Observing Oneself

After arranging for the two Ninja Cats to leave, Uchiha Ren retrieved the bubble containing the Summoning Technique from his Sharingan space.

The space before him rippled like water. The moment the bubble came into contact with the outside world, it burst, and a book dropped into his palm.

This process of opening space and retrieving an item somewhat resembled "Space Jump"—an object moving through space to another set of coordinates.

But as the master of that space, Ren's perception was far more profound—it was more like a process of unfolding an object that existed in a higher dimension layer by layer, then anchoring it within reality.

Yet even Ren could not grasp its deeper principles. It was like trying to view flowers through a fog.

Just as he could control his own body but found it difficult to understand the coding and mechanisms of every gene within it, he knew that it worked, but not why.

Once my understanding of space deepens further, I should gain something new from it.

Ren calmed his mind, temporarily suppressing his stray thoughts. Then he lowered his gaze and opened the Spirit Mediumship Cultivation Method in his hands.

With the Companion Stone Gate's aid, he could understand the languages and scripts of all worlds without instruction. Otherwise, cultivation manuals from another world truly would have been incomprehensible heavenly texts.

If he could not even read them and had nothing to compare them to, how could he possibly learn them?

This was not a game world where he could pick something up, click it, and master it with one button.

Even if I understand the general meaning of the text and can draw inferences across different systems of knowledge, truly learning and gaining an initial grasp of this will be even harder than the magic of Frieren and Overlord.

After struggling through it several times, Ren closed the book and rubbed his slightly swollen temples, a trace of helplessness flickering through his eyes.

The book was filled with profound Daoist terminology. Its system was complex and its principles subtle, making it far harder to grasp than straightforward magic incantations or broad, forceful sword techniques.

I'll visit the clan library tonight. Hopefully, there are some basic books on Onmyoji practices or something similar.

With almost no foundation, Ren had no desire to gnaw through this Spirit Mediumship Cultivation Method raw.

This localized, heavily modified Daoist cultivation system, something close to Onmyoji arts and divine faiths, was not something one could master through hard work alone.

Without a sufficient foundation of knowledge and an understanding of its meaning, turning the righteous path into a crooked one would be a terrible joke.

If that doesn't work, I'll have Ayan send Ninja Cats to the Land of Demons.

In the Naruto movie Shippuden: Naruto's Death, the priestesses passed down through generations in the Land of Demons possessed the power to seal demonic creatures and foresee the future.

That was utterly different from the Chakra of ninjas and the Sage Jutsu of the summon beasts from the three sacred lands. Ren guessed it might be a remnant of Onmyoji arts.

Whether it was a legacy of bloodlines or a cultivation method of the priestesses would require careful investigation.

And there are the book collections hidden by hereditary nobles across the major nations... I'm a little short on manpower. Once I leave Konohagakure this time, it looks like I'll need to find a merchant.

Ren raised his eyes to the sky. The setting sun was slowly sinking westward, its warm golden light spreading soft clouds of color across the heavens.

The slanting sunlight made the surface of the Naka River shimmer. An evening breeze swept through the woods and stirred the youth's short black hair.

His hair lifted lightly before his forehead, revealing a smooth brow and sharply defined brow bones. His dark eyes were filled with leisure and ease.

Ren was in no hurry to return.

He was not one of those transmigrators with a check-in system or a clan system.

In this extraordinary world where great power belonged to the individual, Ren possessed a clear understanding—

All authority, in the end, was merely a tool serving one's own strength.

After several years of management, Ren had steadily handed the clan's complicated affairs over to Uchiha Yashiro, Tekka, and Taohuo.

Yashiro was his deputy, faithfully carrying out his will.

Tekka held firm control over the Konoha Military Police Force, while Taohuo was deeply rooted among the clan's ninjas. Like Ren's two arms, they carried out his will within the Hawk Faction.

Letting go of power had earned Ren greater support from the Hawk Faction while also giving him more time to cultivate.

After defeating the strongest jonin in the Hawk Faction and attaining Kage-level strength, the Hawk Faction Uchiha Clan's recognition and support for him had naturally reached their peak.

The strength of one's fist was power!

This peaceful, tranquil life is probably the final calm before the storm.

Ren knew full well that there was not much time left before the Uchiha Clan was formally drawn into the whirlpool of the Third Shinobi World War.

His fingers tightened as he slowly drew the specially made Chakra longsword from his waist.

The snow-bright blade flowed with a cold gleam beneath the evening light, like a condensed spring of frost.

With a light tap of his toes, his figure split apart.

The Nine Styles of Wind-Riding poured forth from his hands—at first, they resembled a spring stream washing over jade, the blade wind light and graceful; then they transformed into solitary smoke over a vast desert, each slash carrying a sharp howl that tore through the air.

When the final style, Skanda Typhoon, was unleashed, the entire riverbank was already shrouded in invisible wind blades. Wherever the raging gale passed, grass lay flat, while crisscrossing ravines gouged into the earth ran deep enough to reveal their bottoms.

By the time he sheathed his blade, dusk had fallen. Only then did the sound of the Naka River's flowing water become clear again.

With Chakra's "shape transformation" and "nature transformation," supplemented by the essence of the Breath of Wind and fused into Uchiha swordsmanship, the combined result is enough to place me among the leaders of the major ninja villages in this era!

I wonder who is stronger between me, the Third Mizukage, and Karatachi Yagura?

Eighteen-year-old Ren stood by the river with his hands behind his back. His robes snapped in the rising wind as he watched the last glimmers on the Naka River and murmured softly.

In the real Naruto world, there were no classifications like quasi-Kage, Kage-level, powerful Kage, or super Kage.

Such ranks existed for no more reason than to divide characters into tiers and assign them their places.

True strength was only decided when blades met.

Still, the strength classifications in Naruto fanfiction from his previous life were indeed much more convenient.

At the very least, Ren had a relatively complete understanding of Kirigakure's current military strength.

He had a rough comparison between his own strength and the enemies he would soon face.

He needed to become stronger!

For the Wind-Riding Sword Technique to advance further, I need to fuse it with Sage Jutsu or add other Chakra attributes to form a Kekkei Genkai.

The former required assistance from the summon beasts of the three sacred lands. Rather than place his hopes in those strange creatures, each with their own motives, he might as well wait for Ayan to evolve into Sage Ruyan.

As for the latter, Ren was considering combinations of wind and fire, or wind and lightning, but he had no clue for the time being.

If it truly came to that, he intended to make a move against Pakura, the "Shinobi World's Most Beautiful Back," who possessed the wind-fire Kekkei Genkai, Scorch Release.

Rather than let Sunagakure betray her and have her die at the hands of Kirigakure,

he might as well pick up her corpse himself.

And there are also two localized Sharingan secret techniques from magical worlds.

Whether in attack, defense, transfer, or support—when all my strength is combined, can I dance?