Time flowed like water, slipping away quietly.
In the blink of an eye, several hours had passed.
Things were going smoother than expected. Seimei had thought it would take until evening to grind his Lava Style to (100/100).
But to his surprise, by mid-afternoon, he'd already hit that mark.
In the forest.
On the training ground.
Seimei stared at the proficiency panel, where the Lava Style kekkei genkai's progress bar was maxed out, his eyes brimming with satisfaction.
He knew exactly why he'd reached this point ahead of schedule.
It was simple: with each attempt, he'd gotten better at fusing Fire and Earth Style chakra.
Naturally, his training efficiency had shot up.
At first, it took him an average of ten tries to briefly succeed and gain one evolution point. Later, he only needed three or four attempts.
This saved him a ton of time.
But that wasn't the main focus right now. What mattered was that he'd reached the critical threshold and could push forward.
Inhale~~~ Exhale~~~
Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, Seimei closed his eyes, clearing his mind. Once he was completely calm and at his peak, he snapped his eyes open and began a new attempt.
As before, he extended both hands, forming a ball of chakra in each palm.
Focusing intently, he fine-tuned the chakra's properties, gradually aligning them.
After hundreds of attempts, he had plenty of experience with this step.
It didn't take long to complete the prep work.
At the perfect moment, when he sensed the two chakras' properties were in near-perfect harmony, he slammed his hands together.
Boom!
The two chakra masses collided, but instead of an accidental explosion, Seimei's mind felt like it had split open, flooded with a torrent of knowledge.
This knowledge was all about the techniques for fusing Fire and Earth chakra properties, so compelling that Seimei couldn't help but want to dive into it.
He was no stranger to this feeling—it was the same clarity he got every time a skill broke through to a new level.
Without even checking the panel, he knew his Lava Style had crossed the (100/100) threshold and entered the (1/1000) beginner stage.
Without hesitation, he opened his mind, immersing himself in the sea of knowledge.
Meanwhile, in the outside world, a blob of lava appeared between his palms, rapidly shifting. In the blink of an eye, it went from a head-sized sphere to a fluid, shapeless stream.
The lava flowed along his palms and arms, almost as if it had a mind of its own.
Of course, that was an illusion—lava couldn't be sentient.
It was just the result of Seimei's lingering instincts controlling it.
This showed just how much control he now had over the lava.
In the past, getting this close would've reddened his skin, even if it didn't truly harm him.
Now, it didn't affect him at all and was remarkably stable.
That was the difference between beginner and pre-beginner mastery.
At the same time, influenced by his Lava Style reaching the beginner stage, Seimei's genes underwent another change.
These changes, combined with the subtle adjustments from his prior hundred evolution points, finally triggered a qualitative leap.
In that moment, just as his mind was transformed, his cells underwent a seismic shift at their deepest level.
The feedback from mastering Lava Style was rewriting the logic of his carbon-based body from the ground up, enabling it to fully harness the power of this kekkei genkai.
Reasonably speaking, such a drastic change would cripple or kill anyone else.
Think of those bloodline ninjas who lost control during awakening—most couldn't handle such intense changes, leading to rampages, death, or catastrophic disasters.
And that was with them already having the relevant gene fragments, making the changes less severe.
For Seimei, who'd built this from nothing, evolving it step by step, the risk of losing control was even higher.
Of course, most people wouldn't even make it this far.
Seimei had only achieved this through the proficiency panel's assistance and the guidance of "Human Control" to direct his gene mutations.
For anyone else, the difficulty would be ten times greater.
These thoughts flickered briefly in the corners of Seimei's mind but were quickly cast aside.
Focusing entirely, he dove into absorbing the knowledge flooding his brain.
As a result, the lava stream, previously guided by his residual instincts, rapidly fell, melting craters into the ground.
Time ticked by.
At some point, Seimei finally opened his eyes.
A sharp glint flashed in his gaze.
He carefully sensed his body, noticing the changes deep within his cells.
Then, he raised his hands, attempting to form Lava Style chakra again.
This time, there was no resistance. The moment he channeled chakra, it transformed into Lava Style as if by instinct.
The process was so seamless he didn't need to deliberately form Fire and Earth chakra, adjust their states, and fuse them.
It had become second nature.
Satisfied, Seimei nodded.
With a thought, he shaped the chakra into a lava ball.
Another thought, and it morphed into a flowing stream.
Caught up in the moment, he played with it, shaping the lava into kunai, swords, puppets, and all sorts of forms.
But these later shapes, while vaguely resembling their intended forms, looked rough, like a child's clumsy clay figures.
This wasn't intentional—it was the best he could do.
He understood why.
It was like when he first mastered various chakra natures. Whether it was shape transformation or nature transformation, he started clueless and only improved through constant practice.
The same applied to Lava Style.
As long as he kept boosting its evolution degree, his control over Lava Style chakra would improve.
But, like with Wood Style, he wouldn't waste time and energy on it.
Mastering the fusion of Fire and Earth chakra had achieved his goal. Digging deeper into Lava Style's potential wasn't necessary.
Dispelling the Lava Style chakra, Seimei opened his panel for a final check.
Seeing that the bloodline section indeed showed Lava Style at (1/1000), he shifted his focus to what came next.
It was only mid-afternoon—too early to return to the village or head to the Hidden Mist Village to capture someone based on his shadow clone's intel.
So…
"Might as well train some more!"
With that thought, Seimei moved back to the massive boulder—no, now a stone platform—at the island's center.
He raised his hands, forming the "Ram" seal, and cast the "Multiple Shadow Clone Technique" again.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Clouds of chakra smoke dispersed, and 150 shadow clones appeared.
Without wasting words, Seimei split them into two groups: one to continue training the "Spirit Transformation Technique," the other to start experimenting with developing Ice Style kekkei genkai.
He knew training without any reference would be slow.
But that was fine—he'd just treat it as getting a head start.
Watching the clones disperse, Seimei wasted no time. He sat cross-legged, cast the "Heart Reflection Technique," and resumed pushing his Sharingan's evolution.
(End of Chapter)