At that moment, Ye Feng and Obito's conversation was interrupted by a knock at the door.
Ye Feng got up to open the door and saw a tall, burly man in an Uchiha uniform standing outside, staring at him coldly.
"Who are you? What can I do for you?" Ye Feng's parents had possessed only mediocre talent, and few clan members ever visited. Puzzled that someone had actually come looking for him today, he asked.
"You're Uchiha Ye Feng?" a cool voice rang out, carrying a chill.
"That's right. I am."
"I'm Uchiha En. The Young Clan Head asked me to bring you the clan's survivor benefits. From now on, you can collect a payment every month from the clan's Internal Affairs Office until you come of age. The Ninja Academy starts in two months, and your enrollment has already been arranged. The clan will take care of your tuition." With that, he shoved a paper parcel into Ye Feng's hands, turned, and left without waiting for a reply.
Ye Feng was baffled by the man's behavior as well. Seeing him leave without another word, Ye Feng turned and closed the door, then opened the parcel with Obito. Inside was actually a stack of banknotes.
"Wow, that's a lot of money! It's more than twice what I get," Obito Uchiha said, astonished at the amount.
Whenever a member of the Uchiha Clan died on a mission, the clan would give the elderly and children in their household survivor benefits, providing the family with a basic income. It would not make them wealthy, but it was enough for simple food, drink, and daily necessities, keeping them from being unable to survive. This also offered reassurance and a measure of security to clan members going out on missions. However, there were established standards for the payments, and Ye Feng's benefits clearly far exceeded them.
Clearly, someone was showing Ye Feng goodwill by giving him a large sum and arranging for him to attend the Ninja Academy. It seemed he had caught the Young Clan Head's eye.
Thinking back, he had only fought once lately, so word of that incident had probably reached the Young Clan Head. It had only been a minor clash, and the strength he had revealed was limited, probably not enough to warrant much attention from the Young Clan Head, Uchiha Fugaku. This was likely just a gesture of goodwill, casting a wide net to catch fish. Even if he was not a genius, there would be little loss, and Fugaku would still earn a good reputation. If he did turn out to be a genius, this would be help in his hour of need, earning his goodwill in advance and making him easier to recruit later.
Konoha actually provided survivor benefits too, though considerably less than the Uchiha Clan. Just looking at Naruto's childhood, he had eaten instant noodles and drunk expired milk, and even then he had scrimped on food and drink, without enough money to go out for a bowl of ramen.
Having worked this out, Ye Feng stopped dwelling on it and accepted the benefits with a clear conscience. He was short of money right now anyway.
Obito Uchiha urged Ye Feng to go out for a good meal, but Ye Feng felt weak and sore all over and did not want to move at all. He simply went ahead and opened some instant noodles and milk for dinner.
Seeing what Ye Feng was doing, Obito Uchiha knew he was exhausted. He did not want instant noodles either, so he said goodbye to Ye Feng and slipped away.
Ye Feng was not a stingy person. Now that he had fallen on hard times, Obito was the only one who came to see him every day and treated him as a friend. He was deeply grateful, and silently vowed that he would not let Obito become a villain and die with regrets as he had in the anime.
Ye Feng quickly finished dinner, then sat cross-legged and began cultivating.
But this time, Ye Feng clearly felt a difference. The True Qi he had just cultivated was instantly absorbed by his body, vanishing like water dripping into a sponge. The improvement in his physical strength, which had already slowed, seemed to pick up a little as well. Most importantly, quite a bit of the True Qi he refined flowed into his brain, directly strengthening his spiritual power. A faint stream of dark chakra seeped from his eyes too, and Ye Feng immediately realized that this was a sign his Sharingan was about to awaken.
Ye Feng seized the opportunity and quickened his cultivation. He heard a very soft "pop" inside his head, and that dark chakra began flowing steadily from his eyes. He also felt his vision improve. When he focused on small flying insects, he could even sense their movements slowing down, and the patterns on their wings became clearly visible.
The chakra flowing from his eyes spread through his meridians to his entire body, though there was very little of it. Ye Feng tried controlling it and found it went smoothly. Whether he gathered it in his hands, feet, or muscles, it could strengthen his offensive and defensive power.
This feeling really did come faster than practicing taijutsu and was more captivating too. If cultivating chakra did not shorten his lifespan, Ye Feng would have liked nothing better than to switch to cultivating chakra right then.
But Ye Feng only entertained the thought. He knew that cultivating chakra did bring great progress in the early stages, but its ceiling was probably only Kaguya Ōtsutsuki's level. The early stages of cultivation involved tempering the body. Though a little slower, this was to build a solid foundation, and in the future, he could transcend this world.
Ye Feng looked at his one-tomoe Sharingan in the mirror. His red eyes certainly looked imposing, but he soon deactivated his Sharingan, because he discovered that keeping it active consumed both chakra and spiritual power. He was not short of spiritual power for now, but his chakra consisted only of the small amount granted by awakening his eyes. It could not withstand reckless use.
As things stood, Ye Feng would not be able to activate his Sharingan casually in the future unless he solved his chakra problem.
He might as well keep cultivating. Once he reached a certain level, some problems would no longer be problems.
Before you continue