Five Elements Complete · Spatial Evolution

The Uchiha higher-ups had indeed kept the information about the "clan betrayal incident" tightly sealed. At first, even the news Kuromai brought him was merely hearsay.

It was not until the fourth day after the incident that Kuromai finally managed, through various channels, to learn the final official ruling.

On the afternoon of the fifth day, Uchiha Hara returned home from school. He had just finished a set of Tai Chi to loosen up when he heard a knock at the door.

Uchiha Fugaku stood outside.

Uchiha Hara's heart stirred, but his expression remained calm as he asked curiously, "Young Clan Head, what brings you here?"

"I have something to discuss with you." Fugaku smiled. "Won't you invite me in?"

Uchiha Hara had not known Fugaku could smile. In his impression, Fugaku should have been a stern, unsmiling man.

Or perhaps becoming clan head had put too much pressure on him, leaving him unable to smile?

As he assessed Uchiha Fugaku inwardly, Uchiha Fugaku was also observing him.

His father, the current clan head Uchiha Yama, had once evaluated Uchiha Hara: "He has clear goals and considerable talent in ninjutsu. He will be of great use in the future."

Perhaps because of that assessment, Fugaku had come to his home personally, unlike the other orphaned households, who had merely received notice from subordinates.

Yet when Fugaku saw Uchiha Hara in person, he could not help feeling somewhat disappointed.

The boy before him was pale, with faint dark circles beneath his eyes. He looked listless and undernourished, far removed from his father's assessment that he would be of great use.

Coupled with the fact that he was a notorious bottom-ranked student of his class, Fugaku's desire to recruit him faded.

Perhaps his father had misjudged him.

Fugaku did not know that, at Hara's age, there was a common term on Earth for this: adolescence.

Despite his disappointment, Fugaku maintained a gentle and composed expression.

He got straight to the point. "Uchiha Hara, do you know Uchiha Amano?"

"I do." Uchiha Hara nodded, his tone even. "He's the uncle who gives me my pension payment every month."

"Mm." Fugaku nodded. "He, his father, and his son have gone to carry out a long-term secret mission. From now on, I will be responsible for issuing your pension. It will be raised to four thousand ryo per month."

In truth, based on the compensation standards for the deaths of Uchiha Hara's parents—a Jonin and a Chunin—he should have received as much as twenty-five thousand ryo every month.

But Fugaku's thinking coincided with Uchiha Hara's earlier considerations—he was only an orphan. Ensuring his basic livelihood was enough. Giving him too much money might foster arrogance and extravagance, which would be counterproductive.

He had expected the boy, who had long received such meager compensation, to show delight. Instead, Uchiha Hara's expression remained remarkably calm, almost entirely unmoved.

"You aren't happy?" Fugaku was somewhat surprised. "If I remember correctly, Uchiha Amano only gave you fifteen hundred ryo each month before."

He had gotten that figure from one of Uchiha Amano's former subordinates.

Uchiha Hara raised his head, his gaze "innocent." "At first, I did think I lacked money. But some time ago, I turned my house into a training room. While tearing it down, I accidentally found some money my father had hidden inside the beams and pillars—around three or four million ryo. It should be enough to last me until I graduate from the Ninja Academy."

Uchiha Fugaku was stunned at first. Then he looked around at the house, stripped down to its bare walls, and finally understood. So that was why.

That explained why he had reacted so indifferently to the increase in compensation.

"I see. Still, the pension is what the clan owes you according to its rules. You should take what is yours. How about this? Come directly to my home at this time every month to collect it."

He offered a proposal that sounded generous, yet carried a hint of scrutiny.

"Alright. Thank you, Brother Fugaku." Uchiha Hara agreed and watched Fugaku turn to leave.

After closing the door, Uchiha Hara shook his head lightly.

Go to Fugaku's home to collect money? He would never do that.

The relationship between the giver and the receiver was actually very subtle.

At first, giving might seem perfectly natural, but after it happened enough times, the nature of it changed.

Collecting a pension would gradually become accepting "charity," which would then turn into bearing a "debt of gratitude."

It was like how employees receiving wages for their work was only natural. Yet over time, in the eyes of some bosses, employees seemed to become their dependents, even their slaves, required to give unconditionally, work and take overtime day and night. If the subordinate happened to be a pretty woman, some might even expect her to offer herself.

It was not something that would fail to happen merely because you did not want it to. It was a process that unfolded naturally.

He could foresee that if he visited every month, Fugaku might begin by simply handing over the money, then gradually start making requests—for instance, asking him to guide the still-young Uchiha Itachi in training, or even help look after the even younger Uchiha Sasuke in the future.

He had no interest in becoming a babysitter for the future "protagonist family," much less being bound by such personal obligations.

He would rather not have the money at all.

That night, he continued cultivating and meditating beneath the Naka River.

The next day was Saturday, so he did not need to attend school.

After emerging from the water in the morning, he did not hurry home. Instead, he looked thoughtfully at the dense forest along the riverbank.

