Formulating a Cultivation Plan

Closing the book, Neji began planning for the future.

His body was still small, and Chakra extraction needed careful control—drawing too much physical energy could affect his growth and development.

Physical training couldn't be too intense either; his bones probably hadn't fully hardened yet, and overtraining could deform them, which would be a loss far greater than gain.

But he couldn't do nothing at all—after all, the phrase "don't lose at the starting line" was deeply ingrained in people from his past life.

From his father's notes and a wealth of introductory texts, he summarized two methods to accelerate training.

The first was eating energy-rich food. As long as the energy replenished exceeded what was consumed, it wouldn't hinder his growth.

The Akimichi Clan excelled at this. Not only could they cook energy-dense meals, but they also had secret techniques to speed up digestion and store excess energy as fat, to be drawn upon when needed.

The downside was that storing too much energy would turn you into a fatso!

The second method was soaking in medicinal baths prepared with specific formulas. The herbal stimulation would accelerate physical growth, supply necessary nutrients for development, and repair hidden injuries from training.

The Nara Clan were the experts in this area.

Medicinal baths were relatively straightforward—as long as you had money. The formulas themselves might not be for sale, but hiring the Nara Clan to prepare the baths was no problem, since that was their business.

Getting the Akimichi Clan to prepare high-energy meals was easy enough, but obtaining their secret technique for rapid digestion and energy storage was extremely difficult. He'd have to set that goal aside and pursue it slowly later.

Having sorted all this out, he checked the time—it was still early. After lighting a stick of incense at his father's memorial tablet, he first headed to the Nara Clan's medicinal herb sales point.

About twenty minutes later, he arrived. The Nara family's pharmacy was moderately sized, with a well-stocked selection of herbs.

Entering the main hall, a shop assistant greeted him proactively, not dismissing Neji just because he was a child—after all, the Hyuga Clan's Byakugan was highly distinctive and recognizable.

After stating his purpose, the assistant led Neji to a small meeting room where an elderly gentleman sat.

Neji spoke first: "Greetings, sir. I'm Hyuga Neji. I'd like to commission your pharmacy to prepare some medicinal herbs that promote physical development and accelerate Chakra training."

The old man looked up with a smile, gazing at Neji. "So it's Neji. Please, have a seat. I am Nara Rikuo. My condolences on your father's passing."

"As for the herbs, that's no problem. I'll prepare them today, and you can pick them up tomorrow. Put the herbs in a bath bucket, control the water temperature, soak once every two days for one hour each time."

"It can speed up physical growth and aid Chakra training to some extent. The effects are modest, but the formula is gentle and won't harm your development."

"However, a few of the ingredients are quite rare, so the cost isn't cheap—two thousand ryo per batch."

Neji thought it over. At two thousand a batch, a year would cost about three hundred thousand ryo, and ten years nearly three million—about a third of his total funds.

But then he figured, money was meant to be spent. Building a solid foundation was more important than anything. He didn't hesitate further. After paying a deposit and bidding farewell to Nara Rikuo, he headed to his next destination—a restaurant run by the Akimichi Clan.

The Akimichi Clan ran many restaurants in Konoha. Neji picked a larger one. Since it was near mealtime, the place was crowded, and the aroma of various dishes wafted over. Neji silently noted that the Akimichi Clan truly had a knack for food research.

He found the store manager and stated his purpose again—he wanted the restaurant to prepare energy-rich, nutritionally balanced meals. The manager had no reason to refuse.

They even offered a delivery service, saving him the time of coming in person. The price wasn't cheap either—four meals a day, twelve hundred ryo daily, which was cheaper than the medicinal herbs.

But meals were a daily expense, while the baths were only every two days. After paying a deposit, Neji returned to his residence.

The next day, Neji began three lines of training in his backyard: taijutsu practice, Chakra refinement, and Byakugan usage.

Time flew by, and two months passed in the blink of an eye. During this period, with the help of specially prepared food and medicinal baths, Neji's two personalities—Neji and Neji—fully merged. His body achieved perfect control, no longer plagued by the initial sluggishness.

His Chakra reserves had grown somewhat, barely enough to cast a single Clone Technique. His taijutsu had also improved, but the greatest progress came in his use of the Byakugan.

The Hyuga Clan's Byakugan had a very high awakening rate—about eighty to ninety percent of clan members could awaken it. This was unlike the Uchiha Clan, another major family, whose Sharingan awakening rate was under thirty percent.

Though the Byakugan's awakening rate was high, mastering and developing it was extremely difficult.

The Byakugan's main functions were as follows:

First, telescopic vision. Ordinary people could barely read text ten meters away, but Hyuga jonin could almost all read text a kilometer away—over a hundred times the range of a normal person.

Second, microscopic vision. Small objects were hard for ordinary people to see clearly, but some powerful Byakugan users could even observe microscopic details.

Third, clairvoyance. Ordinary people couldn't see objects hidden behind barriers, but the Byakugan could see through obstructions to what lay beyond.

Fourth, Chakra observation. The Byakugan could specifically observe Chakra within the body, tracking its intensity and flow.

Fifth, 360-degree vision. Ordinary people could only see what was in their line of sight, but the Byakugan could see front, back, left, right, up, and down—truly omnidirectional, no blind spots. It felt like having a god's-eye view.

The Byakugan was a pair of auxiliary eyes. It had no offensive capability—at least not until it evolved into the Tenseigan.

But its value, especially for research, was immense. Tragically, due to clan rules, few Hyuga members ever pursued the path of scientific research.