Thinking this to himself, Seimei raised his hand again, just like before, and began forming hand signs with precise, deliberate movements.
During the process, he continuously channeled his chakra, converting it into Doton (Earth Release), then altering its properties.
One second, two seconds, three seconds...
This time, it took a full twenty-something seconds before he finally completed the hand signs.
The moment he stopped, Seimei felt his body lighten. With a gentle leap, he soared several meters forward.
Clearly, his Doton: Chōkeijūgan no Jutsu (Earth Release: Super Lightweight Rock Technique) had been executed successfully.
Seimei carefully assessed his condition.
At this moment, his body density, while not reduced as drastically as with Doton: Chōkajūgan no Jutsu (Earth Release: Super Weighted Rock Technique), which increased it tenfold, was still lightened by about three or four times.
This level of density wasn't enough to let him float in the air like Onoki, but the weight reduction already surpassed the limits of the standard Doton: Keijūgan no Jutsu (Earth Release: Lightweight Rock Technique).
Seimei tried maintaining the technique while activating Fūton: Kaze no Tsubasa (Wind Release: Wings of Wind) and his Chakra Hagoromo (Chakra Cloak) to test his current maximum flight speed.
Unfortunately, before he could fully execute these two ninjutsu, his weight returned to normal.
He tried a few more times, but none were successful.
With no other choice, Seimei temporarily gave up.
"Guess I was a bit too impatient," he muttered under his breath.
With that, he refocused his mind, raised his hands, and formed the signs for Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Multiple Shadow Clone Technique).
Poof!
A cloud of chakra smoke dispersed, and over a hundred figures appeared in the clearing.
Seimei glanced at his shadow clones and, with practiced ease, divided them into groups, assigning each to train specific skills.
Upon receiving their orders, the clones didn't waste time. They immediately spread out, moving away from the center of the island.
Some headed straight to the sea, while others stayed on the island's outskirts, contemplating the details of their assigned techniques while putting them into practice.
Seimei paid special attention to the twenty-odd clones training Doton: Chōkajūgan no Jutsu and Doton: Chōkeijūgan no Jutsu.
After confirming they were on the right track, he began his own training.
In the previous round, he had used Shōsen Jutsu (Mystical Palm Technique) alongside Hito no Gyo (Human Control) to strengthen his body.
This time, it was Raiton Chakra Mōdo (Lightning Release Chakra Mode).
Crackle!
Zzzzt!
A thunderous roar echoed, followed by the dense hum of electricity.
In an instant, Seimei's body was enveloped in lightning, strengthening his physique from the outside in.
Time ticked by, second by second.
Soon, an hour had passed.
Seimei paused his training, glanced at the clones scattered across the island, and with a thought, dispelled the Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu.
In the blink of an eye, the hundred-plus clones vanished.
They turned into clouds of chakra, carrying an hour's worth of training experience and memories, surging back into Seimei's body.
"Hmph~"
Even though he'd endured this many times before, the sensation of so much information flooding his mind at once still made Seimei let out a muffled grunt.
But that was all.
Seimei closed his eyes, quickly processing the experiences and memories.
About fifteen minutes later, he opened his eyes again.
Checking the progress of his skills—especially Doton: Chōkajūgan no Jutsu and Doton: Chōkeijūgan no Jutsu—Seimei nodded in satisfaction.
After a short break, he swallowed a few enhanced Hyōrōgan (Soldier Pills) to replenish his energy, then formed hand signs again, casting Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu to summon another hundred clones for a new round of training.
This cycle repeated for three rounds until nightfall, when he finally stopped.
By now, with a steady supply of chakra, both his Doton: Chōkajūgan no Jutsu and Doton: Chōkeijūgan no Jutsu had successfully reached the beginner level.
And their proficiency had even hit lv2.
"Panel!"
With a thought, Seimei opened his proficiency panel.
