Returning to the vast mansion, empty as ever, Uchiha Aozora went straight back to his room to begin cultivating True Samadhi Fire.
Within the inheritance of True Samadhi Fire, the only portion Aozora currently possessed was Ki Fire.
Ki Fire was a flame formed from True Ki, the foundational fire attained by those who had successfully built their base through fire-aspected Ki cultivation.
The last time he had received enlightenment from the Heavenly Book, he had been too focused on experiencing the effects of True Samadhi Fire and had barely examined the specific cultivation methods in detail.
Sitting cross-legged, he calmed his mind. Soon, within his consciousness, the Heavenly Book appeared once more. At its center, four ancient characters glowing faint gold slowly emerged:
True Samadhi Fire.
As he focused on those four characters, streams of text surfaced one after another in his mind.
Yet after fully receiving the cultivation method, Uchiha Aozora felt no joy at all—only disappointment.
The Heavenly Book provided two methods for cultivating the Fire of True Ki.
The first was the orthodox and righteous path.So long as one cultivated fire-aspected Ki and continuously refined and purified it, once the Ki reached a sufficient level of purity, it would spontaneously ignite, transforming into True Fire.
This path carried no danger and was straightforward in execution.However, the process of refinement was extremely time-consuming. Even for a genius, it would take three to five years at the very least.
The second was a side path, far less conventional—seeking out Heaven-and-Earth Exotic Flames and using them to temper one's Ki.
This method was the complete opposite of the first. Whether searching for an exotic flame or using it to refine Ki, both steps were extremely difficult and highly dangerous.Its sole advantage was speed: at most, one month would be enough to condense True Fire.
Fortunately, the two methods did not conflict.Uchiha Aozora could refine his Ki while simultaneously searching for an exotic flame.
"It looks like there's no way to cultivate Ki Fire in the short term," he muttered.
"The Heavenly Book is powerful, but it can't create something from nothing… If only there were other ways to完善 these divine techniques."
With a sigh, Aozora abandoned those pointless thoughts. Adjusting his mindset, he decided to begin by attempting something more practical—transforming chakra into fire-aspected chakra.
There were many ways to train elemental chakra transformation.The most common was simply performing ninjutsu.
Uchiha Aozora slowly formed hand seals, directing all of his focus toward sensing the changes within his chakra, observing how unaligned chakra transformed into fire chakra.
"Snake—"
He felt streams of chakra surge out from his dantian in gentle trickles.
"Goat—"
Some of those streams merged into a small river, while others remained separate, flowing upstream along different pathways.
"Monkey—Boar—"
The chakra river passed through one acupoint after another, surging up toward his chest.
"Horse—"
The thicker chakra streams began to boil, growing scorching hot.
"Tiger—"
The blazing stream collided with another flow—like dry wood meeting raging flames.
Uchiha Aozora hurriedly threw open the window.Scalding air burst outward as a massive fireball shot straight into the sky.
After dispelling the jutsu, Aozora carefully reflected on the process and confirmed that the Horse seal was the key to fire-nature transformation.
This made perfect sense. Hand seals were named after the Twelve Zodiac Signs, and among them, Snake and Horse both belonged to fire. Using them to represent fire transformation was entirely appropriate.
Though he had already reached a tentative conclusion, Aozora still conducted several more tests. Only then did he fully confirm that the chakra circulation corresponding to the Horse seal was indeed linked to fire-nature transformation.
By the time he finished his experiments, it was already late.
Uchiha Aozora practiced Guided Ki Cultivation for a while, then fell into a deep sleep.
Cultivation was great, but he was still a child.He needed to grow taller.
The next morning, before six-thirty, Uchiha Aozora woke up.
A year's plan lies in spring; a day's plan lies in the morning.
He had understood this truth in his previous life, but work and daily stress constantly disrupted his routine.
In this life, with no boss breathing down his neck and no phone to distract him, he had successfully developed the habit of sleeping early and waking early.
After getting up, Aozora spent an hour doing morning training in the courtyard.
Once finished, he went to wash up—taking a moment to admire his exceptional looks and perfectly proportioned physique.
Changing into a set of rough, durable clothes, he strapped on his ninja tools, put on his forehead protector, and headed out.
"The gears of fate slowly began to turn.From this day onward, Uchiha Aozora's magnificent ninja career officially began.He knew the future was bright, the road winding—and so he would face every challenge head-on."
Providing his own narration, Aozora gave himself a solid mental boost.
To avoid feeling resistant during the upcoming mission, he prepared himself mentally in advance.
The first floor of the Hokage Building was bustling with activity.
After the Nine-Tails incident, Konoha's ninja forces were critically understaffed, while missions continued to pile up.
Yet the village could not afford to abandon too many requests.
The shinobi world wasn't made up of Konoha alone. If Konoha rejected too many missions, those clients would simply go elsewhere.
As a result, Konoha's ninja were being worked to the bone—women treated like men, and men treated like beasts.
Uchiha Aozora arrived first. Shortly afterward, Gekkō Hayate and Inuzuka Aya arrived one after another.
It wasn't until 7:50 that Aburame Shibi entered the Hokage Building.
After nodding to the three of them, Aburame Shibi led them into the Mission Hall.
The hall occupied nearly half of the first floor, located on the left side. It was crowded with ninja, as well as civilians dressed in all kinds of clothing.
After glancing at the lines for mission registration, Aburame Shibi queued up at the longest one.
Watching the slow-moving line, Inuzuka Aya grew restless, pacing like an ant on a hot pan. Pointing to a much shorter line nearby, she asked her teammates:
"Sensei, why are we standing in the long line? There's clearly no one over there!"
Hearing this, Uchiha Aozora couldn't help rolling his eyes.She didn't even know something this basic—yet she had the nerve to call herself dead last?
Gekkō Hayate, ever patient, explained, "That line is for A-rank missions. It's not something our team can accept."
"A-rank?" Inuzuka Aya asked, puzzled.
"No way—you don't even know that? That's ridiculous!" Aozora smacked his lips and said, "Listen carefully, you academic disaster."
Inuzuka Aya snorted twice but obediently stood aside to listen.
"The shinobi world classifies missions by difficulty into five ranks: S, A, B, C, and D. Each line in the hall corresponds to a different rank."
Aya glanced at the four lines and still didn't understand. "If there are five ranks, why are there only four lines?"
"Because S-rank missions aren't issued here," Aozora replied. "They're the highest-difficulty missions, involving state-level secrets. The clearance level is too high, and they're far too dangerous—usually assigned directly by the Hokage."
Only then did Inuzuka Aya nod in understanding. But soon, another question popped into her head.
"D-rank missions are the easiest. We're so strong—let's take an A-rank mission!"
This time, Aozora didn't bother explaining. He simply let out a cold 'Heh.'
Although Aya didn't know what that sound meant, she clearly sensed the contempt in his eyes.
Just as she was about to explode, Gekkō Hayate stepped in to clarify, "We're newly graduated genin. By regulation, we can only accept D-rank missions. To take C- or B-rank missions, we need to complete multiple D-rank missions and perform well."
"As for A-rank missions—that's something only jōnin are qualified to take."