Training

A new day dawned. Sunlight poured over Uchiha Zhuang's face like a waterfall, bathing it in golden light and filling him with positive energy. In truth, though, he was in a panic. He'd discovered he couldn't move: he was stuck following the perspective of some Kage Level powerhouse, fighting nonstop. He didn't know how long it went on, but just as he was completely exhausted, the scene finally went dark and he passed out. By the time he woke again, it was already afternoon. Uchiha Zhuang stepped outside his room. He knew Meiko had gone to work at the hospital. He spotted the food she'd left in the dining room, wolfed it down in a few bites, washed the dishes, and headed out to train.

When he reached the woods, Uchiha Zhuang could barely contain his excitement. Heh, after pretending to be a nobody for all these years, I can finally stand tall! He opened the system, looked at the chakra training technique, sat cross-legged, and began to meditate. An hour passed, but he still felt nothing. Uchiha Zhuang started wondering if he lacked any talent for training. At last, after three hours, he sensed a faint warmth circulating through his body. Mm, this feels pretty good. Is this chakra? Feeling the weak current of warmth, he reflected, It's weak for now, but this energy I've cultivated from my own body feels so real. Compared to the era back on Earth when magic was banned, spells sealed, abilities suppressed, and genes severed, this place is so much better. What a wonderful world! He used to be an incomplete man; now he was whole. Heh! A shiver ran through him, and a feeling of transcending the world welled up inside. Uchiha Zhuang felt he'd been elevated, body and soul.

The sun was setting. It was past five in the afternoon, and Uchiha Zhuang jogged all the way home. The woods were about five or six kilometers from his house. Before, he'd been left panting after walking the distance; now he could jog the whole way without getting winded, his body feeling limber and his pace never slowing. He still wasn't wearing shoes, but he had the Golden Armor on. Uchiha Zhuang made a mental note of how his body had changed. When he got home, the house was quiet. He knew Meiko had two days off a week, usually Wednesday and Sunday. The rest of the time, she went to work at Konoha Hospital early and returned around ten at night. He went to the kitchen, washed and chopped the ingredients for their dinner, and set them aside. Then he returned to his room and locked the door. The Perfect Warrior Serum in his hand gleamed with a clear, crystalline sheen. He didn't know which universe or genre this "perfect warrior" came from, but its purple quality told him it was precious. After a moment's hesitation, he downed it. A grape flavor filled his mouth, and then his vision went black. He collapsed onto the bed, unconscious. When he opened his eyes again, night had fallen outside the window. Stars glittered in the sky, and the lake, trees, and small hills around him glowed beneath the bright moonlight. He could even make out flickering figures in the woods in the distance. Were those ninja on a mission? Uchiha Zhuang drew a sharp breath, realizing with a start that he could see this far—and in the dark, too. Meanwhile, a squad leader in an animal mask, an elite jonin moving through the woods with his team, sensed that a watchful gaze was fixed on a home at the edge of the village. Then it vanished. "Do we have a reserve team for this operation?" With mixed feelings, the elite ninja kept moving toward the distance, his subordinates at his heels.

Unlike the last time, using the Perfect Warrior Serum hadn't caused any pain or overwhelming hunger. He only felt a little unsteady on his feet. Maybe the gene serum had already brought my body's gene expression close to its perfect life-form state, so this serum didn't need to rebuild my genes. It just gave me the abilities of a perfect warrior. Uchiha Zhuang thought it over, then tested his movements. He was incredibly fast—no martial arts master without the power to blink away could dodge him. "Whoosh!" Wind stirred as he threw a left hook, a right hook, then a quick front kick. It was a simple three-move combination, but it carried a hint of force, like a punch that was sure to land and a kick with real power behind it.

After stepping outside his room and checking the clock, he saw it was just past nine. He went into the kitchen to show off his beginner-level cooking skills. When Meiko came home, she found pork cutlet rice topped with egg, a small dish of natto, a plate of fresh carrots, and miso soup waiting in the dining room. Meiko patted Uchiha Zhuang on the head. "Little Zhuang, you've grown up!" Uchiha Zhuang protested loudly, "Meiko, I told you I'm a prophet. I've been an adult for ages. I'm going to rule the world in this life." "Yes, yes. Little Zhuang is the great hero who'll bring peace to the world. Your father and I have known that all along, haha." Uchiha Zhuang pouted, feeling dejected, while Meiko enjoyed the meal he'd cooked. That evening, Meiko sat on the sofa sorting patient records, while Uchiha Zhuang reclined beside her and meditated. It was an unexpected bonus in the Kage Level insights: meditation helped him rest and restore his body, indirectly improving his physical abilities and potential, though the process was slow. After meditating for an hour, Uchiha Zhuang asked Meiko, "Meiko, can I go out and train?" "You're already training," she replied. "I mean, can I leave the village and travel to other countries?" "No. Absolutely not." Meiko set down the papers and looked into his eyes. "You don't know how strictly the village keeps watch over us. There's no way you can leave the village. The only way out through the barrier is to defect. You can leave to do missions after studying at the Ninja Academy and becoming a ninja. Or, in wartime, you can leave as part of the army. There's no other way. I understand what you're thinking. You want strength. You want to change everything you don't want to see, and you may even hate how weak you are. You want to do something for world peace. That's right. Those are the goals and convictions a real man should have. People call the Uchiha Clan warlike, but we know the truth: there's no way to bring peace through gentleness. Only the strong can have everything; the strong make the rules. That's why our Uchiha Clan worships strength. We believe strength can change our own suffering, the suffering of others, and the suffering of the world. But our ancestors failed. There was a clan leader named Uchiha Madara. He and Hashirama Senju founded Konoha, but he couldn't put his ideas into practice right away. Their ideals differed, yet he couldn't bring himself to assassinate Hashirama Senju. So he left his people and set out alone in search of power. I believe you'll become someone remarkable one day, Little Zhuang—a great hero. But you're still too young. A sapling needs time to grow. It must draw nourishment from the ashes after the fire, then defeat every enemy and grow into a towering tree." Uchiha Zhuang stared at her with his mouth agape, shocked. He couldn't believe this insight was coming from a native of the ninja world. Was this really the perspective of an Uchiha woman? It was so different from what he'd imagined. Weren't they supposed to be weak and ignorant? What was this? This was making the game so much harder. Seeing his stunned expression, Meiko giggled. "Your father and I talked about this for a long time before reaching that conclusion. I may not be a ninja, but I don't think you should look down on anyone, Little Zhuang. People differ in ability and temperament. No one is simply stupid or smart." Uchiha Zhuang looked at Meiko, an ordinary-looking thirty-year-old woman of the Uchiha Clan, with no Sharingan awakened. A heaviness settled in his heart. This was a real world, after all, not a game. The people here were flesh and blood, and even had souls. He looked at Meiko and said, "Meiko, you've taught me another lesson about life. Even a tiger needs time to grow. I understand. I'll train hard and develop steadily, and try to become a well-rounded person." Meiko had understood the first part, but the rest left her baffled. What did he mean by morality and labor? Were virtue and work related? Before she could say anything, Uchiha Zhuang stood and walked toward his room. "I'll keep training, but I have to leave the village, too. I'm not going to play; I'm going to train. Don't worry. I'll be back every night, and no one in the Konoha Military Police Force will find out. I have a family training technique." The door slammed shut.