A familiar pale-blue screen appeared:
---
Name: Uchiha Seimei
Age: 13
Physique: 24
Spirit: 26
Chakra: 352,000 (508,980 → 541,236)
Bloodline:
- Sharingan: Eternal Mangekyō (93/100,000) → (120/100,000)
- Byakugan (428/5,000) → (659/5,000)
Skills:
- Chakra Refinement Technique: lv6 (5,119/10,000) → lv6 (5,623/10,000)
- Katon: Shūen Geki (Fire Release: Focused Flame Strike): lv9 (2,100/100,000) → lv9 (54,600/100,000)
- Raiton: Raikiri (Lightning Release: Lightning Cutter): lv6 (1,361/10,000) → lv9 (5,100/100,000)
- Doton: Chōkajūgan no Jutsu: lv2 (110/500)
- Doton: Chōkeijūgan no Jutsu: lv2 (35/500)
- Izanami: lv7 (11,200/20,000) → lv8 (6,250/50,000)
- Izanagi: lv7 (17,500/20,000) → lv8 (6,250/50,000)
- Fūshin Sakuon: Keiyaku Shunshin no In (Heart-Sealing Soul Lock: Contract Instant Movement Seal): lv4 (200/2,000) → lv5 (3,200/5,000)
- Chakra Control: lv7 (19,200/20,000) → lv7 (19,900/20,000)
Mastered Skills:
- Doton: Doryūdan no Jutsu (Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet): lv7 (0/0)
- Doton: Kajūgan no Jutsu (Earth Release: Weighted Rock Technique): lv7 (0/0)
- Doton: Keijūgan no Jutsu (Earth Release: Lightweight Rock Technique): lv7 (0/0)
---
It was clear that, unlike when he built on Suiton: Bakusui Shōha (Water Release: Exploding Water Shockwave) to learn Suiton: Dai Bakusui Shōha (Water Release: Great Exploding Water Shockwave), where the proficiency carried over from the mastered lv7 of the base technique, things were different now.
For Doton: Chōkajūgan no Jutsu and Doton: Chōkeijūgan no Jutsu, the proficiency started from scratch.
Seimei had two theories about this:
First, the training difficulty of Doton: Chōkajūgan no Jutsu and Doton: Chōkeijūgan no Jutsu was far greater than that of Doton: Kajūgan no Jutsu and Doton: Keijūgan no Jutsu, so the proficiency couldn't be carried over effectively.
Second, while these techniques were advanced versions of Doton: Kajūgan no Jutsu and Doton: Keijūgan no Jutsu, he had developed them from scratch without any reference, so their proficiency started at lv0.
Either way, the fact that they were registered on the panel was enough.
With his current chakra reserves, and since leveling up to lv7 didn't require too much proficiency, the cost was manageable.
For example, in just three hours of intense training that afternoon, their proficiency had gone from lv0 to lv2, gaining a few hundred points each.
At this rate, it wouldn't take long to grind them to lv7.
Thinking about the time needed to level up, Seimei recalled the chakra consumption from practicing these techniques that afternoon.
By his estimates, each point of proficiency for these techniques consumed about 200 chakra points.
This was slightly more than the 150 chakra points used for Doton: Kajūgan no Jutsu and Doton: Keijūgan no Jutsu, but still within Seimei's acceptable range.
Next, he planned to redirect the 300,000 chakra points previously split between those two techniques entirely into Doton: Chōkajūgan no Jutsu and Doton: Chōkeijūgan no Jutsu.
This way, they could gain 1,500 proficiency points daily.
At that pace, in just over two days, both techniques would reach lv5, triggering their first qualitative leap.
Another ten days, and they'd hit lv7 for their second leap.
As for reaching lv9 and the third leap, that would take about a month and a half.
Of course, this was a conservative estimate.
Before that, his Katon: Shūen Geki and Raiton: Raikiri would level up first.
Seimei's gaze shifted to the top of the panel.
After over ten days of training, his Katon: Shūen Geki had gone from lv9 (2,100/100,000) to lv9 (54,600/100,000).
With a daily investment of 750,000 chakra points, yielding 3,000 proficiency points, it would take just 18 days to level up.
However, since the technique was incomplete and required constant refinement, it would likely stall for a bit near the peak of lv9, as it had at lv7 and lv8, due to increased costs.
Still, it wouldn't take more than 25 days.
Before that, though, his Raiton: Raikiri would level up first.
Thanks to a daily investment of 936,000 chakra points, its proficiency had jumped three levels in the past ten days, going from lv6 (1,361/10,000) to lv9 (5,100/100,000).
At this rate, it would reach lv10 in just 20 days.
Clearly, both techniques would level up well before Doton: Chōkajūgan no Jutsu and Doton: Chōkeijūgan no Jutsu reached mastery, and with plenty of time to spare.
