Hand Seal Practice

After studying Chakra and gaining nothing from it, Uchiha Kiyoshi felt rather frustrated. It seemed not everything was as simple as he had imagined.

Indeed, since he had already transmigrated here, this was a real world. He could not treat everyone else like fools. Countless ninjas must have tried something as simple as this already. How could they possibly have waited for him to pick up the leftovers?

Uchiha Kiyoshi adjusted his mindset and began considering his own path forward.

He had always thought many things were no big deal, but when he actually tried to do them, he discovered they were genuinely difficult—or even impossible.

Uchiha Kiyoshi reflected on his previous mistakes. "I was still too presumptuous. This is a real world; not everything revolves around me. Many things can only succeed when done step by step. And I'd better stop dwelling on unrealistic ideas.

"My plans need to change as well. In a real world, accidents can happen at any time. Not everything can go according to my expectations. I can only make sure the overall direction remains unchanged, while adapting to circumstances in the smaller matters."

As Uchiha Kiyoshi continued reflecting, he drafted a new plan: generally speaking, he would move toward becoming stronger. As for his short-term goal, during the next few years at the Ninja Academy, he would strive to reach Chunin level. Only then would his safety be assured.

"Kakashi became a Chunin at six. It's not too much for me to become one at ten, right?"

Having set himself a goal, Uchiha Kiyoshi naturally would not waste any more time.

In the Ninja World, Ninjutsu was the guarantee of a ninja's strength. Only by mastering powerful Ninjutsu could one truly wield formidable power. Otherwise, one would be like Naruto in his early days: full of Chakra, yet unable to make use of it because his Ninjutsu was lacking.

There were two most crucial elements to casting Ninjutsu: sufficient Chakra and correct hand seals. Of course, some special Ninjutsu did not require hand seals.

In Uchiha Kiyoshi's understanding, not needing hand seals did not mean nothing had to be done. Rather, the hand seal process had been omitted through proficiency or exceptional Chakra control.

Put simply, hand seals were a process that helped ninjas mobilize Chakra.

Well... Uchiha Kiyoshi had read all of that in the Archives.

As for Chakra, Uchiha Kiyoshi had no solution. He could only accumulate it step by step. What he could do was thoroughly understand the process of hand seals.

Perhaps because he had received the most scientific education in his previous life, where one advanced gradually from the fundamentals to higher levels, he had found that once one had a foundation, many things became easy to learn. Thus, after arriving in the Ninja World, Uchiha Kiyoshi could not help wanting to investigate the essence of many things.

Or rather, he did not necessarily need to uncover it completely. As long as he could formulate a relatively fundamental theory and then learn based on that, his efficiency would improve considerably.

Take Ninjutsu, for example. The principles behind its release could be set aside for now. What Uchiha Kiyoshi needed was to learn Ninjutsu quickly. To cast Ninjutsu, a ninja only needed to form the correct hand seals and possess enough Chakra. But what counted as correct hand seals?

Thus, during the previous four years, aside from materials on Medical Ninjutsu and Sealing Jutsu, Uchiha Kiyoshi had spent his time reading theoretical knowledge about Ninjutsu, such as the functions and techniques of hand seals.

From this, he learned that different ninjas required different hand seals to cast different Ninjutsu! As long as one was proficient enough and met the required standard of Chakra control, some hand seals could be omitted!

That was what Uchiha Kiyoshi needed to explore: how to omit hand seals, and why that was possible.

In any case, he was only six years old and had not yet reached the age to learn Ninjutsu. He still had time to study it. Uchiha Kiyoshi was not afraid of failure. Even if he failed, perhaps part of this research process would prove useful in his future studies.

He still knew too little. Only through continual accumulation and gradual progress could he truly establish the theoretical framework he wanted.

That was right, establish a framework. Uchiha Kiyoshi wanted to establish his own theoretical framework to explain his understanding of many things and make it easier to create his own Ninjutsu in the future.

Of course, he would set aside his research for now. There was something more important to do.

"First, practice hand seals."

Uchiha Kiyoshi did not even know how to form hand seals yet, so how could he research them?

There were twelve ninja hand seals in total: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Hare, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Ram, Monkey, Bird, Dog, and Boar. Uchiha Kiyoshi practiced them one by one in order.

Starting out awkwardly, he gradually became more proficient. After an entire afternoon, Uchiha Kiyoshi's hand seal speed had reached... one seal every two seconds...