"Since the Demon Refining Pot's space has the potential to evolve into a world, why not plan it out in advance? For example... build a house inside?"

But he dismissed the thought as soon as it arose.

"No. I can't cut down trees here. This forest is a natural barrier. Without it, my secret base would be exposed in broad daylight."

But leaving the village to find suitable lumber was no easy task for a child of the Uchiha clan.

"Hm?" As his gaze swept over the trees before him, an even grander idea suddenly flashed through his mind.

He had read many novels involving space and the formation of worlds. In their settings, many of them coincidentally mentioned one of the essential foundations for spatial evolution: all five elements had to be present, forming a self-sustaining cycle.

Although he possessed all five chakra natures, they did not seem entirely equivalent to the foundational five elements that constructed the material world as he understood it—metal, wood, water, fire, and earth.

And if he needed to refine the five elements, then so far, the only one he had refined and absorbed in large quantities was the water element.

"If... I actively replenish the Demon Refining Pot's space with these foundational five elements, could that accelerate its evolution?"

The thought made his heart race. He did not know whether it would work, but it was worth trying!

Being a man of action, he immediately got to work.

He refined roughly half the mountain of iron ingots piled inside the space—an entire sixty tons of refined iron—turning it into the purest metal-element energy and merging it into the space. This was the metal element.

He then dived to the bottom of the Naka River and dug up silt and soil beneath the riverbed to refine. He excavated nearly a hundred cubic meters in total. This was the earth element.

After returning home, he piled up more than a hundred tons of coal taken from Uchiha Jiang's treasury. He ignited it with a Fireball Jutsu, then manipulated the Demon Refining Pot to refine and absorb both the blazing flames and the coal burning red-hot.

Metal, earth, and fire were ready. Only the final "wood" remained.

Just as Uchiha Hara was considering where to find enough wood, he suddenly felt his mental sea shake violently!

Then his consciousness was uncontrollably pulled into the Demon Refining Pot's space.

At the center of the space, the tiny golden speck that had once emitted only a faint glow suddenly erupted with dazzling azure, yellow, white, red, and black radiance!

The five-colored light was like a surging river, instantly sweeping across the entire four-hundred-and-eighty-cubic-meter space and merging with it completely!

The next moment, a miracle occurred!

The formerly fixed, empty boundaries of the space began expanding outward like mad!

No longer was there only void beneath his feet. Solid earth condensed into being, brimming with vitality. A stream appeared from nowhere and wound across the land, nourishing the soil. Tender green grass sprouted across the once-barren ground at a visible rate. Even in the newborn "sky," a "sun" formed slowly from pure fire-element energy, radiating light and heat over this nascent world!

The space had evolved into a small plane!

"Why? I haven't even found the 'wood' yet!" Uchiha Hara was both shocked and delighted, filled with confusion.

He thought rapidly, and his gaze finally landed on the refined coal. Then realization struck him. "That's it! Coal was formed from ancient forests over countless years. It is highly condensed wood essence! Its fundamental nature is still wood-element!"

No matter what, with the completion and balance of the foundational five elements, the Demon Refining Pot's internal space had completed an immensely crucial leap!

More than ten minutes later, the space's expansion gradually stopped.

A clear stream of information flooded into Uchiha Hara's mind, instantly allowing him to understand the condition of this newborn small plane:

Land area: 3 square kilometers. Roughly a circular region with a radius of 1 kilometer and a diameter of 2 kilometers.

It was 150 meters high. There was no true sky, but Uchiha Hara had no techniques capable of reaching beyond 150 meters anyway. That height was enough.

In truth, this area was already quite considerable!

The diameter of Konoha's core residential district was only around 750 meters.

His personal space had already surpassed the village's residential area in size!

Of course, it still could not compare to all of Konoha. Konoha also possessed numerous vast training grounds, such as the famous Forest of Death, which had a radius of up to ten kilometers.

Before the impact of the information stream had completely subsided, another scorching and majestic torrent of energy followed close behind. It surged back from the Demon Refining Pot and rushed through his meridians toward every part of his body!

The hot current was numbingly painful, as if it were forcibly widening his meridians and tempering his body.

Uchiha Hara did not know whether this was fortune or disaster, but before such overwhelming power, he had no ability to resist. He could only steady his mind and endure in silence.

Fortunately, though the process was painful, it did not last long.

Once the hot current receded, Uchiha Hara immediately examined himself.

He first checked the space. Its layout had been fixed: hills, grasslands, a stream, and a small sun, all forming the rudimentary outline of a newborn world. There were no further changes for now.

