Yamanaka Clan Cultivation Method

After eating three servings of high-grade grilled meat alone at the Akimichi Family's barbecue restaurant, the delicious meal successfully calmed Xing Ran's turbulent emotions, allowing him to begin considering the future.

His future role would be as a Medical Ninja. Medical Ninjas are extremely valuable resources for any nation, usually not placed on the front lines of the battlefield. Even in squad missions, they are priority protection targets, as enemy forces often aim to eliminate them first.

This way, Xing Ran wouldn't have to worry about being assigned trivial tasks by the Naruto every other day. Even when on missions, he would be acting as a Medical Ninja, which would save him a lot of trouble.

Next, there was the issue of his soul's weakness. He hoped Hai Yi would have a solution.

The next morning, under a bright, sunny sky, Xing Ran arrived at Hai Yi's home. It was a small villa with a front and back yard. As one of the Yamanaka Clan's few elites, his living conditions were quite good.

As soon as Xing Ran entered, he saw Hai Yi meticulously tending to his potted plants. It was unexpected that a burly man over 1.8 meters tall would have a hobby like gardening.

"Yo, Xing Ran, I heard you took on a mission and went out... Are you feeling alright... When did you get back?" Hai Yi looked Xing Ran up and down for a moment, likely to confirm he wasn't injured or that his previous injuries hadn't recurred, before speaking. Hai Yi, not known for his eloquence, seemed to be in a very good mood. It was likely that Xing Ran taking on missions again meant he hadn't become despondent from the blow of a near-total annihilation.

"Mhm, I returned last night." Xing Ran naturally took the watering can from Hai Yi's hand, skillfully continuing the work Hai Yi had been doing.

"It's good that you're fine. I'll have Hayao make something delicious for lunch. I got a wild white eel from a senior yesterday; it's a rare delicacy." Hai Yi casually handed over the task of tending to the plants to Xing Ran and leisurely sat down on a lounge chair in the yard, watching Xing Ran busy himself as he spoke.

In the past, because Xing Ran had been independent since becoming a ninja, he rarely paid attention to nutritional issues in his diet. Hai Yi would always find various excuses to have Xing Ran come over to his house to improve his meals.

The current Xing Ran was not the same as before. With his income no longer solely reliant on mission rewards, nutritious meals were no longer a problem. However, Xing Ran was still very grateful for Hai Yi's consistent care.

"You're finally home, shouldn't you be spending time with little Ino? You're not planning to spend the whole morning on that lounge chair, are you?" Xing Ran put down the watering can, intending to weed, but he quickly noticed that the weeds had already been dealt with. He dusted off his hands, which were not dirty at all, and walked over to Hai Yi's lounge chair, sitting at the small table in the yard.

"Ino has been very sleepy lately; she'll wake up in a while. If you have something to say, just say it." Hai Yi's senses were very sharp, being a top existence within the Yamanaka Clan. He didn't like beating around the bush with his own family and wasn't good at it either. Seeing Xing Ran's seemingly aimless demeanor, he knew the young man likely had something to ask of him.

"It's like this..." Xing Ran didn't bother with pleasantries and explained his desire to strengthen his mental and spiritual power, asking if the clan had any corresponding cultivation methods and if he could practice them.

"Mhm, that's good. For our Yamanaka Clan to reach higher realms in secret techniques, mental and spiritual power are both the foundation and the most crucial core. I am very pleased that you have the idea of strengthening your mental and spiritual power. However, there are no shortcuts to becoming stronger, especially with this fundamental power. It can only grow through long-term training..." Hai Yi, true to his nature, wasn't good with words. After hearing Xing Ran's idea, he started to ramble.

"Hai Yi, the main point, what's the main point? What are the training methods? What techniques?" Xing Ran listened for about half an hour, and Hai Yi still hadn't gotten to the point, making his liver ache.

"Ahem, to train the mind and spirit, the method is very simple. In fact, every clan member encounters this method early on: it's the Yamanaka Clan's Meditation Technique... The method I used to train my mental and spiritual power was to crazily use the Mind Body Switch Technique, or any other secret technique. The greater the consumption, the better the effect. Controlling people, controlling animals, until I was completely exhausted. Then, according to the clan's Meditation Secret Technique, I would circulate Chakra and form special hand seals. Finally, with sufficient nutrition and rest, my spiritual power would slowly grow." Hai Yi cleared his throat and told Xing Ran his cultivation method.

As one of Konoha's notable secret technique families, the Yamanaka Clan certainly wouldn't lack a Meditation Secret Technique. This technique was a foundational secret technique that every Yamanaka Clan child learned before being confirmed as a ninja. After forming hand seals, they would meditate through a specific Chakra circulation route. Xing Ran initially thought this secret technique was only for restoring energy and increasing the success rate of Ninjutsu, but he didn't expect the ancients to be right: the most basic things are often the most crucial.

However, Xing Ran soon thought of other problems. He was very familiar with this Meditation Technique and used it quite a bit, but the growth in mental and spiritual power it brought was very insignificant. For so long, Xing Ran had always believed that his mental strength's progression from initially weak to its current relatively weak state was a normal phenomenon due to aging, causing him to completely overlook the fact that the Meditation Technique had such an effect.

So, the question arose: how slow was "slow growth" as Hai Yi described it?

"May I ask presumptuously, Hai Yi, how long have you been cultivating like this?"

"Over 20 years."

Xing Ran was speechless. If his mental strength only reached Hai Yi's current level after 20 years of cultivation, Naruto would have been Hokage for many years, and he himself might have long become an ordinary sacrifice on a memorial stele, listed among those who fought against the Infinite Tsukuyomi.

"Don't look at me like this. I haven't slacked off in these 20 years. My soul power has increased by at least 50%." Seeing Xing Ran's silence, Hai Yi worried that the 20-year figure would make him lose heart, so he quickly told him the results, intending to entice him with benefits.

Hai Yi's statement, of course, had an extremely negative effect. Xing Ran hadn't expected that in 20 years, Hai Yi had only improved by 50% using this method, when Xing Ran initially thought this method was a panacea.

But on second thought, it made sense. The ninja world has never lacked hardworking people. For Hai Yi to become a top existence within the Yamanaka Clan, mere effort wouldn't be enough. He was already blessed with extraordinary talent, and only through unremitting effort did he achieve his current strength. This made more sense.

However, what good did understanding do? This method was the same as Might Guy's Primary Lotus style; both relied on accumulation through hard work over time. Xing Ran could work hard, but he didn't have much time for accumulation.