Your Talent Was Relaxed, but Your Chakra Was Compact

Shadow Clones were inconvenient in this one respect.

Unlike the Parasite Seeds of Earth Grudge Fear, they could not sense the condition of their hosts at any time. Their operational progress and acquired experience would only return all at once when the clones were dispelled.

Toji decided that midnight each day would be the cutoff. At that time, he would dispel all the clones and tally the day's gains.

After leaving two Shadow Clones at home,

Toji went to Uchiha Chiri's house to perform her routine brain examination.

As he checked her over, they made small talk.

"Uchiha Bing has already led a new investigation team to pursue Uchiha Yan." Uchiha Chiri sat on the tatami. "I hope this time brings a good result."

"Have they found a lead already? When you mentioned it last time, it had already been half a year."

"Mhm."

Uchiha Chiri nodded. "News came back from the latest investigation team..."

"Half a year ago, a wealthy merchant in the Land of Rice Fields was kidnapped. The kidnappers demanded a ransom of one billion ryō. By the time the family gathered the money and arrived, both the kidnappers and the merchant had already been killed."

"The investigation team happened to be nearby and took over the family's commission. After a careful examination, the traces of battle at the scene appeared to bear the characteristics of the Uchiha clan. Among the clan members outside the village, only Uchiha Yan met the conditions."

"For some reason, she had been hunting bands of rogue ninja, sometimes even killing the hostages along with them. Over the past six months, several incidents matching this pattern had occurred."

"It could basically be confirmed that Uchiha Yan was hiding and operating somewhere in the Land of Rice Fields, with no intention of leaving."

Impressive.

Toji silently praised them.

The Uchiha truly deserved to be called the strongest clan in the Shinobi World. They had managed to investigate this deeply within another country.

But...

Sorry, Uchiha Yan was a very useful piece in his hand. He could not let them bring her back so easily. Type Zero and Type One would pass this information along.

"Chiri, do you have any free time lately?"

Toji suddenly asked.

The abrupt question made Uchiha Chiri pause slightly. "After I get off work at the Ninja Academy each day, I do not have much to do. Is something wrong?"

Toji smiled faintly. "I want to practice Fire Release ninjutsu lately. Could you teach me?"

Uchiha Chiri did not hesitate in the slightest and readily agreed.

"Of course."

Her answer was exceptionally straightforward.

Toji smiled. "That's great. I thought Chiri might be busy. With someone as proficient in Fire Release as you teaching me personally, I'll definitely learn quickly."

Though she was the one being asked for help, the slight upward curve of Chiri's lips gave away her mood.

"But... why did you suddenly want to practice Fire Release?" Chiri asked curiously.

Toji's request to learn ninjutsu was not a whim.

After mastering Earth Grudge Parasite and the Shadow Clone Jutsu, he suddenly had much more time. He could use it to learn and master more ninjutsu, ensuring that he had sufficient combat strength when controlling his hosts.

Although his talent for ninjutsu was poor, he still had to learn.

First, he would learn Fire Release from Chiri. Then he would learn the other four elemental attributes as well, without leaving out a single one.

"It counts as a way to relax."

Toji spoke casually.

It was the truth.

To him, learning this kind of basic ninjutsu was not a burden. It was instead a way to relax. It did not matter if he failed to learn it. If he did, watching the gray-white skill tree light up one node after another gave him a faint sense of accomplishment.

It was unlike secret techniques and Sealing Jutsu such as Impure World Reincarnation and the Yin Seal. They were extremely difficult to master, yet he had to practice them until he was proficient. If his progress fell behind, he would become anxious.

That was not good for the physical and mental health of a long-lived being.

"Relax... I understand." Chiri nodded knowingly. "I'll teach you properly."

"Thank you, Chiri."

"Then let's start now." After thinking briefly, Chiri said, "We'll begin with the most basic Great Fireball Technique."

Toji's talent for ninjutsu was far from ideal.

Because he only had a short stretch of free time each day, Chiri adopted the bearing of a strict teacher when instructing him.

It took Toji three days just to barely spit out weak flames. After seven days, he could only spray those flames a little farther from his body. It was not until half a month later that he finally condensed a barely formed little fireball that he could launch.

Uchiha clan training ground.

Toji rapidly formed hand seals with both hands: Snake—Ram—Monkey—Boar—Horse—Tiger.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

A condensed, scorching fireball erupted from his mouth. Blazing flames swallowed the wooden stake ahead, and firelight reflected in Toji's eyes.

After half a month of study, he had finally mastered this signature Uchiha ninjutsu.

In his memory, the Great Fireball Technique had a particularly awkward record: it had never actually managed to injure an enemy in the main storyline. Every time, it was blocked, dodged, or absorbed in some fancy manner.

But Toji did not agree with that fixed impression.

Among the five standard elemental releases, Fire Release should have had the greatest killing power.

If an ordinary ninja took it head-on, their body would instantly be scorched and carbonized by the intense heat.

As for its lack of any respectable kills in the story, one also had to consider who its opponents had been.

Kakashi, Pain's Preta Path, Killer B, Sage Kabuto...

Which one of them was not an elite among elites?

The Great Fireball Technique itself was only a C-rank ninjutsu. Naturally, it was not enough in the eyes of the strong, but against ordinary ninja—especially the fodder rogue ninja outside the Five Great Villages—its power was more than sufficient.

Uchiha Chiri stood nearby with her arms folded. Watching the fireball Toji had fired, a trace of surprise appeared on her face. "Toji, your talent for ninjutsu may be terrible, but the quality of your Fire Release condensation is unexpectedly high."

"That's awfully blunt. It really hurts."

Chiri lowered her head slightly, her tone serious. "Sorry, but I'm not joking."

Feeling the scorching heat rushing toward her, she said, "Even the Fire Release used by an ordinary Chunin would be less powerful than your Great Fireball with the same amount of chakra."

"The quality of your Fire Release is at least Jōnin level."

"Your relaxed talent for ninjutsu has been made up for by your exceptional chakra quality. Taken as a whole, Toji, you can also be considered a genius at practicing Fire Release."

"..."

Toji was not surprised by that assessment.

After all, his talent for ninjutsu was his own. But the chakra powering his Fire Release came from the heart of an Uchiha Jōnin within his body. Whenever his physical and spiritual energy flowed through that heart, it was directly refined into Jōnin-level Fire Release chakra.

A ninja's heart naturally refined higher-quality chakra after years and years of cultivation.

Put a Jōnin and a Genin together, and even if they used the same amount of chakra to cast the same ninjutsu, the Jōnin would be the one to win. Of course, Konoha Genin were not included in this category.

"Thank you for the praise."