Chapter 6: Progress
Creak~
The door closed again.
The sorrow on Seimei's face disappeared in an instant. Although he had fused with his predecessor's memories, he felt little real emotion toward those 'parents' he had never even met.
However, for the sake of the compensation money, Seimei decided he would visit their graves every year with a bouquet.
Of course, that would only happen if he managed to survive.
Otherwise, nothing he said or thought would matter.
He opened the envelope and counted it. Inside was exactly 1.01 million ryō.
"Not bad. No one embezzled any!"
Both of his predecessor's parents had been chūnin. After they were killed in action, each received 500,000 ryō in compensation.
Together with the 10,000 ryō monthly stipend from the clan, the total was precisely 1.01 million ryō.
It made sense. If even this kind of money was being siphoned, the clan wouldn't have any cohesion left.
Besides, while a million ryō sounded like a lot, it really wasn't.
In Konoha, D-rank missions paid 5,000 to 50,000 ryō. C-rank missions ranged from 30,000 to 100,000. B-rank ones offered 80,000 to 200,000. A-rank missions could pay between 150,000 and a million. And S-rank missions paid above a million.
Chūnin could take C and B-rank missions. Jōnin could take B and A-rank ones. Even with deductions by the village and sharing with teammates, earning a million wasn't difficult.
As for the 10,000 ryō monthly stipend...
A bowl of ramen cost 60 ryō. Three meals a day meant 5,400 ryō per month.
And that was just for eating.
For a ninja, the real expense was in training.
So 10,000 ryō only kept Seimei from starving. As for investing in cultivation? That was a fantasy.
For the past week, he had been training under these exact conditions.
But now, with a million in hand, he could buy secret medicines to support his training.
With that thought, Seimei left the house and went straight to the pharmacy owned by the Nara clan.
In Konoha, no one surpassed the Nara in medicine. Their products were synonymous with quality.
After a full round through the shop, Seimei found that the most useful item for him was, surprisingly, the military ration pill.
Yes, the type of pill that could replace an entire meal.
These restored all essential nutrients and were the standard ration for ninja on missions.
Some enhanced versions could temporarily boost chakra.
But Seimei didn't need those. He just needed the kind used as food.
This would let him extend his "Chakra Refinement Technique" training, then use the extra chakra to practice the Three Basic Techniques, creating a compound synergy that boosted multiple skill proficiencies.
He acted immediately, pulling out money and purchasing a large batch of military ration pills in one go, drawing strange looks from the clerk.
Thankfully, it was just ration pills. Had it been other supplies, he might have drawn unwanted attention.
Still, just in case, Seimei decided not to eat outside for a while.
At most, others would assume he was simply dedicated to training, using ration pills as meals.
...
Back home, Seimei opened his status panel.
A familiar light-blue screen appeared in front of him:
[Status Panel]
Name: Uchiha Seimei
Age: 10
Physique: 5
Spirit: 7
Chakra: 17 (131 → 159)
Bloodline: Sharingan · Not Awakened (51/100)
Skills:
• Chakra Refinement Technique: lv0 (8/100) → lv0 (53/100)
• Clone Technique: lv0 (46/100) → lv1 (2/200)
• Transformation Technique: lv0 (77/100)
• Substitution Technique: lv0 (71/100)
• Basic Taijutsu: lv0 (35/100) → lv1 (16/200)
• Ninja Tool Throwing: lv1 (29/200) → lv2 (10/500)
Over the past week, he had practiced the Chakra Refinement Technique four hours every night. Most sessions yielded six proficiency points, and sometimes seven.
Altogether, he gained 45 proficiency points.
That raised the skill from lv0 (8/100) to lv0 (53/100), more than halfway to the next level.
During that time, his chakra limit rose by 28 points, from 131 to 159. Still not much, but it gave him hope.
Seimei believed that if he kept going, he would one day reach "Chajinra" or even "Chatonra" level chakra.
Additionally, the 200 chakra points he regained daily from the refinement were spent entirely on ninjutsu practice.
In the first two days, he focused fully on pushing Clone Technique to lv1, successfully creating a phantom clone.
As planned, that let him bluff his way through the weekly exam.
But just like with Ninja Tool Throwing, once Clone Technique reached lv1, each use only gained 1 proficiency point.
This meant his predecessor's mastery ended here. The rest was up to him.
So he switched to training Transformation and Substitution Techniques.
Thanks to inherited memories and experience, he progressed through these almost as quickly as Clone Technique before entry.
Each session gave 2 to 3 proficiency points.
In five days, he pushed Transformation to lv0 (77/100) and Substitution to lv0 (71/100).
At that rate, both would reach lv1 in another two or three days.
At that point, his predecessor's inherited edge would be fully spent.
As for Basic Taijutsu...
Over the past week, Sugiki Kazuto had arranged three practice battles.
Seimei used the chance to push his Taijutsu to entry level, even reaching lv1 (16/200).
But from here on, he would need to train steadily on his own.
Lastly, Ninja Tool Throwing remained his fastest growing skill. It was now lv2 (10/500)!
At this stage, he could hit bullseyes within ten meters with 100% accuracy.
That was already on par with genin who had graduated two to three years ago.
However, the skill had limits.
Seimei guessed that without awakening the Sharingan, he could only push it to lv3.
He now needed to hit bullseyes at fifteen meters to gain proficiency. Otherwise, progress stalled.
And to reach lv3 from lv2 required a full 500 points.
If he did max it, his throwing would likely rival a mid- to upper-level chūnin.
Unless he had Sharingan to add precision and complexity...
Otherwise, killing with it would only work in ambushes, group battles, or against far weaker enemies.
"But the Sharingan..."
Seimei looked at the bar—(51/100)—and fell silent.
Over the week, he had tried many ways to awaken it. None worked.
The progress bar was stuck.
Still, Seimei hadn't given up. If the system displayed a bar, it meant progress was possible.
He just hadn't found the right method yet.
(End of Chapter)