Uchiha Kiyoshi was quite troubled by this. There was no helping it—hand seals could only be improved through repeated practice. Only once his fingers became familiar with the movements of every seal could he make rapid progress. As a beginner who had only just started practicing hand seals, what he needed to focus on was proficiency, letting his fingers adapt to every movement. Blindly pursuing speed would only be putting the cart before the horse.

Thus, over the following days, Uchiha Kiyoshi did not focus too much on hand seal speed. Instead, he repeatedly formed the twelve seals in random order, allowing his fingers to become proficient in all the seal forms and react quickly according to his will to complete the appropriate seal.

Although Uchiha Kiyoshi was not pursuing speed, he still kept each seal within two seconds. For the increasingly proficient Uchiha Kiyoshi, the pressure was not great.

This also had another benefit: it did less damage to his fingers, allowing him to practice longer.

Even so, each day's practice still left Uchiha Kiyoshi's fingers sore and swollen.

Fortunately, as a major clan, the Uchiha Clan had many well-developed resources. There were specialized medicines for treating and relieving finger fatigue, prepared specifically for ninjas practicing hand seals. Refined over generations, they were extremely effective.

Moreover, clan members could receive a twenty percent discount when buying them.

Compared to a Medicinal Bath, these medicines were much cheaper. A month's supply only cost ten thousand, so Uchiha Kiyoshi could barely afford it.

With the medicine allowing his fingers to receive timely treatment, Uchiha Kiyoshi's progress was not slow.

In merely five days, Uchiha Kiyoshi had already passed the beginner stage. Whatever seal he wanted to form, he could now react quickly.

Uchiha Kiyoshi had also tested it in private. At full speed, he could already form one seal per second!

A doubling of speed in five days was not slow, and Uchiha Kiyoshi could feel that with daily practice, he would continue improving once he became more proficient.

"Hand seal practice has been preliminarily completed. From now on, I just need to practice every day. Next, it's time to explore the principles of hand seals."

Uchiha Kiyoshi had read the explanation of hand seals in the Archives.

Chakra was formed from the fusion of Physical Energy and Spiritual Energy. Therefore, apart from using one's control ability to directly manipulate Chakra, bodily movements could also affect the circulation of Chakra within the body. Among the most precise parts of the human body, the hands naturally became the focus.

Different hand seals caused different reactions in the Chakra within the body.

Previously, Uchiha Kiyoshi had only known this claim. He knew what happened, but not why; he did not understand what these so-called different reactions actually referred to.

"Today, I'll properly experience what these different reactions are."

Uchiha Kiyoshi focused his mind, paying attention to the Chakra within his body as his hands began forming seals.

Along with the hand seals, Uchiha Kiyoshi could feel the Chakra within his body tending to stir into motion. However, because he was keeping his attention focused on it, the Chakra remained under his control and did not start circulating. As long as he did not stop it, the Chakra would likely begin to circulate on its own as the seals were formed.

Afterward, Uchiha Kiyoshi released his control and even actively pushed the Chakra to complete the corresponding circulation, continuing his research.

"So that's how it is. Different seal forms correspond to different changes in Chakra, and combining seals means linking the circulation of Chakra. For instance, the Rat Seal can make Chakra circulate to the right arm, while the Ram Seal can make the Chakra that reaches there continue onward to the hand. So, forming a Ram Seal after a Rat Seal will cause Chakra to travel directly from the lower abdomen to the right arm, then continue into the right hand.

"What needs attention should be the connections between different seals. Only by controlling the timing can this process be completed smoothly. Otherwise, if you form a Ram Seal before the Chakra has reached the arm, the process cannot be completed.

"Furthermore, there is more than one such connection. Rat Seal plus Ram Seal can, apart from this process, also send Chakra to the left leg and then onward to the left foot. There are other processes as well, and some even require the same connection timing.

"If that's the case, casting Ninjutsu should involve certain specific Chakra circulation processes, and what ninjas need to do is complete the correct circulation?"

Uchiha Kiyoshi felt that he had found the right way to learn Ninjutsu.

Overjoyed, Uchiha Kiyoshi continued his research, wanting to see what combinations roughly existed between different seal forms.

"Isn't this just high school math—permutations and combinations? I know this!"

Brimming with confidence, Uchiha Kiyoshi began trying repeatedly, attempting to find every Chakra reaction corresponding to each seal and combine them with one another.

