The ninja library in the Hokage Tower was silent, lit only by the soft glow of lamps. Discreet guards stood in strategic corners, watching for any suspicious movement. To most, the place was simply a study, but Li Shang easily recognized the hidden surveillance.
'Of course they would be watching. That kind of knowledge can't fall into the wrong hands.'
He walked calmly, his eyes gliding over the scrolls displayed on high shelves. He'd pick one up, read a few lines, and then quickly return it to its original location. To any observer, it seemed the young Hyuuga had no patience or real interest in the contents.
But the truth was different.
Within himself, Li Shang discreetly activated the soul recording method. An ancient technique, used in his world only to store the knowledge of complex techniques, the kind of thing an ordinary disciple would never dare use in mundane situations.
'If only they knew... I'm using a precious method just to copy basic seal scrolls. What a joke.'
Feigning boredom, he flipped through another scroll of Fuuinjutsu. His eyes scanned lines of complex symbols, containment seals, and barrier formulas. Quickly, every detail was etched into his soul, transforming into eternal knowledge.
From the outside, all that could be seen was a young man casually looking over technical scrolls, as if he didn't understand anything.
'This will save me time. Even though this world is backward in terms of cultivation, their sealing methods are refined. Different, but promising.'
For hours he repeated the same pattern. He picked up a scroll, leafed through it, and returned it. He picked up another, and repeated. To any observer, it seemed like mere passing curiosity from a Hyuuga genius who, tired, had no patience for anything outside his clan's arts.
Only when the moon had already risen high in the sky did Li Shang get up and leave the library.
His house was silent. Closing the door behind him, he sat cross-legged in the center of the room. His eyes narrowed as he felt the energy within him begin to stir.
The energy of the beast.
'As I imagined... this energy is different. It's not just raw chakra. It's too pure, too wild.'
He took a deep breath and began the refinement. An orange thread moved within his body, colliding with his fragile meridians. If he were a normal person, he would have been crushed by the overwhelming pressure. But Li Shang was no normal person. His body, already strengthened by the initial stages of Body Refining, withstood every impact.
'Compared to ration pills, this is like comparing clay to jade.'
The energy from the pills was useful, but imperfect, full of impurities that needed to be filtered out bit by bit. The fox's energy, on the other hand... was dense, concentrated, almost crystalline.
It was like cultivating for hours with a low-level spirit crystal and suddenly holding a high-level crystal in your hands.
His body began to sweat lightly, but not from physical exertion—it was the pressure of refined energy. With each breath, he felt his strength increase. His muscles vibrated, his bones rang like metal being struck, and the refined chakra flowed more smoothly.
"An hour on this is almost a whole day on the pills," he murmured, his voice low, thick with satisfaction.
His face remained calm, but inside he was smiling.
'If I can extract this energy regularly, my advancement will be monstrous. This boy, Naruto... he is an infinite mine. A living spiritual crystal.'
As the orange energy circulated, Li Shang noticed how his soul was also strengthened. The chains he always saw in his mindspace seemed to vibrate, but they no longer weighed as heavily as before.
'Interesting... even the soul is fed by this energy. This world may be more fertile than I imagined.'
Time passed without him noticing. When he opened his eyes again, the first ray of sunlight was shining through the window. His body was covered in a thin layer of sweat, but his aura seemed more solid, sharper.
He took a deep breath, satisfied.
'Excellent.'
The room was silent, lit only by soft sunlight. On the low wooden table, several blank scrolls were carefully arranged alongside slender brushes and vials of special ink prepared to absorb chakra.
Li Shang sat cross-legged, taking a deep breath before immersing himself in his work. His fingers glided over the parchment as if assessing its texture. As he dipped his brush into the ink, the soft sheen that emerged indicated the material's sensitivity.
'This process is not that different from what I did in the past.'
Every stroke he drew on the parchment seemed to echo distant memories. In his previous life, creating spatial storage arrays required absolute precision. A slight error meant the loss of days of work and, sometimes, even the destruction of the item itself.
But here, the Fuuinjutsu runes had a more rudimentary feel. The language was symbolic, but less refined. Still, there was a charm to their direct method.
Patiently, he completed the final stroke. The scroll glowed faintly, responding to the ink's chakra, and a satisfied smile spread across his face.
"Success."
The brightness quickly faded, leaving only the dark marks on the paper.
Lifting the parchment, he looked at it with analytical eyes.
'This reminds me a lot of storage rings. The difference is that this scroll isn't connected to anyone. Anyone who infuses chakra can unlock the contents. Whereas the spatial rings I created in the past required a blank matrix to be bound to the owner's soul. An energy signature that kept the space permanently anchored. Only the true owner could open the dimensional rift.'
He let out a soft sigh. The scroll in his hand was useful, but limited.
"Fragile. Still... it's a start."
Setting the parchment aside, he wiped his brush and stood up, stretching his body.
"I need to buy some rings for testing. If I can fuse the matrices I learned here with the anchoring methods of my world, I can create something unique to this world."
His eyes narrowed as he remembered.
'When I was constantly on the run from hunters and enemy cults, I learned the basics of survival. Simple but vital things: energy restoration pills, makeshift storage arrays. I had no luxuries. Every bit of knowledge was needed to survive one more day.'
Now, however, everything was different.
'I am no longer a desperate fugitive. This world is slow. Its techniques are useful, but incomplete. If I am careful, I can master everything in due time.'
He gathered the finished scrolls, stacking them beside the table, and then looked out the window. The sun still bathed the rooftops of Konoha, and a cool breeze wafted into the room.
"Curious. After so long on the run, I feel a strange nostalgia doing something so... peaceful."
For a moment, a faint, sincere smile appeared on his face. But it quickly disappeared, replaced by the calculating coldness that had always guided him.
His eyes fixed on the reflection of his own silhouette in the glass.
"I won't make the same mistakes. This time, every detail will be taken advantage of."
With this thought, Li Shang left his house.
[Author's Note:This story was originally written in Portuguese, so there may be some translation errors. If you notice any, please let me know so I can fix them. Thank you for reading!]