Clearing his mind, Seimei stopped letting his thoughts wander and focused on deciding which Bloodline Elimination to develop next.
That's right—Bloodline Elimination.
So far, he had mastered Wood Release, Lava Release, Ice Release, and Storm Release.
These involved the fusion of chakra natures: Water and Earth for Wood Release, Earth and Fire for Lava Release, Water and Wind for Ice Release, and Water and Lightning for Storm Release.
With these techniques under his belt, give him any two chakra natures, and with a bit of time, he could master their fusion.
The standard combinations of the five basic chakra natures no longer posed a challenge.
So, according to his plan, it was time to move on to fusing three chakra natures.
Only by progressing step by step could he eventually master the fusion of all seven chakra natures, achieving the power of a Bloodline Encompassing.
And fusing three chakra natures? That was a Bloodline Elimination.
Now, he was deciding which one to pursue.
Theoretically, he could experiment with any three chakra natures, but just like when he developed Lava Release and other Bloodline Limits, having a reference would save him a ton of time.
In the current ninja world, the only known wielder of a Bloodline Elimination was the Third Tsuchikage of the Hidden Stone Village, Onoki.
His Dust Release wasn't just incredibly powerful—it could also address Seimei's lack of single-target damage techniques.
Plus, Dust Release required fusing Fire Release, Wind Release, and Earth Release—three natures Seimei was already highly skilled in.
So, without much hesitation, Seimei set his sights on Dust Release.
It just so happened that it had been over a month since he last recalled his shadow clones stationed in the Hidden Stone, Hidden Cloud, and Hidden Mist Villages.
While his Wood Clones could last longer than regular shadow clones, that didn't stop him from swapping them out early.
After a quick mental calculation, he realized this round of intense training was only on its seventh day. He decided to wait until it was over before taking action.
In the meantime, he could use the shadow clones he'd freed up to do some preliminary research on Dust Release and gauge its development difficulty.
Decision made, Seimei didn't waste another second.
He closed his status panel, raised his hands, and formed seals to cast the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique.
Poof! Poof! Poof!
With bursts of chakra smoke, three hundred shadow clones appeared around him.
As usual, he divided them into groups and sent them off to begin their tasks. Then, he activated the Flying Thunder God Technique, teleporting back to the first chamber inside the volcano.
On the familiar stone platform, Seimei's body was enveloped in a thin layer of "Thunder Armor." After adjusting to the environment, he resumed his physical enhancement training.
But just a few minutes in, a memory suddenly flooded his mind.
His training interrupted, Seimei frowned slightly.
He paused his actions to examine the memory that had just surfaced.
It was short—almost fleeting—because it came from one of the shadow clones he'd just sent out.
In the memory, the clone had brainstormed for a moment before eagerly attempting to fuse Fire Release, Earth Release, and Wind Release. But before the three chakra types could fully combine, an explosion erupted.
The clone didn't have time to dodge and was instantly destroyed.
Then, the memory synced back to Seimei's mind.
And it wasn't an isolated incident.
As he was processing that memory, two more shadow clones failed their Dust Release fusion attempts, getting blasted to pieces. Their memories, along with some chakra, returned to Seimei.
His frown deepened.
"This won't do."
Feeling the sporadic memories popping into his head, Seimei muttered to himself and temporarily abandoned his physical training. He teleported back to the clearing at the center of the island.
Looking at the shadow clones training in the distance, he dispelled the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique.
Instantly, every clone on and around the island vanished.
It took Seimei a minute or two to absorb all their brief memories.
Afterward, he stood in place, lost in thought for a moment, before casting the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique again.
Another three hundred shadow clones appeared.
As before, he divided them into groups and sent them off.
This time, though, Seimei didn't rush back to the volcano. Instead, he stood watching the clones, waiting for them to start their training.
Time ticked by.
For the first few minutes, no more explosions occurred.
Later, when explosions did happen, the shadow clones were quick to react. The moment things went wrong, they used the Flying Thunder God Technique to teleport away from the blast.
As a result, no more clones were destroyed.
And no more memories abruptly flooded Seimei's mind.
Satisfied, Seimei nodded.
After recalling the earlier clones, he'd set a rule for the ones tasked with developing Dust Release: focus more on theoretical research and less on practical experiments.
This drastically reduced the chances of accidents.
And even if something went wrong, he allowed the clones to use Flying Thunder God to escape harm.
Sure, that would burn extra chakra.
In the past, Seimei might've been cautious about that.
But now, with over four million chakra points stored daily, he wasn't too worried.
Besides, escaping damage didn't require teleporting far, so the chakra cost was minimal.
A price he could easily afford.
As for banning all practical experiments outright?
Sure, he could enforce that, but it would defeat the purpose of using shadow clones to assist his training.
He created so many clones to tackle Dust Release from different angles. If he restricted them too much, it'd be no different from researching it alone.
Seimei wasn't about to make that mistake. He'd rather spend a bit more chakra to ensure efficiency.
With his thoughts settled and confident he wouldn't be interrupted again, Seimei extended his senses, locked onto the Flying Thunder God mark inside the volcano, and activated the technique.
In an instant, he vanished.
When he reappeared, he was back on the stone platform inside the volcano.
After a brief moment to readjust, he dove right back into his physical enhancement training.
Time passed steadily.
Soon, his training was back on track.