Inside the largest house at the center of the Uchiha Clan Grounds.
"Fugaku, ever since Kagami Uchiha died, the higher-ups have been secretly working against the Uchiha. Konoha was founded by the Uchiha and the Senju together, yet the Uchiha have no voice among its leadership. The Uchiha are already in a weak position, and a group within the clan, led by the second and fourth elders, is stirring up the clansmen, hoping to replace Konoha High Command and take charge of Konoha. They overestimate themselves. Troubles within and threats without... sigh."
"Father, the strongest eyes anyone in the Family has now are only the Three-Tomoe Sharingan. They don't offer much of a boost to a Jonin, bringing them only to Elite Jonin level at most. Without the Mangekyō Sharingan, there's no Kage-level fighting power. And the people in our Family rely too heavily on the Sharingan. Awakening three tomoe gives them the potential to become Elite Jonin. It's a shortcut, but it also limits how strong they can become."
Of the two people in the room, the one seated in the place of honor was the Uchiha clan head, Uchiha Tianchang. Seated below him was Uchiha Fugaku, Uchiha Tianchang's son and the next clan head.
"How is Jiexuan's son doing now?" Uchiha Tianchang asked.
(Note: Uchiha Yefeng's father was named Uchiha Jiexuan.)
"Jiexuan's child is named Uchiha Yefeng. He fainted when he received news of his parents' deaths, but he didn't awaken the Sharingan. After he woke up, though, he seemed like a different person. He became very diligent and has been training at home ever since. A few days ago, he even easily defeated Uchiha Fū and two others single-handedly."
"Hmm? Uchiha Fū is seven, isn't he? He'll graduate and become a genin in another year, yet a four-year-old child easily dealt with all three of them. We should pay him more attention. He could be a promising youngster. We can increase his bereavement allowance, too. The Ninja Academy starts in two months, so send him there to study with the others. The Family will cover the expenses."
"Yes, I'll keep an eye on him."
"Also, there's something suspicious about the disappearance of Jiexuan and his wife. Although there's occasional friction between the villages now, incidents within the Land of Fire are extremely rare. This time, they couldn't even find a trace of the bodies. That alone isn't normal. Send more people to investigate. If outsiders did it, that's one thing, but if it was someone from the village..."
"Father, do you suspect the village leadership is targeting us?"
"We can't be certain. Killing one or two people won't affect the overall situation, and the Third and his people couldn't possibly carry out a large-scale massacre. Otherwise, the village would ultimately suffer. The Third wouldn't be that stupid. I'm only worried they might have some other purpose."
"In any case, first tell the clansmen heading out to be more careful. We should also tighten our defensive duties within the village, particularly keeping an eye on the movements of the Anbu and Root."
"Yes, Father."
Back with Ye Feng, he had only just finished testing his strength when he began thinking about the future.
In the body tempering realm, his flesh was fairly powerful, but all the true qi he cultivated went into nourishing his body, leaving none in his dantian. In combat, he could only use moves powered by raw strength, competing purely in taijutsu. Ye Feng, however, preferred flashy, tremendously powerful moves like ninjutsu or sword-control techniques.
My body has already surpassed the standards of an average adult. Does that mean I can refine chakra now?
At this thought, Ye Feng eagerly sat down and began extracting chakra.
Before he had cultivated for long, however, Ye Feng began to frown. His strengthened body, paired with his powerful Spiritual Power, did indeed let him extract more chakra faster. But Ye Feng clearly felt his body weaken somewhat after extracting chakra. Though the change was slight, he still noticed it.
He immediately stopped cultivating chakra and hurriedly began practicing his Cultivation Technique. As true qi nourished his body little by little, it returned to peak condition.
Just as I thought, chakra doesn't come from nothing!
Chakra was extracted from mental energy and physical energy. The physical energy gathered from the body was, in other words, gathered from its cells. Every extraction of chakra amounted to drawing nutrients out of the cells. Although this wouldn't kill them, prolonged cellular weakness would affect how many times they could divide and their regeneration. As we all knew, fewer cell divisions and damage to cells that couldn't regenerate would directly affect our lifespan.
Drawing out physical energy is shortening your life! No wonder that, despite an environment with both chakra and natural energy, hardly anyone in the Naruto world lives long. Only a few who make themselves neither human nor ghost live a little longer, like Kakuzu from Takigakure. Among normal people, the longest-lived is Iwagakure's Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki. Dying a natural death at eighty already counts as a long life. Even among those with bodies as strong as the Uzumaki Clan's, few live long.
Now Ye Feng hesitated over whether to extract chakra. Extracting it might shorten his lifespan somewhat, but without it, the Sharingan, ninjutsu, and taijutsu all needed a certain amount of chakra to support them. Ye Feng still very much coveted those practically game-breaking ninjutsu in Naruto.
Ye Feng wasn't someone who agonized over things too much. Since he couldn't make up his mind, he would set it aside for now. Perhaps once his cultivation reached a higher level, there would be a way to solve it. A way would open when he reached the mountain; the boat would straighten itself when it reached the bridge.
Having sorted out his thoughts, Ye Feng began gathering his things to head home and continue his great undertaking of cultivating immortality.
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