Chapter 36

"We can just leave from Loguetown when the time comes."

"Warship Island isn't far from there, right? I remember you mentioning it."

"Mm."

Xunjing answered with certainty. "It really isn't far. At most, it's a day's voyage."

"But speaking of which, navigating the map is a real pain without something that can fly."

"Mom, have you found a suitable flying mount?"

With a flying mount, they could travel much faster.

Otherwise, who knew how long it would take to light up all these islands one by one?

It was far too slow.

"I have a lead."

Uchiha Chisato shook her head. "I've had the clan members asking around these past few days."

"Three days ago, word came back from the Land of Rivers. They found a giant eagle Ninja Beast."

"If all goes well, they'll bring it back tomorrow or the day after."

"But there's another problem."

"Can a Ninja Beast be brought directly into the Pirate World?"

"Or does it need to be contracted first?"

"Do you also need to build up its affection for you?"

If so, that would take quite a bit more time.

"Uh..."

Xunjing froze for a moment. "That depends on whether it's intelligent enough. If it has high intelligence, then you'll need to spend more time with it."

"If this eagle hasn't developed complete sentience, you can force a contract on it or use the Space-Time Gate as a stepping stone to bring it over."

At the end of the day, that rule existed to keep Xunjing safe.

Otherwise, things could easily get out of hand.

If it did not involve transporting something across worlds and merely meant putting it into the Space-Time Gate's storage space, there were not so many restrictions.

As long as it was deprived of the strength to resist, it could be stored directly.

This had already been proven when he asked Rayleigh to hunt Sea Kings last time.

After all, the higher-ranking a Sea King was, the more complete its intelligence became.

Those gigantic Sea Kings over a thousand meters long even had their own complete language systems. They could understand human speech and communicate with people.

"Then you'll have to put some effort into raising this Ninja Eagle's affection for you first."

"After all, Ninja Beasts are basically all intelligent. Some powerful ones can even speak human language directly."

Uchiha Chisato reminded him from the side.

"Alright, then I'll slowly build a bond with it."

Xunjing nodded in understanding. "Ninja Beasts aren't like people. Their thoughts aren't that complicated, and their affection is easier to raise."

"When the time comes, I'll feed it plenty of Sea King meat and Nutrient Pills. It probably won't take long to meet the requirements for a contract."

If humans were this easy to deal with, things would be much less troublesome.

"That's true."

Uchiha Chisato nodded. "Then it's settled."

A few hours later,

Xunjing finally finished going through all the Sealing Arts and related knowledge they had acquired this time.

He had not skipped the Flying Thunder God Technique either. He read it from beginning to end and committed every detail to memory.

Of course, actually mastering all of them would still take a great deal of practice.

After dinner,

Xunjing officially began cultivating Chakra.

This was his first time extracting Chakra, and the first time he had seriously cultivated after successfully awakening his Talent.

The moment he activated the refinement technique, Xunjing discovered that the entire process was unbelievably smooth.

It was completely different from how strenuous it had felt before.

And with just a slight push, he effortlessly synthesized quite a bit of Chakra.

The energy contained within each cell was dozens, perhaps even hundreds, of times greater than it had been a month ago.

After succeeding for the first time, Xunjing did not stop. He repeatedly practiced the Chakra Refinement Technique, constantly growing more proficient with it and desperately raising his Chakra limit.

[You practiced the Chakra Refinement Technique. Proficiency +30, Chakra +10.]

[You practiced the Chakra Refinement Technique. Proficiency +40, Chakra +10.]

[You practiced the Chakra Refinement Technique. Proficiency +52, Chakra +12.]

As his proficiency steadily increased, Xunjing's efficiency in using cellular energy and his extraction speed both improved rapidly.

The amount of Chakra he could synthesize each time also rose steadily.

The total amount of Chakra within his body surged continuously.

Some people said that a ninja's Chakra Volume was fixed from birth and could not be increased through ordinary training.