Once those two leveled up, Seimei would have over a million chakra points to freely allocate.
Even a small increase in investment for Doton: Chōkajūgan no Jutsu and Doton: Chōkeijūgan no Jutsu would speed up their growth significantly.
That's why Seimei said the month-and-a-half estimate was conservative.
And that didn't even account for the reduced costs from leveling up Chakra Control!
Seimei's gaze dropped lower.
As his Doton: Kajūgan no Jutsu and Doton: Keijūgan no Jutsu reached the perfected lv7 (0/0), his Chakra Control gained another 700 proficiency points.
This pushed it right to the edge of leveling up, from lv7 (19,200/20,000) to lv7 (19,900/20,000).
The next skill to reach mastery would push it to lv8.
Once that happened, the chakra cost for training all his skills would drop significantly.
In other words, the same amount of chakra would yield more proficiency.
This would naturally speed up the mastery of Doton: Chōkajūgan no Jutsu and Doton: Chōkeijūgan no Jutsu.
"Not bad!"
Satisfied, Seimei nodded.
His gaze then shifted to Fūshin Sakuon: Keiyaku Shunshin no In.
After five days of training, its proficiency had risen from lv4 to lv5, triggering its first qualitative leap.
Now, Seimei felt its overall effect was comparable to the various measures he'd placed on his pawns.
He was considering whether to take the time to replace those measures for better concealment and control.
But after some thought, he decided against it.
The technique was only at lv5, and its effects were roughly equivalent to his existing measures.
Replacing them wouldn't offer much improvement.
More importantly, it would carry risks.
It just wasn't worth it.
Perhaps in twelve days, when it reached lv7 and underwent its second leap, he'd reconsider.
With various thoughts swirling in his mind, Seimei's gaze finally landed on his bloodline and chakra sections.
For his bloodline, his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan was, as always, passively improving through frequent use of Hito no Gyo during his daily physical training.
But the speed?
It was painfully slow.
In nearly eighteen days of dedicated training, it had only risen by 27 points, averaging less than two points a day.
"As expected, I need to actively use Eishin no Jutsu (Reflection Heart Technique) to boost it," Seimei murmured to himself.
Unfortunately, to do that, he'd first need to refine Eishin no Jutsu to make it more effective at evolving the Sharingan.
And to refine Eishin no Jutsu, he'd need to complete the assimilation of Hashirama's cells in his body.
That way, he could tailor the refinement to his body's specific condition.
As for how to assimilate Hashirama's cells?
That was what his ongoing physical training was for.
Once his body underwent a transformation, the assimilation would naturally follow.
Closing his eyes, Seimei carefully sensed his physical state.
A moment later, he opened them again.
Based on past experience, his body was about a month and a half away from reaching the transformation threshold.
It was early October now.
That meant he'd need to wait until mid-to-late November to start that step.
"Phew~"
Seimei let out a long breath, muttering, "It's getting close!"
His gaze then shifted to his Byakugan.
Unlike the sluggish progress of his Sharingan, his Byakugan had improved significantly, thanks to 21 days of uninterrupted nurturing.
Its evolution progress had jumped by 231 points, going from (428/5,000) to (659/5,000).
At this rate, in just 31 days, its progress would exceed 1,000 points, reaching a fifth of the total bar.
While full evolution was still a ways off, the progress was visible.
Seimei found this acceptable.
After some thought, his gaze settled on the chakra section.
Over the past 21 days, by passively running Chakra Refinement Technique and tapping into his body's potential, he'd increased his chakra cap by over 30,000 points.
This brought his total from 508,980 to 541,236, setting a new personal record.
But considering his body's theoretical chakra cap was 3.15 million, Seimei couldn't bring himself to smile.
At this rate, he had no idea how long it would take to fully realize that potential.
To speed things up, he'd need to level up Chakra Refinement Technique.
However, as a passive skill, he was already running it 24/7 at maximum efficiency, with no way to boost its proficiency further.
So, there was nothing he could do.
"Sigh~"
With a soft sigh, Seimei pushed the thought aside and closed the panel with a thought.
Then, he activated Senrō Banshō Fūjin (All-Encompassing Seal) at his forehead, linking it to his Byakugan, and began his final training of the day—nurturing his Byakugan!