Thus, Uchiha Kiyoshi refused to enter the orphanage. Relying on village 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Over those four years, aside from becoming "withdrawn," Uchiha Kiyoshi had not displayed anything too outstanding before others. Everything about him was ordinary and proper.
This was the persona Uchiha Kiyoshi had set for himself: someone who, after the blow of losing his parents, became withdrawn and even a little "afraid of death."
Well, Uchiha Kiyoshi had not yet had a chance to reveal that he was afraid of death, but that would happen soon. Before long, he would be attending the Ninja Academy. Once introductions came around, this persona would be firmly established.
Though he had not been an actor in his previous life and had never studied acting, Uchiha Kiyoshi was not afraid of messing it up. To a certain 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. For Uchiha Kiyoshi, this could be considered good news.
At the very least, he did not need to worry about the clan massacre. Moreover, given the current situation, he would have enough time to graduate normally and even spend several years honing himself before war broke out.
With such perfect time to develop, Uchiha Kiyoshi naturally would not let it go to waste.
After making repeated revisions, Uchiha Kiyoshi had formulated his early plans.
Naturally, Uchiha Kiyoshi had not wasted those four years either. Although he had not refined Chakra, he had not slackened in physical training one bit.
That was right, Uchiha Kiyoshi had not refined Chakra!
It was not really his fault.
Although, for some reason, children in the Ninja World developed quickly, refining Chakra was not something one could begin as early as one pleased.
Generally, one had to wait until the age of six before attempting to refine Chakra without damaging the body. After all, the Ninja Academy had not set its entrance age at six on a whim.
As for why ninjas from clans could begin training Chakra ahead of time?
Those ninja clans all had their own inherited methods. Through special Medicinal Baths, they could ensure that refining Chakra early would not harm the body. The baths could even improve their physical condition, giving them a greater advantage over children their age.
Although Uchiha Kiyoshi was a member of the Uchiha Clan, he could actually enjoy Medicinal Baths and begin training Chakra early.
But unfortunately, he did not have enough money! Even among the ninja clans, only those with considerable status in the clan could enjoy Medicinal Baths and begin training early. This was because most Medicinal Baths were extremely costly, far beyond what ordinary families could afford.
Still, while the major ninja clans could not afford Medicinal Baths for every clan member and let them start training Chakra at five or even four, they could at least let them begin training during the half year before entering the Ninja Academy.
Generally, ninja clans would gather the children of suitable age two or three months before the Ninja Academy opened for training, teaching them how to refine Chakra.
Usually, Chunin or even Jonin from the clan were invited to conduct such training. Aside from guiding them in refining Chakra, they would also teach some techniques unique to their own clan, 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. Although the ninja clans' instruction could not be called one-on-one, every child of suitable age received ample guidance. Usually, in less than half that time—about one month—they could successfully refine Chakra.
That was far more efficient than the Ninja Academy! In the first semester of the Ninja Academy's first year, there was only one teaching objective: instructing students 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 half a year more training time than civilian ninjas of the same class!
Since he could not refine Chakra during those 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 always improved his physical condition to the greatest extent possible while ensuring that his body would not be harmed.
By now, Uchiha Kiyoshi could do one hundred push-ups in a single go, and with all his strength, he could jump three or four meters high!
Besides that, Uchiha Kiyoshi also made time to read quite a few books.
There was no helping it. He could not refine Chakra, nor could he train his body all the time, so Uchiha Kiyoshi naturally had to find something to do.
And for Uchiha Kiyoshi, who had decent learning ability and had even been admitted to one of the nation's top ten prestigious universities in his previous life, reading was a good choice.
As one of the great clans, the Uchiha Clan possessed an extraordinarily rich foundation. Within the Uchiha Clan was an Archives built specifically for clan members, similar to a library from his previous life.
Although it contained no Ninjutsu scrolls or various Secret Jutsu and Forbidden Techniques, much foundational knowledge could be found there. That was already enough for Uchiha Kiyoshi.
Over those four years, Uchiha Kiyoshi had spent more than half his time studying the scrolls in the Archives.
Uchiha Kiyoshi read many things, starting with medical knowledge.
After all, this world differed from his previous one. Uchiha Kiyoshi naturally needed to study this world's medical knowledge while also laying a solid foundation for his future training in Medical Ninjutsu.
That was right, Uchiha Kiyoshi intended to train in Medical Ninjutsu. As everyone knew, a ninja who could not heal himself was not a good ninja. Naturally, Uchiha Kiyoshi needed to learn Medical Ninjutsu. Furthermore, he knew very well that he would definitely enter the field of research in the future, just like Orochimaru. For research, all kinds of experiments were unavoidable, and Medical Ninjutsu would be essential. Mastering it early would be a good thing for Uchiha Kiyoshi.
Aside from 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 period, and one that had supposedly existed since the legendary era of Ninshu, the Uchiha Clan had a long history. Though they could not compare to the Uzumaki Clan in Sealing Jutsu, it was more than 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 Senjutsu, but Sealing Jutsu. It seemed that throughout the entire Ninja World, Sealing Jutsu possessed the highest priority. Had not Kaguya Otsutsuki, the Progenitor of Chakra herself, been sealed inside the moon for a thousand years? And Minato Namikaze's Flying Thunder God Technique also used a great deal of Sealing Jutsu knowledge! In fact, Sealing Jutsu had been a tremendous help to Minato Namikaze in successfully mastering the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Knowing full well the importance of Sealing Jutsu, Uchiha Kiyoshi naturally needed to build a solid foundation in this area as well.
With his exceptional learning ability, besides medical knowledge and Sealing Jutsu Basics, Uchiha Kiyoshi naturally read some other materials too.
However, most of them were simply basic knowledge for ninjas.
Before you continue