At the heart of the island.
On a massive rock.
After checking his status, Seimei closed the panel and glanced up at the sky.
This morning, he'd slept in until he naturally woke up, so he was already running late. By the time he broke through the limits of his physical body, it was nearly noon.
The transformation of his body took about half an hour. Testing the limits of his Byakugan took another two and a half hours. Add in a bit of time wasted in between, and now it was already mid-afternoon.
Unlike yesterday, though, Seimei didn't take it easy or pause his training to rest. Instead, he immediately performed the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique), splitting himself into over a hundred—nearly two hundred—shadow clones.
From these clones, Seimei assigned about twenty to continue practicing Fūton: Kaze no Tsubasa (Wind Release: Wings of Wind).
Then, he split off thirty more clones, dividing them evenly into two groups to study Izanami and Izanagi, indirectly improving his proficiency with those techniques.
As for the remaining shadow clones, Seimei thought for a moment before dividing them into four groups.
The largest group, about fifty clones, was tasked with further developing Eishin no Jutsu (Mind Reflection Technique), hoping to one day aid in evolving his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
The other three groups, each with around thirty clones, were assigned to develop three different Kekkei Genkai (Bloodline Limits): Mokuton (Wood Release), Yōton (Lava Release), and Ranton (Storm Release). These would lay the groundwork for eventually mastering Kekkei Tōta (Bloodline Selection).
There were specific reasons for choosing these three Kekkei Genkai.
First, Mokuton.
Thanks to his recent physical transformation, Seimei had fully assimilated Hashirama's cells. While this didn't directly grant him Senju Hashirama's Mokuton abilities, it had altered his genes slightly.
This gave him a foundation—or a spark. Developing Mokuton from here would be far less difficult.
Next, Yōton.
A long time ago, Seimei had gained control over the Four-Tails, whose power happened to be Yōton.
With the beast as a reference, combined with his mastery of the nature transformations for fire and earth chakra, progress was bound to be swift.
Finally, Ranton.
Truth be told, Seimei had hesitated for a while when choosing this third Kekkei Genkai.
Unlike the other two, he lacked the ideal conditions. All he had to go on were some books he'd found in the Uchiha clan's library.
Those books documented various successful and failed attempts at creating Kekkei Genkai. Ranton, which required fusing water and lightning chakra nature transformations, was one of them.
So why choose Ranton? Simple: the person who left behind records of it was Uchiha Madara.
Although the books noted that Madara hadn't completed this Kekkei Genkai, Seimei's memories told him otherwise. During the Fourth Great Ninja War, Uchiha Madara had used techniques tied to this bloodline.
With a successful case like that—especially from a fellow Uchiha—Seimei felt compelled to choose it, even if it was just a gut feeling.
Plus, Seimei recalled that Darui from the Hidden Cloud Village also wielded this Kekkei Genkai.
He wasn't sure if Darui had fused water and lightning chakra himself to become the first-generation user or if he'd inherited it from his ancestors.
Either way, Darui had the aptitude.
If it was the former, based on Darui's age during the Fourth War, he'd be around fifteen or sixteen now.
That's the age when a ninja's strength grows rapidly. There was a good chance Darui mastered this Kekkei Genkai during this period.
If Seimei couldn't make progress on his own, he could always kidnap Darui for reference.
And if it was the latter? Even better. Seimei could act anytime.
These thoughts flashed through his mind, but Seimei quickly reined them in. With a wave of his hand, he sent the three groups of clones on their way.
Now, he just had to wait for them to successfully develop their respective Kekkei Genkai. Once they did, he'd grasp the key to mastering them.
From there, he could dive deeper, developing other Kekkei Genkai and even Kekkei Tōta.
Once all that was done, he could attempt to fuse all seven chakra nature transformations to wield the power of Kekkei Mōra (Bloodline Encompassing).
Pulling his gaze away from the clones, Seimei felt his unshackled body and immediately began a new round of physical enhancement.
First things first: he needed to test the efficiency of Shōsen Jutsu (Mystical Palm Technique), Hito no Go (Human Guidance), and Raiton Chakra Mode (Lightning Release Chakra Mode) in strengthening his body. This would help him estimate when his body would next reach its critical point.
It wasn't that this milestone was particularly crucial. He just needed a goal to keep himself motivated.
Humans are lazy by nature. Without a glimmer of hope, it's easy to grow slack, or worse, despair and give up entirely.
Of course, with his proficiency panel, Seimei wasn't at risk of giving up. But slacking off? That was still a possibility.
After all, relentless training was a massive strain. Without a goal dangling in front of him, it'd be all too easy to let his focus slip.
With that in mind, Seimei wasted no more time. He immediately began performing Shōsen Jutsu and Hito no Go, using the power of Yōton (Yang Release) to strengthen his body.
This time, the moment he started, he felt a difference.
Perhaps because assimilating Hashirama's cells had enhanced his aptitude, he could now sense clear progress when using Shōsen Jutsu to reinforce his body.
Of course, much of that was thanks to Hito no Go's guidance.
Without this dōjutsu (eye technique) acting as a beacon, his enhancement efficiency would be ten times lower, if not more.
That wasn't an exaggeration—it was a fact.
Having Hito no Go as a guide was like the difference between passive evolution in nature and active evolution in a sci-fi interstellar era.
In nature, a species might need tens or hundreds of thousands of years, accumulating beneficial mutations generation after generation, to adapt to an environment and evolve.
In an interstellar era, a single gene-editing injection could make a person adapt to that environment instantly. The difference was night and day.
Even in his previous life's ordinary technological society, people could gain immunity to certain viruses through vaccines—a form of active evolution, in a sense.
And now, by using Hito no Go to guide the Yōton chakra condensed through Shōsen Jutsu, Seimei was inducing mutations in his body's cells to trigger evolution. This was active evolution with a supernatural twist.
So, claiming the efficiency was ten times greater than passive evolution wasn't an overstatement.
Shaking his head slightly, Seimei pushed these thoughts aside.
He focused his mind, carefully guiding the Yōton chakra he'd infused into his body. It flowed through his chakra pathways, slowly seeping into every part of his body, prompting the cells there to evolve.
Time ticked by, second by second.
Soon, the Yōton chakra was depleted.
Without pausing, Seimei raised his hand and performed Shōsen Jutsu again, condensing another dense mass of Yōton chakra and channeling it into his body.
Then, he focused once more, and the enhancement continued!
For the rest of the time, he repeated Shōsen Jutsu every few minutes, condensing Yōton chakra and infusing it into his body to replenish what was consumed.
When his eyes felt strained, he'd occasionally pause to recover his tōryoku (pupil power).
Over and over, his body grew stronger.
In the blink of an eye, an hour had passed.
(End of Chapter)