"9995, 9996, 9997..."
While his friends trained, Uchiha Tenshu was right there beside them, keeping up his daily Taijutsu exercises.
Balancing himself on one finger, with his left hand behind his back, he did one-finger push-ups. Sweat began to bead across his body.
Compared to the flash and power of ninjutsu, Taijutsu was an unglamorous foundation. Even years of training only counted as a beginner's first steps. Few in the Ninja World made it their top training priority the way Uchiha Tenshu did.
Tenshu didn't care what other people thought.
Day after day, while his strength was advancing by leaps and bounds, he devoted all his effort to training his body.
As a transmigrator, Uchiha Tenshu knew what the future held. He understood some of the world's deepest secrets.
For example, the existence of the Otsutsuki.
Kaguya Otsutsuki, Hagoromo Otsutsuki, Hamura Otsutsuki, Momoshiki Otsutsuki, and many others.
As a race of colonists from outer space, the Otsutsuki could travel freely through space without being affected by cosmic rays. They could manipulate space, and every one of them possessed tremendous strength.
Whenever they reached a planet, they planted what was known as a God Tree. It absorbed the planet's genetic material and energy, allowing them to continually evolve their life essence and break through the shackles of their genes.
And this growth was so effortless that they could keep eating fruit until they transcended the universe and reached the level of true gods.
It was terrifying.
Even the most ordinary Otsutsuki possessed the innate ability to travel through space, crossing the universe at will.
And members of the Otsutsuki Clan had once come to Earth, leaving a profound impact on it.
Kaguya Otsutsuki, for example, had once arrived on this planet, eaten the Chakra Fruit, and ruled the entire world.
She had two children, the Sage of Six Paths, Hagoromo Otsutsuki, and Hamura Otsutsuki. In the end, the two of them sealed her away.
Hagoromo Otsutsuki, one of the two, spread Chakra and came to be revered by the world as the so-called Sage of Six Paths.
He was the true source of the Uchiha and Senju Clans' bloodlines—a genuine immortal.
Of course, Uchiha Tenshu didn't have any particular fondness for him.
The man had been far too biased and devious.
Still, those events were long past, and Tenshu didn't care what sort of person anyone had been.
It was just that the Otsutsuki were the pinnacle beings of the Chakra system they had spread. Those who trained in Chakra could hardly hurt them, and the abilities of the Otsutsuki Clan thoroughly countered them.
Uchiha Tenshu couldn't accept that.
After all, he trained in Chakra too.
How could he tolerate such a threat?
So a confrontation between them was inevitable.
Even if the other side didn't come looking for him, one day he would seek them out and wipe out the threat for good.
That meant he had to find a way to fight them.
In the story Uchiha Tenshu had seen in his previous life,
most ninjutsu only provided the enemy with energy, helping them grow stronger, and had no effect whatsoever.
Senjutsu seemed capable of harming them, but in reality, it only worked because they hadn't learned the same Senjutsu.
The Otsutsuki in the original story had simply been too stupid to bother learning the Ninja World's techniques.
Therefore,
ordinary Otsutsuki might be vulnerable to counters, but the Sage of Six Paths, Hagoromo Otsutsuki, was a master of Senjutsu. It was anyone's guess who would counter whom.
Besides, Uchiha Tenshu had no way to learn Senjutsu, so there was no point dwelling on it.
Beyond ninjutsu and Senjutsu,
there was also Genjutsu.
But that relied on dōjutsu.
As for the Genjutsu used by ordinary shinobi, it merely made people laugh. It fell apart the moment it met dōjutsu.
It wasn't even worth discussing.
Dōjutsu users possessed all kinds of incredible eye techniques.
But those techniques were inherited from a branch of the Otsutsuki Clan, and they didn't even have a tenth of the true power of the original.
Let alone the ability to fight them.
Taijutsu, on the other hand, was the most direct form of physical attack—and also the most effective.
Perhaps progress would be slow at first, and still slow in the middle stages, but in the end, it was the only true measure of strength.
Take Ōtsutsuki Isshiki, for example. Even the ultimate power of the Uchiha Clan, Susanoo, could be kicked to pieces by him.
Even now, members of the Otsutsuki Clan were still hiding on this planet, ready to unleash an apocalyptic disaster at any moment.
The danger was unavoidable.
According to the original story, he still had several decades to grow stronger, but he couldn't afford to let his guard down.
So,
whether Uchiha Tenshu trained this way to fulfill his own ambitions or to prepare for an impending crisis, he had to prioritize Taijutsu. Once he had built a strong foundation, he could quickly master Genjutsu and ninjutsu.
It was like learning the Nine Yang Divine Skill: once you had mastered it, you could naturally learn every move. First, strengthen your body's foundations, then worry about everything else.
