Cultivation

"I've basically met the prerequisites for developing Replacement Shunshin. Next, I just need to give it a proper try."

With at least three months of training time left, Uchiha Kiyoshi still had time to research it. He had not spent all those years studying Sealing Jutsu Basics for nothing. He had learned the most comprehensive Sealing Jutsu Basics within the Uchiha Clan, and he had studied them seriously, building an exceptionally solid foundation. That was also why he had been able to master all the basic applications of Sealing Jutsu in only three months.

So-called Basic Sealing Jutsu truly was only basic. Take one Binding Array, for example—even an ordinary person with a little more strength could break free from it. But Uchiha Kiyoshi was not looking at the effects themselves. What he wanted was the combined application of different formulas, much like the small Chakra circulation loop he had worked on before. With these basic methods of combination, so long as they were layered and combined properly, all sorts of Sealing Jutsu could be developed.

Still, this was no simple task. There were already many Sealing Formulas, and combining them was not as simple as stacking them together. They had to be organically integrated. For example, if "123" and "425" were combined, making them work would not mean simply joining the two sequences in order. They might need to be arranged into something like 142325 instead. Then there was the question of whether identical formulas could be shared—some could, while others could not. Furthermore, Sealing Formulas were not merely drawn in sequence along a single line; some were planar, while others were spatial. All in all, it was quite troublesome.

Those examples were merely the simplest ones for the sake of understanding. Actual Sealing Jutsu combinations never involved fewer than ten formulas, and the amount of trial and error required far exceeded imagination. However, Uchiha Kiyoshi's foundation was extremely solid, allowing him to directly eliminate a huge number of incorrect combinations. Coupled with the permutations and combinations from mathematics in his previous life, he held a major advantage over other ninja.

"First, I'll set a small goal: develop a Sealing Jutsu that can temporarily seal Chakra into a kunai."

Having set his goal, Uchiha Kiyoshi began another round of training.

Every morning, Uchiha Kiyoshi trained his body. His development was now fairly complete, and he could use weighted gear, so he bought two sets—one weighing ten kilograms and the other twenty. He wore the twenty-kilogram set while training and kept the ten-kilogram set on during ordinary hours.

Thanks to the Body Nourishment Technique, Uchiha Kiyoshi was not afraid of draining his body, which was why he dared to train while wearing weights. He was not some Canglan Beast. The effects of weighted training were quite good as well, and Uchiha Kiyoshi's physical fitness improved much faster.

Feeling the rapid improvement in his physical fitness again after so long, Uchiha Kiyoshi trained with even greater dedication.

"Unfortunately, the physical improvements from training don't have that sense of evolution that the Body Nourishment Technique provides."

Unlike the improvements brought by the Body Nourishment Technique's nourishment of the body, physical training did not give him the feeling that it was promoting bodily evolution. It simply strengthened his body. Still, that was enough. Uchiha Kiyoshi had yet to discover what use that sense of evolution had, so there was naturally no need to rush that aspect of his improvement.

After completing taijutsu training in the morning, he cultivated the Body Nourishment Technique after lunch. Then, in the afternoon, Uchiha Kiyoshi practiced Ninjutsu—both new Ninjutsu and improving his proficiency with those he had already mastered. Once his Chakra was exhausted, he stopped to think through theoretical matters related to Sealing Jutsu. At night, after dinner and after recovering his Chakra, he worked on developing Sealing Jutsu.

Orochimaru also noticed Uchiha Kiyoshi's diligent training. His progress generally met Orochimaru's expectations, so Orochimaru did not interfere too much. Most of his attention was focused on Nawaki and Sarutobi Saku.

Sarutobi Saku was easy enough to deal with. He was naturally talented, and with his solid foundation, he had no trouble learning all sorts of things.

Nawaki was different. Although Uchiha Kiyoshi had answered his questions every day at the Ninja Academy and filled in quite a few gaps in his knowledge, it had only been enough for him to pass the graduation assessment. When it came to genuine theoretical knowledge, Nawaki's foundation was extremely weak. And was Orochimaru the sort of person who would let him get away with that? Obviously not. Under Orochimaru's pressure, Nawaki had to study plenty of basics every day and submit to inspections from his teacher. For a poor student, this was simply the most miserable kind of training.

