Snapping out of his thoughts, Seimei set aside the books filled with training insights and grabbed a scroll instead.
His eyes skimmed over it, landing on a ninjutsu description—Fire Release: Crimson Lotus Prison Flame!
This technique's a defensive one. When you pull it off, it conjures up a giant crimson lotus around you with three layers of petals, each layer packing a different level of defense.
And here's the cool part: when those petals get smashed, they explode and hit the enemy! 💥
The deeper in you go, the tougher the petals get—and the bigger the booms.
Sounds pretty neat, right?
Well… only on paper.
In reality, it's kind of a dud.
Sure, the petals have decent defense, and the counter-damage is okay, but here's the catch—it guzzles chakra like crazy!
Fire Release isn't exactly known for defense, so forcing it into that role means pouring in a ton of chakra.
Pretty obvious downside there—not worth the tradeoff.
Oh, and that counter-damage? It doesn't care who's friend or foe.
What do I mean? Simple: when those lotus petals break, the high-heat explosions don't just hit the enemy—they can roast the caster inside too!
The first two layers aren't so bad since the second and third layers block most of it. You lose some defense that way, but at least you're safe.
But if that third layer gets busted? Oh boy, big trouble.
The enemy might still dodge it, but the caster? You're toast—100% getting blasted unless…
…unless you use a shadow clone from the start.
But guess what? That just burns even more chakra!
On top of that, mastering this jutsu takes some seriously advanced chakra shape and nature transformation skills. So yeah, it's basically a fancy waste of time.
Truth is, this was a failed experiment of a ninjutsu to begin with.
But Seimei? He's not sweating it.
Big chakra cost?
No biggie!
His chakra pool's way above average— a little drain like that's just a drop in the bucket.
Hurts friend and foe alike?
Perfect! He's got his "Chakra Cloak" to shield himself, so that final explosion's no threat.
With that, this so-called dud becomes a total win in his hands!
Plus—and this is the real kicker—training with it will level up his fire chakra shape and nature transformation skills big time.
That's his real goal here.
So, out of the Uchiha clan's stash, he picked this one.
He read through it again, nodded slightly, and grabbed two more scrolls, each with another Fire Release ninjutsu.
Just like Crimson Lotus Prison Flame, these two are all flash and no substance.
One's a bit easier to learn—about B-rank—called Fire Release: Thousand Swallow Dance.
Compared to Crimson Lotus, this one leans hard into chakra shape transformation.
Master it, and you can summon a thousand fiery swallows to swarm the enemy!
So why's it a dud? Easy: each swallow flies pretty slow and doesn't hit that hard.
Too few, and the enemy dodges no problem. Too many, and they can just tank it.
Practicality? Meh, not great.
Plus, the Uchiha already have the way better Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique as a stand-in.
So yeah, another dud.
As for the other one…
Unlike Thousand Swallow Dance, which is all about shape, this one's the opposite—it's pure nature transformation.
No name yet, though.
Not because its creator gave up, but because the poor sap blew himself up halfway through making it!
Yup, straight-up exploded. 💀
So technically, it's still a half-baked jutsu—no name, no nothing.
Why's Seimei into it then?
Simple: it's right up his alley!
From the development notes on the scroll, the original creator was trying to max out fire chakra's explosive nature to craft a pure attack ninjutsu.
They say if you take any path to the extreme, you get a miracle.
Sure, it's less than halfway done, but the concept and direction? Seimei sees the makings of an S-rank jutsu in there!
Just a rough draft, mind you.
Finishing it'll take some serious time and effort.
But if he pulls it off? He might just whip up a legit S-rank attack ninjutsu!
Forget how it'd boost his offense—just the experience of training an S-rank skill could push his fire chakra shape and nature mastery far enough to blend in other elements and maybe even unlock a Bloodline Ensnaring technique!
That's why, out of all these, this unnamed one's his top pick.
"Phew~~~"
Letting out a little breath, Seimei set the three fire jutsus aside for now.
Then he turned to four more scrolls.
These held two Earth Release and two Lightning Release ninjutsus.
First up, the Earth ones: Earth Release: Black Mud Rain and Earth Release: Earth Vein Dragon.
Same deal—cool effects, but the effort and payoff don't match.
Black Mud Rain creates a shower of "black rain" made from nature-transformed earth chakra. Once it builds up, it traps ninjas like they're stuck in a swamp—tough to move!
Strictly speaking, the effect's decent, but the problem? It takes a while to build up that much.
The scroll says it's not quick, which means it's useless one-on-one—enemies won't just sit there waiting!
On a battlefield?
Sorry, it'd screw over your allies too.
Add in the high nature transformation skill it demands and the hefty chakra cost, and yup—another dud.
Then there's Earth Vein Dragon.
Actually a solid escape ninjutsu… if it weren't so picky.
You've got to fully activate an underground vein and turn it into a dragon to make it work well.
Lots of Earth Release moves tap into veins, sure, but just tapping's one thing—controlling it to leave an area? That's a whole different level of hard!
So, another dud.
And the last two Lightning Release ones?
You guessed it—duds too!
First one's Lightning Release: Thunder Beast Parade. Lets the caster summon twelve lightning beasts to surround and shred the enemy. Sounds cool, but the effect's weak, and it demands insane control from the user.
The second? Lightning Release: Shock Thunder Sword.
This one's just a chakra hog. You form a pure lightning chakra longsword to fight with.
Sure, it's powerful—stab someone, and even if it doesn't kill 'em, it'll wreck half their life.
But here's the thing: ninjas in this world are glass cannons—high attack, low defense.
You don't need a chakra-draining thunder sword! A regular blade'll do the job just fine if you land the hit.
Might as well save the chakra and buy a sword laced with chakra-conductive metal instead, right?
So yeah, dud city.