Then, he summoned his personal panel:

[Individual Status Panel]

Essence: 2.000 (+0.139)

Vitality: 2.000 (+0.139)

Spirit: 2.000 (+0.139)

[Talents]

Enhanced Perception (Blue)

Enhanced Stamina (Blue)

Cat's Coordination (Green)

Steel Bones and Iron Muscles (Blue)

Skin Color Change (Green)

Infrared Vision (Green)

Illusory Spirit (Green)

Memory Enhancement (Green)

Low-Light Vision (Green)

Three-Dimensional Balance (Green)

Elemental Affinity (Blue) (New)

[Chakra Attributes]

Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth, Wind, Lightning

"Uh..." Uchiha Hara stared at the panel, somewhat dazed.

The three attributes of essence, vitality, and spirit had actually been pushed directly to the whole-number threshold of 2.0 by that feedback energy! This was a qualitative leap!

And he had even gained a new Elemental Affinity talent!

He tapped it to inspect the details:

Elemental Affinity (Blue): Your affinity with elements is greatly increased. Elemental perception range increases by 50%, the consumption of elemental ninjutsu decreases by 50%, ninjutsu power increases by 50%, and ninjutsu control increases by 50%!

This was actually a talent related to ninjutsu. From now on, he would consume less than others when using ninjutsu, while his techniques would be stronger.

And it inherently granted a 50% increase in chakra control.

More importantly, he had to remember that these were percentage increases!

Just as that thought crossed his mind, a new piece of information suddenly appeared in Uchiha Hara's mind.

It came from the Demon Refining Pot. Only then did he learn that talents all granted percentage boosts; the only difference was their grade and the magnitude of the boost.

According to the information provided by the Demon Refining Pot:

White talents increased attributes by 10%.

Green talents increased attributes by 20%.

Blue talents increased attributes by 50%.

Red talents increased attributes by 100%.

Purple talents increased attributes by 200%.

Gold talents increased attributes by 500%.

Rainbow talents increased attributes by 1000%.

And the new [Elemental Affinity (Blue)] talent was clearly no ordinary blue talent. Though each of its boosts was 50%, it had four separate boosts, totaling 200%!

Without question, this was a supreme-grade blue talent!

As expected of a talent from the Demon Refining Pot. When a Supreme-Grade Innate Spirit Treasure made a move, it truly was extraordinary.

With this talent, his ability to sense and control all sorts of foundational elements in nature would undoubtedly improve enormously.

And the chakra attribute column now clearly included "Metal" and "Wood" as well!

At this point, he possessed all seven chakra attributes: metal, wood, water, fire, earth, wind, and lightning!

"In the mainstream understanding of the Naruto world, the five elements aren't calculated like this..." he murmured.

Then a hypothesis emerged in his mind: perhaps the descent of the Divine Tree had plundered or distorted the world's original balance of the five elements?

A large amount of the original wood element had been absorbed by the Divine Tree, while the metal element might have been merged into or concealed within the earth element.

To maintain dynamic balance, the world's laws had generated or emphasized wind and lightning, temporarily replacing wood and metal in the apparent cycle.

But substitutes were still substitutes. The force of severity, restraint, and transformation governed by metal, and the vitality of growth, ascent, and free development governed by wood, were things wind and lightning could not fully replace.

Without the metal element, the laws of the world would easily become rigid and stagnant, suppressing innovation and transformative power. Reflected in the Ninja World, whether ninja or Daimyo, everyone clung to incomplete traditions, stubborn in thought and utterly lacking any desire for world-changing reform.

Without the wood element, the vitality and restorative power of heaven and earth would decline. Reflected in ninja, it meant that their life force was generally insufficient and their recovery abilities weak. Even someone as powerful as Uchiha Madara could hardly survive after his heart was pierced, while on Earth, cases existed of people surviving for days despite heart damage.

And now, the Demon Refining Pot's feedback had actually restored these two missing origin attributes to him!

The most direct changes appeared immediately:

Chakra control: With the five elements complete, generating and restraining one another as they circulated freely, the precision of his chakra control had suddenly risen by a major level!

Life force and recovery: The return of the wood element made him feel overflowing with vitality. His cellular activity had increased tremendously, and his recovery ability far surpassed what it had been before.

Comprehension and innovation: The transformative and organizing power brought by the metal element made his thoughts clearer and sharper, granting him more possibilities in understanding and innovating techniques.

More importantly, the completion of his attributes opened an entirely new path for him:

The water and wood elements were highly compatible with the flexibility and Endless Vitality concept of Tai Chi.

The sharpness and decisiveness of the metal element were a perfect match for the fierce, unstoppable nature of swordsmanship.

"Perhaps... I can try deeply integrating chakra attributes with fist techniques and sword techniques, creating a taijutsu and swordsmanship system unique to me, one with the characteristics of the Ninja World!" Uchiha Hara's eyes gleamed.

There was also the profound principle of mutual generation and restraint among the five elements, which could be applied to both combat and cultivation. He would need to explore and put all of this into practice bit by bit in the days ahead.

Thus, although his numerical values seemed to have increased by only a little more than 0.1, once he fully absorbed these improvements, how could his overall strength increase by merely three or five times?

This evolution of the Demon Refining Pot had not only given him the embryonic form of a world, but also paved a broad road toward a stronger realm.