Uchiha Sora had no idea that, thanks to Kakashi's analysis, the Third Hokage had already concluded that the person who had secretly read the forbidden techniques was an insider.
Still, as long as he did not use those forbidden techniques in front of others, he would not risk exposing himself.
Besides, learning forbidden techniques was not that quick.
Even with the system training them automatically, sparing him the need to study them himself, they were still forbidden techniques. Progress was nowhere near as fast as it was with ordinary ninjutsu.
This was especially true of the Flying Thunder God Technique and Impure World Reincarnation. One involved space, the other souls, making them difficult even for Kage-level experts.
And once these two techniques entered automatic training, Uchiha Sora had actually begun receiving feedback from the system about their key requirements.
That requirement was perception.
Whether it was the perception of space or of souls, both required exceptionally strong mental resolve as a foundation.
Uchiha Sora's mental resolve was certainly not weak, but it could hardly be called particularly strong.
One way to strengthen it was to improve his Sharingan, passively drawing out his mental power. But this method had a drawback: mental resolve developed passively was extremely susceptible to negative emotions.
That was why members of the Uchiha Clan were prone to developing extreme personalities after awakening their eyes.
In fact, a safer method was to keep fighting and tempering himself, strengthening his mental resolve through those experiences.
Powerful ninja like Shisui placed great emphasis on tempering their resolve, which kept them from being swayed by extreme ideas.
Next, Uchiha Sora needed to find a way to temper his own resolve.
If he could get his mental resolve to train automatically, he would have nothing left to worry about.
But getting something as intangible as mental resolve to train automatically did not seem that easy.
Perhaps I need to go through some trials myself, Uchiha Sora silently decided.
All this time, he had taken a safe, conservative approach to growing stronger, hoping to keep a low profile while building his strength. But that approach had neglected the development of his mental resolve.
It was certainly safe, but in the long run, it would probably hinder his true growth.
Beyond their sheer power, the truly strong also possessed a mindset far beyond that of ordinary people.
After the New Year, Uchiha Sora finally turned nine. Yet his height made him look nothing like a nine-year-old. Thanks to his physique's automatic training, he was already close to 160 centimeters tall, matching the height of some thirteen- or fourteen-year-olds.
"Wow! Sora, I have no idea how you're growing so fast, but you're almost as tall as me!" Hirai Mitsuteru exclaimed dramatically as Sora enjoyed a rare meal with his two teammates at a barbecue restaurant.
Beside him, Uzuki Yugao smiled. "Sora probably has good genes. He's definitely going to grow into a big, tall boy who makes girls feel safe!"
"Tch, height isn't what makes someone feel safe!" Hirai Mitsuteru curled his lip. "That comes down to strength!"
"Sora's strong too!" Uzuki Yugao replied. As his teammate, she naturally knew that Uchiha Sora was no weaker than they were.
At the very least, Uzuki Yugao believed that Sora was every bit her equal in swordsmanship.
"All right, I'll admit that." Hirai Mitsuteru nodded, then asked Uchiha Sora curiously, "But Sora, are you taking the chunin ninja exams in the first half of this year?"
Uchiha Sora thought for a moment, then shook his head. "Not this year. I think I'll wait another year."
His reasoning was simple. Even if he intended to temper himself, there was no rush. He was even less eager to step into the spotlight and attract the attention of the higher-ups.
At the very least, he wanted to wait until he turned ten next year and become a chunin alongside Itachi. That way, Itachi could draw some of the higher-ups' attention away from him.
Besides, he could give the system another year or so of automatic training and see whether it could complete the initial stage of the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Tempering himself did not mean throwing his life away. He needed at least one trump card to keep himself alive.
In the meantime, he would try to develop a few more new ninjutsu.
Time passed, and in the blink of an eye, more than a year had gone by.
Uchiha Sora was ten.
Over that year and more, the constant automatic training of his physique and chakra had brought him to the point where he met the requirements to train the S-rank ninjutsu, Wind Release: Rasenshuriken.
Not long ago, Wind Release: Rasenshuriken had successfully been established as a training project, and its initial training had been completed.
The result was that he could now incorporate a portion of wind-nature transformation into the Rasengan, turning the originally natureless blue Rasengan into a white, wind-nature Rasengan.
This white Wind Release: Rasengan was actually an intermediate stage between the Rasengan and Wind Release: Rasenshuriken.
It was two to three times as powerful as the Rasengan, but still nowhere near the Rasenshuriken.
Apart from acquiring Wind Release: Rasengan as a trump-card ninjutsu, Uchiha Sora had also found opportunities during this period to secretly observe other ninja in the village training with his Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
After repeated observation with his Three-Tomoe Sharingan, Uchiha Sora had successfully copied several ordinary Wind Release and Fire Release Ninjutsu.
Of course, even after his Sharingan copied someone else's ninjutsu, Sora still needed the system's automatic training to reproduce it perfectly.
After all, he did not possess the innate genius of someone like Kakashi.
Ugh, when will the Flying Thunder God Technique's automatic training finally succeed? It's been over a year, and there's still no sign of progress! Uchiha Sora frowned inwardly.
Registration for the chunin ninja exams would open in another month. He and Itachi had already agreed to take them together and use the opportunity to compete against each other.
Fortunately, just three days before the chunin ninja exams began, things changed.
The system's voice rang out in Uchiha Sora's mind:
"Ding! Through tireless effort, your Flying Thunder God Technique has finally completed the initial training for its first stage!"
In an instant, a flood of information on how to use the Flying Thunder God Technique poured into Sora's mind.
At that moment, Uchiha Sora had perfectly mastered the first stage of the Flying Thunder God Technique!
The first stage of Flying Thunder God essentially allowed him to teleport himself and any object he was touching to a stationary coordinate.
The key was that the coordinate had to be stationary! If it was moving, the teleportation would fail, risking his being swept into a spatial rift.
Sitting at home, Uchiha Sora took out a specially made kunai he had prepared long ago. It looked no different from an ordinary kunai, which kept it from attracting attention. The important difference was that its handle was wrapped in a special material.
This special material allowed the formula's mark to remain for a long time without wearing away.
Uchiha Sora had made five such kunai in total. The handle of the short sword he had always used had also been wrapped in this special material.
Then Uchiha Sora inscribed his Flying Thunder God Formula on the kunai.
Its name was:
"The Sword of Transcendence!"
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