The sky had only just begun to brighten, a pale white glow spreading across the horizon.
Seiji quickly got out of bed, washed up, and ate a piece of bread.
If possible, he would have preferred to simply eat a soldier pill and save the trouble.
In fact, soldier pills actually tasted quite good.
The reason they had a reputation for tasting terrible was because of Sakura's special homemade version.
Those were completely different from the ones sold normally.
Using soldier pills could save a lot of time otherwise wasted on lighting a fire, cooking, and washing dishes afterward.
Unfortunately, soldier pills were not cheap, so they weren't something Seiji could afford to eat every day.
Soon, Seiji arrived at his usual training spot and began practicing.
About an hour later, a familiar voice finally echoed in his mind.
"You have comprehended the trait: [Water Walker (White)]."
Trait: Water Walker (White)
Requirement: Walk on water with both feet as if on solid ground.
Progress: Completed
Effect:
Under special terrain conditions, your chakra control becomes more refined.
Your chakra endurance increases by 5% compared to ordinary people.
Note: This trait can be upgraded later.
Upgrade Route 1:
Combine with Tree Climber (White) → Upgrade to Solid Foundation (White)
Upgrade Route 2:
Combine with Tree Climber (White) and Three Body Techniques (White) → Upgrade to Strong Fundamentals (Green)
"Two routes?"
Seiji looked at the panel thoughtfully.
Whenever he had free time, he would go to the river near Training Ground Three to practice.
With his already decent talent and the muscle memory he had built up, learning these skills came quite quickly.
Of course, this was only on calm water.
If he had to walk on water during combat while currents were strong, he would still need much more practice.
Even some Chunin had to hastily form hand seals and refine their chakra when suddenly entering water during battle, just to remain standing on the surface.
This tested a ninja's understanding of hand seals.
Almost every ninjutsu relied on them.
To release a ninjutsu, a ninja had to first refine chakra, then control it, and finally release it as a technique.
Hand seals helped speed up the process of merging spiritual energy and physical energy into chakra, allowing it to be refined and controlled more efficiently.
It wasn't just about forming seals quickly.
From the earliest official databook The Book of Lin to the final Book of Jin released at the end of Shippuden, many things had been revised or removed.
In the past, ninja had ratings for potential and luck, but these categories were later deleted.
However, the Eight Ninja Attributes remained throughout all editions.
That alone showed how important hand seals were to a ninja.
Which was also why any ninjutsu that did not require seals was always considered high-level.
"I'll choose the second path."
Seiji decided not to upgrade immediately.
If he upgraded now, he would only get another white trait.
But if he waited until he obtained the Three Body Techniques trait, he could combine them to form a green trait instead.
And learning the Three Body Techniques wouldn't take long.
Practicing tree climbing and water walking had already improved his ability with hand seals significantly.
After thinking for a moment, Seiji continued training.
Now that he had obtained the Water Walker trait, his next step was to properly train the Three Body Techniques.
Some time ago, he had already learned Rope Escape and Concealment Technique from Rin Nohara.
Both were basic E-rank ninjutsu.
Among them, Rope Escape was one of the first techniques taught at the ninja academy.
Later, Rin had also explained the key points of the Clone Technique, one of the Three Body Techniques.
All that remained now was practice.
After training for a while, the system panel displayed another notification.
"You have obtained the trait: [Three Body Techniques (White)]."
Trait: Three Body Techniques (White)
Requirement: Learn Clone Technique, Transformation Technique, and Substitution Technique.
Progress: 1%
Effect:
Your understanding of the Three Body Techniques exceeds that of ordinary people.
Their effectiveness increases by 5%.
Note: Can be upgraded later.
"Not bad."
Seiji continued forming hand seals for the Clone Technique, repeatedly refining chakra and releasing the jutsu.
His Three Body Techniques were already 5% stronger than those of other ninja.
If he kept upgrading them, perhaps his Transformation Technique would eventually become indistinguishable from the real thing.
Normally, transformation techniques were easy to see through for sensory-type ninja.
According to the databook Book of Jin, the White Zetsu Transformation Technique was the most advanced among all ninja.
Except for Naruto's ability to sense malicious intent, almost no other method could detect it.
Morning light gradually filtered through the forest.
Birds perched on the branches watched curiously as the figure beneath the trees continued practicing.
"Hmm? Someone's here?"
Hyuga Natsu noticed a figure training nearby.
"Isn't that Uchiha Seiji from our class?"
Her short dark-green hair swayed gently in the wind as she looked toward the figure about fifty meters away, wearing a Uchiha clan robe while forming hand seals.
"Leave him. Let's keep looking for a place to train our Byakugan."
Hyuga Tetsu, standing beside her, spoke calmly.
Every member of the Hyuga clan possessed a pair of white eyes.
However, awakening the Byakugan and being able to use its power still required extensive training.
"Alright."
Natsu nodded and withdrew her gaze.
The Byakugan allowed users to see objects up to one kilometer away, and with practice, the range could increase even further.
However, such abilities were not suitable for training within the village or the clan compound.
It could easily invade other people's privacy.
That would be extremely rude and could even attract the attention of sensory-type ninja.
Most importantly, the relationship between the Hyuga clan and the Uchiha clan was rather delicate.
It was better to keep their distance.
The two of them left together.
Seiji frowned slightly, sensing someone's gaze.
When he turned around, he only saw the two figures leaving.
"Hyuga Natsu… and Hyuga Tetsu…"
Both were minor characters in the original story.
Among them, Hyuga Natsu was a member of the Hyuga branch family, and in the future would become Hanabi's attendant.
"…Forget it."
Seiji shook his head and continued training.
In the blink of an eye, one month passed.
Seiji had completely adapted to life at the ninja academy.
Late autumn had arrived, and the air was growing colder by the day.
At Seiji's home.
"Finally mastered it."
A faint electric current slowly flowed through his body.
The electricity spread beneath his skin, constantly stimulating his cells.
Seiji looked at himself in the mirror.
His body had already grown past the skinny stage.
Muscles were beginning to take shape, filling out his naturally large frame.
Perhaps due to the Yotsuki clan's bloodline, Seiji's physical development was faster than that of ordinary Uchiha.
He also looked slightly taller than most of his peers.
"If this continues, I might end up looking like a Kumogakure ninja."
Seiji shook his head and stepped away from the mirror.
His skin wasn't dark like most Cloud ninja.
Instead, it resembled the lighter skin tones seen among some of them.
The only difference was that his hair remained black rather than blond.
"The Clone Technique is completely mastered now… and the Substitution Technique is already halfway there."
Seiji opened the Three Body Techniques trait panel and glanced at it.