Inspiration from the Samurai (Please Bookmark)

Uchiha Kiyoshi knew full well of Chakra's dangers. Extracting too much would damage the body's cells, which was why ninjas tended to have short lifespans. Ever since extracting Chakra for the first time, Uchiha Kiyoshi had never done so at full capacity.

But this could not go on forever. If he failed to find a solution, his Chakra growth would definitely be delayed. If his Chakra could not improve, he would even have to be stingy when learning Ninjutsu. Sooner or later, it would drag him down completely.

Uchiha Kiyoshi was anxious as well. Every day, he set aside five or six hours to visit the Uchiha Clan Archives, hoping to find some inspiration.

However, a solution was not something he could find so easily. Uchiha Kiyoshi could only calm himself and do what he needed to do every day.

Just like that, half a month passed.

The Ninja Academy would reopen in another ten days, but Uchiha Kiyoshi felt nothing much about it.

Over the past half month, Uchiha Kiyoshi's hand seal speed had doubled again. He could now form two seals per second, meeting the standard for learning Ninjutsu.

As mentioned before, Ninjutsu was released through the circulation of Chakra within the body, which required a certain hand seal speed. Otherwise, if the effect of the previous seal had already passed before the next one was formed, how could the technique possibly succeed?

Moreover, Uchiha Kiyoshi's hand seal speed referred only to pure hand speed.

Without any coordination from Chakra circulation, he could only form two seals per second.

If Chakra manipulation was added in, and he also had to pay attention to the rhythm between hand seals, he might not even be able to form three seals in two seconds!

Uchiha Itachi's six seals per second in the original work referred to when he was actually casting Ninjutsu—when he was manipulating Chakra, and in the middle of battle at that.

That was why Uchiha Itachi's six seals per second were so impressive. Otherwise, as long as someone was willing to practice, almost anyone could achieve the hand speed of six seals per second. The difficult part was still Chakra manipulation.

In short, one had to become familiar with the flow of Chakra throughout the entire Ninjutsu casting process, then circulate Chakra while keeping up with a speed of six seals per second.

After the seals were formed, the speed at which Chakra flowed was actually fixed, though it could naturally be controlled by the ninja. Improving hand seal speed also meant improving the speed at which the ninja drove Chakra.

Even with the guidance of hand seals, this process was extremely complicated. Without day-after-day practice, it was difficult to achieve.

As for hand seal speed, Uchiha Kiyoshi could only take it one step at a time.

Uchiha Kiyoshi's work of recording and summarizing the Chakra circulation corresponding to hand seals was already on track. He had completed records of how the twelve hand seals affected the Chakra in his lower abdomen, and had begun studying other areas as well.

However, because of Uchiha Kiyoshi's condition, his Chakra reserves were not especially outstanding. Therefore, the time he could spend researching each day was limited.

So the problem returned to Chakra once again.

Looking over the history of ninja development, Chakra had always been one of the major factors restricting a ninja's progress. Thus, Uchiha Kiyoshi did not actually have much time left.

Uchiha Kiyoshi decided that if he still could not find a solution within three months, he would abandon his original plan and extract Chakra with all his strength.

After all, the Ninja World had all sorts of strange Ninjutsu. At worst, he could get himself a new body later. Impure World Reincarnation plus One's Own Life Reincarnation, and he could start all over again!

Of course, the prerequisite was that he had to become strong enough to leave himself such a backup plan.

Once again, his research continued until he ran short of Chakra. Uchiha Kiyoshi sighed helplessly, recorded the previous data, and stopped for the day.

After recovering his mental energy, Uchiha Kiyoshi got up and headed for the clan Archives.

Along the way, Uchiha Kiyoshi kept thinking about his earlier problem, feeling both hopeful and worried.

"Three months... How can I find a way to use Chakra to nourish the body? Sigh! Could it be that I've taken the wrong path?"

Uchiha Kiyoshi frowned at times and sighed at others. Fortunately, he walked with his head lowered, and there were few pedestrians around, so no one saw him like this. Otherwise, they might have thought Uchiha Kiyoshi had gone mad.

When he arrived at the Archives, Uchiha Kiyoshi first greeted an elderly man at the entrance before walking inside.

He did not greet him because he thought the man was some kind of hidden master.

Rather, the man really was that kind of person. It was not as simple as it looked.

Every ninja in the Uchiha Clan who had come here to look up information knew that the old man at the entrance was no ordinary man.

Uchiha Yu, a retired ninja of the Uchiha Clan, had possessed Elite Jonin strength at his peak. Even now, he served as the Uchiha Clan's Elder in charge of external affairs!

After all, a place as important as the Archives could not be guarded by just anyone.

Uchiha Yu raised his head and looked at Uchiha Kiyoshi.

He remembered this junior. Uchiha Kiyoshi had often come here to read since childhood and was a good child. However, Uchiha Yu had recently learned some things about him from Uchiha Shin, and he deeply regretted Uchiha Kiyoshi's situation.

The hurdle in his heart can only be crossed by himself. Sigh! Such a studious junior surely couldn't have poor talent. What a pity. If only...

But if this little fellow can truly make it through, perhaps his future will be limitless!

His clouded eyes watched Uchiha Kiyoshi's departing back as Uchiha Yu silently made his assessment.

Unfortunately, Uchiha Kiyoshi knew nothing about it.

He also did not know that one act of pretense from him had led someone else to imagine such a whole scenario. As expected, the human imagination was the strongest thing of all.

Uchiha Kiyoshi entered the Archives and headed straight for the medical section.

