Visualization Method · Uchiha Yama

Method of Visualization and Uchiha Yama

Ninja Academy, Class 1-A.

On the podium, this class was supposed to be about the Ninja Code, but for some reason, Daisuke Nakano started bragging about his mission experiences instead.

He bragged so fiercely that the students were completely mesmerized, yet only Uchiha Hara found it terribly dull.

What was so great about bullying mountain bandits?

Hadn't he seen it all? Whenever transmigrators like them went on missions, C-rank missions to kill mountain bandits always involved rogue ninja, B-rank missions to escort merchant caravans always featured the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, or perhaps members of Akatsuki.

By their third mission, they would practically be fighting Kage from other villages.

While turning the pages of the Land of Fire Animal Guide, he tried to simulate hand seals in his mind.

Earlier, when he was reading Chakra Overview and mentally simulated a hand sign, he was surprised to discover that the chakra inside his body had stirred slightly in response.

Thus, he guessed that if he could completely simulate the seals in his mind, perhaps he could release ninjutsu without needing to weave seals at all.

Wouldn't he be able to slap his hands together and shout whatever he wanted whenever he needed?

When he concentrated fully on sketching the complete form of the Tiger seal in his mind, accompanied by the mental intent of the corresponding chakra flow, he clearly felt that subtle agitation within his body's chakra, inclining toward the fire attribute, once again.

Sure enough! Hand seals aren't just empty forms; they're more like a precise 'energy instruction set' or 'jutsu trigger'. Uchiha Hara realized inwardly: If my spirit is strong enough and my control over chakra is fine enough, theoretically, I can completely reproduce this 'instruction set' in my mind, thereby achieving seal-less casting!

However, the ideal was plump, while reality was extremely skinny.

He quickly discovered that relying on imagination alone made it impossible to achieve one hundred percent precision, and there might not even be twenty percent accuracy.

The details always blurred, and the simulated flow of chakra came and went intermittently.

More importantly, once he closed his eyes, distracting thoughts rushed in like a tide; the moment he opened them, external information constantly interfered with the imagery in his mind.

My mind isn't concentrated enough, nor is it strong enough. He quickly pinpointed the core of the problem.

Having many distracting thoughts is a sign of scattered mental energy and insufficient purity; the inability to simulate accurately reflects a lack of mental strength and control.

If he were a native of the ninja world, he would probably be at his wit's end facing such a dilemma.

Yet Uchiha Hara possessed the knowledge of his past life. He knew the solution boiled down to two things: increasing total mental volume (strength) and refining mental quality (purity).

To increase the total volume, the [Soul Essence] of the Demon Refining Pot was the best shortcut.

As for refining the quality, it required specialized cultivation techniques—meditation or visualization.

He knew nothing of the system's meditation methods, but he had heard of plenty of visualization techniques described in various novels.

Things like crystal visualization, skeleton visualization, and so on basically involved imagining an object in one's mind and then gradually refining the details of that item.

The entire process was just like carving; the more detailed the sculpture, the higher the degree of mental concentration, and naturally, the stronger the control over the mind.

He decided to give visualization a try.

However, since it was class time, this obviously wasn't a good moment to conduct his first visualization experiment.

Suppressing his thoughts, he turned his attention back to the classroom.

At that moment, he also suddenly realized that this ninja academy truly wasted a genius's time.

If I graduate early, not only will I have much more time to train, but going on missions outside the village will also make it very convenient to acquire various corpses! Uchiha Hara thought thoughtfully.

Yet the problem was that the outside of the village was dangerous.

Just as he had said before, the missions executed by transmigrators tended to be quite exaggerated. Never mind an A-rank mission spawning the Raikage, having a C-rank mission spawn Kakuzu wasn't entirely impossible.

Not to mention that the enemies of the Uchiha clan existed not only on the outside, but on the inside as well.

What if Danzo assigned him a teammate from the Root, assassinated him while he was sleeping, or poisoned his food while he was eating...

Merely a five-year-old child, even if he were a genius, how much capacity for resistance could he possibly have?

Thinking about it this way, Kakashi was seriously badass, having so many teammates die while he alone survived.

Forget it, forget it! Uchiha Hara shook his head. Growing stronger was not something to rush; if his mind were filled solely with growing stronger, he feared he would miss a great deal of the scenery along the way.

Besides, with the Demon Refining Pot, as long as there were enough fish, his growth speed wouldn't be slow even in school.

Furthermore, who said one couldn't kill people in Konoha? Didn't Kiryu Daiki die?

Speaking of which, Asuma had been uncharacteristically quiet these past two days.

