Cultivating Qi

Amada listened to Danzo's words and realized that Danzo's hostility toward the Uchiha Clan ran far deeper than he had imagined.

That undisguised hatred seemed to be rooted in Danzo's very bones.

Perhaps the Uchiha Clan Massacre wasn't the work of Uchiha Itachi alone.

The thought suddenly occurred to Amada.

He recalled the tragedy of the Uchiha Clan Massacre that would happen in the future,

Although on the surface it seemed that Uchiha Itachi had done it, could there have been a deeper conspiracy at work behind the scenes?

Had Danzo and the Root Division played some kind of role in it?

At the thought, Amada couldn't help feeling a chill.

To avoid becoming one of the victims of the Uchiha Clan Massacre, Amada's only way forward was to do everything he could to strengthen himself.

Only by becoming strong enough could he face any risk.

When he got home, he headed straight for the basement,

where he had already drawn the Qimen Bagua Array according to the instructions in Divine Mechanism Hundred Refinements.

The array's patterns were intricate and mysterious, and every line seemed to contain the principles of heaven and earth.

Amada sat cross-legged in the center of the array, closed his eyes, and quieted his mind.

He began trying to resonate with heaven and earth according to the cultivation methods in Divine Mechanism Hundred Refinements.

"Heaven and earth as the furnace, creation as the craftsman, gather Qi into a sea, turn the intangible into the tangible..."

Amada silently recited the cultivation mantra.

His mind gradually entered a state of serenity, as if he had become one with heaven and earth.

"Let the heart be still as water, the will like a blue dragon; contain the universe within an inch, refine all things within oneself..."

As he continued reciting the mantra, a faint golden glow began to appear around Amada's body.

The light flowed around him like water, slowly circling before finally following his meridians into his body.

Time slipped by as he cultivated. Amada was completely immersed in this mysterious state, forgetting the distractions of the outside world.

Only when dawn broke did he awaken from his cultivation, surprised to find that he had somehow fallen asleep while practicing.

Then he felt a faint warmth coming from his dantian.

Delighted, he immediately focused on sensing the changes within his body.

Sure enough, a faint but distinct stream of warmth had appeared in his dantian, like a seed quietly beginning to sprout.

I did it! Is this "Qi"?

Excitement surged through Amada.

This stream of warmth was precisely the "Qi" described in Divine Mechanism Hundred Refinements, a power even more mysterious than chakra.

Though it was still extremely weak, it meant he had taken the most crucial first step.

Amada stood up and stretched. Even though he had cultivated all night,

his mind felt exceptionally clear and refreshed, even more so than after a night's sleep.

Next, I just have to keep building it up.

Amada began planning to himself.

He decided that starting today, he would cultivate instead of sleeping, while continuing to study the other contents of Divine Mechanism Hundred Refinements.

Leaving the basement, Amada looked up at the rising sun.

"I may not be able to change the Uchiha's fate, but I will never become one of its casualties."

Amada spoke quietly.

A few days later, in a forest somewhere in the Land of Fire, a ninja was fleeing in a sorry state.

He wore a Konoha Forehead Protector, but a deep slash across it marked him as a rogue ninja.

His breathing was ragged and his steps unsteady. He had clearly been running for a long time, and his strength was nearly spent.

Suddenly, the sound of something cutting through the air came from behind him, and countless shuriken came flying at him like a torrential downpour.

The rogue ninja gritted his teeth and swiftly swung the kunai in his hand, knocking aside the incoming shuriken one by one.

However, he failed to notice the faint lightning crackling around one of them.

Clang!

The instant his kunai deflected that shuriken, the glow of Lightning Release burst forth, spreading along the kunai and coursing through his entire body.

"Argh—!"

The rogue ninja let out a scream. Lightning Release paralyzed him instantly, sending wisps of smoke rising from his body before he collapsed helplessly to the ground.

Just then, two figures darted out of the woods. They were Asuma and Kurenai.

Asuma planted a foot on the rogue ninja's back, pinning him down, while Kurenai quickly tied him up with rope.

Amada lightly leaped down from a tree and walked over to the rogue ninja:

"Why become a rogue ninja when you had a perfectly good life?"

The rogue ninja struggled a few times, realized he couldn't break free, and could only grit his teeth as he replied:

"How could you understand the misery of ninja like us at the bottom? I've had enough. I'm sick of this hopeless life!"

Asuma frowned and pressed down harder:

"No matter what your reasons are, betraying the village is still betrayal. You have to pay for what you've done."

The rogue ninja sneered, his eyes full of resentment:

"Pay? Hah. What has the village ever given us? Nothing but endless missions and sacrifices. What else? I just wanted to live for myself for once!"

Amada looked at the rogue ninja and sighed, saying nothing more.

The three of them escorted the rogue ninja back to Konoha.

They handed him over to Anbu, and the mission officially came to an end.

Ever since he had been promoted to Chunin, his teacher Kushina had started having him lead teams on various missions.

Asuma stretched and said with a smile:

"That's finally over. This mission went pretty smoothly."

Amada replied calmly:

"That's mainly because our target this time was only a Genin. The mission wasn't very difficult."

A puzzled look appeared on Kurenai's face.

She frowned and asked quietly:

"What did that rogue ninja mean by 'ninja at the bottom'? Aren't we all ninja? Why did he think it was unfair?"

Amada glanced at Kurenai, feeling a little helpless.

He knew that Kurenai and Asuma's upbringings made it difficult for them to understand the circumstances of ninja at the bottom.

He sighed:

"That's... not an easy question for me to explain. You can ask your father when you get home. He should be able to explain it to you."

Kurenai nodded. She was still confused, but didn't press him further.

Kurenai and Asuma's backgrounds meant their lives as ninja were different from those of ordinary ninja.

Asuma was the son of Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, while Kurenai was the daughter of the head of Konoha's genjutsu clan.

With their backgrounds, the village naturally gave them more protection and attention.

Their missions were usually not too dangerous. The village would even assign elite Jonin as their instructors to ensure their safety.

However, things were completely different for ordinary ninja without connections.

They were often assigned high-risk missions, some with extremely high fatality rates.

For the sake of the village, these ninja had no choice but to risk their lives on missions,

yet the rewards they received were nowhere near equal to what they gave.

This unfair treatment was precisely why so many ninja at the bottom felt despair and anger.