Grind is My Ninja Way

Time flowed like water, passing by in a gentle stream.

In the blink of an eye, it was early June.

More than two weeks had passed since Kirigakure's last surprise attack on the base.

At that time, the border troops from the rear arrived at the forward base about three hours after the Kiri-nin retreated. After a short stay, they pursued the enemy.

Unfortunately, the Kiri-nin had already fled, and they found nothing.

Therefore, after staying at the base for two days, the support troops returned.

However, before leaving, they did leave behind a group of ninjas, not only replenishing the manpower lost by the forward base this time but also adding nearly a hundred more.

Thus, the number of troops at the forward base reached an unprecedented 350.

Afterward, Kirigakure also attempted several attacks, but they were all intercepted by the outer patrol units before they could get close to the base.

During this time, Seimei unsurprisingly encountered targeted attacks.

Wherever he appeared, if Kirigakure had enough forces, they would swarm him. If not, they would directly flee.

This resulted in fewer gains for Seimei.

However, Seimei didn't mind this too much. He still went about his daily routine of missions and training, not missing a single day.

And thanks to the frequent battles and diligent training, Seimei's 'Illusionary Sword Technique' and 'Instantaneous Sword Technique' improved rapidly.

······

This evening.

On the reef beach not far from the forward base.

Seimei, holding a long katana, moved like a phantom, constantly appearing around Uchiha Tekka. The clanging of metal echoed continuously.

Uchiha Tekka pushed his three-tomoe Sharingan to its limit, his kunai swinging repeatedly, blocking Seimei's attacks.

However, even so, a minute later, he was still defeated, with Seimei's katana held against his neck.

Gulp~

Feeling the chill from the blade against his neck, Uchiha Tekka swallowed hard, not daring to move.

At the same time, he shouted: "I surrender!"

However, the expected response didn't come, and the long katana against his neck didn't move away. It was as if Seimei hadn't heard his call at all.

"This familiar feeling, could it be..."

Uchiha Tekka's heart skipped a beat. He slightly tilted his head, moving his neck a bit away from the blade, and then carefully turned around.

Then, he saw Seimei standing there with his eyes closed, motionless, with a hint of worry between his brows, as if he was deep in thought.

Seeing this, Uchiha Tekka murmured: "As expected!"

Previously, when Seimei sparred with him, there were a few times when he fell into this state, and after that, his swordsmanship would improve significantly.

Now it seemed that he had another breakthrough.

Uchiha Tekka felt a bitterness in his heart and thought to himself: "The gap between people is simply bigger than the gap between humans and dogs."

Shaking his head inwardly, Uchiha Tekka stopped thinking further, turned around, and quietly retreated to the side, waiting for Seimei to awaken.

About half a minute later, Seimei opened his eyes again.

Seeing this, Uchiha Tekka immediately stepped forward and said: "Seimei, your swordsmanship has improved again, hasn't it?"

Seimei smiled but didn't say anything.

He wasn't surprised that Uchiha Tekka could guess this, as he had experienced several advancements in front of him before.

However, the previous times were all 'Instantaneous Sword Technique' level-ups, and this time...

Seimei retracted his arm and performed a sword flourish.

Instantly, a feeling of complete control washed over him.

He felt that as long as he had a thought, he could combine genjutsu and swordsmanship seamlessly, the fluidity far surpassing anything he had experienced before.

And the reason for this effect was only one: his 'Illusionary Sword Technique' had leveled up.

That's right, the sparring with Uchiha Tekka just now had filled the last bit of proficiency needed for his 'Illusionary Sword Technique' to advance.

At this moment, its level had increased from lv5 (1150/5000) to lv6 (1/10000)!

Clang~

Seimei sheathed his katana and then said to Uchiha Tekka: "Alright, that's it for today. I need to rest for a bit."

With that, regardless of the other party's reaction, he went to a reef on his own and sat down.

"Panel!"

He focused his mind and opened the proficiency panel.

The next moment, the familiar light blue screen appeared.

