Might Guy had not expected to have his whereabouts exposed the moment he appeared.
He had originally planned to engineer a chance encounter, but after learning that Uchiha Shunichi normally never left Uchiha Clan territory, he could only come over himself.
"Cough, cough! I was entrusted by Lord Hokage to teach you Taijutsu." Though embarrassed, Might Guy tried hard to maintain his dignity.
"Yes, then I'll be relying on you, Teacher Guy. However, I'm not a conventional Taijutsu ninja. Because of my physical condition, I need to strengthen my body as quickly as possible," Uchiha Shunichi said politely.
"Young man... there are no shortcuts in Taijutsu training!" Might Guy told Uchiha Shunichi with a solemn expression.
But soon afterward, he returned to normal.
"Still, I can teach you the proper way to train your body." Might Guy once again flashed his trademark smile.
If one ignored his inexplicable self-confidence and the awkwardness of his conversation, Might Guy was actually an excellent teacher. After merely listening to him speak for a few sentences and watching several demonstrations, Uchiha Shunichi felt that his training methods had become much smoother.
However, since this was not formal instruction, Might Guy only stayed for one afternoon before leaving.
After Might Guy left, Uchiha Shunichi did not continue training. Because of his body, the amount of time he could train each day was limited. Once he reached his limit, failing to recover would cause irreversible damage to his body.
Although... that damage was reversible for Uchiha Shunichi.
Uchiha Shunichi left the training grounds and went to the bathhouse. He climbed into a tub of suitably warm water and began adding various medicines to it.
Physical training required not only intense exercise, but also sufficient food, adequate rest, and potions that enhanced one's constitution.
Otherwise, training alone would not strengthen the body. Instead, it would only make it increasingly frail.
More than an hour later, Uchiha Shunichi finished his bath for the day. After quickly drying himself, he headed to an underground secret chamber far from his residence.
This place had originally been where the Uchiha Clan stored its weapons. However, those weapons had long since been sold off by Uchiha Shunichi, and the former underground armory had now been converted into a laboratory.
Laboratories were a rather incongruous thing in the Shinobi World.
Because of ninjas, this world's technological development had taken a strange turn. Although many powerful technologies had been invented, they were merely playthings for the nobility.
Still, conducting scientific research in the Shinobi World was quite convenient, especially in matters concerning the human body. The existence of chakra was practically like having cheat codes enabled.
After more than three years of self-study, Uchiha Shunichi could already make a few somewhat useful things. For example, the nutritional solution he was drinking now and the medicine he added to his bath each day were both extracted here.
The laboratory brightened as Uchiha Shunichi entered. Familiar with the place, he walked toward a row of cages covered in cloth...
Pulling back the white cloth revealed numerous white mice of varying shapes inside the cages.
"Experiment log: Number One, failure... Number Two, failure... Number Thirteen has a slight abnormality and can be observed further..."
Uchiha Shunichi created a Shadow Clone to keep records, while he himself carefully observed the condition of the eighteen experimental mice.
"There's no need to continue this experiment. Uchiha Clan blood cannot possibly be integrated into animals so easily," the Shadow Clone responsible for recording said from the side.
Although they were the same person, a Shadow Clone with the same thoughts could clearly view problems from a different angle.
"No, Number Thirteen has produced some results. My goal is not to make the experiment succeed, but to find a direction for bloodline transplantation. After all, I can't truly conduct human experiments."
Uchiha Shunichi continued observing the mice as he spoke slowly.
"We could consider cultivating them from the embryonic stage. Also... I think we can add chakra!" The Shadow Clone wrote something in the notebook before speaking.
"It's too early. If something goes wrong, I have no way to control it." A trace of excitement flashed through Uchiha Shunichi's heart, but he ultimately shook his head.
"What a pity Orochimaru isn't in the village. Otherwise, this would be much more convenient. That guy has a terrible personality, but he treats his disciples fairly well," the Shadow Clone said regretfully.
In truth, Uchiha Shunichi had originally wanted to seek out Orochimaru. Whether through Danzo or Mizuki at the academy, he should have been able to contact Orochimaru.
Based on certain memories in his mind, Uchiha Shunichi was seventy percent confident that he could tempt Orochimaru.
However, none of that could be put into action yet.
"At this stage, learning should remain the priority. Although obtaining technical materials in Konoha is somewhat difficult, it's not impossible."
Uchiha Shunichi threw all the mice in the cages except Number Thirteen into a brazier beside him. Then he took out another batch of mice and injected them with medicines he had concocted himself.
Afterward, with the Shadow Clone's help, Uchiha Shunichi began extracting nutritional medicine.
This was something he needed to drink every day. If his body lacked sufficient nutrients, the burden of the Mangekyō Sharingan would crush Uchiha Shunichi.
The Mangekyō Sharingan was a double-edged sword. Even though Uchiha Shunichi's Mangekyō Sharingan ability was exceptionally special, that remained true.
After preparing enough nutritional medicine and bath medicine for three days, Uchiha Shunichi sealed the laboratory and returned to the study at home.
Many books were piled in the study. Some covered Ninjutsu, while others contained rudimentary techniques of Sealing Jutsu, but the greatest number were books on Medical Ninjutsu and biological experiments.
Uchiha Shunichi had expended great effort to obtain these books.
In the end, he had no choice but to ask Granny Cat for help before successfully finding them. He had even acquired some experimental records from an unknown source.
Fortunately, because of chakra, technology in this world was relatively simpler. Yet for that very reason, so-called experiments basically had no principles, only procedures.
The advantage was that he did not need to learn overly complicated knowledge. The disadvantage was that he only knew the process and could not determine the result.
"Shunichi, I'm back!" In the evening, Second Pillar returned, dragging his exhausted body and carrying an enormous bundle on his back.
"Looks like you made quite a haul this time. Did you buy everything?" The moment Uchiha Shunichi saw the bundle behind Second Pillar, his eyes lit up.
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