As a result, of Uchiha Tenshu's ten-hour daily training schedule, three hours went to ninjutsu and Genjutsu, two to studying knowledge and medicine, and the remaining five to Taijutsu. If not for fatigue and resistance causing harmful side effects, he would have trained even longer.
Only future Taijutsu-focused shinobi like Might Guy and Rock Lee could match such an intense regimen.
"Of course, even if those aliens never came to this world, there are plenty of other dangers!"
Uchiha Tenshu reminded himself.
Take the Sage of Six Paths, the supposed ancestor of the Uchiha Clan. He still existed in the so-called Pure Land, silently watching over the Ninja World like a garden, maintaining its wars and constantly harvesting its Chakra.
Otherwise, if he truly wanted to bring peace to the world—
Would it really have been so difficult with his power as a sage?
Uchiha Tenshu scoffed to himself.
Just as Uchiha Tenshu continued his usual training,
"Uchiha Tenshu, Elder Raimon summons you!"
A clear voice rang out.
With a "whoosh," a figure appeared beside Uchiha Tenshu, standing atop the tallest snow-covered tree. Thanks to her precise control of Chakra, she stood perfectly still on the treetop, her upper body's ample "assets" seemingly defying gravity. The tree didn't bend beneath her at all.
She stood as if she and the tree were one.
Only her "ample" figure gave a slight jiggle.
"So... big..."
Uchiha Tenshu was stunned by their sheer "size" for a full second before hurriedly looking away.
But she still caught him.
"Disgusting!"
Uchiha Sakurako's eyes filled with the same disgust one might show at the sight of a rat. She gritted her teeth and looked down at Uchiha Tenshu. One hand rested on the short blade at her waist, as if she were about to draw it, but then she seemed to remember something and lowered her hand. Her gaze continued to rake over him, full of scrutiny and displeasure.
"Hmph! So this is the person Lord Raimon chose! He's... he's disgusting!"
Uchiha Sakurako studied the calm face of Uchiha Tenshu, who had been training a group of kids his age below.
He looked so ordinary!
There wasn't anything special about him!
And he was a bit of a lecher, too!
She couldn't understand why Elder Raimon had chosen him...
Hmph!
Uchiha Sakurako's feelings were a tangled mess.
After being summoned by Uchiha Raimon, Uchiha Tenshu followed Uchiha Sakurako toward the residential district of the Uchiha Clan's elders.
They walked along the broad avenue of the Uchiha Clan, renovated over the past two years and now lavishly decorated, until they reached Elder Street.
It lay at the far end of the Uchiha Clan's territory. Most of the time, few people went there, and unauthorized visitors were barred from entering.
The important street was divided by ten smaller roads, forming nine lines. From above, each line ended at an elder's residence. At the end of the seventh line stood the home of the Seventh Elder, Uchiha Raimon.
Raimon's residence was a cut above the eight houses around it. It was a four-story, castle-like building covering ten thousand square meters, utterly unlike the traditional Japanese style of the other elders' homes.
The dignified white castle stood apart from every other building in the Uchiha Clan. It was undoubtedly the most distinctive of them all.
Naturally, Uchiha Tenshu had designed it.
After all, a princess deserved a castle!
Of course,
the princess wasn't Uchiha Raimon.
The princess was someone else.
Uchiha Tenshu walked into the castle with practiced ease. The gates stood open, and the garden out front seemed unguarded, but countless traps and small barriers lay hidden within. Any enemy from outside would be struck the moment they approached.
Uchiha Tenshu was simply a regular visitor here.
Even so, sensor shinobi were still active in the shadows.
But...
"Why does it feel like something's different today?"
As he drew closer to the castle,
Uchiha Tenshu frowned. The oppressive atmosphere in the air told him that something was out of the ordinary.
He picked up his pace.
The moment Uchiha Tenshu entered the castle, he saw the Seventh Elder, Uchiha Raimon, sitting at the large redwood conference table. Raimon's face was deathly pale, and thick bandages covered his hands, feet, and shoulders. He had clearly been seriously injured.
"This..."
Uchiha Tenshu's expression changed. His brow furrowed, and a trace of killing intent appeared in his eyes.
Then he hurried forward.
"Elder Raimon, what happened?"
"I thought you were stationed at the factory outside the village. How could this have happened? Did someone attack the factory? But that doesn't make sense. Even if the factory was destroyed, you should have protected yourself instead of risking your life. Besides, with your strength, how many people in the entire Ninja World could seriously injure you? Was it that person...?"
Uchiha Tenshu asked anxiously, his eyes reddening. His concern wasn't merely a consequence of their business partnership. Over the years, Uchiha Raimon had looked after him so much that Tenshu had come to regard him as someone he could truly trust. And not to mention...
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