Chapter 7: News
Retracting his gaze and closing the panel, Seimei took out a military ration pill and stuffed it into his mouth.
Crunch—
With a slight force from his teeth, he bit it into pieces.
Immediately, a bitter taste burst forth, causing the corners of Seimei's eyes to twitch uncontrollably.
"No wonder no one likes eating this thing. The taste…"
Seimei shook his head, forcefully enduring the discomfort as he swallowed the crushed bits down his throat.
Soon, a warm current rose from his stomach and quickly spread through his limbs and bones.
Wasting no time, Seimei immediately sat cross-legged, focused his mind, and began refining chakra.
Over two hours later, once his chakra had fully recovered, Seimei ended the Chakra Refinement Technique and started practicing the Transformation Technique and the Substitution Technique.
Among them, the Transformation Technique was straightforward. As long as chakra was mobilized step by step to alter one's appearance, proficiency would gradually increase.
But the Substitution Technique was another matter—it required advance preparation with support items, such as a wooden board used for substitution.
The so-called Substitution Technique did not involve actual spatial transfer; it was more akin to a sleight of hand.
That is, at the moment of being attacked, the user would quickly switch their body with a pre-prepared object to mislead the opponent.
At that point, the practitioner could seize the chance to launch a sneak attack or escape.
Therefore, this technique heavily tested a ninja's sense of timing. Used well, it was a divine technique; used poorly, it could expose even more weaknesses.
However, no matter how well one mastered the Substitution Technique, it still had its limits.
As long as there was a substitution process, flaws were inevitable.
Such flaws might not matter much in battles between Genin or Chūnin, but at the Jōnin level, practically everyone could exploit that opening.
Hence, in fights between Jōnin, the Substitution Technique was rarely used to confuse opponents.
But for Seimei, that was still a distant concern.
At his current stage, the Substitution Technique was indeed a rare and valuable life-saving skill.
So, even though practicing it was troublesome, he felt no impatience at all.
After a little over ten minutes, his chakra was depleted. Seimei swallowed another military ration pill and resumed chakra refinement.
Two hours later, with his chakra mostly restored, he went back to practicing the Transformation Technique and the Substitution Technique.
Just like that, by late night, Seimei finally completed his final round of cultivation.
Compared to usual, today he had spent two more hours on Chakra Refinement Technique, which increased his chakra capacity by two points and his proficiency by three points.
At the same time, the extra one hundred chakra recovered also gave his Transformation Technique and Substitution Technique over ten more proficiency points each.
Don't underestimate these small improvements. As the saying goes—many drops make a river. If he gained this much in one day, how much could he gain in a month? Or even a year?
Well… a year was a bit far off.
But a month—Seimei could still look forward to that.
If refining chakra and practicing ninjutsu didn't consume so much mental energy—and if eating too many military ration pills didn't cause indigestion—Seimei truly would've pulled an all-nighter.
"Haa~~~"
Stretching and yawning, he did a quick wash-up, then returned to his bedroom.
Soon after, the familiar sound of snoring echoed out.
Time ticked by, second by second.
At a certain moment, a figure appeared atop the utility pole outside the window, a pair of scarlet three-tomoe Sharingan eyes fixed on Seimei, seemingly observing something.
Moments later, the figure vanished.
······
Deep within the Uchiha compound, in the residence of the Grand Elder.
Knock knock knock—
A soft knocking sound rang out.
"Come in!"
From within the room, an aged voice responded.
Uchiha Chihito pushed the door open and entered. Seeing the old man behind the desk, he bowed and said, "Grand Elder."
"Oh, it's Chihito."
The old man raised his head and glanced at Uchiha Chihito. "What is it?"
"Reporting to the Grand Elder, it's regarding the observation results on Seimei."
Uchiha Chihito replied respectfully.
Upon hearing this, a glint of sharp light flashed across the old man's eyes. He asked unhurriedly, "So? Has he awakened the Sharingan?"
"No."
Uchiha Chihito shook his head. "After days of observation, there's been no explosive surge in chakra within his body, and his mental state remains stable. It's basically certain that he doesn't possess the aptitude to awaken the Sharingan."
"I see…"
Hearing Uchiha Chihito's report, even though the old man had anticipated it, he still couldn't help but feel a trace of disappointment.
Generally speaking, if a clan member has the aptitude to awaken the Sharingan, a stimulus such as the death of their parents would cause an immediate awakening.
Even if it doesn't happen right away, their body and mental state would show some changes, and with just a bit more stimulation afterward, they'd awaken it smoothly.
However, after Seimei received the news of his parents' sacrifice, not only did he fail to awaken the Sharingan immediately, but in the days that followed, there were no notable changes in his physical or mental condition.
From this, it could be basically concluded that he lacks the aptitude to awaken the Sharingan.
"Grand Elder, shall we continue observing him?"
Seeing the old man remain silent, Uchiha Chihito opened his mouth and asked.
"No need."
The old man waved his hand and said, "You may leave."
"Yes, Grand Elder!"
Responding with a bow, Uchiha Chihito exited the room.
Seimei was unaware that today had been his final chance to be regarded seriously by the clan.
Had he awakened the Sharingan under the stimulus of the condolence payment today, even if not soaring through the ranks, his path ahead would've been much smoother.
He might have even been assigned a personal bodyguard during the Genin phase.
That's right—this was the Uchiha clan. Though hard to deal with externally, they were quite united internally.
Well… except for that one traitor.
However, Seimei did not awaken the Sharingan and was thus destined not to receive the treatment of a prodigy.
But even if Seimei had known, he wouldn't have cared.
His confidence was never rooted in the Uchiha clan. With the proficiency panel in hand, he would rise up sooner or later.
······
Five days later.
Near the end of school.
Clap clap clap—
Sugi Kiichiro clapped his hands and shouted, "Everyone, gather around!"
"Sensei, what is it? School's almost over!"
"Yeah! What's going on?"
". . ."
Hearing Sugi Kiichiro's call, over thirty students noisily crowded around him, chattering all at once in a lively scene.
Seimei stood at the edge of the crowd, silent. From the serious look on Sugi Kiichiro's face, he sensed that something was off.
Sure enough, Sugi Kiichiro's next words confirmed his suspicions.
"Quiet!"
With a loud shout, Sugi Kiichiro waited for the group to settle down before speaking: "The village has decided to change your annual assessment scheduled for half a month from now into a graduation exam.
Those who pass will be granted the status of Konoha Genin and officially become ninjas."
Although he had mentally prepared for this, when Seimei actually heard the news, a sense of urgency still welled up within him.
However, unlike his somber reaction—
Many students in the crowd erupted in excitement upon hearing the announcement.
"Kiichiro-sensei, is that really true?"
"Yeah, Sensei, we can really become ninjas early?"
". . ."
Listening to these somewhat naive comments, Seimei shook his head and thought silently, "They're still too sheltered. They have no idea how dangerous the life of a ninja is—especially during this time."
If possible, Seimei would've preferred to stay in school for the rest of his life.
But that was impossible.
Now, he could only hope that they wouldn't be sent straight to the battlefield after graduation. Otherwise...
[End of Chapter]