A surge in internal force

After downing a cup of Buddha's Smile Wine, Qingyun had no time to speak with Minato Namikaze. He sat cross-legged and drove the Nine Yang Divine Skill at full speed, refining the wine's medicinal potency.

Seeing Qingyun's face flush after drinking a cup, Minato Namikaze had no time to marvel at how fragrant his wine was. He watched anxiously as Qingyun sat cross-legged, his entire body red, circulating his internal cultivation technique, and stood guard over him.

Qingyun had no idea what Minato Namikaze was thinking. He pushed the Nine Yang Divine Skill to its limit, but he had still underestimated the effects of Buddha's Smile Wine.

Since this was Qingyun's first time drinking Buddha's Smile Wine, its medicinal potency was unleashed to the fullest. Moreover, this world's spiritual energy was exceptionally abundant, so its medicinal herbs contained far more potency than those in a low-martial world.

As a result, brewing the same quantity of wine with the same amount of herbs produced Buddha's Smile Wine far more potent than the version in the original work.

Qingyun had no time to dwell on it. He divided his attention, circulating the Nine Yang Divine Skill to absorb the medicinal potency while directing his Nine Yang internal force to break through his remaining meridians.

After an unknown length of time, the Liver Meridian of Foot Jueyin in Qingyun's body was forced open. Spiritual energy from heaven and earth surged toward him, and his Sharingan activated automatically, ravenously absorbing natural spiritual energy.

After he opened his seventh meridian, the Nine Yang Divine Skill circulated even faster, continuously absorbing the medicinal potency of Buddha's Smile Wine and the spiritual energy entering his body.

Gradually, his Nine Yang internal force grew denser and more abundant, washing through the meridians throughout his body and making them increasingly resilient!

As time slipped by, Qingyun struck while the iron was hot, circulating his Nine Yang Internal Force at full speed and driving it toward the Kidney Meridian of Foot Shaoyin.

Much later, an even more violent surge of natural spiritual energy gathered around Qingyun. Delight spread across his face as he felt every cell in his body cry out in joy. His Nine Yang internal force flowed like a mighty river, constantly circulating and absorbing natural spiritual energy. His vision grew clearer, and the two tomoe spun so rapidly that they formed a circle.

Gradually, the faint outline of a third tomoe appeared. His Sharingan absorbed natural spiritual energy even faster, and the third tomoe slowly became solid.

By the time the tomoe fully solidified, the spiritual energy within Qingyun's body had finally been exhausted. His Breakthrough was complete.

Qingyun rose to his feet and threw back his head with a long, resounding cry that echoed through the Forest of Death.

Only after a long while did Qingyun stop. "That felt incredible!"

"Big brother, did you have a Breakthrough?"

Minato Namikaze looked at Qingyun with envy, then found his gaze drifting involuntarily toward the wine jar.

Qingyun smiled and nodded at Minato Namikaze. Noticing where he was looking, Qingyun cautioned him, "This is called Buddha's Smile Wine. It contains tremendous medicinal potency. Try half a cup first."

Minato Namikaze looked delighted. Following Qingyun's instructions, he poured half a cup and drank it in one gulp.

The moment he swallowed the Buddha's Smile Wine, Minato Namikaze felt a sharp, burning taste fill his mouth. Just as it began to bother him, the wine turned sweet, dispelling the burning sensation. Then medicinal potency erupted in his Dantian. Not daring to delay, he immediately circulated the Primordial Chaos Technique to absorb it.

Gradually, the internal force in Minato Namikaze's body grew more abundant. Following Qingyun's example, he began forcing open his fifth meridian, the Heart Meridian of Hand Shaoyin.

The instant the Meridians broke through, a stream of Natural Spiritual Energy flowed into Minato Namikaze's body, and he rapidly absorbed it.

Before long, he finished refining the Spiritual Energy and looked at Qingyun in delighted amazement. "Big brother, this Buddha's Smile Wine you brewed is incredible! Just a little saves years of hard work. If we finished all this wine, wouldn't we both have as much Chakra as an Elite Jonin?"