[Name: Uchiha Seimei

Age: 12 years old

Physique: 15→16

Spirit: 19

Chakra: 55000 (60596→70964)

Bloodline: Sharingan - Mangekyo (3201/50000) → (4929/50000)

Skills: Chakra Refining Technique: lv5 (1115/5000) → lv5 (1439/5000)

Wind Release: Wind Blade: lv6 (875/10000) → lv6 (3405/10000)

Wind Release: Rasenshuriken: lv3 (174/1000) → lv4 (462/2000)

Water Release: Water Wall: lv3 (294/1000) → lv4 (954/2000)

Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique: lv3 (101/1000) → lv4 (721/2000)

* Water Release: Hiding in Mist Technique: lv1 (51/200)

Shadow Clone Technique: lv4 (190/2000) → lv4 (540/2000)

Chakra Absorption Technique: lv5 (3650/5000) → lv5 (4150/5000)

Rasengan: lv6 (1015/10000) → lv6 (3545/10000)

Mystical Palm Technique: lv8 (101/50000) → lv8 (4065/50000)

Chakra Scalpel: lv5 (1550/5000) → lv5 (2200/5000)

* Delicate Illness Extraction Technique: lv1 (1/200)

Reflecting Heart Technique: lv7 (14486/20000) → lv7 (19094/20000)

Illusionary Sword Technique: lv5 (1150/5000) → lv6 (1/10000)

Instantaneous Sword Technique: lv1 (162/200) → lv4 (1100/2000)

Chakra Control: lv5 (2320/5000) → lv5 (2610/5000)

Perfected Skills:]

Almost a month had passed since he arrived at the Kirigakure battlefield. Although there were a few days of delay in between, his various abilities had improved considerably.

Among them, the most obvious was naturally his Chakra reserves.

After nearly a month of tapping into his potential, his Chakra reserves directly increased by over ten thousand points, about the amount of 'one card', raising his Chakra limit from sixty thousand points to seventy thousand points.

Undoubtedly, this brought him one step closer to having "a ton of Chakra," and his endurance increased once again.

Besides that, the skill with the greatest improvement was the 'Reflecting Heart Technique'.

Thanks to his persistent practice, its proficiency had increased from lv7 (14486/20000) to lv7 (19094/20000), just one step away from lv8.

And at the current accumulation rate of 192 proficiency points per day, it would take less than five days to successfully level up.

By then, when he used this technique again, it would definitely enhance the evolution of his Mangekyo Sharingan.

Currently, every three proficiency points in the 'Reflecting Heart Technique' only increased the progress of the 'Sharingan - Mangekyo' by one point.

But after it leveled up, this ratio might become two to one, or even one to one.

In this way, the time required for his Mangekyo Sharingan to evolve into the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan would definitely be shortened, and it probably wouldn't take two or three years anymore.

Another improvement was that 'Water Release: Water Wall' and 'Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique' both leveled up once, further increasing their practicality.

And there were also 'Illusionary Sword Technique' and 'Instantaneous Sword Technique'...

There are also 'Illusion Sword Technique' and 'Flash Sword Technique'.

The former has just been upgraded from lv4 to lv5.

The latter, because of the foundation laid by 'Sword Technique' and 'Illusion Sword Technique', coupled with his deeper understanding of Wind Release and continuous use in battle, his proficiency has also improved rapidly.

In just half a month, its level has increased from lv1 (162/200) to lv4 (1100/2000).

At this time, it is even more handy to use it again.

In addition to these, he also learned two new skills - 'Water Release: Hidden Mist Technique' and 'Fine Scalpel Extraction Technique'!

The former is a ninjutsu he learned through the Sharingan copying ability when he was fighting Ao, and the latter is a ninjutsu he exchanged with Chiba Aoba.

It's just that he has a limited amount of chakra available every day, and he doesn't have the extra energy to practice them, so he just practiced them to the introductory level and didn't practice much.

Uh.

Speaking of Chakra, Seimei carefully felt his body.

More than 20 days have passed, and as he continues to use the 'Palm Immortal Technique' to strengthen himself, he can now faintly sense the time point of the next physical transformation.

At the latest in half a month, and at the fastest in about ten days, his body should reach a critical point.

At that time, he will be able to borrow the power of 'Human Domination' to break the shackles at one time, causing his body to transform, and then drive the growth of the 'Physique' attribute.

At that time, both the upper limit of Chakra and the recovery speed of Chakra will be improved to a certain extent.

In that way, he will have extra Chakra to practice these two skills.

(End of this chapter)