Dawn had just broken, the sky tinged with the pale white of morning.
Keiji quickly got up from bed, washed up, and ate some bread.
If he could, he'd prefer to just eat a soldier pill and skip the trouble.
Honestly, soldier pills actually tasted pretty good.
The reputation for them being disgusting came from Sakura's special homemade version.
Those were in a league of their own—not to be confused with the standard store-bought ones.
Soldier pills saved time—no need to light fires, cook, or wash dishes.
Unfortunately, they weren't cheap. Not something Keiji could afford to eat every day.
Keiji arrived at his usual training spot and began his daily routine.
About an hour passed.
A voice finally echoed in his mind.
"You have comprehended the Trait: [Water Strider (White)]."
[Trait: Water Strider (White)]
[Requirement Met: Walk on water with both feet as if on solid ground.]
[Progress: (Completed)]
[Effect: Your chakra control on difficult terrain has improved. Chakra "stamina" lasts 5% longer than average.]
[Note: Can be further evolved.]
[Path 1: Combine with "Tree Climber (White)" to evolve into "Laying the Foundations (White)"]
[Path 2: Combine with "Tree Climber (White)" and "Three Basic Techniques (White)" to evolve into "Solid Foundation (Green)"]
"Two evolution paths, huh?"
Keiji examined the panel in front of him.
Whenever he had free time, he would train at the river near Training Ground Three.
His strong innate talent, combined with muscle memory, allowed him to learn quickly.
Of course, this was just standing on water with a slow current.
To fight while standing on water would still require more practice.
Many chunin, when forced onto water mid-battle, had to hurriedly form hand seals to extract chakra in order to stabilize themselves.
This truly tested a shinobi's grasp of hand seals.
Almost every jutsu relied on them.
To perform a jutsu, one had to extract chakra, control it, and then release it. Hand seals were a tool that helped quickly convert mental and physical energy into chakra, facilitating control—not just a matter of speed.
From the earliest Book of Rin to the final Book of Information in Shippuden, many official guidebooks have revised or removed various elements.
For example, ratings for "potential" and "luck" used to exist, but were later removed.
However, the eight core shinobi attributes remained constant—highlighting how crucial hand seals were.
That's why jutsu that required no hand seals were often high-level techniques.
"I'll hold off on evolving for now."
Keiji decided not to proceed immediately.
Upgrading now would just give him another white-tier trait.
But if he waited a bit longer and unlocked the trait for the Three Basic Techniques, he could combine them into a green-tier one!
Mastering the Three Techniques wouldn't take long. His chakra control had already improved thanks to the Water Walking and Tree Climbing traits.
With that in mind, Keiji resumed training.
Now that he had the Water Walking trait, it was time to properly learn the Three Techniques.
Recently, Rin had taught him Rope Escape and Concealment Techniques.
Both were basic E-rank jutsu.
Rope Escape was one of the first taught at the Academy.
Rin had also explained the core of Clone Technique to Keiji—he just needed to practice it.
After some time, a new prompt appeared on his system panel.
"You have acquired the Trait: [Three Basic Techniques (White)]."
[Trait: Three Basic Techniques (White)]
[Requirement Met: Learn "Clone Jutsu," "TransInformation Jutsu," and "Substitution Jutsu."]
[Progress: (1%)]
[Effect: Your mastery of the Three Techniques is 5% more effective than average.]
[Note: Can be further evolved.]
"Not bad."
Keiji's hands continued forming the Clone Jutsu hand seals as he refined his chakra to cast it.
His version of the Three Techniques was already 5% more effective than the average shinobi.
If he kept evolving, maybe his TransInformation Jutsu would become indistinguishable from reality.
Normally, TransInformation Jutsu didn't work well against sensory-type ninja.
According to the Book of Information, White Zetsu's transInformation was the most powerful in the entire series.
Only Naruto's negative emotion sensing could see through it—most other methods failed.
The morning light filtered through the forest canopy. Birds perched on branches, curiously watching the figure beneath them.
"Huh? There's someone here?"
Hyūga Natsu spotted a silhouette—it looked like someone was training.
"Isn't that Uchiha Keiji from our class?"
Her dark green hair swayed gently in the breeze. About fifty meters ahead, a boy wearing a traditional Uchiha robe was weaving hand seals.
"Ignore him. Let's keep looking for a place to train the Byakugan," said Hyūga Tetsu beside her.
Every member of the Hyūga Clan was born with white eyes.
But to actually awaken the Byakugan—using its powers—required rigorous training.
"Mm," Natsu nodded and looked away.
The Byakugan granted telescopic vision that could reach up to a kilometer. With training, that range could expand.
However, using it inside the village or the clan compound was frowned upon—it invaded others' privacy.
It was offensive and could easily be detected by ninja with strong sensory abilities.
Most importantly, the Hyūga and Uchiha had a tense relationship. Best to avoid unnecessary contact.
The two of them left together.
Keiji frowned slightly. He had sensed someone watching him.
When he turned around, he saw the pair just as they were leaving.
"Hyūga Natsu and Hyūga Tetsu…"
They were background characters from the original story.
Natsu was part of the branch family and would later become Hanabi Hyūga's attendant.
"Never mind."
Keiji shook his head and continued training.
...
In the blink of an eye, a month had passed.
Keiji had fully adapted to life at the ninja academy.
Late autumn was growing colder—winter was nearly here.
At Keiji's Home
"Finally mastered it."
A faint electric current flowed through Keiji's body.
It spread beneath his skin, stimulating his cells.
He looked at himself in the mirror.
No longer scrawny, his physique now showed some muscle, his large frame filled out.
Perhaps due to his Yagetsu Clan heritage, his growth was faster than the average Uchiha.
He was visibly taller, too.
"If this keeps up, I'll end up looking like a Cloud shinobi."
Keiji shook his head and stepped away from the mirror.
His skin wasn't dark—in fact, it was pale like many of the Cloud ninja.
But unlike them, he had black hair instead of blond.
"Clone Jutsu is now fully mastered. Substitution Jutsu is about halfway there."
He opened the Three Basic Techniques trait panel for a quick glance.