Retracting his gaze and closing the panel, Seimei pulled out a soldier pill and popped it into his mouth.

  Crunch.

  His teeth ground down on it with slight force, shattering the tablet instantly.

  A burst of bitter fvor exploded on his tongue, making the corner of Seimei’s eye twitch involuntarily.

  “No wonder nobody likes eating these things. The taste is just...”

  Shaking his head, Seimei forced himself to swallow the chalky crumbs despite the discomfort.

  Soon, a warm surge welled up in his stomach and quickly spread through his limbs and meridians.

  Wasting no time, Seimei crossed his legs, focused his mind, and began refining chakra.

  More than two hours ter, with his chakra fully replenished, Seimei deactivated the Chakra Refining Technique and started practicing the Transformation Jutsu and Substitution Jutsu.

  The Transformation Jutsu was retively straightforward. As long as he followed the correct steps—channeling chakra and altering his appearance—he could steadily gain proficiency.

  But the Substitution Jutsu was a different story. It required preparation, like having a wooden pnk or simir prop on hand for the actual switch.

  The technique didn’t involve teleportation or true spatial movement. It was more of a sleight-of-hand trick.

  When under attack, the user would instantly swap themselves out with a prepared object, tricking the enemy into thinking their strike had nded.

  That split-second of deception could be the perfect opening for a counterattack—or an escape.

  This made timing absolutely critical. Used well, the jutsu was a life-saver. Used poorly, it could expose even more vulnerabilities.

  Still, no matter how skilled one was at the Substitution Jutsu, it had its limits.

  As long as the substitution took time, there would always be a window of weakness.

  That fw might not matter much in fights between Genin or Chunin, but among Jonin-level shinobi, almost everyone could capitalize on such openings.

  That’s why, in high-level battles, the Substitution Jutsu was rarely used to mislead an opponent.

  But that level of combat was still far off for Seimei.

  Right now, this jutsu was one of the few life-saving techniques avaible to him. So even if training was tedious, he never compined.

  Over ten minutes ter, his chakra was drained again. Seimei swallowed another soldier pill and resumed chakra refinement.

  Two hours ter, his reserves were mostly recovered, and he went right back to practicing the Transformation and Substitution techniques.

  And so the cycle continued, until near midnight, when Seimei finally completed his st round of training.

  Compared to his usual routine, today he’d pushed himself an extra two hours on chakra refinement. His chakra capacity increased by two points, and his proficiency rose by three.

  That additional hundred chakra allowed for extra rounds of ninjutsu practice, gaining him over a dozen more proficiency points across both jutsu.

  It might not seem like much, but every little bit added up. Gain this much in one day—what about a month? A year?

  Well, maybe a year was a bit of a stretch...But a month’s improvement? Seimei had good reason to be hopeful.

  If not for the intense mental strain of refining chakra and practicing jutsu—and the fact that too many soldier pills could mess with digestion—Seimei really would’ve kept grinding all night.

  “Haaah~~”

  Yawning and stretching, he gave himself a quick wash and headed to bed.

  Soon after, the familiar sound of soft snoring filled the room.

  Time ticked by, second after second.

  At some point, a shadow appeared atop a telephone pole outside his window. Crimson Sharingan eyes with three tomoe glowed in the darkness, silently observing Seimei.

  After a few moments, the figure vanished without a trace.

  …

  Deep within the Uchiha compound, inside the estate of the Great Elder.

  Knock knock knock~

  A gentle rapping came at the door.

  “Come in.”

  A hoarse voice called from inside the room.

  Uchiha Jirō opened the door and stepped in. Bowing slightly to the elder seated behind the desk, he said, “Great Elder.”

  “Ah, Jirō. What is it?”

  The old man gnced up at him and asked slowly, “Has something happened?”

  “It’s about Seimei,” Jirō replied respectfully. “We’ve concluded our observation.”

  The elder’s eyes flickered with a sharp glint. “Well? Did he awaken the Sharingan?”

  “No.”

  Jirō shook his head. “After days of monitoring, there’s been no significant chakra fluctuation in his body, and his mental state has remained stable. We can reasonably conclude he doesn’t have the potential to awaken the Sharingan.”

  “I see…”

  Though the elder had expected this outcome, disappointment still crept into his expression.

  Typically, if a cnsman possessed the potential to awaken the Sharingan, a traumatic event—like the death of a parent—would trigger the change almost immediately.

  Even if not awakened on the spot, there would usually be some physical or mental signs of a shift. With just a bit more stimution, the Sharingan would eventually emerge.

  But after hearing of his parents’ deaths, Seimei had shown no awakening, no physical response, no change in spirit.

  That alone was enough to determine he cked the potential.

  “Shall we continue observation?” Jirō asked after a moment of silence.

  “No need.”

  The old man waved a hand dismissively. “You may go.”

  “Yes, Great Elder.”

  Jirō bowed and quietly exited the room.

  Seimei had no idea that today had been his final chance to prove himself in the eyes of the cn.

  If he had awakened the Sharingan in response to the death benefits delivered earlier, he wouldn’t have skyrocketed to glory—but the path ahead would have been far smoother.

  He might even have received a personal bodyguard, even while still a Genin.

  That’s just how the Uchiha were. They might be tough to deal with externally, but within the cn, they protected their own.

  Well…Except for that traitor.

  But since Seimei hadn’t awakened the Sharingan, the treatment reserved for “geniuses” would never be his.

  Not that Seimei cared.

  He’d never relied on the Uchiha anyway. As long as he had the proficiency panel, he’d climb to the top sooner or ter.

  …

  Five Days Later

  The school day was nearing its end.

  Cp cp cp!

  “Everyone, gather around!” called Sugi Kiichiro, cpping his hands loudly.

  “Sensei, what’s going on? School’s almost over!”

  “Yeah, what’s the matter?”

  The thirty-odd students bustled around him, shouting over each other in a loud, chaotic mess.

  Seimei stood at the edge of the crowd, silent. But from the seriousness on Sugi-sensei’s face, he could tell something was off.

  Sure enough, the next words out of the teacher’s mouth confirmed his suspicion.

  “Quiet down!”

  Kiichiro barked, and once the noise died down, he announced, “The vilge has decided—your end-of-term assessment in two weeks will now be treated as your graduation exam.”

  “Those who pass will be officially recognized as Konoha Genin… real shinobi.”

  Even though he’d mentally prepared himself, Seimei still felt a surge of pressure hearing it confirmed.

  His reaction, however, wasn’t shared by the rest.

  Many of the students burst into cheers.

  “Really, Sensei? We can become ninjas early?!”

  “For real? We’re graduating already?!”

  Seimei couldn’t help shaking his head.

  These kids have been too sheltered. They have no idea how dangerous being a ninja really is—especially now.

  If he had the choice, he’d gdly stay in school for the rest of his life.

  But that wasn’t an option.

  All he could hope now was that they wouldn’t be sent straight to the battlefield after graduating…Because if they were…