Early that morning, at the Uchiha Clan Compound training ground, many Uchiha were training with great enthusiasm.
Kazuhiko was strolling along the edge of the plaza, doing rehabilitation exercises.
Yesterday, he had overtrained with Shadow Clones and expended too much chakra, so he had to enter Sage Mode for the next few days and stop all taijutsu training.
For the sake of his happiness in the second half of his life, Kazuhiko followed the doctor's orders and went out early to do his rehabilitation exercises.
Since he was already here, he naturally wasn't going to waste the opportunity.
[Equipped Trait: Single Hand Speed (White)]
[Description: Fingers move at high speed, precise wrist control, maximum frequency, extremely fast rhythm. Hand Seal speed greatly increased.]
[Evaluation: Loneliness is the best teacher. Your hands have seen countless battles, and your reflexes are faster than the Sharingan.]
[Permanent Condition: Perform four Hand Seals in one second and successfully cast a ninjutsu.]
The moment he equipped the trait, Shisui's memories of Hand Seal training were quickly etched into Kazuhiko's mind, while the experience of forming Hand Seals was written into his hands. His fingertips curled involuntarily, eager to form seals.
Compared with traits that directly enhanced his abilities, [Single Hand Speed] didn't seem to bring any obvious changes.
"Maximum frequency, extremely fast rhythm. So that description refers to experience forming Hand Seals..."
"I thought it meant traditional Hand Seal skills."
Following the memories, Kazuhiko began practicing Hand Seals.
Four seals per second wasn't difficult, but it wasn't easy either.
Even without the [Single Hand Speed] trait, Kazuhiko could manage four seals per second right now.
He could even go faster, reaching a speed of four and a half seals per second.
When it came to how long they'd been single, Shisui had twenty fewer years than Kazuhiko.
Who wasn't a member of the Single Life Club?
But performing four seals per second and successfully casting a ninjutsu was a whole different challenge.
As he formed the seals and molded his chakra, any shortfall in the amount, frequency, or flow of his chakra would prevent the ninjutsu from succeeding.
Still, the sequence of Hand Seals was fixed, so Kazuhiko equipped the [Body Flicker Proficiency] trait as well and started grinding away at low-level ninjutsu.
He couldn't manage a high-difficulty ninjutsu with four seals per second, but surely he could make it work with a basic technique like the Body Flicker Technique if he trained with both traits.
Hard work paid off. Before long, Kazuhiko performed four Hand Seals in one second and successfully cast the Body Flicker Technique.
[Single Hand Speed (White) trait permanently acquired]
As the trait became permanent, Kazuhiko felt his stiff hands loosen. A warm current flowed through them, repairing the fatigue caused by Hand Seal training.
Kazuhiko tried forming Hand Seals again.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Poof! Kazuhiko vanished from the spot!
A moment later, he appeared beside a bench in the plaza.
Four Hand Seals in one second—and he'd successfully cast the Body Flicker Technique on his first try!
Kazuhiko was pleasantly surprised.
"Even though it's only a white trait, the boost to Hand Seal speed is impressive!"
The top geniuses could perform five or six Hand Seals per second.
Kazuhiko's four per second already put him at the level of an ordinary Jonin. And since his Hand Seals were smooth and steady, he could cast ninjutsu even faster.
"In the world of martial arts, speed is unbeatable. Not bad, not bad."
In a good mood, Kazuhiko left the training ground and headed to work.
As he walked, he checked his status panel and continued thinking about which six missions to choose.
