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Chapter 961: Settling for Second Best
🕑 Added 2025-07-11 16:37:26 +0000 UTCTime ticked by, second by second.
Three and a half hours later, Seimei felt a swelling sensation in his Byakugan and stopped channeling chakra into it.
Opening his status panel, he saw that the evolution progress for his Byakugan had increased by another 18 points. Satisfied, he nodded, not wasting any more time. He headed back to his cabin to rest.
The night passed quietly.
The next day, training resumed.
Seimei summoned over two hundred shadow clones to continue researching and developing Storm Release. Meanwhile, his real body split its training into three parts: half the time was dedicated to physical conditioning, and the other half was divided between two tasks. Four hours went to using the Mind Reflection Technique to push his Sharingan’s evolution, and the remaining two hours were spent practicing the Wood Clone Technique to build proficiency.
During this time, Seimei made slight adjustments to his routine based on his progress, fine-tuning until everything aligned with his plan.
And just like that, another day passed.
By evening, after finishing his final round of physical training and teleporting back from the ocean depths, Seimei absorbed the past hour’s worth of memories and experiences from his shadow clones. Then, he began packing up, ready to return to the village.
That’s right—today marked the tenth day of his intense training cycle, which meant it was time for his scheduled break.
Even with the successful development of Ice Release and the addition of a new skill to practice, Seimei didn’t disrupt his carefully planned routine. He stuck to his schedule of training and rest.
Plus, it had been ten days since he last checked on the shadow clone he’d left in the village. He was curious to see what it had accomplished. During his last break, he’d run into a young Neji Hyuga near the ninja academy, which sparked some inspiration. That led him to task a shadow clone with secretly observing the Hyuga clan to learn their Byakugan activation techniques.
How’d that go? Seimei wondered.
He wasn’t too optimistic, though. The odds of complete success were slim. When he’d left the shadow clone behind, he’d sealed some chakra into it using the All-Encompassing Seal to sustain it. But even then, maintaining Heaven’s Command with a shadow clone’s body was incredibly taxing, meaning it couldn’t operate for long.
On top of that, the Hyuga clan’s young members didn’t train every day. Ten days wasn’t nearly enough time for the clone to master all their techniques.
As for sneaking in without Heaven’s Command to observe directly? That was a pipe dream. The Hyuga’s training grounds were locked down tight—not impenetrable, but close. With his own Byakugan, Seimei knew just how powerful their visual prowess was. Trying to sneak in would be like handing them evidence of his meddling.
Seimei wasn’t that foolish.
So, he figured the shadow clone’s results would be modest at best.
And he was right.
After flying back to the outskirts of the Hidden Leaf Village, Seimei used Heaven’s Command to slip through the village’s sensory barrier undetected. He returned home and synced with the memories of the shadow clone stationed there. As expected, it had only learned about a quarter of the Hyuga’s Byakugan techniques.
Seimei wasn’t too disappointed, though. His mental attributes didn’t need a rapid boost right now—slow and steady was fine.
After sorting through the clone’s memories, he shed his gear, cleaned up, and headed out to the village’s “Food Street.” There, he indulged in a feast, satisfying his cravings.
Two hours later, he strolled back home.
By then, it was nearly nine o’clock. Not wanting to waste more time, he entered his training room and began his final task of the day: nurturing his Byakugan. The process took another three and a half hours.
Just before one in the morning, Seimei wrapped up his training. Without missing a beat, he headed to his bedroom to rest.
The next day, he woke up close to noon.
Sitting up in bed, Seimei stretched lazily, shaking off the last of his grogginess. He took his time getting out of bed, washing up, and slipping into casual clothes. Then, he made his way back to Food Street.
Standing at the street’s entrance, he took a deep breath, savoring the familiar aromas of sizzling dishes. After a brief moment of indecision, he stepped into the nearest restaurant and dove into another round of feasting.
By early afternoon, he waddled out of Food Street, his stomach full.
This time, he didn’t wander. Instead, he headed straight for the Uchiha clan’s library. Two days ago, when he’d set foot on the rogue ninja’s island in the Misty Sea, he’d made up his mind to find a barrier technique to prepare for similar situations in the future.
Now was the time to act on that plan.
Quickening his pace, Seimei soon reached the heart of the Uchiha clan’s territory. Thanks to the pass granted by the clan’s elder, he easily entered their library.
And so, he began his search.
Time flew by, and soon it was evening.
Inside the Uchiha library, Seimei stood before a bookshelf, his face etched with disappointment.
He’d had a specific goal in mind: the Four Red Yang Formation, a barrier technique used by Hashirama Senju and the other three Hokage during the Fourth Great Ninja War. It was powerful enough to trap the Ten-Tails, and from Madara Uchiha’s reaction—and Obito’s use of the advanced Six Red Yang Formation—Seimei had deduced that the Uchiha clan likely knew the technique.
He’d hoped to製作
System: to find its record in the Uchiha library, especially since he had previously found Madara’s Storm Release research notes there. But after hours of searching through nearly every scroll, he came up empty-handed.
His disappointment was palpable.
Still, the afternoon wasn’t a total loss. Seimei unrolled a scroll he’d found, its title catching his eye: Uchiha Flame Formation.
Yes, this was another barrier technique used by Obito during the Fourth Great Ninja War. As the name suggested, it was exclusive to the Uchiha clan, requiring the Sharingan to activate.
Though only a B-rank ninjutsu, its effects were impressive with the Sharingan’s boost. It was a versatile barrier, capable of both defense and offense. Defensively, it could block the Eight-Tails’ Tailed Beast Bomb and large-scale attacks from the Allied Shinobi Forces, only succumbing to Sage Art-enhanced techniques. Offensively, it didn’t attack directly but burned anyone who struck it with high-temperature flames—strong enough to deter even the Eight-Tails.
Moreover, the technique was relatively simple to use. Unlike the Four Red Yang Formation, which required multiple Kage-level shinobi, the Uchiha Flame Formation could be cast by a single person with enough chakra. It was also easier to learn and less chakra-intensive.
Of course, it had its limits. While its range was adjustable, it was primarily a single-target defensive barrier, unlike the massive area coverage of the Four or Six Red Yang Formations. Its maximum range was still relatively limited.
For Seimei, though, it was good enough for now. If needed, he could pour chakra into it and develop it further, potentially approaching the power of the Four Red Yang Formation.
Snapping out of his thoughts, Seimei took the scroll, registered it with the Uchiha elder guarding the library, and left.
Gazing at the sunset, he decided not to head home just yet. Instead, he returned to Food Street, planning to fill his stomach before diving back into training.
