Naka Shrine

After the merchant left, Sasuke returned to the familiar training ground. He sent two Shadow Clones to deal with the food and drinks while he continued his unfinished physical training with fervor.

The original Sasuke had never learned the Shadow Clone Technique. Sasuke had found this ninjutsu in the study at home, along with the Shadow Clone Technique.

There were also basic Uchiha Fire Release ninjutsu and throwing techniques, such as the Great Fireball Technique, Big Fireball Technique, Phoenix Sage Fire Technique, Shuriken Manipulation Technique, and Fuma Shuriken: Shadow Windmill.

The Shadow Clone Technique was a B-rank ninjutsu developed by the Second Hokage and widely circulated throughout the Shinobi World. It was not actually difficult to learn; it could even be said to be easier than the basic Clone Technique. The Clone Technique required a certain level of chakra control and three hand seals: Ram, Snake, Tiger.

The Shadow Clone Technique, on the other hand, had negligible chakra-control requirements and only one hand seal—Ren, with the index and middle fingers held together and both hands crossed. The forbidden Multi Shadow Clone Technique, which stood above the Shadow Clone Technique, was the same.

In the original story, Naruto had mastered the Multi Shadow Clone Technique after spending only a little time on it, even while being interfered with by the Nine-Tails' chakra. Sasuke, too, had become proficient after looking over the Shadow Clone Technique only once.

However, he was still far from being able to create hundreds of Shadow Clones at once to train ninjutsu like Naruto would eight years later. His body had not even reached puberty yet and could only withstand three or four Shadow Clones.

Besides the two Shadow Clones he had just sent to handle the supplies, two more Shadow Clones were several hundred meters outside the training ground, continuously practicing chakra control by climbing trees.

Since he had decided on his initial path, Sasuke would persist in following it.

Physical training was meant to increase his bodily energy, while chakra-control training was meant to give him precise, fine control.

Not only would both strengthen the foundation of his power, they would also lay a solid foundation for learning medical ninjutsu in the future.

A ninja with excellent physical qualities might not necessarily become an outstanding medical ninja, but an outstanding medical ninja would certainly possess a strong physique—like Sakura and Tsunade.

The same principle had applied in his previous life. There were modern peerless masters of medicine, ancient Hua Tuo who created the Five Animals Frolics, and even the myth of Shinnō tasting a hundred herbs.

Immersed in training, time passed quickly.

Before long, all of that morning's physical training had come to an end.

Sasuke dispelled his four Shadow Clones, and waves of information flooded into his mind. Fatigue spread through his body, and his head spun for a while. After silently digesting the clones' information,

Sasuke walked over, took out a towel, and wiped away his sweat while cleaning the minor wounds he had sustained during training.

As Sasuke applied medicine to the red, swollen, peeling areas on his arms, he considered the discoveries he had made recently.

Compared with the memories from before, during this week of training, my progress in ninjutsu, taijutsu, genjutsu, and theoretical studies has all been much faster than the original Sasuke's. My talent has improved considerably.

Furthermore, my chakra-refining speed has increased significantly. Chakra also flows more smoothly through my meridians, and I can mobilize it faster.

Was that the Sharingan's doing? Or rather, was it the result of spiritual energy?

My spiritual energy is far stronger than the original Sasuke's. There is no doubt about that. Chakra is refined through the fusion of spiritual energy and bodily energy.

The Uzumaki and Senju Clans, known for their powerful bodily energy, possessed vast chakra reserves and strong natural healing abilities. This had been made very clear in the original story.

Then the Uchiha Clan, with its powerful spiritual energy, should, judging from my current condition, have faster chakra circulation and stronger learning abilities. So there is a reason most Uchiha are Heaven Talents.

Sasuke silently speculated, then turned his thoughts to chakra control.

The ability to control chakra seemed to have little to do with bodily energy or spiritual energy. It seemed to be a personal talent of some kind.

On the Yang Release side, there were people like Senju Hashirama and Tsunade, who excelled at advanced medical ninjutsu. On the Yin Release side, there were masters of fine chakra manipulation like Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Itachi, who could make chakra perform every conceivable trick.

Looking at it this way, Haruno Sakura truly was a genius when it came to chakra control.

During the Land of Waves mission in the original story, Haruno Sakura had instantly mastered the tree-climbing technique, while the original Sasuke and Naruto had needed nearly a whole day to learn it.

Now, he had spent more than half a day on it. That seemed a little faster than the original Sasuke, but Sasuke knew it could not be judged so simply.

At that time, the original Sasuke had over four more years of ninja training than he did now.

Yet he himself also possessed more than ten years of adult experience and maturity beyond the original Sasuke.

Those advantages could not cancel each other out, so it was difficult to judge whether his current talent for chakra control was better or worse than the original Sasuke's.

He could not abandon these two months of chakra-control training, but after school started, he would find an opportunity to ask Haruno Sakura and see whether she could offer him some help.

Much of the knowledge in this world simply did not match his experiences or profession from his previous life, so he could not judge things by his old world's common sense.

Among any three people walking together, one was bound to be able to teach him something.

Be eager to learn and never be ashamed to ask questions.

Truths passed down for thousands of years must have their own unique merits.

In his previous life, his friends had said he had too many thoughts and too many schemes, but they had never called him arrogant or conceited. At most, they said his tongue was rather sharp.

After leaving the training ground, Sasuke walked alone through the empty streets of the Uchiha Clan Compound toward the eastern end. There lay the Uchiha Clan's mother river—the Naka River!

After scavenging for an entire week, Sasuke had sold everything in the Uchiha Clan Compound that could be sold. He was not heading to the Naka River this time to continue scavenging; he already had enough money.

He had come to the Naka River to see whether he could find any texts on ninjutsu training. Over the past few days, aside from the ninjutsu scroll in the study, which had been helpful to him, everything he had found in the other houses had been basic material such as fundamental ninja theory and the Three Body Techniques.

When he reached the upper reaches of the Naka River, a shrine built in the Uchiha style appeared before him.

"Under the seventh tatami mat from the right in the main hall of Naka River Shrine lies our clan's gathering place. It records the Uchiha Clan's ocular techniques and why the Uchiha exist..."

Following what Uchiha Itachi had said before Sasuke lost consciousness, Sasuke directly opened the hidden door and descended into the basement through the secret passage.

After walking along the passage for a while, a room of roughly five hundred square meters appeared before him.

Uchiha Gunbai symbols were printed on both sides of the room. At its center stood a stone tablet half a man's height tall, topped with a pattern of black Tomoe.

The Six Paths Stone Tablet?

The moment he saw the tablet, Sasuke thought to himself.

The tablet was grayish white from end to end, with no words etched upon it. It appeared to hold nothing mysterious, yet Sasuke knew it had been left behind by the Sage of Six Paths—and that Black Zetsu had tampered with its contents.