Uchiha Hara firmly did not believe that the boy would just give up like that; who knew what he was plotting behind the scenes.

Should I just get rid of Asuma? Uchiha Hara pondered. If Asuma didn't die and kept targeting him, his strength might get exposed at any moment.

Yet the difficulty of killing Asuma was far higher than that of Kiryu Daiki; who knew if an ANBU Jonin was following him for protection right then.

I hope you stay this quiet forever, otherwise— As a transmigrator with vast experience, Uchiha Hara knew plenty of ways to make a person disappear from the world without necessarily resorting to blades.

He only hoped Asuma could remain quiet and not force him to use those methods.

After all, he really wasn't a serial killer.

After school, Uchiha Hara first bid farewell to Kurenai Yuhi, then hoisted his schoolbag. Without even returning home, he went straight to the center of the Uchiha Clan Grounds to visit the Uchiha clan head, Uchiha Yama (Fugaku's father).

Uchiha Yama's age was unknown, but he should have been a contemporary of Sarutobi Hiruzen and Uchiha Kagami. However, while Sarutobi Hiruzen and Danzo were still in their prime, Uchiha Yama had been severely wounded for reasons unknown.

So much so that while Sarutobi Hiruzen could continue serving as Hokage for many years, Uchiha Yama, despite holding the post of captain of the Uchiha Police Force, had long since become a figurehead.

Presently, the daily affairs of the Uchiha Police Force were handled by the deputy captain—Uchiha Yama's son, who at twenty-five years old had already forged the fierce nickname of Fierce Eye, Uchiha Fugaku.

When Uchiha Hara arrived at the clan head's doorstep, he initially thought some sort of announcement would be required, but upon reaching the entrance, he discovered not only that nobody was standing guard outside, but even the gates were wide open.

Peeking his little head in, he saw an old man wearing loose black robes crouching in the courtyard and fishing.

Noticing someone approaching, the old man turned his head to look, then said, "Ah, it's Kai and Aiko's child! Why are you here? Come in, come in!"

Uchiha Kai was the original owner's father, and Uchiha Aiko was the original owner's mother.

Uchiha Hara wasn't timid either. He walked right in, glanced first at the pond, and then cursed those damned land-owning capitalists in his heart.

He had thought his own house wasn't small, but who would have expected the clan head's house to actually have a pond where they could even raise fish.

"What's your name again?" Uchiha Yama asked.

"Uchiha Hara!" the boy replied.

"Oh, oh. Looking at you like this, you've started attending the ninja academy?" Uchiha Yama asked again.

Uchiha Hara nodded. "I'm the tail of the class in the clan!"

Uchiha Yama chuckled. "The tail of the class, or whatever—it's far too early to say such things. In our Uchiha clan, as long as one hasn't awakened their Sharingan, anything is possible!"

As the clan head, he possessed a deep understanding of certain secretive intelligence within the Uchiha clan.

Situations where someone was brilliant as a child but mediocre as an adult occurred quite frequently among the Uchiha; conversely, children who weren't particularly prominent when young often went on to accomplish great things when they grew up.

The prime example of this was Uchiha Madara, who hadn't awakened his Sharingan even at age thirteen—in times of war, that was dragging feet of the utmost order.

Yet when it came to ultimate achievements, who could compare to Uchiha Madara?

"Since you've entered the academy, study hard there and make more friends. Your future achievements might not necessarily be inferior to staying in the clan!" Uchiha Yama encouraged.

Entering the academy meant one's growth path diverged from that of ordinary Uchiha.

Typical Uchiha entered the Uchiha Police Force, whereas Uchiha who graduated from the academy belonged to the village's ninja forces, with the potential not only to enter various major departments but even to become Hokage.

Of course, the probability of that was extremely small.

"Right, what brings you to see me? Have you encountered any difficulties in your livelihood?" Uchiha Yama asked.

"Not really. It's just that aren't we, the Uchiha clan, connected to the Ninja Cat Clan? I'd like to sign a contract with a ninja cat to be my summoning animal!" Before meeting Uchiha Yama, Uchiha Hara had imagined what kind of person he might be; he had thought of stubbornness and quick temper, but he had never expected gentleness.

Though upon careful thought, gentleness made sense; after all, he was an orphan whose parents had sacrificed themselves for the clan. As clan head, even if it were an act, he had to put on a gentle facade.

Looking at Fugaku, he also carried a saintly mindset; if such a personality wasn't innate, it must have been inherited from Uchiha Yama.

Uchiha Yama looked at the child before him—whose complexion still carried a trace of deliberately maintained pallor, yet whose gaze remained calm—paused slightly, and then nodded.

