The Essence of a Ninja

Sarutobi Saku was fine after the surgery. After spending over half a month in the hospital, he had finally made a full recovery.

Over the past half month, Uchiha Kiyoshi and Nawaki had visited him every day. After training together for three months and going through this mission, the three of them had grown closer, and their bond had begun to take shape. This was also what the Third Hokage hoped to see. With his nephew serving as the link between them, coupled with Orochimaru's guidance, once Uchiha Kiyoshi matured, he would become a bridge between the village and the Uchiha Clan.

Having only just recovered from his injuries and lost more than half a month of time, Sarutobi Saku was subjected to Orochimaru's abusive training regimen as soon as he was discharged.

For the past two days, Uchiha Kiyoshi and Nawaki had been spared Orochimaru's "care," leaving them much more relaxed.

Phew... Sarutobi Saku is finally better. Although this incident has passed, it also sounded an alarm for me.

Because of my arrival, some things have already changed. That means a lot of things will differ somewhat from what I know, though the overall direction probably will not change too much. At least, not for now.

Speaking of the plot, there is something else I need to watch out for. I still need to keep a low profile. That old ancestor, Uchiha Madara, isn't dead yet. He isn't even as old as he was when he saved Obito in the original story, which means he still has fighting power. Even more frighteningly, the Rinnegan is still with him!

Keep a low profile, keep a low profile. I absolutely cannot let Madara discover me. The Uchiha Clan's Mangekyo is far too uncontrollable. Uchiha Madara would definitely be wary of it. It is only because he is living in seclusion behind the scenes that it is inconvenient for him to act. But if someone shows talent in that area, he definitely would not mind snuffing them out early.

Madara can still hold on for another fifteen or sixteen years. It is not yet time for him to seek a successor, and he certainly would not choose an Uchiha as 'mature' in thought as me.

Mm, keep a low profile.

Having roughly set his future course of action, Uchiha Kiyoshi turned his attention back to training.

My training still isn't good enough.

Anyway, that tiny C-rank Mission—uh... B-rank Mission—almost got me killed. If my Substitution Technique hadn't improved, I really would have been done for this time. My strength is still insufficient. If I had dealt with the enemy earlier, how would there have been any Explosive Tag explosion?

Uchiha Kiyoshi did not know how Orochimaru had reported it, but when their records were filed, the mission's rank had been raised to B-rank. Still, that was a good thing. Strictly speaking, the difficulty of their mission had not reached B-rank. It was probably done out of respect for Orochimaru. Sure enough, having connections was great.

Mm, this is nice.

This incident proves that survival skills are important. Look at Sarutobi Saku. Wasn't it because he lacked such skills that he suffered so much?

Mm, I need to hurry up and practice defensive Ninjutsu. Earth Style Wall is pretty good, but unfortunately, its rank is too high and it consumes too much Chakra. I can't use it frequently. I need to learn another defensive Ninjutsu too, preferably one that requires fewer hand seals.

Also, I'm already familiar with the Chakra circulation for Earth Style Wall. I can start training to reduce the number of hand seals.

...

Uchiha Kiyoshi kept making training plans for the period ahead, striving to raise his survival abilities to the next level!

And there's the Substitution Technique. Ten meters is enough for my current needs, but I also need to improve the substitute object—the wooden log is too inconvenient to use.

Something like Minato's Flying Thunder God Kunai would work well.

Mm, I'll develop my Substitution Technique in that direction next.

Just imagining himself throwing a Kunai in the future, his enemy easily dodging it, only for him to suddenly appear behind them, filled Uchiha Kiyoshi with excitement.

Wahaha! By then, I should have enough ability to protect myself. I can consider this kind of offensive tactic.

Who did not dream of becoming a hero? Uchiha Kiyoshi also dreamed of the day when he could overturn mountains and seas with a wave of his hand, destroying heaven and earth. But reality did not allow it. Madara was still watching from the shadows.

So, he should honestly focus on training his survival abilities first.

What? Playing it safe? No such thing! You're slandering me! This is called being prudent, prudent! Put another way, it's called endurance!

A ninja had to understand endurance.

Isn't endurance the essence of being a ninja? I've understood it so thoroughly, and you still say I'm playing it safe?

After pushing himself to the limit that time, Uchiha Kiyoshi's body had been depleted for a long while. It was only during this past half month that he had recovered, and he had his Body Nourishment Technique to thank for that.

Uchiha Kiyoshi was very satisfied with the Body Nourishment Technique. He felt that this Secret Jutsu had laid an exceptionally perfect foundation for him.

As he nourished his body every day, Uchiha Kiyoshi could feel his physical qualities improving. It was not the kind of improvement that came from exercise, but a sensation that came from deep within. Uchiha Kiyoshi felt that it was evolution—the evolution of life, the evolution of one's level of life!

Ahem... That made it sound so grand, but the degree of evolution was not actually that great. It was simply a very slow form of evolution. But it was still evolution, wasn't it? Setting aside everything else, the improvements to his physical qualities and Chakra were the most obvious benefits.

Compared to Uchiha Kiyoshi, the physical qualities of others his age lagged far behind. No matter how refined their techniques were, they still could not catch up to Uchiha Kiyoshi's taijutsu level.

Uchiha Kiyoshi now judged his strength to be at the Chunin level. Originally, he might have only just entered that rank, but after going through that C... no, B-rank Mission, killing someone, maturing mentally, and breaking through some invisible limitation, his taijutsu had improved considerably over the past half month. His combat techniques that combined Ninjutsu had also become increasingly refined. He had now reached the peak of veteran Chunin and was nearing the level of an Elite Chunin.

According to Uchiha Kiyoshi's calculations, he would need his Chakra reserves to reach five hundred units while keeping all his other attributes progressing in proportion before he could truly reach the level of an Elite Chunin.

After this incident, my Chakra has also increased quite a bit. It was probably because the stimulation increased my Spiritual Energy. It has now reached over two hundred and forty units. Five hundred units isn't that far away... right?

Uchiha Kiyoshi greatly looked forward to becoming an Elite Chunin. It would signify an enormous increase in his strength.

Elite Chunin were already the backbone of every ninja village, people who had escaped the fate of cannon fodder. Moreover, in theory, by then Uchiha Kiyoshi would be confident in controlling a One Tomoe Sharingan. Although he would not be able to control it well the first time he awakened it, it would still be a trump card. If he were truly pushed into a corner, he could awaken it directly. With his strength increased, it would not be impossible for him to kill his opponent in return.

As for whether he could awaken it, Uchiha Kiyoshi was not worried. As the saying went, there were no Jonin in the Uchiha Clan who had not awakened the Sharingan. As long as his strength reached the required level, the difficulty of awakening the Sharingan would also decrease.

What was more, Uchiha Kiyoshi had actually felt it during that mission. At the instant the Explosive Tag detonated, his emotions had fluctuated violently, and something strange had stirred in his eyes. That should have been a sign of awakening. Since he was unprepared, Uchiha Kiyoshi had naturally suppressed it.

Enough thinking. Time to train.

Shaking the various thoughts from his mind, Uchiha Kiyoshi began the day's training.

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