Outside of studying, Orochimaru also intensified Nawaki's Chakra control training. With so much Chakra, how could it not be put to use? Learning more Ninjutsu was the best way to use it, but judging by Nawaki's situation, he learned Ninjutsu far too slowly. He could only train his Chakra control first. Sharpening the axe did not delay the chopping of wood. Once Chakra control improved, every other area benefited; it was not merely useful for practicing Medical Ninjutsu. In fact, many Ninjutsu required powerful Chakra control to complete.

As for Nawaki's miserable life, Uchiha Kiyoshi was powerless to help.

This was karma. Ah, if you did not work hard when young, you would only grieve in old age. That was exactly what this meant. Though Nawaki was not old yet, the principle was the same. He had refused to study properly before, and now he was suffering for it.

"If I put this formula here, the entire jutsu will operate smoothly. Combining Barrier, binding, and reinforcement should allow it to seal Chakra, right?"

Uchiha Kiyoshi carefully engraved the formula combination he had just worked out onto a standard-issue kunai. Seeing that the formulas did not conflict this time, he finally let out a sigh of relief.

Over these three months, Uchiha Kiyoshi had combined Basic Barrier, Binding Array, and a Sealing Formula with a reinforcement effect. After constant deduction, he had finally stabilized the entire Sealing Jutsu. If the effect was good enough, he could use it to improve Replacement Shunshin.

For three months, he had ruined five or six kunai every day. They were only standard-issue models, but that was still enough to make Uchiha Kiyoshi's heart ache. To cover those expenses, he had taken on one or two D-rank Missions every day for the past three months.

Having finally stabilized the formula without ruining the kunai, Uchiha Kiyoshi breathed a sigh of relief. If this had continued, he truly would not have been able to keep it up. After all, the village had only a limited number of D-rank Missions. Even though he was a ninja qualified to take C-rank Missions, there was a limit to how many D-rank Missions he could accept. This was also to prevent higher-ranked ninja from farming missions and lowering the quality of completion.

Uchiha Kiyoshi placed his right hand on the kunai and slowly infused Chakra into it.

"Whew, it's stable. Looks like these three months weren't wasted. As long as it can seal Chakra, that's enough. Let's continue and see what the limit is."

Uchiha Kiyoshi continued pouring Chakra into the kunai's seal.

Bang!

At last, the seal on the kunai could no longer bear the strain, and the kunai was ruined.

"So the seal's maximum capacity is around ten Ka of Chakra? No, under normal conditions, it's best to keep it at eight Ka. That's the only way to ensure the entire jutsu operates normally."

Uchiha Kiyoshi looked at the ruined kunai and summarized the effects of the Sealing Jutsu from the experiment just now.

To be honest, Uchiha Kiyoshi was somewhat dissatisfied with the result. Half of the Chakra consumed by the entire Substitution Technique was used to set up the replacement object. In other words, the sealed Chakra was basically half the Chakra needed to activate the Ninjutsu.

With only eight Ka of Chakra capable of being sealed, the range of the Substitution Technique was naturally limited.

At Uchiha Kiyoshi's current level, with fifteen to seventeen Ka of Chakra, the maximum replacement range was only around five meters.

For Uchiha Kiyoshi's Substitution Technique, anything below three meters required one Ka. Four meters required five Ka, five meters required over ten Ka, six meters required around thirty Ka, and ten meters required one hundred and twenty Ka.

For every additional meter of replacement distance, the Chakra consumption increased faster and faster. This was already the best result after Uchiha Kiyoshi's improvements, which was the main reason the Substitution Technique, this Space-Time Ninjutsu, was so impractical.

"Heh, maybe I'm asking for too much. Five meters already has practical combat value. It's barely enough for now, and there's still plenty of time to improve it slowly. What about adding several more reinforcement steps? Hmm, I can try that."

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