Qingyun rolled his eyes. "You wish. Buddha's Smile Wine only has such a powerful effect the first time you drink it. After that, it can still increase your Chakra a little, but the effect is nowhere near as strong.

"Don't reach for what is beyond you. When it comes to cultivation, relying on yourself is still best. Take too many shortcuts, and achieving a Breakthrough to higher realms later will become vastly harder. That's the main reason I always make you keep honing the Chakra in your body."

Minato Namikaze's eyes immediately cleared at those words, and he nodded firmly.

"All right. Keep two jars of this wine and bury the rest. As time passes, their medicinal potency will increase a little more."

Relieved to see that Minato Namikaze had come to his senses, Qingyun gave him those instructions.

"All right, big brother."

Minato Namikaze admired Qingyun even more now. Without hesitation, he placed the wine jars in the pit and began filling it with soil.

Once that was done, Qingyun took Minato Namikaze to the Market. They bought two Wine Flasks and some vegetables, then returned to the Forest of Death to begin training!

When daylight filled the sky, Nawaki and Kushina made their familiar way to the Edge of the Forest of Death. Neither was surprised to find Qingyun and Minato Namikaze diligently training. They joined them, each beginning their own practice under Qingyun's guidance.

By now, Nawaki had completed his Tree Climbing and water walking training. Qingyun was currently teaching him to improve his hand seal speed and taijutsu abilities.

After all, in a battle between Ninja, the speed at which they unleashed Ninjutsu could be a crucial factor in deciding victory or defeat.

Taijutsu, meanwhile, improved their ability to survive and handle different battlefields.

Nawaki had an exceptional talent for water release Ninjutsu. As a descendant of the Senju Clan, even though he had not awakened wood release, his enormous Chakra reserves were more than enough to make him a Damage Cannon.

Qingyun did not teach Nawaki any particularly complicated taijutsu. He only taught him Tai Chi Fist so that, if an enemy closed in, he could hold them off for a while and wait for support.

The main focus remained on training Nawaki's fundamentals.

As for Kushina, Qingyun taught her Lingbo Micro-Step. Not only did she possess enormous Chakra reserves, but her taijutsu proficiency was also outstanding. With Mito Uzumaki there, Kushina would naturally grow stronger as long as she trained steadily. Qingyun had no need to worry about her.

All Qingyun needed to do was improve Kushina's Mobility. Lingbo Micro-Step was particularly well suited to a Ninja with immense strength like her. It allowed her to evade enemy attacks while slowly replenishing her stamina, making it an excellent choice.

Under Qingyun's guidance, Nawaki and Kushina had grown considerably stronger during this period and were already comparable to some chunin.

Minato Namikaze, meanwhile, had his own training methods. Before leaving, Jiraiya had given him a Training Plan, and all he needed to do was follow it step by step.

However, besides following Jiraiya's training plan, Minato Namikaze also found time to practice Lingbo Micro-Step. He had already devised a combat strategy that used it to attack his enemies.

He was now constantly refining it.

Qingyun had not stood still during this period either. Of the four, he could be said to have improved the fastest, with vast reserves of Internal Force comparable to a jonin's Chakra.

Combined with his various martial arts and Ninjutsu abilities, unleashing his full strength would make Qingyun an extremely troublesome opponent for an ordinary jonin.

Moreover, once Qingyun revealed his Three-Tomoe Sharingan, an ordinary jonin would not even have a chance to escape.

The only regret was that Qingyun's research into Fire Release and lightning release Nature Transformation had hit a bottleneck. Once he achieved a Breakthrough past it, he could begin incorporating Ninjutsu into his Martial Arts.

The four had recently been growing stronger at a remarkable pace, and the time had come for the Uchiha Clan's semiannual leadership gathering.

At that moment, in the Ancestral Hall of the Uchiha Clan Compound, the current Uchiha Clan Head sat in the seat of honor. The elders of the Hawk Faction and Dove Faction sat on either side of him, neither side speaking. Uchiha Fugaku had also been summoned by the clan head and now stood expressionlessly before them.