[Name: Uchiha Kazuhiko] [Age: 18] [Rank: Genin] [Attributes: Fire, Yang, Yin] [Chakra: 1 card] [Ninjutsu: Chakra Healing Technique, Hemostasis Technique, Minor Healing, Genjutsu: Hypnosis, Great Fireball Technique, Three Body Technique (Transformation, Substitution, Clone), Demonic Illusion: Mirror Flower Echo] [Permanent Traits: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique, Chakra Perception Mastery, Genjutsu Mastery, Deep Chakra Reserves, Robust Physique, Sharingan: Perfect Double Tomoe (Deep Blue), Sharingan: Hypnotic Illusion] [Equipped Traits (2/2): Phantom Body Flicker: Shisui Exclusive (Purple), Strongest Genius Eye Power: Shisui Exclusive (Purple)] [Permanent Condition (Phantom Body Flicker): Master the Body Flicker Technique. Awaken the Three-Tomoe Sharingan. In a normal state, sustain multiple tangible-feeling illusions (ten or more) for an extended period.] [Permanent Condition (Strongest Genius Eye Power): -- Awaken the Three-Tomoe Sharingan] [Kage Level Trait Draws: 4] [Jonin Trait Draws: 5] [Chunin Trait Draws: 11] [Genin Trait Draws: 5] [Available Traits: Shadow Clone Technique (Blue), Will of Fire (Blue), Genjutsu Susceptibility (Blue), Hidden Weapon Master (Deep Green), Taijutsu: Uchiha-Konoha Style Mastery (Deep Green), Uchiha Style Taijutsu (Green), Chakra Control (Light Green), Maiden Killer (Deep Green), Sigma Uchiha (Light Green)...]
The only traits worth noting were [Chakra Control], [Maiden Killer], and [Sigma Uchiha].
[Tree Climbing Basics] and [Water Walking Basics] had fused into [Chakra Control].
[Warm Man] and [Husband Aura] had fused into [Maiden Killer].
[Uchiha-Style Smile] and [Uchiha-Style Straight Man] had fused into [Sigma Uchiha].
Of course, these traits weren't the main issue. The real problem was his indecision.
After a night of agonizing thought, Kazuhiko had settled on just one promotion mission:
[Route Six: Sealing-Type Uchiha Chunin]
The [Sealing Genius] trait rewarded by the mission was an advanced trait, like [Genjutsu Mastery]. Its rarity was at least Deep Blue, and most likely Purple.
After all, Kazuhiko had only ever fused traits into Deep Blue ones. He'd never drawn a trait marked with a shade designation himself.
As for why he'd chosen this route, it was to lay the groundwork for his future Mangekyo Sharingan ability.
Rule-based ocular techniques were absolutely top-tier.
Of all the Mangekyo abilities, if he had to name the strongest and most indisputable one, it would have to be—
Uchiha Sarada's Amaterasu Omikami (Oohirume).
As Sasuke and Sakura's daughter, Sarada had not only gone through an incredibly difficult process to awaken the Mangekyo, but her ability was also in a league of its own.
Her friend had been misunderstood, so she angrily awakened the Mangekyo—Amaterasu Omikami.
The ocular technique manifested as:
It summoned a miniature black sun that could absorb and draw in designated targets, crush ninjutsu and enemies, and... leave allies unharmed.
In short, it was Kamui + spatial bombardment + Crescent Moon + Hollow Purple.
So no matter what, Kazuhiko wanted to try out a rule-based Mangekyo ability.
You couldn't go wrong trusting the strongest characters in the current meta.
As for the other mission, he was genuinely having a hard time deciding.
Continuing to strengthen his genjutsu would help him deal with the problem Danzo posed right now.
After all, Shisui's strength spoke for itself. Expecting him to become fully immersed in "realistic illusion" with Kazuhiko's current abilities was pure fantasy.
Only by further strengthening the Sharingan's ability to enhance genjutsu, and combining it with the [Genjutsu Genius] trait, might Kazuhiko be able to help Shisui awaken his Mangekyo.
And the sooner Shisui awakened Kotoamatsukami, the safer Kazuhiko would be.
Taijutsu was tempting too.
As the saying went, the body was the capital of revolution.
If the Uchiha wanted to hold their heads high, a real man like Madara was the example to follow.
Without any flashy ocular techniques, he could still enhance his own abilities enough to take on the Five Kage and field an army all by himself.
Who wouldn't want to dance in the spotlight?
And besides...
Kazuhiko shook his head, no longer agonizing over the choice.
He didn't even know when the Chunin Exams would take place. There was no harm in waiting until the exams to choose his promotion missions.
But he had to get started on learning Sealing Jutsu.
A rule-based ability would certainly take up one of his Mangekyo techniques. If he didn't know even a single Sealing Jutsu by the time of the exams, failing the mission would be ridiculous.
"For this ten-pull, I need to find a pool with someone who knows Sealing Jutsu..."
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