In the blink of an eye, several hours had passed.
It was now late into the night.
Earlier, in order to test the limits of the Byakugan, he had already completed the daily nurturing of the eye.
So tonight, there was no need to do it again.
But that didn't mean he had wasted time—on the contrary, he had fully devoted it to regular training.
Standing atop the massive rock at the center of the island, Seimei paused his use of Shōsen Jutsu (Healing Palm ) and Hito no Gyō (Control of the Self), then looked toward the distant beach, the ocean, and the shadow clones still training under the moonlight.
With a single thought, he dispelled the Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu .
In the next instant, all the clones vanished, and a flood of memories surged into his mind.
After reducing the number of shadow clones, he could finally handle the influx of memories with relative ease.
Expression unchanged, Seimei closed his eyes and carefully sifted through the memories, absorbing the vast amount of training experience contained within.
Then, he converted that into proficiency in the corresponding skills.
Time ticked by.
About fifteen minutes later—
Seimei opened his eyes again.
A sharp gleam flashed through them.
He could clearly feel his progress.
Techniques like Fūton: Tsubasa no Kaze (, Wind Release: Wings of Wind), Izanagi, and Izanami were steadily improving.
The refinement of Eishin no Jutsu ( Reflection of the Heart Technique) had entered a fast track, and Seimei felt it might even be completed earlier than expected.
As for Kekkei Genkai…
Ever since he started developing Mokuton (Wood Release) on his own, the pace wasn't exactly fast, but the improvement was visible to the naked eye.
Every time he absorbed that experience and then practiced it himself, Seimei felt like success was just around the corner.
No—actually, it wasn't just a feeling.
He recalled the clone's training experience, then held out his hands. In his left palm, he gathered Suiton (Water Release) chakra.
In his right, Doton (Earth Release) chakra.
Then, just like how Yamato once explained Mokuton to Naruto, he clapped his hands together, attempting to combine the two.
Clap—
A crisp sound echoed.
But… nothing happened.
Theoretically, Mokuton should form from the fusion of Suiton and Doton, but it didn't.
Still, Seimei wasn't the least bit discouraged.
After all, he could feel the two chakra natures beginning to merge when his hands came together.
That's why he said his earlier feeling wasn't entirely an illusion.
At the current rate of progress, it likely wouldn't be long before he successfully developed the Mokuton Kekkei Genkai.
Suppressing the excitement in his heart, Seimei shifted his attention to sensing the changes in his body.
That afternoon, he had only done one hour of body training, using only Shōsen Jutsu and Hito no Gyō. So, he hadn't been able to estimate the next physical breakthrough point precisely.
But now, after multiple rounds of inner and outer reinforcement—
He could roughly estimate the timing.
A few minutes later, Seimei opened his eyes again.
According to his calculations, it would take about three months for his body to reach its next critical point.
Three months might seem long, but it was actually much shorter than before.
Last time, it had taken him over four months to hit that breakthrough.
This time, even though his base constitution had improved and the process should technically be more difficult, he estimated it would only take three months.
Clearly, something was different.
The reason was obvious—after assimilating Hashirama's cells, his aptitude had increased.
As a result, the "experience" required for each upgrade had decreased.
That naturally led to faster accumulation.
Still, even if the estimate said "three months," Seimei knew it was highly unlikely he could complete the next transformation in that short a time.
Why?
Because right now, aside from eating, sleeping, and absorbing the clones' training experience, all his time was spent strengthening his body.
But once the refinement of Eishin no Jutsu was complete, he'd have to allocate time specifically to evolve his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
That meant less time for physical training.
Even if he lost only a third of his current training time, reaching the next body transformation point would still take over four months.
That's why Seimei said a second transformation within three months was practically impossible.
Still… a part of him didn't want to accept that.
> "Maybe... I need to find a way to boost my body's reinforcement efficiency."
As he thought this, Seimei fell into deep contemplation.
Time continued to pass.
The moon slowly drifted westward across the sky.
Fwoooosh—
At some point, a chill night wind swept past, carrying dampness that hit Seimei's face and made him shiver.
Snapping out of his thoughts, Seimei pulled his clothes tighter and scanned the area.
Nothing unusual.
He exhaled deeply—and then, a small smile crept onto his face.
Because in that burst of brainstorming just now, he'd come up with not just one, but three solutions.
---
Solution One:
Combine Shōsen Jutsu and Hito no Gyō, shifting physical reinforcement from active to passive.
This wasn't some wild fantasy—given his current abilities, it was possible.
Long ago, he'd already mastered using Shōsen Jutsu without hand signs.
Now, he just needed to go one step further—skip forming chakra externally and injecting it inward.
If he could directly convert Yang Release chakra within his body to create the same effects as Shōsen Jutsu, he could immediately activate his Mangekyō Sharingan, and use Hito no Gyō to guide the evolution process.
That would turn active reinforcement into a passive, constant one.
Then, if he layered on the Lightning Release Chakra Mode externally, strengthening from the outside-in, the same effect could be achieved in half the time.
That would free up time to evolve his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, without slowing down his physical training.
---
Solution Two:
Hurry up and develop Mokuton fully, awakening more of Hashirama's cell genes and obtaining a constitution similar to the Sage Body .
Once he achieved that, his aptitude would receive another boost—
which would directly improve reinforcement efficiency.
Plus, this would be a stepping stone to uncovering the mystery of the Sage Arts.
After all, Senjutsu was the true transcendent path in the shinobi world, rivaling even Yin-Yang Release.
Its potential was incredibly high.
A power like that… Seimei had no reason to miss out.
---
Solution Three:
Find extreme environments that would force the body to evolve naturally.
Natural evolution is passive and usually slow—
But if combined with his active reinforcement methods, the effect might be greater than the sum of its parts.
As for choosing between the three…
Seimei's answer?
> "Kids pick one. Adults take them all."
This wasn't a heat-of-the-moment decision—he'd thought it through.
First, the first method could be experimented with during regular training, without disrupting his schedule.
Second, the second method aligned with his current goal of developing Mokuton—he just had to continue as planned.
And the third method?
Extreme environments were both hard and easy to find.
They were hard to find when it came to just right conditions for human evolution—
but easy to find because the human body was fragile, and many places could be considered "extreme."
Take the pressure of the ocean depths below, for example.
It was an incredibly hostile environment.
Staying down there long-term would definitely force the body to evolve.
The only problem was—could a normal person endure that pressure?
Obviously not.
But Seimei wasn't normal.
With Hito no Gyō, his tolerance for harsh environments far exceeded the average person.
That, combined with chakra's extraordinary properties, made it entirely possible for him to enter and survive these otherwise lethal environments, pushing his body to evolve.
Thus, the third option became viable.
---
Thinking this through, Seimei was actually tempted to jump into the ocean right then and there.
But… since it was already late, he decided to try it tomorrow instead.
With that thought, he stood, leapt off the massive boulder, and disappeared toward the direction of his cabin.
(End of Chapter)