Xunjing had only just become proficient in the Chakra Refinement Technique. He relied on drawing energy from every single cell. Once he mastered that method, there would only be two ways to raise his limit afterward: either wait for his body to grow naturally, or train brutally hard until his cells became tougher and capable of storing more Chakra.

His spirit had to keep up as well. However, if he trained his body hard enough, his spirit would naturally be strengthened too, though more slowly. Put simply, the flesh and soul had always advanced together.

Xunjing was still far from extracting energy from every cell in an instant, so his Chakra Volume was still soaring. 0.1 cards, 0.2 cards, 0.5 cards... It kept jumping until it reached 1.5 cards before he stopped. By then, his Chakra Refinement Technique had reached its limit.

The panel clearly displayed: [Uchiha Chakra Refinement Technique (29851/100,000, Perfect)]

With good comprehension and high Talent, his progress naturally came quickly. Besides, the technique itself was not difficult.

He muttered, "To reach true perfection and break past the limit, I'll still need to grind for a few days. I wonder what I'll comprehend after breaking through? Could I directly cultivate immortality? Or push the refinement technique to another level?"

Then he considered that directly cultivating immortality was unrealistic. The leap was too great, and he had not even touched natural energy yet.

"Still, if a Sage Jutsu cultivation method can break past its limit, maybe it can evolve into a path toward cultivating immortality."

Shikkotsu Forest should contain Sage Jutsu. He had already become Tsunade's disciple, so he could find an opportunity to obtain Katsuyu's summoning contract. When the time was right, he would learn from the Slug Sage.

But deep down, Xunjing wanted to create a set of Sage Jutsu suited to humans, perhaps even a true cultivation method. Not those half-baked monster paths—after practicing the Toad Sage Art to the end, Jiraiya had toad-like bumps growing on his face. Something was obviously wrong with that.

"Next, I should train my Chakra control."

He tossed aside his stray thoughts, pushed open the door, and walked into the backyard. There was a large tree beside the small training ground. He stood before it, gathered Chakra beneath his feet, and stepped onto the trunk.

"Crack—" The bark shattered directly, and splinters flew everywhere.

He had used too much. He quickly reduced the amount and tried again.

This time, he planted his foot firmly.

A new entry appeared in the skill section of the panel as well.

Uchiha Chisato nodded lightly, placing a hand on his head as she spoke gently. "Alright, get some rest early."

"Got it!"

Xunjing answered and turned to return to his room.

The night passed without incident.

At the first hint of dawn,

The mother and son, along with Mikoto, finished breakfast. The meal was made with Sea King meat, and it tasted quite good.

After breakfast, the three of them came to the small training ground in the backyard. They sat cross-legged together and began practicing the Life-Nourishing Art.

[Consuming Sea King meat to assist in practicing the Life-Nourishing Art. Proficiency +10, Lifespan +9, Life Origin +0.03.]

"The Life-Nourishing Art is still some distance from perfection."

"Once it reaches that level, its effect of increasing Lifespan should become even more noticeable."

"Just thinking about it is a little exciting."

"I just wonder what it will become after breaking past its limit?"

Xunjing practiced the Life-Nourishing Art five times. Only after the food in his stomach had mostly digested did he finish his session.

He first went to take a shower, then returned to the backyard.

While occasionally guiding his mother and Mikoto on the finer points of the Life-Nourishing Art, he began practicing Hand Seals.

There was no rush when it came to Ninjutsu. Raising his Chakra control and Hand Seal speed came first.

Sharpen the axe, and there would be no fear of failing to chop firewood.

There was no need to rush over these few days.

Once he truly began training, the time he saved would make it worthwhile.

[You practiced Hand Seals and successfully unlocked the skill: Hand Seals. Hand Seal Proficiency +1.]

[You practiced Hand Seals. Hand Seal Proficiency +2.]

[You practiced Hand Seals. Hand Seal Proficiency +3.]

Perhaps Xunjing's recovered body had already possessed a solid foundation, or perhaps the Life-Nourishing Art had improved his physical coordination. On top of that, neither his constitution nor his comprehension was lacking.