Just like that, Bai Sui already knew which path he would take in the future.
And this body had advantages that his previous one had lacked.
Women matured at seven, men at eight. Girls began developing sexually at seven, while boys started at eight.
By the time they reached twice those ages, they were mature: girls began menstruating at fourteen, and boys began having nocturnal emissions at sixteen. These were the standard ages recorded by the ancients in his previous life. Any deviation meant either early or delayed development.
Bai Sui had no idea whether his delayed development in this life was due to malnutrition in his early years or simply the differences between people. Whatever the reason, his original yang had yet to be discharged.
That was a good thing for Bai Sui. Although he could sense the qi outside him, he couldn't simply draw it into his body.
For one thing, that was what the original method prescribed. For another, the Naruto World offered a cautionary example.
Just look at the Natural Energy in the Naruto World. To use it, one had to combine it with one's own physical and spiritual energy in a 1:1:1 ratio before it could truly be wielded.
If one failed to control the proportions, the stone statues standing in the Three Great Sage Regions were the clearest warning. Even if someone argued that the Senjutsu wielded by the Three Sages was unsuitable for humans, there was still Jugo. He could absorb Natural Energy from birth, yet what happened? The moment he absorbed it, he went berserk. These were all dangers he had to guard against.
So the most important thing for Bai Sui now was to cultivate according to the teachings recorded in Lingbao Bifa. To be honest, in his previous life he had known that immortality was beyond his reach, so he hadn't really worked on cultivating his life. Back then, he had pursued the path of the ghost immortal.
Now, he was starting from scratch, with no experience to draw on. The difficulty was considerable.
On top of that, Bai Sui had noticed something else while examining his body internally over the past two days: the bodies in his two lives were indeed different. The locations of his meridians and acupoints differed slightly from those in his previous life.
This made things even harder. He could only use the methods from his previous life as a reference, not apply them directly. Though the underlying principles remained unchanged and the highest-level ideas were shared, the stones forming the foundation were different.
Fortunately, people in the Naruto World had the same internal organs, two eyes, and one mouth. With that foundation, he could at least fit the details into the overall framework.
After all, Lingbao Bifa placed more emphasis on intent than form. It mainly made use of the connections between the organs, rather than focusing on the flow between acupoints.
However, in the early stages, when laying the foundation, the method still placed considerable importance on interacting with heaven and earth, and on aligning one's practice with the seasons.
The key problem was that Bai Sui strongly suspected the seasons in this world were different from those in his previous life.
For one thing, Bai Sui had never seen the Big Dipper at night, and the stars throughout the heavens were completely different from those he remembered.
He also hadn't seen Mercury, Venus, or Mars. That suggested this planet was not an alternate version of Earth.
On top of that, the moon had been formed by the Sage of Six Paths. All these factors could affect the planet's movements. With so many variables, the chances that the seasons in both worlds were still the same were simply too low.
And so, over the next few days, Bai Sui didn't immediately begin cultivating. Instead, he focused on recovering from his injuries.
By now, going about his daily activities no longer strained his wounds. He hadn't tested them with any strenuous exercise, but he figured they were probably fine.
At night, Bai Sui gradually tried replacing sleep with meditation.
He compared what he saw while examining his body internally with the meridians and acupoints he remembered.
Could it be that the cells in this body were more numerous? That they produced more physical energy?
As Bai Sui explored, he discovered that those acupoints and meridians produced better effects than they had in his previous life, though some of them were in different places.
And since these were people from two different worlds, some of the acupoints from his previous life didn't exist here. This life also had acupoints that hadn't been recorded in his previous one. Since he didn't know how they worked, Bai Sui didn't dare try using them.
That discovery alone was enough for Bai Sui to become a doctor.
Even if the properties of various medicines were different and he couldn't use the prescriptions from his previous life, he could still become a Needle Doctor thanks to his knowledge of these acupoints.
Although Bai Sui hadn't found any sign of mugwort in this body's memories, which meant he couldn't use moxibustion to supplement and support his needling techniques,
even with his half-baked knowledge and skills, Bai Sui was confident he could outperform the doctors who treated ordinary people.
With this medical skill, Bai Sui could escape the grueling physical labor and free up more time and opportunities to cultivate.
Of course, becoming a Needle Doctor wouldn't be easy. For one thing, he couldn't explain where his knowledge came from. For another, he didn't have any suitable tools.
Bai Sui's background in this life was clear. He had been under the protection of the Uzumaki Clan since he was a child of only a few years old, and had never had the chance to learn such medical skills.
To become a Needle Doctor, he needed needles. Ideally, he'd use fine needles, but if he couldn't get ones that thin, small sewing needles would do.
The problem was, after grinding down a sewing needle, Bai Sui feared it wouldn't be strong enough. If it broke off inside someone's flesh, he'd be in trouble.
Of course, metallurgy in this world was quite advanced, and there was no need to worry too much about materials. After all, there were wondrous substances like Chakra Metal.
The only problem was that Bai Sui had no reason to have such needles made. And so the problem came back to the first point.
That, in fact, wasn't impossible to solve. He could leave this place—leave the Uzumaki Clan.
In an era torn apart by war, Bai Sui didn't think anyone outside the Uzumaki Clan would know anything about him.
If he could just get an opportunity, he could start a new life under the identity of a doctor.
For now, all Bai Sui had to do was grow stronger and gain the ability to protect himself.
As for finding a chance to leave the Uzumaki Clan, Bai Sui wasn't too worried. After all, this was the Sengoku period.
The wars to come wouldn't end anytime soon. And though the Uzumaki Clan was powerful, its rival, the Uchiha, was just as formidable. They were one of the two great clans that would ultimately bring an era to an end.
Going to war with a clan like that would inevitably put the Uzumaki Clan under immense pressure in the future. At that point, he could either escape while the clan was short on manpower or slip away during an outside mission. Either way, he'd have a chance.
So all Bai Sui had to do now was make himself stronger. Whether escaping from under the Uzumaki Clan's watchful eyes or leaving a war zone, he would need considerable strength.
For now, no one had assigned Bai Sui any work. This was the perfect opportunity!