Compared to Marxism-Leninism and social scientific theories, the Will of Fire seemed far too simplistic.
At its core, the Will of Fire was nothing more than sacrificial spirit and collectivism. Just because it used a literary metaphor, did that really make it superior? To a college student with higher education like himself, this was too lowbrow. He just couldn't wrap his head around his older brother's way of thinking.
Uchiha Aozora enjoyed ramen in Konoha, loved the scenery, and was willing to contribute a little for Konoha—the Will of Fire (a symbol of selfless service and sacrifice) demanded more. But asking him to give even more? Uchiha Aozora could only say sorry.
That kind of stubbornness left Aozora feeling completely helpless.
As a transmigrator, although Aozora didn't know every single event in the Naruto world thoroughly, he understood the stories about "two Uchis."
In the anime, his older brother Shisui Uchiha would be sabotaged by Danzo, losing one Mangekyo Sharingan eye. In despair, he gave his remaining Mangekyo Sharingan eye to Itachi Uchiha before jumping off a cliff to his death.
He was Shisui's only younger brother. If Shisui got destroyed, Aozora's fate probably wouldn't be any better.
To help his older brother escape this trap, he had already tried many times over the years.
Yet whether he rationally explained facts or sarcastically mocked today, nothing could douse his older brother's burning "Will of Fire."
The Nine-Tails' Invasion had already happened. The rift between the Uchiha and Konoha kept widening. Shisui's so-called death date was drawing near. Aozora felt a sense of urgency.
Shisui's exact death date wasn't specified in the manga. The only clue was that Itachi had already entered Anbu by then.
When Itachi joined Anbu, he must have been at least ten years old.
Now Itachi had just turned six and was about to start ninja school.
Doing simple calculations, Aozora realized he had roughly four to five years left.
"Four years—was that enough time to reach Kage-level power?"
During the Uchiha Clan Downfall Massacre, even jonins were merely cannon fodder. Only those with Kage-level power had the capability to intervene.
Actually, even Kage-level strength wasn't entirely safe. Remembering the numerous hidden forces behind the massacre—besides Danzo, Obito Uchiha was also involved, and The Third's role remained questionable. To truly dominate such a situation, one needed power beyond ordinary Kage level.
But all he really wanted was to protect himself and his brother—maybe Kage-level power would be enough for that.
"And rising from genin to Kage in four years—isn't that somewhat difficult?"
He let out a quiet sigh as he thought about it.
Although he was a pure-blooded Uchiha clan member, at twelve years old he still hadn't awakened his Sharingan. The path toward Kage through Mangekyo Sharingan was practically impossible.
Moreover, awakening the Mangekyo required going through intense emotional trauma to generate the special chakra. In the manga, most who unlocked Mangekyo had lost close family members. By that logic, to awaken his own Mangekyo, Shisui Uchiha must die.
The problem was, his purpose in awakening the Mangekyo was precisely to save Shisui.
Trying to save his older brother by awakening the Mangekyo turned into a self-defeating cycle. This path simply wasn't feasible.
"Luckily, I came with a cheat-like ability when I transmigrated! (an unfair advantage only possible in fiction)"
Thinking thus, Aozora suddenly felt his body lighten.
Like most transmigrators, Uchiha Aozora also possessed a special ability.
This ability manifested as a blank page that mysteriously entered his consciousness.
When he successfully refined chakra for the first time, he became aware of the page in his mind. The page acted like a black hole, instantly absorbing the chakra he had refined.
Just when he thought the page concealed an ancient sage needing energy to awaken, the chakra was returned to him in full, and at the same time, four faint golden ancient characters appeared on the page—[Dao Yin Lian Qi] (Guide the flow and refine energy).
He focused intently on the four characters, and a mysterious sensation washed over him.
As if wisdom was being poured into his mind, an old Taoist priest seemed to whisper the method of Dao Yin Lian Qi directly into his ear.
After a while, he snapped back to reality.
He tried the Qi cultivation method and found it nearly identical—eighty to ninety percent alike—to the chakra refinement technique he had learned, differing only slightly. Unlike the chakra refinement technique, however, Dao Yin Lian Qi included an additional step: guidance before cultivation.
The essence of both the Qi cultivation method and the chakra refinement technique aligned closely—they drew upon spiritual and physical energy from within the body and transformed it into controllable energy.
What made Dao Yin different was its unique "guidance" process. Instead of going straight into energy cultivation, the Dao Yin method used breathing techniques to regulate and exercise the physical body's energy.
After briefly comparing Dao Yin Lian Qi with the chakra refinement method, Uchiha Aozora began to understand why ninjas could wield destructive power yet few lived long lives.
The Dao Yin Lian Qi method wasn't much more complex than chakra refinement, but unlike the latter, it contained the crucial preliminary step—"guidance"—which laid the foundation.
Whether it was Qi or chakra, both stemmed from the same fundamental fusion of spiritual and physical energy within the human body; their nature was essentially the same.
No matter how refined a cultivation method might be, perfection was impossible. Failure would inevitably harm both mind and body.
In Dao Yin cultivation, the early stages focused primarily on breath control and physical conditioning. Through controlled breathing, internal energy circulated throughout the body, reducing excess and supplementing deficiencies, forging the foundation of the Dao—the physical body. Once the Dao foundation had taken root, practitioners would begin cultivating Qi by drawing on both body and spirit.
Chakra refinement, however, took a different path. In the ninja world—chaotic and perilous—ninja couldn't afford hesitation or caution. They pursued quick results, which allowed prodigies to gain immense power at a young age but often led to overexertion, draining their life force and damaging their foundational base.
Understanding this, Aozora concealed the fact that he had already mastered chakra refinement. Starting at age five, he applied the Dao Yin technique, guiding scattered energy throughout his body to nourish and strengthen himself.
As a result, he developed far beyond his peers, with increasingly radiant skin, making him strikingly handsome. Of course, this was only superficial; beneath his fair complexion, his meridians and bones became ever more resilient.
Yet he had no desire to be a prodigy, so he never flaunted his extraordinary physical strength.
As for why he didn't wish to stand out, it was because the Uchiha clan did not need another Shisui Uchiha, and Konoha certainly didn't need yet another Uchiha prodigy.
At the beginning of this year, Uchiha Aozora finally felt that his "Dao Foundation had been established." Spiritual strength had always been his strong suit. Although his body wasn't fully developed yet, mistakes in chakra cultivation wouldn't do much physical harm to him. That's why he had finally begun refining chakra—or more precisely, extracting it.
Even though he only started refining chakra at the start of the year, he already felt his chakra reserves were no worse than those of others in his class. In time, his chakra reserves would outpace those of his peers dramatically.
"In four years, my chakra should reach Kage-level. So what I'm lacking now is just techniques? It's time I picked up some ninjutsu. Let's see what new tricks the Tianshu (Heavenly Book) has in store for me."
As he focused his thoughts, skills including [Dao Yin Lian Qi], [Jia Xing], [Bunshin], and [Yu Qi] appeared on the Tianshu (Heavenly Book). Uchiha Aozora couldn't help but feel excited about his upcoming journey as a ninja.
The Heavenly Book didn't bring him entirely new knowledge. Instead, it reorganized and optimized what he had already learned, offering him something fresh—brand-new skills.
<><><><><><><><>
Thank you for reading! Your support will keep me updating!
~ Every 50 Powerstones = **4 Bonus Chapters** on the weekend!