The ninja cat contract wasn't some secret technique passed down exclusively; many Uchiha clansmen possessed it.

He stood up and said, "Wait here for a moment, I'll go get the scroll for you."

Hara nodded and watched as Uchiha Yama walked leisurely back inside, returning shortly after at the same unhurried pace with a scroll, a brush, and some ink.

Holding a scroll, he unrolled it while saying, "You've actually come at a good time. The Ninja Cat Clan just sent over some contract scrolls for newly matured ninja cats, and this is one of them."

He pointed to a blank spot on the scroll. "Sign your name right here!"

Uchiha Hara had assumed that signing required blood; he hadn't expected ordinary writing brush and ink to suffice.

"Do you know the Summoning Technique?" Uchiha Yama asked again.

Uchiha Hara shook his head.

"You don't even know the Summoning Technique, yet you dared run over to ask me for a summoning animal? You certainly have a lot of nerve!" Complaining aside, Uchiha Yama still proceeded to teach Uchiha Hara the Summoning Technique himself.

The Summoning Technique was not an overly difficult jutsu, and Uchiha Hara learned it very quickly.

Even if he were the class dunce, he was still the dunce of the Uchiha clan.

With the Second Shinobi World War having just ended and the shadow of the Third Shinobi World War quietly approaching, children were cultivated according to wartime standards.

In reality, he had started kneading chakra at age three, was extremely proficient in the twelve hand seals, possessed kunai and shuriken throwing skills above passing standards, and even knew the Fireball Jutsu.

Judging by Uchiha Hara's own assessment, the original owner's aptitude wasn't actually poor; his talent and comprehension could rank near the top throughout the entire Uchiha clan.

The reason he had ended up with the title of class dunce in the clan's sparring trials was still due to poverty at home, insufficient food, and overtraining that had damaged his foundation.

As the saying went, one whose stomach was not full lacked strength, preventing his beauty from shining outward;

moreover, if he couldn't even match an ordinary horse, how could he hope to run a thousand miles?

Yet ever since Uchiha Hara arrived, bringing Tai Chi and Blood Essence, he had long since repaired the foundation damaged by the original owner and even surpassed the original owner's peak state.

So much so that after trying a few times, Uchiha Hara got the hang of the Summoning Technique.

It was this time!

Uchiha Hara concentrated his spirit, mobilized his chakra, formed the seals according to the clan head's instructions, and slammed his palm onto the contract scroll.

Kusoyushinokiji!

A faint burst of white smoke flashed past, and a vigorous cat with an entirely pitch-black body—save for four snow-white paws and eyes like emeralds—appeared on the ground. It lazily licked its paw and spoke in human language, "Meow~ Uchiha clan head, is this the partner you picked for me? Isn't he a bit too young?"

Yama shrugged, then said to Uchiha Hara, "I've found the ninja cat for you; whether you can make it your partner depends on you now!"

Uchiha Hara scratched his head. Why did signing a contract with a ninja cat involve this kind of process?

Fortunately, in his past life, he had also been a cat owner and knew how to properly serve one.

"I'll pay you a salary, how about one fish a month?" Uchiha Hara said earnestly.

The cat rolled its Byakugan: "One a month? I might as well catch them myself! Ten a month!"

Uchiha Hara slapped his thigh: "Deal!"

The cat...

It somehow felt like it had asked for too little.

Still, no big deal; as he had just said, this was a salary.

If there were any missions, wouldn't there have to be mission bonuses on top of that?

Would it, a mighty ninja cat, really get scammed by some brat?

"Fine then, seeing as you're fairly sincere, my name is Kuromai, and from now on I'm your partner, meow~"

Kuromai extended a paw, but how could Uchiha Hara be satisfied with just petting a single paw? He naturally picked Kuromai up directly to snuggle and huff it.

Uchiha Yama watched the brat playing with the cat in front of him, though, and fell into deep thought.

He had previously regarded Uchiha Hara as a dropout, and his words just now urging Uchiha Hara to study hard had merely been said on a whim.

Just a few nice words, something cheap and hollow that might just forge a good connection—why wouldn't he say them?

Yet when Uchiha Hara learned the Summoning Jutsu within a few minutes and successfully summoned a ninja cat, Uchiha Yama felt something was off.

Being able to learn the Summoning Jutsu proved that this person had decent ninjutsu talent and chakra control.

Being able to cast the Summoning Jutsu and successfully summon a ninja cat showed that his chakra volume was not low either.

Yet he was only five years old!

You had to know that this batch of ninja cats was prepared for Uchiha clan Genin who were nine to ten years old!

This kid is a talent!