Time flew by, and another year passed in the blink of an eye. Neji successfully became a second-year student. Thanks to the Akimichi Clan's secret technique, the Chakra within him had already approached 260 units. As he grew more proficient in using the secret technique and his stomach function improved, his appetite increased as well. His Chakra was growing slightly faster than expected. Neji now possessed the Chakra reserves of an ordinary Chunin and the Chakra control of an Elite Jonin. He could probably put up a fight against an Elite Chunin, though since Neji had never actually fought in real combat, his chances of losing were still quite high. Fortunately, he had been born in a peaceful era and did not have to face blood and fire so early.
Aside from the growth of his Chakra, Neji had completed all the courses at the Ninja Academy over the past year. At the same time, he launched another massive project: the "Shennong Encyclopedia" project. Neji used his extraordinary perception and the Byakugan, which could practically be called a divine tool for scientific research, to compile the most comprehensive encyclopedia of materials in history. It would include the properties and brief introductions of every discovered thing, including plants, animals, minerals, microorganisms, and more.
The "Shennong Encyclopedia" would be the cornerstone of Neji's push into scientific research. The project was mainly divided into three stages:
The first stage was organization and summary. During this stage, Neji would collect every item already recorded, summarized, and categorized on the market, then reclassify, organize, and summarize them according to his own methods.
The second stage was review and discovery. After completing the organization and summary, Neji would reexamine the compiled entries, determine whether their properties were accurate and comprehensive, and correct any errors or omissions.
The third stage was the addition of primitive species. After completing the first two stages, he would conduct in-depth research on undiscovered substances, determine their properties and uses, and add them to the "Shennong Encyclopedia."
To ensure the smooth progress of the "Shennong Encyclopedia" project, half a year ago, when Neji had achieved some success with his Chakra, he began assigning one Shadow Clone each day to work exclusively on compiling it. It had already achieved modest results, with the classification and summary of nearly two thousand existing substances completed.
To avoid unnecessary trouble, Neji had shown off a little at school over the past year and smoothly became the top student of his grade. The teachers disciplined him far less and gave him more leeway. After being taught a few lessons, his classmates also rarely came looking for trouble. After that, a Shadow Clone took over attending school for Neji, allowing him to devote more time to training himself.
Driven by his exceptional Chakra control, Neji's Gentle Fist also improved by leaps and bounds. Of the 720 acupoints across his body, he had opened all but the fatal points and those that were extremely difficult to open. Chakra flowed throughout his entire body, leaving him feeling thoroughly clear and unimpeded.
The benefits brought by opening his acupoints were that he successfully learned the Hyuga Clan's absolute defense, Kaiten. At the same time, he could fire Chakra bullets from his own acupoints. Their power was not especially great, but they were strange and versatile, somewhat like Kimimaro's Ten-Finger Drilling Bullets. One fired condensed Chakra, while the other fired finger bones.
While his Gentle Fist advanced rapidly, Neji also began training in Steel Fist. Unlike some members of the Hyuga Clan, Neji was not arrogantly convinced that Gentle Fist was the best in the world and that every other form of taijutsu was trash.
Might Guy's kick had nearly kicked the story straight to its ending. That was no ordinary feat, and the Eight Gates held just as much appeal for Neji.
Thus, Neji began practicing Steel Fist, also laying the groundwork for learning the Eight Gates. At this stage, Neji's physical condition was already very good. To push his body to its limits, he either had to extend his training time or increase its intensity. Time was precious, so Neji decisively chose to increase the intensity. A high-quality gravity training suit was therefore indispensable.
At the Ninja Tool Shop, a high-quality adjustable gravity training suit cost two million ryo. It used spatial techniques to increase gravity without increasing the suit's bulk. The gravity was adjustable, and it even offered a certain degree of protection. It was outrageously expensive, but after considering everything, Neji still bought it. Its adjustable gravity range was 20 to 5,000 kilograms.
A maximum weight of five tons.
That was simply ridiculous! Hopefully, he would one day be able to reach this training suit's limit. Hopefully! At present, Neji's main body wore the training suit all day with the gravity set to 100 kilograms. He was still far from his limit, but the training effects were equally obvious. Every time he broke through his limits, it felt like another rebirth.
One not-so-good matter was that Neji had already used up more than half of the funds inherited from his father. Although the results were gratifying, the fact remained that he would face a shortage of money in a year.
This forced Neji to begin his third major plan ahead of schedule after the two major plans of "Gene Completion" and "Shennong Encyclopedia"—the "Money Making Plan."
There were plenty of businesses from his previous life that could be used in this one and make money, but not many could be carried out by a seven-year-old child. After looking over countless industries and carefully picking through them, Neji ultimately chose one that made money quickly but carried relatively high risks—gambling!
That was right, gambling. There were countless gambling houses of all sizes in Konoha, most of them backed by powerful forces. It was actually quite difficult to make money through gambling. First, gambling houses had Chakra detection devices, and anyone was forbidden from using Chakra inside. Second, dice cups had perception-blocking functions, so ordinary sensory ninja could not sense what was inside. Third, nearly every gambling house had ninja stationed there. Once anything suspicious appeared, the ninja would investigate to prevent cheating. Fourth, even if someone truly had good luck and won money, the people behind the gambling house would secretly keep an eye on them. They would not necessarily rob them outright, but they would be more wary of them, and there were other methods Neji did not know about.
That was precisely why gambling houses could operate normally for so many years and continue to prosper.
However, Neji possessed the means to break this situation. Over the past year, Neji's Byakugan had strengthened once more. Its viewing distance had already surpassed that of the Hyuga Clan's Elite Jonin, reaching the terrifying range of three kilometers. Ordinary clan members could not see through perception-blocking dice cups, but Neji had tested it. From a distance of around one kilometer, if he concentrated his gaze, he could clearly see what was inside.
The only problem left was how to inform the person inside the gambling house of what Neji saw.
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