Seal Arts and Training

Fugaku stood in the dojo, feeling that something was deeply amiss.

He had originally sensed a faint trace of surveillance, but the moment he attempted to pinpoint its source, the sensation vanished entirely.

Following the trail of the anomaly, Fugaku arrived at a corner, his eyes suddenly widening.

"Kikaichu..."

The insects on the ground made Fugaku knit his brows. The Aburame Clan?

Was this a move by the Third Hokage, or perhaps... Danzo?

His thoughts stalled for only an instant; what Fugaku was more curious about now was who had managed to dispose of these Kikaichu in such a fleeting moment.

He had been standing nearby the entire time; if someone had truly appeared to eliminate these bugs, it would have been impossible for him to remain completely unaware.

Fugaku then considered another possibility. He waved his hand, and an Uchiha clansman appeared behind him.

"Go, search every corner of the clan grounds and see if there are any more Kikaichu."

"Yes, Clan Leader!"

Hayato did not concern himself with the movements within the Uchiha clan grounds. He was flipping through the scrolls left behind by his father, which contained insights into sealing techniques.

This had been one of his father's few hobbies, as his mother had often spoken to him about it while she was alive.

"These sealing techniques really are complex." Hayato rubbed his temples. His home only contained one or two basic primers on sealing; trying to use those to study his father's advanced notes was no simple task.

Setting the scroll down, Hayato ran the contents through his mind and mused, I wonder if Shisui has any of these materials.

One had to remember that Uchiha Kagami had been the person closest to the center of power within the village during his time; he should have possessed at least some foundation.

Konoha placed great importance on sealing techniques. Having inherited the legacy of the Land of Whirlpools, Konoha was now the village with the most powerful sealing arts in the entire Ninja World—one only had to look at how each village sealed their Tailed Beasts to know this.

Hayato wanted to understand sealing techniques to prepare for his future cultivation of Sage Arts.

Even someone as formidable as Orochimaru had been unable to cultivate Sage Arts due to the side effects of the Living Corpse Reincarnation, forcing him to develop the Heaven Cursed Seal to create a pseudo-Sage state.

Although the Sound Four and Sasuke no longer looked human after activating the second stage in the original story, one could not deny that it was effective—at the very least, it provided a comprehensive boost.

Hayato had only obtained the foundation of a Sage Body at the very beginning, which merely allowed him to recover quickly after being injured; it was not a true Sage Body.

Most importantly, Hayato wanted to see what kind of sparks would fly from the combination of Sage Arts and the Sharingan.

Among the three great sacred sites, Mount Myoboku was ruled out from the start. With their "Child of Prophecy" agenda, Mount Myoboku would likely never allow an Uchiha to cultivate their Sage Arts.

As for forcing his way in, Hayato had no such thoughts for the time being. He had only awakened the Mangekyo, not the Rinnegan.

If he showed up now, he would be easily suppressed by Mount Myoboku using Sage Arts.

Hayato exhaled a breath of stale air, cast those thoughts from his mind, and returned to studying the scroll before him.

Even if he couldn't use them yet, he could at least broaden his knowledge.

The next day, just as dawn was breaking.

While Hayato was washing up, he heard a knock at the front door.

Hayato opened the door to find Shisui already prepared, standing on the threshold.

"Good morning, Hayato!" Shisui greeted him with a smile.

"Mm, good morning, Shisui." Hayato nodded, and the two headed toward the Naka River within the clan grounds.

"How do you suggest we train?"

Upon reaching the riverbank, Shisui looked at Hayato and asked.

"What do you usually practice?" Hayato asked in return, looking at Shisui. Geniuses always had their own methods, and he wanted to see what he could learn.

"I usually focus on taijutsu and kenjutsu, then practice ninjutsu and genjutsu afterward," Shisui recalled and replied.

How straightforward.

Hayato shook his head; Shisui's training was more about refining technique, which differed from his own direction.

"What's wrong?" Shisui looked puzzled.

"I was thinking we should focus on basic running, but with high volume," Hayato explained his idea. "You know Might Guy, the Jonin in the village, right?"

Shisui nodded. "Yes, I have an impression of him. I believe he was promoted to Jonin last year."

"Exactly. I heard his daily physical conditioning consists of running and other basics."

"Running?" Shisui had rarely heard of this, as the training of Jonin was never displayed in public—or rather, all ninjas tended to hide their training from others unless they were close.

"Yes. High-intensity running can improve basic physical fitness and stamina. I heard that Might Guy was already running 5,000 laps on the track daily when he was a child."

Hearing this, Shisui was left dumbfounded.

That number wasn't terrifying for him now, but the premise Hayato had mentioned was that he had done it as a child.

"Of course, that's because Might Guy specializes in taijutsu, but we can learn from it—at the very least, we can try to break our limits." Hayato waved his hand; Might Guy's inhuman training wasn't suitable for him.

Even so, they could use it as a goal to try and enhance their speed and explosive power. Furthermore, this type of training wasn't without its benefits; improving basic physical fitness and stamina was also useful for those of them who had awakened the Mangekyo.

"Alright! I'll follow your lead!"

With a determined expression on his face, the two began to run, one after the other, along the banks of the Naka River.

At first, Shisui was able to keep up with Hayato's pace, but as time wore on and his stamina depleted rapidly, he gradually began to slow down.

"Yo, that's all you've got?"

Hayato, running in front, glanced back at Shisui.

"I won't stop here!" Shisui retorted, accelerating once more to catch up to Hayato, pulling himself level with him.

Seeing this, Hayato smiled and picked up his pace again.

At this moment, Shisui was truly impressed by Hayato's immense energy; it wasn't a gap in skill, but a difference in raw physical endurance.

I can definitely do it too!

Secretly encouraging himself, Shisui refused to be outdone and pushed himself to keep up once more.

Three hours later, the two stopped at their original starting point. Shisui was drenched in sweat; although he had managed to keep up, he was in a sorry state.

Just as he tried to straighten his back, the whole world began to spin.

Thud!

Hayato caught Shisui just in time, asking gently, "You alright?"

"I can't hold on much longer." Shisui offered a bitter smile. He truly felt the massive drain on his stamina—this was completely different from his previous training.

"Then let's take a break." Hayato helped Shisui over to a large tree nearby.

Seeing Shisui catching his breath, Hayato didn't waste any time; he sat cross-legged and began to refine his chakra.

This limit-testing run feels pretty good. Refining chakra now should yield some results.

Is this the extent of Hayato's perseverance...

As he rested, Shisui watched Hayato's every move.