There was no such thing as "easy" in the adult world.
This had been a maxim in the society Kei lived in during his previous life, and in this life, it could also be interpreted as there being no such thing as "easy" in the world of shinobi.
This was a terrifying world where people devoured one another.
It was a cruel world where, from birth, you had to be prepared to either kill or be killed.
Especially in a village like Kirigakure.
There was no way it could have Konohagakure's peaceful environment. But if Kei truly had to choose again, even if he could not go to Kumogakure or Iwagakure, he would still rather choose Kirigakure. After all, the profound darkness hidden beneath Konohagakure's seemingly peaceful, tranquil exterior was countless times more frightening than Kirigakure!
To put it even more bluntly, with the Konoha F4 around, even Sunagakure, the weakest village, would surely be somewhat better than Konohagakure!
Thus, Kei was very satisfied with his current circumstances. Compared to an arrow in the dark, no matter how powerful a spear in the open might be, there was still some chance to react and guard against it!
Kei had already fully settled into this atmosphere.
Whether within his clan.
Or within the village.
Kei kept moving firmly forward at his own pace.
"Ice Release!"
Rumble!
Hum!
Crack!
Splash!
He released techniques over and over, gradually finding the best feel for them through constant adjustments and experimentation.
Before he knew it.
The sky slowly grew dark.
The lingering glow of the setting sun, already sinking to the horizon, stretched Kei's shadow long.
He could now clearly feel the fatigue in his body, and his chakra was almost exhausted.
Whew, looks like that's it for today!
Kei gently exhaled a stale breath, glanced at the setting sun that seemed almost within reach, and walked lightly from the center of the lake back onto the grass beside it.
As he packed up his ninja tools, he also reflected on the results of today's training.
Through his experimentation in the time since enrolling.
Kei had gradually found a training method that suited him. Leaving basic training aside for now, the most important training-chakra control-was just as previously mentioned: he accomplished it through repeatedly controlling and compressing small amounts of ice power, improving through methods such as forming tools and animal shapes!
What he pursued was refinement taken to the absolute extreme!
His ultimate goal was to use his Ice Release to form and manifest any "object," and it had to be utterly lifelike!
Although reaching that level was incredibly difficult!
Kei believed.
As long as he could meet two-thirds, or even half, of the requirements of his ultimate goal, his chakra control would rank among the very best in the Shinobi World. If he had the opportunity and time in the future, Kei also intended to try learning Medical Ninjutsu. It was not that he wanted to become a top medical-nin, but rather that he wanted to improve his chakra control further through this method. Medical techniques demanded the highest chakra control of all techniques!
As for whether he actually possessed Yang Release chakra, that was not a problem!
In theory, whether you possessed the corresponding chakra nature did not prevent you from learning techniques of that nature. The only differences were how difficult they were to learn, how much chakra casting them consumed, and how powerful they were!
Besides, chakra natures could also be developed through training!
It was just extraordinarily difficult!
And chakra natures developed later clearly could not compare to those possessed innately. However, there were plenty of alternative methods as well. In this world, too, a whole range of problems could be solved through "scientific research"!
Of course, all of that was for much later!
At this stage.
Kei only needed to concentrate on honing his Ice Release. Without setting his sights too high, if he could bring the power of Ice Release to its utmost limit, reaching the average Kage Level of the Five Great Shinobi Villages should not be much of a problem!
Before then, he could set himself some future plans and goals, but those were absolutely not areas he could get involved in right now. A road had to be walked one step at a time, and a meal eaten one mouthful at a time!
Many lessons from his previous life had already warned Kei.
Reaching beyond his grasp was the most frightening and most unacceptable mindset.
It could lead people to do many utterly foolish things.
I can still put a little more emphasis on chakra control training. It can also improve the precision and speed of casting techniques!
And I can't neglect conditioning my body, either.
My ninja tools are getting pretty worn. I'll have to buy some more tomorrow.
Come to think of it, does Kirigakure have anything like the Eight Gates Released Formation that I could train in?
Or could I find some way through the Kaguya Clan? Hmm, that isn't very realistic...
And then there's...
Hmm...
As the final lingering ray of sunset spilled across the earth.
It illuminated the small figure walking away.
This patch of woodland returned once more to its usual tranquility.
Only barely audible murmurs remained, slowly echoing there before gradually fading into the breeze!
That night.
After Kei returned home.
He took care of dinner with a simple meal, then went into the study and entered "theoretical knowledge" study mode. Although the original story seemed to keep emphasizing shinobi's "combat strength," theoretical knowledge was actually just as important to a shinobi. This included, but was not limited to, "the nature of chakra," the execution of and differences between "Ninjutsu," "Genjutsu," and "Taijutsu," as well as the use of ninja tools, setting and detecting traps, and so on!
There was a great deal of theoretical knowledge a shinobi had to learn and master.
Strictly speaking, Naruto in the original story really was using cheats. Relying on his bloodline and the enormous cheat that was the Nine-Tails, he grew at rocket speed all the way. It took him only a few months to go from a Genin to possessing the strength of an ordinary Jonin! (During the Battle of the Valley of the End, Sasuke and Naruto could both be considered to possess Jonin-level strength, though they were borrowing the power of the Cursed Seal and the Nine-Tails. They only truly reached Jonin level through their own growth three years later.)
The subsequent process of advancing to Kage Level, Super Kage, and Six Paths level was simply a perfect illustration of just how terrifying "the power of bloodlines" could be!
Someone like Naruto naturally did not need to be bound by so-called ordinary rules!
But Kei was different.
Even though he came from a bloodline clan, he was still confined to the category of an "ordinary person"!
He could not skip any theoretical knowledge he needed to learn, even if it could only increase his strength by a tiny sliver!
Kei would not pass it up!
Perhaps some particular point might well save him in a future battle!
Kei absolutely would not slack off in this regard. Moreover, although he did not know whether it was because he had lived two lives, Kei discovered that his memory in this life was frighteningly good. Calling it photographic might have been a slight exaggeration.
But he really could imprint the contents firmly in his mind simply by studying them one more time!
Oh? Traps can be set up like this too?!
Hmm, aren't these instructions for using ninja tools a little too basic?
Genjutsu? I'll think of a way later and see whether I can get hold of a lowest-level technique to try...