That night
Suifeng dragged his exhausted body onto the bed and didn't want to move a muscle. A short sword appeared in his mind!
Asauchi!
Though he'd been a little dazed at first, he knew at once what it was: an Asauchi, something that had materialized from his spirit.
He remembered that he'd already trained himself to exhaustion. His body had been utterly worn out, and he'd nearly passed out. His vision had repeatedly gone black, and just as he was drifting toward unconsciousness, his head had begun to spin. The Asauchi appeared in his mind, and before he could finish reacting, information about it flooded into his thoughts.
It was an Asauchi, the prototype of a Zanpakuto from the Shinigami world.
After he infused it with his spirit and will, it would become his Zanpakuto.
Naturally, he hadn't had the chance to infuse it with his spirit and will in front of Uchiha Fukuyama that day. Nor would he have been stupid enough to try with Fukuyama watching.
Under Uchiha Fukuyama's strict supervision, he'd forced himself to train for another two hours before finally passing out under Fukuyama's disappointed, contemptuous gaze.
By the time he woke, he was lying in his own bed.
"A Zanpakuto? You could've at least given me a Devil Fruit!!"
Of the Big Three, Devil Fruits were the quickest way to gain power without lifting a finger.
What was a cheat, anyway? Wasn't it something that let a transmigrator get something for nothing?
But what was a Zanpakuto? To bring out its power, you still had to work for it.
As someone who had absolutely no desire to work hard, he was already on the verge of breaking down after Uchiha Fukuyama's training that day.
But whatever. It was still a cheat, more or less. He might as well give it a try...
He thought it over. He wasn't exactly satisfied with this cheat of his, but he didn't dwell on it. Instead, he focused his spirit on the Asauchi in his mind.
This was a world with supernatural powers. Chakra itself was a combination of spirit and the body's cells. With Uchiha Suifeng's body and memories, Suifeng naturally knew the most basic methods of using spiritual power. As he concentrated, the blank blade in his mind began to glow faintly red, and it started to change.
"Th-this is... Sode no Shirayuki? No, it's Sode no Kurenai, isn't it?!"
I'm Fu Hongxue, damn it!
Its familiar shape made Suifeng pause. Apart from its color, the Zanpakuto in his hand was identical to Sode no Shirayuki as he remembered it.
Sode no Shirayuki's blade, guard, and hilt were all pure white. The Zanpakuto in his hand, however, shimmered with a dark red glow. The next moment, information entered his mind. His expression changed dramatically, and delight spread across his face.
"Right, now this is more like it! A cheat ought to look like a cheat. It can't be completely useless, can it? Red Ghost!!"
This sword wasn't called Sode no Kurenai, let alone Fu Hongxue. Its name was Red Ghost.
It was a Zanpakuto that had merged with the laws of the Naruto world—or, rather, adapted to them.
Shikai and Bankai aside, there was also the strength and sharpness of the blade.
After adapting to the laws of the Ninja World, this sword had developed a special ability: it could evolve Kekkei Genkai. In other words, it could help the Sharingan evolve.
It could help the Sharingan evolve, but its ability wasn't limited to the Sharingan!
The Sharingan was clearly a particularly troublesome Kekkei Genkai.
Whether awakening it or evolving it, one's spirit had to undergo a great deal of stimulation.
No—even if they suffered extreme stimulation, most Uchiha still hit their limit at Three-Tomoe. Evolving to the Mangekyo was almost impossible.
The Mangekyo required not only intense stimulation but also considerable talent.
Stimulation alone could at most evolve the Sharingan to Three-Tomoe. For a thousand years, from the Warring States Period through the era of the hidden villages, the world had been in constant turmoil. Separation and death happened all the time. Plenty of Uchiha had lost their entire families, yet how many had truly awakened the Mangekyo over the years?
Without the talent, one could experience every pain and hardship in the world and still never awaken it. That was another insurmountable obstacle in Suifeng's path.
He'd lived to the age of forty in his previous life, and as a transmigrator who'd always been as steady as a rock, he felt no sense of belonging to this world and had no meaningful bonds there. Even if everyone in this world died, it probably wouldn't affect him much. And talent was an even stranger matter.
But Red Ghost's arrival solved most of his troubles with evolving the Sharingan. Its effect on the Sharingan was much like the Hōgyoku: it had no threshold for evolution. Once he had enough chakra, he could use Red Ghost's power to begin evolving.
In other words, once his chakra reached the level of a Chunin, he could evolve to Two-Tomoe. At the level of a Jonin, he could reach Three-Tomoe, and then the Mangekyo. There was no barrier between Three-Tomoe and the Mangekyo, either. As long as he had enough chakra, he could complete the evolution. But that was the limit.
Red Ghost clearly couldn't help him evolve to the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, because the Eternal Mangekyo wasn't an issue that could be solved by his own power alone.
That made things simple. The powers of the Naruto world were varied and strange. When he'd first arrived, he hadn't known what to make of it all, but with Red Ghost's appearance, he'd found a direction to pursue.
Chakra, chakra, and more chakra!!
As long as he could refine enough chakra, he could evolve his Sharingan to the Mangekyo. With the Mangekyo, he'd have the means to establish himself in this world. And increasing his chakra wasn't a problem, either. Chakra was the energy produced by combining physical and spiritual energy.
Broken down, that meant improving his physical strength and spiritual strength.
How could he improve his physical strength? Train!
How could he improve his spiritual strength? Train!
In short, he had to work hard at training, though he didn't need to take it to the extreme like Might Guy.
"Still, even so, I have to keep a low profile!!"
Awakening the Sharingan at six was already enough to attract attention. He was sure that people would keep an eye on him, at least for a long time to come. He wouldn't worry about his clan, but Danzo, that old schemer, would definitely be watching him. So for the time being, he didn't plan to make himself too conspicuous. At the very least, he didn't want his Sharingan to attract too much attention.
That made Body Techniques, swordsmanship, and the speed of his Hand Seals top priorities.
As for ninjutsu, he didn't care about it.
For other people, especially civilian ninja, a single ninjutsu might be invaluable. But for the Uchiha Clan, ninjutsu was as plentiful as clouds. As long as he proved himself valuable enough, he wouldn't need to worry about getting any.
Kakashi had made a name for himself as the Copy Ninja in the Ninja World in a short time with just one Sharingan. So how many ninjutsu had the Uchiha Clan, with countless Sharingan, copied over thousands of years? Only heaven knew.
For most Genin, ninjutsu was more like a powerful finishing move. It wasn't easy to use. To perform even a decent ninjutsu, they needed not only chakra but also the right timing and sufficient speed with Hand Seals. Most Genin were still far from having enough chakra, the judgment to know when to act, or the speed to form Hand Seals for powerful ninjutsu. Many times, before they'd even finished half the seals, a Kunai had already taken their life. That sort of thing happened all the time.
So for most Genin, Body Techniques and Kunai-throwing were the fundamentals.
Most of the time, other than the Three Body Technique, they didn't even have a chance to use any other ninjutsu. So the question was, how could he quickly improve his Body Techniques in Konoha? Two figures in green suddenly appeared in Suifeng's mind.
Bah! What kind of ridiculous thing was he thinking?!
Suifeng shook his head hard, casting the ill-timed thought from his mind.
Before you continue