it was not his fault.

For some reason, children in the Ninja World developed quickly, but refining Chakra was not something one could start as early as one pleased.

Generally, one had to wait until the age of six to begin trying to refine Chakra without causing damage to the body. After all, the Ninja Academy had not set its enrollment age at six arbitrarily.

As for why ninjas from clans could cultivate Chakra earlier?

Those ninja clans all had their own inheritances. Through special medicinal baths, they could ensure that refining Chakra early would not harm the body. The medicinal baths could even improve physical fitness, giving them a greater advantage over children their age.

Although Uchiha Kiyoshi was a member of the Uchiha Clan and could enjoy medicinal baths to cultivate Chakra early,

he did not have enough money! Even among the various ninja clans, those able to enjoy medicinal baths and begin cultivating early were people of considerable standing within their clans. That was because most medicinal baths were extremely costly, beyond what ordinary families could afford.

Still, while the major ninja clans could not afford medicinal baths for every clan member, allowing them to begin cultivating Chakra at five or even four, they could afford to let them start training during the half-year before entering the Ninja Academy.

Usually, two or three months before the Ninja Academy opened, ninja clans would gather together the children of suitable age and train them, teaching them how to refine Chakra.

This kind of training was generally taught by Chunin or even Jonin from the clan. Besides guiding them in Chakra refinement, they would also teach them some of their clan's unique techniques, such as the Uchiha Clan's Shurikenjutsu.

That alone put them far ahead of civilian ninjas.

This was not merely a difference of two months. The clans' early instruction might not have been one-on-one, but every child of suitable age received ample guidance. Generally, in less than half that time—about a month—they could successfully refine Chakra.

This was far more efficient than the Ninja Academy! The sole teaching goal for the first semester of the Academy's first year was to teach students how to refine Chakra! Some students might not even successfully refine Chakra after half a year. The difference in teaching efficiency was obvious!

In other words, ninjas from clans sometimes had an extra half year of training compared to civilian ninjas of the same generation!

Unable to refine Chakra during these four years, Uchiha Kiyoshi focused most of his energy on physical training.

With the medical knowledge from his previous life as a foundation, Uchiha Kiyoshi maximized his physical abilities each time while ensuring that his body would not be harmed.

Now, Uchiha Kiyoshi could do a hundred push-ups in one go and leap three or four meters high with all his strength!

Besides that, Uchiha Kiyoshi also made time to read quite a few books.

It could not be helped. He could not refine Chakra, and physical training could not be done constantly, so Uchiha Kiyoshi naturally needed something to occupy himself.

For Uchiha Kiyoshi, who had strong learning abilities and had even been admitted to one of the top ten prestigious universities in the country in his previous life, reading was a good choice.

As one of the great clans, the Uchiha Clan possessed an exceedingly deep foundation. Within the clan was an Archives built specifically for its members, similar to a library from his previous life.

Although it contained no Ninjutsu scrolls, nor any Secret Jutsu or Forbidden Techniques, it had plenty of foundational knowledge. That was already enough for Uchiha Kiyoshi.

Over those four years, Uchiha Kiyoshi had spent more than half his time reading the scrolls in the Archives.

Uchiha Kiyoshi read many things, beginning with medical knowledge.

This world was, after all, different from his previous one. Uchiha Kiyoshi naturally needed to study its medical knowledge, while also laying a solid foundation for cultivating Medical Ninjutsu in the future.

That was right, Uchiha Kiyoshi intended to cultivate Medical Ninjutsu. As everyone knew, a ninja who could not heal himself was not a good ninja. Naturally, Uchiha Kiyoshi had to learn Medical Ninjutsu. Moreover, he knew well that he would definitely enter the field of research in the future, just like Orochimaru. For research, all manner of experiments would inevitably require Medical Ninjutsu. Mastering it early was a good thing for Uchiha Kiyoshi.

Besides Medical Ninjutsu, most of the materials Uchiha Kiyoshi read were related to Sealing Jutsu.

As a great clan that had endured since the Warring States era, and one that had supposedly existed since the legendary Ninja Sect era, the Uchiha Clan had an immensely long history. In Sealing Jutsu, while it could not compare to the Uzumaki Clan, it was still enough to give a beginner like Uchiha Kiyoshi a foundation.

As everyone knew, the strongest power system in the Ninja World was neither Ninjutsu nor Sage Art, but Sealing Jutsu. It seemed that throughout the Ninja World, Sealing Jutsu held the highest priority. Hadn't Kaguya Otsutsuki, the Progenitor of Chakra, been sealed inside the moon for a thousand years? Moreover, Minato Namikaze's Flying Thunder God Technique also made use of extensive Sealing Jutsu knowledge! In fact, Sealing Jutsu could be said to have helped Minato Namikaze tremendously in successfully mastering the Flying Thunder God Technique.

Knowing full well the importance of Sealing Jutsu, Uchiha Kiyoshi naturally had to build a solid foundation in this area as well.

With his exceptional learning ability, Uchiha Kiyoshi naturally read other things besides medical knowledge and Sealing Jutsu Basics.

However, most of them were merely foundational knowledge for ninjas.