Growing Stronger While Lying Down

"What are you looking at?"

At a certain moment, Jueming spoke.

His eyeballs shifted, startling the other children who had gathered around to watch.

"Jueming, are you okay?" they asked.

"I'm perfectly fine."

Jueming indicated that he was doing very well.

If he lay there a little longer, he would become even stronger.

[Stamina +1]

[Stamina +1]...

Mito Uzumaki was not surprised that Jueming could speak.

Although the Type-1 Lamp Array could restrain the body, the target still retained basic functions such as breathing, smelling, and speaking. They simply could not move on the surface.

"Then, we'll be leaving first..."

The Peers were thoroughly confused, but could only nod and leave.

Jueming continued lying there, completely motionless.

In Mito Uzumaki's eyes, Jueming definitely would not be able to hold on for long. He was merely a child...

Mito Uzumaki: "That's right, just a child."

After a while.

Footsteps approached.

Jueming rolled his eyes again.

It was the Great Elder.

"Jueming, why are you lying here? Isn't the ground cold?"

The Great Elder had white hair and a white beard, with kind features and the bearing of a master.

He cared deeply for the younger generation of the clan.

After Princess Tsunade, Hashirama Senju's granddaughter, threw down her responsibilities and ran away, the Great Elder had shouldered the burden of the Senju Clan.

In just a few years, all his hair had turned white. It was clear how much he had exhausted himself with worry.

Seeing a junior lying here, he was greatly puzzled.

"Great Elder, I'm just tired and resting for a while. Please do as you wish."

After saying that, Jueming turned his eyes back and stared straight at the sky.

"..."

The Great Elder froze for a moment, standing there in a daze.

After a long while... he sighed.

"Ah! It seems this child is about to go mad too..."

After saying that, he shook his head, his reddened eyes wide as he left.

"..."

Jueming's gaze followed him.

He also noticed that the Great Elder had used the word "too."

Go mad?

What did that mean?

Strangely, after the Great Elder said those words, Mito Uzumaki became unusually quiet.

So quiet... that it felt eerie.

The Senju Clan was Full of Crises.

It seemed the danger was not merely that other clans were rising outside while the Senju Clan was reduced to a background presence.

Jueming occasionally heard rumors that people within the Senju Clan had gone missing.

And speaking of madmen, the Senju Clan really did have quite a few people with unstable minds.

Was it some common problem caused by inbreeding?

There are quite a few strange things about the Senju Clan. In any case, I need to become as strong as possible to protect myself in this unfamiliar world...

Jueming thought.

Right.

The Great Elder had specifically warned him not to enter a certain "Forbidden area" within the clan land.

He was not allowed to approach it by even a single step.

And the direction the Great Elder was heading in was precisely the direction of the Forbidden area...

Time passed.

From eight in the morning to noon.

Jueming felt somewhat hungry.

Yet he still refused to compromise with Mito Uzumaki.

After all, his stamina was increasing here.

The feeling of growing stronger was addictive.

[Stamina +1]

[Stamina +1]...

"This Kid..."

Mito Uzumaki watched as Jueming lay there for four full hours.

Although she was still dissatisfied with his petty thievery.

That willpower...

But was it really willpower?

Mito Uzumaki could not help recalling the conversation between Jueming and the Great Elder.

"It seems this child is about to go mad too."

Her gaze dimmed slightly. That was the sin of the Senju Clan.

Absolutely... not...

After collecting her thoughts, Mito Uzumaki said clearly, "Senju Jueming, as long as you're willing to admit your mistake..."

"Shut up, woman."

Before Mito Uzumaki could finish speaking, Senju Jueming snapped at her without hesitation.

"You...!"

As a highly respected elder, when had she ever been talked back to like this?

"Hmph!"

Mito Uzumaki snorted coldly and said nothing more. She decided to starve him for two days first. She refused to believe he would actually starve himself to death!

Time passed from noon to afternoon, then to night.

Jueming truly felt hungry.

But... so what?

In his previous life.

Jueming had once gone into hiding for three days and three nights without eating.

He could also live for long periods in enclosed spaces that would drive people mad.

Going hungry for a few meals was nothing at all.

Before long, the sun set.

The dim yellow light shone upon Jueming's face, and he closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, the sky was already filled with stars.

"Hehe..."

Mito Uzumaki was so angry that she laughed.

Because he had actually fallen asleep while lying there!

"It seems my stamina increased again."

Jueming sensed the changes in his body.

However, it seemed that less stamina was added while he was asleep.

That meant...

There was skill involved even in lying down. Lying down with his eyes open gave him the most stamina.

Furthermore, Jueming discovered that the [Stamina +1] notifications no longer appeared.

That was because there was a limit to how much strength he could gain from lying down each day.

To continue growing stronger, he would have to lie down again tomorrow.

"Then..."

Jueming tried moving his body.

According to the system's explanation, Mito Uzumaki was indeed within his Mental Space.

But the spell she had cast could interfere with his body from the Reality Plane.

That was normal.

"Chakra" = "Physical Energy" + "Mental Energy."

Mental Energy, souls... things like that could all interfere with Reality Law.

In this world where Ninja was the primary profession, things such as the spirit were not illusory.

Tap.

Jueming's finger twitched.

"!"

Mito Uzumaki's eyes widened.

Jueming was struggling against the seal of the Type-1 Lamp Array.

Then came his palm, then his arm.

When Jueming used his entire arm to push himself up, disbelief rippled through Mito Uzumaki's eyes.

Then Jueming patted his backside and rose from the ground.

Within the Mental Space, the Type-1 Lamp Array was also dispelled. The ghostly scribbled spell markings retreated before overwhelming strength.

"Not bad."

Jueming assessed his strength.

After lying down all day, it had increased considerably.

Two or three burly men would not be able to surpass him now.

That was impossible!

Mito Uzumaki cried out inwardly.

As a guide, although she currently possessed only a tiny fraction of the strength she had in life and her true power had not yet awakened.

Even so, she should not have been someone an ordinary Kid could resist.

She immediately pondered the matter carefully.

After comparing them, she discovered that Jueming's current strength had increased by at least double compared to that morning!

What was going on...?!

Mito Uzumaki had never encountered such a sudden surge in strength before.

Oh, no... there had indeed been one.

Could what the Great Elder said be true?

When she looked at Jueming again, a trace of pity appeared in her eyes after her shock.

"What are your parents' names?" Mito Uzumaki suddenly asked.

"I don't know."

After dusting himself off, Jueming strode away.

Ninja was a profession with an extremely high casualty rate.

Orphans were the norm among children in this world.

Jueming... was no exception.