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At a depth of about five hundred meters below the sea's surface, Seimei stood before a volcanic rock wall, his Byakugan wide open at the center of his forehead, carefully observing what lay within.
One second, two seconds.
One minute, two minutes.
After a full five minutes, he finally withdrew his gaze.
"Not bad. This is the spot!"
Seimei muttered to himself.
Then, he raised his hands to form seals, unleashing a ninjutsu—Earth Release: Earth Vein Dragon Technique!
The next moment, he extended his arm, and the volcanic rock wall seemed to melt like clay, swallowing his arm.
With a step forward, half his body merged into the rock.
Another step, and he vanished entirely before the wall.
Clearly, he had entered the volcano's interior.
This was Seimei's skill at work. Had he not mastered the Earth Vein Dragon Technique to perfection long ago, combined with his precise control over Earth Release chakra, which removed many of the technique's limitations, he wouldn't have been able to slip inside so easily.
As for blasting open a passage?
It wasn't that he couldn't do it, but that would ruin the volcano's sealed environment.
Not to mention the risk of triggering a catastrophic eruption, Seimei needed the harsh conditions of this sealed space to push his body's evolution.
So, there was no way he'd carve out a passage through the volcanic rock.
Uh… getting off track. Back to Seimei.
Using the Earth Vein Dragon Technique, he moved through the rock wall, steadily delving deeper into the volcano.
Thanks to the Byakugan's X-ray vision, he easily avoided trickier spots along the way, smoothly reaching his destination.
…
Inside the volcano.
In a hollow chamber.
Seimei emerged from the rock wall like a ghost.
Right in front of him was a protruding "ledge."
This wasn't a coincidence—he'd chosen this spot deliberately.
Seimei stepped forward, quickly reaching the edge of the ledge.
Looking down, he saw dark red magma flowing below.
As it churned, it released clouds of toxic gas.
The gases drifted through the air, tinting the chamber's atmosphere in vibrant, multicolored hues.
Seimei didn't dare breathe it in. Instead, he deactivated his Chakra Cloak, and, protected by his Lightning Release Light Membrane, he let his body feel the surrounding environment.
The air pressure here wasn't as intense as the ocean floor at a thousand meters, or even five hundred meters, but the mix of toxins and the extreme heat created a brutal environment that spiked his "pressure" significantly.
He didn't even need to test it to know that training here would definitely speed up his body's evolution.
If he later relaxed parts of the Lightning Release Light Membrane to let his skin touch the air—or even breathed in some of it—it would likely accelerate his body's evolution even further.
Of course, that was for later.
The air here was laced with toxins and charged with high heat and pressure. Direct contact would be incredibly dangerous.
But if he could adapt to this environment, it would massively boost his ability to survive in harsh conditions.
If he could eventually forgo the Lightning Release Light Membrane entirely, the results would be even more dramatic.
But that wasn't something a mere 27-point Physique stat could handle. Even 30 points might not cut it.
Still, this just showed how much this place could help him.
As long as he stuck to his plan, he wouldn't need to seek out other harsh environments to stress his body until his Physique hit at least 30.
If he wanted to speed up his body's evolution even more, he could go deeper.
Seimei looked down, his gaze piercing through the flowing magma to another chamber below, where the lava was even more active.
And the environment was even harsher.
This place was a training goldmine.
Thinking back, Seimei felt lucky to have found it.
It also underscored how smart his choice had been when he'd dealt with Daiki Chikamura and Reiko Koike.
If those two had exposed what he was doing here, he'd be regretting it with nowhere to cry.
Memories flashed through his mind like smoke, but Seimei quickly refocused. He raised his hand and left a Flying Thunder God seal on the rock wall behind him.
Now, the next time he wanted to come here, it wouldn't be such a hassle.
Then, using Lava Release, he channeled a surge of Lava chakra to melt the uneven "ledge" below.
In the end, it became a smooth, flat stone platform.
This would be his training ground from now on.
Unlike the pitch-black ocean depths, the magma here provided some light. It wasn't bright, but it was enough to make things less inconvenient.
After a final glance around the chamber, Seimei activated the Flying Thunder God Technique with a thought, teleporting to an open clearing in the center of Moon Island.
He deactivated his Lightning Release Chakra Mode, and the light membrane faded.
"Phew~"
Seimei let out a long breath.
Feeling the fresh air outside, he thought to himself, "Yeah, this kind of environment is way more suited for humans."
Sure, to speed up his physical evolution, he had to adapt to the brutal conditions below.
But as a normal human, he much preferred staying in a comfortable environment like this.
Even if he eventually became immune to those harsh conditions, he probably wouldn't get used to suffering down there.
Pushing those thoughts aside, Seimei looked up at the shadow clones training on and around the island. With a thought, he released the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique.
Instantly, the three hundred shadow clones on and off the island dissolved.
At the same time, a flood of memories poured into Seimei's mind.
He closed his eyes, carefully sifting through the memories, absorbing and processing the experience they contained.
Since this training session hadn't even lasted an hour, the memories from the clones were limited.
So, in just about ten minutes, he opened his eyes again.
Standing silently, he digested the experiences in his mind for a bit. Then, he cast the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique again, summoning three hundred shadow clones to start a new round of training.
This wasn't because he had nothing better to do. He needed to test the training effects in this new environment to estimate how long his body's transformation would take.
For accurate results, he had to reset everything to a fresh start, and a new round of training was just that.
Watching the shadow clones disperse, Seimei turned his focus back, sensing the Flying Thunder God seal inside the volcano. With a thought, he activated the technique.
In an instant, he vanished from the spot.
The test was about to begin.