The Uchiha Clan was proud and arrogant, but not careless. Their materials were organized very neatly.

The entire Archives was divided into different sections. The largest section contained materials related to the Sharingan, and naturally, only members of the Uchiha Clan could enter it.

Then came Genjutsu Fundamentals, followed by Fire Release, and after that were sections for other elemental releases, medical knowledge, Sealing Jutsu, and so on.

Recently, Uchiha Kiyoshi had been reading in the medical section, hoping to find inspiration for using Chakra to nourish the body through methods of improving physical constitution.

For four years, Uchiha Kiyoshi had frequently visited the medical and Sealing Jutsu sections, so Uchiha Yu, the Archives keeper, was naturally well aware of it.

Uchiha Yu said nothing about it. He would not interfere with the directions his clansmen chose for their training. Besides, Uchiha Kiyoshi had "liked" reading this knowledge since childhood, and he seemed able to understand it. Perhaps he truly had talent in this area!

It would naturally be a good thing if the clan gained an outstanding medical ninja or a ninja proficient in Sealing Jutsu.

And given Uchiha Kiyoshi's situation, perhaps becoming a medical ninja would not be bad either...

Uchiha Yu withdrew his gaze and closed his eyes again, remaining alert.

Time passed like this while Uchiha Kiyoshi read intently.

Uchiha Kiyoshi put down Ninja Body Tempering Basics. As his gaze swept across the bookshelf, a book titled Samurai Body Tempering Method suddenly caught his attention.

"Why is there a samurai book here?"

Picking up Samurai Body Tempering Method, Uchiha Kiyoshi felt puzzled. He did not know why his clan, a ninja clan, had collected such a thing.

"Maybe they acquired it by accident and thought it would be a waste to throw it away, so they put it here?"

Originally, Uchiha Kiyoshi intended to put the book back. But on second thought, he had never studied how samurai improved their physical constitution. Had he been too narrow-minded by keeping his attention fixed on ninjas?

Should he study other systems?

With that thought in mind, Uchiha Kiyoshi opened Samurai Body Tempering Method and began studying it seriously.

Afterward, Uchiha Kiyoshi specifically found several books about samurai, intending to research them himself.

Two hours passed without him noticing.

Uchiha Kiyoshi remained unaware, still reading the materials in his hands.

What Uchiha Kiyoshi held now was a biography of a certain samurai.

When he saw that this samurai had lived to be one hundred and twenty years old, Uchiha Kiyoshi's eyes narrowed. He felt that his inspiration was about to arrive.

One hundred and twenty years was practically an impossible lifespan in the Ninja World. Even Uchiha Madara had only lived into his eighties or nineties while being kept alive by the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path!

After studying it carefully, Uchiha Kiyoshi discovered that this samurai was no different from the others. He had not consumed any miraculous medicines either. The only difference was that the samurai who had lived to one hundred and twenty had a mild temperament and rarely fought with others.

"So that means he didn't have any hidden injuries or anything like that?"

Uchiha Kiyoshi muttered to himself. Looking at the book in his hands, his gaze became unfocused as his thoughts flew somewhere far away.

Uchiha Kiyoshi suddenly snapped awake and began searching for biographies of other samurai.

"Sure enough, it isn't an isolated case. Any samurai who suffered few injuries in his youth, or received timely treatment, tended to live quite long.

"Even without cultivating Chakra or suffering from illness, humans in the Ninja World absolutely cannot reach one hundred years of age!"

Uchiha Kiyoshi felt his mind heat up and his breathing quicken. He felt that he had found the right direction.

After being excited for five minutes, Uchiha Kiyoshi finally calmed down. He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, bringing his emotions under control.

He picked up the earlier Samurai Body Tempering Method again and began studying it. He felt certain that he had missed something and needed to examine it properly once more.

Before he knew it, it was already late at night. Only after Uchiha Yu urged him did Uchiha Kiyoshi come to his senses. He hurriedly apologized, returned the books to their original places, and left the Archives.

After seeing Uchiha Kiyoshi leave, Uchiha Yu did not close the doors immediately. Instead, he turned his attention to the materials Uchiha Kiyoshi had just been studying.

"Samurai Body Tempering Method? Why is that boy reading this sort of thing? And so absorbed in it?"

Uchiha Yu took out Samurai Body Tempering Method and skimmed through it. After roughly understanding its contents, he asked in confusion, "Isn't it just a method for samurai body tempering? Does he need to take it so seriously? The samurai way wastes too much effort. Though it surpasses ninjas by quite a bit in taijutsu, it has already been eliminated."

Uchiha Yu muttered to himself, then suddenly sucked in a cold breath.

"Hiss, that boy... It can't be, can it?"

Uchiha Yu could not believe it.

"Is he that afraid of dying? He's even so interested in samurai body tempering? Medical Ninjutsu, samurai body tempering... Hiss... That's a lot to take in!"

Uchiha Yu immediately began worrying about Uchiha Kiyoshi's situation.

Could that boy truly have the perseverance to learn the samurai way? That would be such a pity. Such a diligent child—how had he been struck so hard that he became this afraid of death?

"Forget it. I'll observe him a little longer. If he really starts practicing this, I'll give him some guidance then. Such a good seedling cannot be delayed on the samurai path."

Uchiha Kiyoshi had no idea that his actions had made the old man at the entrance imagine so much.

If he knew, Uchiha Kiyoshi would only say, "You're overthinking it. Training that difficult and slow to show results? I wouldn't be able to keep it up at all!"

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