Chapter 7

"Only by strangling such a threat in the cradle can one rest easy."

What he did not say was that he coveted the child's talent. He did not want to eliminate him, but to seize him in his hand and temper him into his own blade.

Did he hate the Uchiha?

No. That was merely an excuse on the surface.

He was simply jealous—jealous of the Uchiha Clan's innate gifts.

After hearing this, the Third Hokage's face immediately darkened.

He stared hard at Danzo, his tone as cold as ice. "Enough!"

"He's just a child. Just because he's from the Uchiha Clan, you want to lay hands on him?"

"Danzo, I will not allow you to touch that child."

The Third Hokage knew full well—if Danzo truly made a move, the entire Uchiha Clan would explode in outrage, and even Konoha would suffer for it.

Besides, it was not as if he could not see through Danzo's little schemes.

Precisely because he saw through them, he could not let this old bastard act recklessly.

"Hiruzen... You... you'll regret this sooner or later! Those damned Uchiha aren't worth protecting!"

Danzo trembled with rage, his voice practically squeezed through clenched teeth.

The Third Hokage slammed his palm onto the desk, splashing tea everywhere. "Insolence! Danzo, remember this clearly—I am the Hokage!"

"I know exactly what I'm doing."

"The Uchiha are Konoha's people. They are not yours to touch as you please. I have my own arrangements for this matter."

Danzo opened his mouth, wanting to curse back, but ultimately swallowed the words.

Yet inwardly, he was roaring: Damn it, I know you're the Hokage. Can you stop saying it every single time? The more you bring it up, the more it feels like someone is rubbing salt into my wounds!

If I hadn't stepped forward one step too late back then, the teacher would definitely have chosen me!

Hiruzen Sarutobi, what the hell makes you better than me? I'm far more suited for that position than you are!

Those words churned in Danzo's chest, but not a single one escaped his lips.

He suddenly flung his sleeve aside and snorted coldly at the Third Hokage. "Hmph! Hiruzen, you'll regret this!"

With that, he slammed the door and left. His footsteps were hurried and heavy, vanishing down the corridor in the blink of an eye.

Only the Third Hokage remained in the office.

With his pipe between his teeth, he took several puffs, smoke drifting through the dim light.

"Sigh... Danzo's prejudice against the Uchiha runs far too deep."

"This is not how a Hokage should handle matters. Things are not that black and white."

For now, the Uchiha were still an indispensable force to Konoha.

He could not allow Danzo to act recklessly.

"Looks like... I'll need to speed up efforts to win over the civilian ninja and smaller clans."

One month later.

[You pored over countless medical texts and, combining them with the medicinal formula knowledge you remembered from your past life, repeatedly experimented until you finally derived a perfect foundation-building medicinal bath formula.]

"Whew—finally got it!"

Xuan let out a long breath, a bright smile appearing on his face.

With this new formula in his mind, he felt far more at ease.

His parents might protect him, but no one could predict the dangers of this world.

Who knew when war would suddenly fall upon his head?

The more strength he had, the better his chances of surviving.

Getting stronger as soon as possible was the most important thing right now.

Xuan wrote down the formula and headed into the courtyard as soon as he put down his pen. He quickly found his mother and handed her the sheet of paper.

"Mom, this is a foundation-building medicinal bath formula I tailored specifically for myself. It has no side effects, is nearly twice as effective as the previous Uchiha medicinal bath, and can be used once every day."

His mother took the formula and gave it a quick look, her brows furrowing slightly. Staring at the names and proportions of the herbs, she could not help muttering to herself.

"It really is much more profound than before. There are fewer and fewer things I recognize... You really are a little monster."

She looked over the formula again and again, growing more shocked the longer she studied it.

The side effects were almost nonexistent. Her son's mind was simply beyond anything normal people could compare to.

If he used this formula for a few years, he would leave children his age far behind.

"Alright, I'll gather everything for you as soon as possible. I'll buy the ingredients separately and mix in some other herbs, so no one will be able to tell what it is."

Xuan nodded, then added, "Thanks, Mom. But it's still better to be careful. This formula is important."

His mother could not help laughing. She reached out and patted his head.

"Your mother is a medical chunin, and I've worked in medicine for so many years. Do you really need to teach me something this basic? Put your mind at ease."

Then she changed the subject. "And don't stay cooped up in the study all day reading. Go out for a walk now and then, or you'll make yourself sick sooner or later."

"I know you don't like hanging around with children your age. But don't you like that girl Mikoto? You can have her take you out for a stroll."

The Grand Elder had long since hinted that he wanted Xuan and Mikoto to become a pair. She also thought it would be good to let the two children spend more time together first and see whether they suited each other. If not, it would be easier to cut things off early.

Xuan smiled and nodded before turning around and returning to the study.

He had long understood what was going on between him and Mikoto. His parents' little thoughts could not be hidden from him at all. After his spiritual power grew stronger, there were many things he could understand without even needing to ask.

Since fate had placed Mikoto before him, and she herself was willing, he would never let Fugaku take her away.

That guy Fugaku simply was not worthy of Mikoto.

And given the Uchiha's current situation, Fugaku's indecisive nature could never support the position of clan head.

In the original timeline, Fugaku could not escape blame for the Uchiha ending up as they did.

Some said Konoha's higher-ups had sabotaged them from behind the scenes, while others blamed Shisui Uchiha and Itachi Uchiha for ruining things. But in Xuan's view, Fugaku himself was no better.

Fugaku's own son and the clan's genius had gone down that path. At the end of the day, wasn't it because he had taught them poorly?

Over the past few months, Xuan had been devouring medical texts and studying medical knowledge while using medicinal baths to build his foundation. Every day without fail, he circulated the Innate Art once, and the innate qi in his dantian steadily accumulated.

His meridians, bones, and muscles grew stronger by the day, and he grew taller along with them.

[Based on the growth patterns of your own spiritual power, combined with medical ninjutsu knowledge, the memory palace meditation method from your past life... and a series of other meditation methods, you gained sudden insight into the Spirit-Refining Meditation Method.]

[Spirit-Refining Meditation Method]: Use spiritual power as a pen to outline a memory palace within the mind, thereby tempering both the quality and quantity of spiritual power.

"Success! Let's give it a try!"

After digesting the Spirit-Refining Meditation Method that had suddenly appeared in his mind, Xuan immediately sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and began trying to circulate it.

Using his spiritual power as a pen, he slowly traced the outline of a memory palace.

The process was arduous and slow, his spiritual power pouring out like water.

Xuan's spiritual power had always been far stronger than that of ordinary people. He had been able to release it externally while still in the womb, and now that he was over a year old, it grew every day.

But even so, he could not hold out for long under such consumption. In less than half an hour, he could no longer endure it. His face went pale, and he opened his eyes with a look of exhaustion.

"Whew! This really is difficult! My spiritual power is only enough to make out a rough outline. It barely counts as entry into the first level. I'll have to work at the rest slowly."

Xuan muttered inwardly.

Now was not the time to think about that. His spiritual power had been drained too severely, and his head was spinning. He quickly activated the recovery portion of the Spirit-Refining Meditation Method, calmed himself, and meditated to slowly replenish his spiritual power.

That was right. The Spirit-Refining Meditation Method could not only temper spiritual power, but also included a meditative recovery method, allowing recovery several times faster than normal.

More than an hour later, with the help of the meditation recovery technique, Xuan's spiritual power was finally fully restored.

He opened his eyes and felt it out, delight appearing on his face. "The refinement effect is really impressive! Not only has my spiritual power become much more condensed, but its quantity has increased by ten percent too. Totally worth it!"