Chapter 7

"Only by snuffing out such a threat in its cradle can we have peace of mind."

What he left unsaid was that he actually coveted the child's talent. He didn't want to eliminate him; he wanted to keep him in the palm of his hand and temper him into his own blade.

Did he hate the Uchiha?

No. That was merely the excuse he used on the surface.

He was simply jealous—jealous of the innate talent the Uchiha Clan possessed from birth.

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

He glared at Danzo, his voice as cold as ice. "Enough!"

"He's just a child. You're going after him simply because he's from the Uchiha clan?"

"Danzo, I won't allow you to touch that child."

The Third Hokage knew the situation inside out. If Danzo were allowed to make a move, the entire Uchiha Clan would explode, and Konoha would suffer the consequences as well.

Besides, he could see through Danzo's little schemes perfectly well.

It was precisely because he saw through them that he couldn't let the old fool run wild.

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

Danzo trembled with rage, his voice practically squeezed out from between his teeth.

The Third Hokage slammed a palm onto the table, splashing the tea. "How dare you! Danzo, get this straight—I'm the Hokage!"

"I know exactly what I'm doing."

"The Uchiha are members of Konoha. You can't just lay a hand on them. I have my own arrangements for this matter."

Danzo opened and closed his mouth, wanting to curse back, but in the end, he forced the words down.

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

If I hadn't stepped forward a little too late back then, the person my teacher chose would definitely have been me!

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

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

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

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

Only the Third Hokage remained in the office.

He held a dry tobacco pipe between his teeth and took several noisy puffs. Smoke drifted through the dim light.

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

"This isn't how a Hokage should act. Matters aren't always so extreme that they must be handled that way."

The Uchiha were still an indispensable force for Konoha.

He couldn't let Danzo act recklessly.

"Looks like... I'll have to speed up my efforts to win over the civilian shinobi and minor clans."

--

A month later.

[You read through a large number of medical texts, combined them with the medicinal knowledge and formulas remembered from your previous life, and experimented repeatedly. You finally deduced the Perfect Foundation-Building Medicinal Bath formula.]

"Whew—finally got it done!"

Uchiha Yan let out a long breath, a brilliant smile spreading across his face.

With this new formula in his head, he felt much more at ease.

Although his parents protected him, no one could say what dangers this world held.

Who knew when war might erupt right over his head?

One more bit of strength meant one more bit of confidence in surviving.

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

Yan wrote down the formula, set down his brush, and headed into the courtyard. He soon found his mother and handed her the paper.

"Mom, this is the Foundation-Building Medicinal Bath formula I prepared specifically for myself. It has no side effects, its effects are nearly twice as strong as the previous Uchiha Medicinal Bath, and I can soak in it once every day."

His mother accepted the formula and skimmed through it, her brows knitting slightly. She stared at the names and proportions of the medicinal ingredients and couldn't help muttering a few words.

"It's certainly much more profound than before. There are fewer and fewer things I recognize... You really are a little monster, child."

She turned the formula over and over several times, growing more shocked the more she read.

The side effects were practically nonexistent. Her son's mind was simply beyond what any ordinary person could compare with.

If he soaked in this bath for several years, her son would definitely leave his peers far behind.

"Very well. I'll gather everything for you as soon as possible. I'll buy them separately and mix in some other medicinal ingredients so no one will be able to figure out what's going on."

Yan nodded, then added, "Sorry for the trouble, Mom. But it's still better to be careful. This formula is tied to something significant."

His mother couldn't help laughing at that. She reached out and patted him on the head.

"Your mother is a Medical Chunin, after all. I've worked in medicine for so many years. Do you really need to teach me something this obvious? Put your mind at ease."

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

"I know you don't like mixing with those your age. But don't you like that girl Mikoto? You could let her take you out for a walk."

The First Elder had already hinted at his intentions long ago, wanting Yan and Mikoto to become a couple. She also thought it would be good to let the two children spend more time together first and see whether they were suited to each other. If not, ending things early would save trouble.

Yan smiled and nodded, then turned and went back to the study.

He already understood everything concerning him and Mikoto. His parents' little schemes couldn't possibly hide from him. After his mental strength had grown, he could tell many things without asking.

Since fate had sent Mikoto to him, and she was willing as well, he would never let Fugaku steal her away.

That fellow Fugaku simply wasn't worthy of Mikoto.

Moreover, given the Uchiha's current situation, Fugaku's indecisive personality simply couldn't support the position of clan head.

In the original timeline, Fugaku couldn't escape responsibility for the Uchiha ending up with that fate.

Some said that Konoha's higher-ups had secretly obstructed them. Others blamed Shisui Uchiha and Itachi Uchiha for ruining everything. But in his eyes, Fugaku was hardly blameless himself.

When Fugaku's own son and the clan's genius walked down that path, wasn't it ultimately because he had raised them poorly?

For the past few months, Yan had been devouring medical texts and learning medical knowledge while soaking in medicinal baths to build his foundation. Every day, without fail, he circulated the Innate Art once, and the Innate Qi in his dantian continued to accumulate.

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

[Based on the growth patterns of your own mental strength and combined with your knowledge of Medical Ninjutsu, the Memory Palace Meditation Method from your previous life... along with a series of other meditation methods, you experienced an epiphany and comprehended the Spirit-Refining Meditation Method.]

[Spirit-Refining Meditation Method]: Use mental strength as a brush to sketch a memory palace in your mind, thereby tempering the quality and quantity of your mental strength.

"It worked! Let's give it a try!"

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

He used his mental strength as a brush, slowly sketching the outline of a memory palace.

The entire process was both laborious and slow. His mental strength poured out like water.

Yan's mental strength was already far greater than an ordinary person's. He had been able to project it outward while still in the womb, and now, at a little over a year old, his mental strength continued to rise every day.

Even so, he couldn't last long under the technique's consumption. In less than half an hour, he reached his limit. His face went pale, and he opened his eyes with an exhausted expression.

"Whew! It really is difficult! My current mental strength is only enough to make a rough outline, barely counting as the first level of entry. I'll have to slowly work on the rest."

Yan muttered inwardly.

Now wasn't the time to think about that. His mental strength had been depleted too severely, leaving him dizzy. He hurriedly circulated the recovery portion of the Spirit-Refining Meditation Method, calming his mind and meditating as he let his mental strength slowly recover.

That's right—the Spirit-Refining Meditation Method could not only temper mental strength, but also contained a method for recovering through meditation. Its recovery speed was several times faster than usual.

After another hour or so, with the help of the Meditation Recovery Technique, Yan's mental strength was finally replenished.

He opened his eyes and sensed himself. Delight appeared on his face. "The refining effect is truly impressive! My mental strength has not only become much denser, but its quantity has also increased by ten percent. It's completely worth it!"