Teachers' Attention · Techniques and Hand Seals

The next morning, Class 1-A's classroom.

"Hara, good morning!"

"Morning to you too!"

"You look much better today than before!" Kurenai Yuhi asked with a smile.

Hara nodded. "I haven't trained much these past few days. I ate when I was hungry and slept when I was tired. Maybe my body recovered pretty well!"

Actually, he had eaten a Fish Blood Essence before coming to class, but perhaps because his stamina had been enhanced, or perhaps because his base stats were high.

Although his body was still digesting the Life Imprint, he no longer had that sickly look about him.

Overall, he was still somewhat thin, but he looked healthy now.

It seemed he had to get his hands on a chameleon as soon as possible.

Shortly afterward, the class bell rang.

Homeroom teacher Daisuke Nakano stood behind the podium, his gaze sweeping across the class like a precision scanner.

His brows furrowed almost instantly.

"Uchiha Obito!" His voice carried obvious displeasure. "Where is he? Why isn't he here again?"

The moment he finished speaking, the classroom door slid open with a clatter. Uchiha Obito rushed in, panting, his hair a mess and his face wearing that signature, slightly foolish grin. "Reporting, Sensei! I—I helped an old lady cross the street, so I was late!"

A wave of stifled laughter immediately rose in the classroom.

Daisuke Nakano's expression darkened further, and he rapped his fingers hard against the podium. "Uchiha Obito! You're using the same excuse twice? Do you take your teacher for a fool? Get out! Stand by the door and reflect on your actions!"

Obito drooped his head and shuffled out of the classroom in disgrace.

After that little interruption, the classroom temporarily returned to silence.

However, Uchiha Hara, seated in the corner, felt something stir within him.

Obito wasn't here, and the teacher noticed immediately... He casually glanced at Kiryu Daiki's empty seat. Kiryu Daiki is big and tall. Such an obvious living person is absent, yet the teacher acts as if he never saw it...

That subtle difference was like a pebble dropped into a still lake, sending ripples through Hara's heart.

This could not have been an oversight.

The only explanation was that the teacher's attention had been focused from the very beginning on certain specific targets—such as members of the Uchiha Clan.

And the source of that extraordinary "attention" was almost self-evident—it could only have come from the powerful figure seated in the Hokage's office behind the teacher, Sarutobi Hiruzen.

It seems the Uchiha are even more "valued" in Konoha than I imagined. Uchiha Hara lowered his eyes, concealing the chill within them.

Still, judging from the fact that no ANBU had broken in to arrest him so far, he must not have left behind any traces when he dealt with Kiryu Daiki yesterday.

That put him somewhat at ease.

At that moment, a boy named Sheng Simen in the front row raised his hand. "Sensei, Kiryu Daiki isn't here today either."

Daisuke Nakano seemed to notice the empty seat only then. He merely gave a casual "Mm," said, "Understood. I'll mark it down," and paid it no further attention, as though it were an insignificant name.

He cleared his throat and resumed explaining the Ninja Code.

Uchiha Hara no longer paid attention to that minor incident and returned his focus to the book before him.

There was nothing worth reading in the Ninja Code. The book he was reading was Chakra Overview.

The content was very basic. It explained that chakra was a fusion of physical energy and spiritual energy, introduced the most basic methods of sensing and refining it, and, most importantly, described methods of chakra control—the twelve basic hand seals: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Ram, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Boar.

Looking at the illustrations of the twelve hand seals in the book, Uchiha Hara fell into thought.

He had originally believed that hand seals were more like psychological suggestions or rituals, using specific gestures and focused intent to guide and reshape the invisible chakra within the body.

But as his spiritual power increased and his perception of himself grew sharper, he vaguely sensed that things were not so simple.

When he tried simulating the Tiger seal in his mind, he could clearly "feel" that the normally calm flow of chakra within his body truly seemed to be drawn by some invisible force, beginning to stir toward a more explosive pattern.

Could it be... that hand seals themselves can directly invoke changes in chakra's form and nature? That they aren't merely rituals?

A bold speculation took shape in his mind.

Chakra itself possessed hereditary traits. Kekkei Genkai developed by one's ancestors could be passed down through bloodlines.

Then could certain "control memories" or "energy circuit templates" accumulated by generations of ancestors also be imprinted in some form within genes—or within the more mysterious Soul Imprint?

Nearly a thousand years had passed since Indra, son of the Sage of Six Paths, invented the hand seal system.

These twelve basic hand seals had been used, passed down, and reinforced by generation after generation of shinobi. They had long since become ingrained in people's hearts, perhaps even forming a collective subconscious or energy inertia that transcended the ages.

Making hand seals was like pressing a "shortcut key" written into the world's underlying rules, directly calling upon this "control template" that countless predecessors had tested and strengthened.

If this speculation is correct, then the hand seal system is practically a massive "technique library" and "energy-driving protocol" built upon a thousand years of practice... Uchiha Hara was slightly shaken by his own thought.

But then, he recalled the book's clear statement that there were only twelve basic hand seals.

Yet the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique he knew used the Ren seal, which was not among those twelve basic seals.

There was also the Yamanaka Clan's Mind Body Switch Technique, whose hand seal method differed greatly from conventional seals.

It seems the twelve basic seals are a "universal protocol," while techniques like Shadow Clone and clan secret arts use exclusive protocols requiring specific "keys" or "independent driver programs."

Those secret technique clans had studied only one or several secret arts for generations, passing them down and continuously deepening them. It was highly possible that the methods for casting those secret arts had become deeply fused and bound with their chakra traits, even their physical genes, altering their outward appearances as a result—such as the Akimichi Clan's builds, the Yamanaka Clan's hair color, and the Nara Clan's intelligence.

Their exclusivity and rejection of outsiders were likely no less absolute than that of Kekkei Genkai.

"However..." Uchiha Hara's fingers lightly tapped the tabletop unconsciously. A faint glimmer from the Demon Refining Pot imprint flashed deep in his eyes. "Whether it's a Kekkei Genkai or a clan secret art, if it's a memory engraved in the genes, then as long as I have the corresponding corpse..."

"The Demon Refining Pot can refine them all."

Besides, had he just grasped the secret behind clapping his hands and summoning whatever he wanted?

If merely simulating hand seals in his mind could mobilize chakra, then as long as his simulation was clear enough, could he cast ninjutsu without making hand seals at all?