After running through the key points again, Uchiha Senya felt he had fully grasped the activation of the Shadow Clone Jutsu.
It was as if he had already practiced it many times.
"Products of the system really are top tier, huh?"
He stepped into an open patch of ground and formed the seal.
Chakra flowed like silk through his body, none of the old sluggish drag.
Shadow Clone Jutsu.
POOF!
With his hands crossed in a cross sign, a clone identical to Senya appeared at his side and gave him a little wave.
Senya studied the duplicate, then nodded.
Perfect on the first try.
"Good. From now on the clone can take my shifts, while the real me trains."
He worked out the plan in his head even as a smile tugged at his lips.
Yesterday he had been a ninjutsu dullard, relying on taijutsu just to keep up, dismissed by academy instructors.
Clansmen said focusing on taijutsu wasted an Uchiha's talent.
Now he was a genius with the Sage Body and the Sharingan awakened.
The sudden shift in identity moved him more than he expected.
"Hoo..."
Once the thrill faded, he settled himself, adjusted to the Sharingan and the Sage Body again, then slipped away quietly.
Night hung heavy.
No one noticed a dark figure flicker past a remote corner outside the training grounds.
The shadow carefully approached the Guard Tower.
Just as Senya stepped inside, a dense wash of natural energy was gently pulled into his body on its own, speeding the Sage Body's transformation.
He went up to the second-floor watch room, opened his Sharingan, and looked out from above.
"That direction... the clan shrine."
With the Sharingan and the Sage Body's senses, he could see natural energy pooling deep within the shrine.
The Guard Tower stood close enough to skim a portion of the ambient energy at its edge.
Before awakening the Sage Body, he had no way to sense any of this.
He fell into thought.
Normally, the rich wells of natural energy were the Three Great Holy Lands.
Mount Myoboku, Ryuchi Cave, Shikkotsu Forest.
So why did the Uchiha clan shrine hold energy this thick?
Senya thought it through.
The most special thing inside the shrine was the stone tablet in Nanga Shrine.
According to the original tale, the Sage of Six Paths left it to guide Indra's reincarnations back from the wrong path.
"Could the Sage have left natural energy in the tablet?"
In the story, only with advanced stages of the Sharingan and powerful ocular force could one read its true meaning.
Perhaps the natural energy was tied to that.
"Natural energy in the shrine, plus the ambient energy nearby, will help speed the Sage Body's completion."
"As completion rises, I will probably need to cultivate inside the shrine."
He did not know how Hashirama's Sage Body had been forged, but the process surely demanded vast natural energy.
Everyone knew natural energy was not gentle. It was difficult to control.
One slip, and petrification awaited.
After observing the shrine a while, he returned to his room in the Guard Tower.
He sent a clone to the checkpoint, while the real body stayed in the room, absorbing natural energy and cultivating the Sage Body.
...
Dawn came quickly.
After a night of cultivation, Senya opened his eyes. The Sage Body's completion had risen again.
There was no movement from Uchiha Jin's room, and Senya had no interest in disturbing him.
Each kept to himself, and Senya preferred it that way.
By the time he finished his shift, it was afternoon.
He dispelled the clone and headed for the Uchiha training grounds to keep honing taijutsu.
With his improved ninjutsu aptitude, he also began practicing Uchiha-style techniques he had failed to learn before.
As for stronger offensive moves, he was in no rush.
With a check-in system, why worry about upgrades?
Lay the foundation first.
Night fell swiftly.
Senya made time for a quick bath, then resumed cultivating the Sage Body in his room at the Guard Tower.
The clone stood watch.
Until the afternoon of the second day.
After his shift ended, Senya released the clone.
His mind began integrating the clone's memories.
"A clan assembly, huh..."
That morning, Uchiha Jin had, for once, come to the watch room of his own accord.
He informed Senya's clone of the time for the Uchiha clan meeting.
He also told Senya to attend on behalf of the Guard Tower and handed him the tower's identification token.
In truth, Jin disliked crowded places. He had attended before only because he was the sole guard.
Now that Senya had joined, the chore naturally fell to the newcomer.
"Sounds good. I have not used today's check-in yet."
Senya glanced at the time and left the Guard Tower at a brisk pace.
...
With the meeting hour approaching, Senya passed many shinobi striding along the road to the shrine.
It was his first time seeing so many people here.
Clearly, they were all headed to the clan assembly.
Noticing his young face, several gave him curious looks.
At this hour, it was mostly meeting-bound shinobi.
Was this kid attending too?
Attendance was reserved for the clan's elites.
Either powerful in strength, or high in rank.
But when they spotted the token at Senya's waist, they understood.
A layabout from the Guard Tower.
They turned their eyes away and stopped paying attention to him.
Senya saw their reactions without a flicker on his face.
He was no longer on the same wavelength as these shinobi.
Let strength do the talking.
After a few more steps, he stopped before an ancient pavilion.
He presented the Guard Tower token at his waist and entered.
It was his first time inside the shrine.
He took in the refined furnishings, then steadied his mind.
"System, start today's check-in."
...