However, just as Uchiha Kiyoshi was full of energy and ready to continue researching without stopping, the soreness in his fingers snapped him awake.

"Ah! I was so focused on research that I didn't consider what my fingers could endure. A miscalculation. I can only continue after they recover."

Uchiha Kiyoshi gave a bitter smile and helplessly stopped his research.

Now that he thought about it carefully, the various Chakra changes corresponding to different seal forms made Uchiha Kiyoshi suck in a cold breath.

"Just one Rat Seal corresponds to more than twenty kinds of Chakra circulation?"

Thinking of that, Uchiha Kiyoshi sighed at how impulsive he had been to start trying them one by one.

He clearly knew this was a permutations-and-combinations problem, yet he had still charged in recklessly. It seemed he was not calm enough.

Now that he could not move his hands, Uchiha Kiyoshi could only rely on imagination, recalling his earlier sensations, trying different combinations, and summarizing his experience from just now.

As Uchiha Kiyoshi sorted things out, he discovered that hand seals had far too many effects on Chakra. It was very likely beyond his ability to research them all.

Why did he say that? Through classification, Uchiha Kiyoshi discovered that the reactions caused by hand seals were not all something that could be completely sensed just by forming a seal and following Chakra's flow. Some reactions merely gave Chakra a tendency and could not fully mobilize its flow. They required the ninja to subjectively control it and give it a "push" while forming the seal.

If that was the case, there might be many more tendencies he had yet to sense.

Even more terrifyingly, under normal circumstances, a ninja's Chakra was stored in the lower abdomen rather than distributed throughout the entire body.

In other words, the changes caused by directly forming seals only reflected that seal form's effects on Chakra in the lower abdomen! Beyond what he could sense through directly forming seals, what changes would occur in areas without Chakra if Chakra were present there?

"Isn't this project far too vast? No wonder creating Ninjutsu is so difficult. So that's why?

"Is this method unique to me, or do many people already know it?"

Uchiha Kiyoshi continued analyzing it, uncertain and suspicious, but he still calmed down.

"Probably not. Otherwise, there would not be no records of it in public.

"Most ninjas probably only follow others' guidance, memorize the necessary circulation routes, and accumulate them over time.

"Perhaps only I would be bored enough to sense and summarize them one by one?"

In truth, Uchiha Kiyoshi had guessed wrong. How could no one throughout the Ninja World's thousand-year history have thought of doing this? Such people were merely rare. Moreover, such attempts were generally made only when people had just begun cultivating, and at that stage, their Chakra control was nowhere near as outstanding as Uchiha Kiyoshi's, making it difficult for them to discover anything.

"More ninjas should have summaries in this area, at least summaries of Chakra reactions and the like. It's just that theirs are based primarily on the routes within Ninjutsu they have already learned, supplemented by their own gradual explorations.

"I'm the exact opposite. Since I haven't cultivated Ninjutsu yet, I'm trying to summarize it out of boredom?"

Uchiha Kiyoshi shook his head and stopped thinking about these things.

Perhaps recalling the enormous number of different Chakra reactions again gave Uchiha Kiyoshi another headache. After thinking it over, he still made a choice.

"I should first record the most superficial reactions—the Chakra reactions in the lower abdomen that can be mobilized directly through seal forms—then gradually study other parts of the body. Lastly, I'll collect the hidden reactions that only have a tendency, one by one. That final step can only be accumulated slowly.

"As for the issue of combinations, perhaps it should be separated out and researched independently."

Having organized his thoughts, Uchiha Kiyoshi now had a direction. In the time ahead, he would gradually sort and summarize things according to this line of thought.

However, there were other matters to deal with now.

Uchiha Kiyoshi applied ointment to both hands, wrapped them up, and headed outside.

After leaving home, Uchiha Kiyoshi went straight to the Archives.

Over the past few days, aside from practicing hand seals, Uchiha Kiyoshi had continued visiting the Archives in search of various materials, hoping to find a way to solve the problem of Chakra being unable to nourish the body.

Uchiha Kiyoshi truly could not accept it. How could such a fine cultivation system possibly fail to grant longevity?

Even in the various wuxia novels from his previous life, if there were no life-extending effects and no hidden injuries, one could at least live to a hundred, right?

After arriving in the Ninja World, it would have been one thing if cultivating Chakra did not increase one's lifespan, but it even shortened it. What the hell was that?

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