1015-1016

Chapter 1015: Enhancement 

Inside the volcano. 

Seimei paused his training once again. 

Just like half an hour ago, he used the "Heart Communication Technique" to connect with his shadow clones outside, who were absorbing natural energy. 

This time, though, he didn’t have too many of them dispel their "Shadow Clone Technique." 

These shadow clones had been gathering natural energy for an hour now. If he recalled ten of them again, the amount of natural energy they’d bring back would definitely be more than he could handle. 

Even though, half an hour earlier, the ten shadow clones had given him some experience, boosting his "Natural Energy Control" skill proficiency by a bit and increasing the amount of natural energy he could manage, it still wasn’t enough. 

After a brief exchange with his shadow clones to check their progress, Seimei decided to recall just six of them. 

This way, the natural energy he’d receive would be within his control. 

Suddenly, six sets of memories flooded into his mind. 

Seimei didn’t rush to process the training experience contained in these memories. Instead, he first focused on controlling the natural energy that came back with the shadow clones as they dissipated. 

He sent all of it into the special space in his abdomen, then began sorting through the memories in his mind, absorbing and converting the training experience into proficiency for the corresponding skills. 

Time ticked by, second by second. 

Soon, he finished processing it all. 

Opening his status panel, he saw that the proficiency for both "Natural Energy Sensing" and "Natural Energy Control" had increased slightly. 

Satisfied, Seimei nodded. 

He closed the panel and shifted his focus back to the natural energy stored in the special space in his abdomen. 

With a thought, he channeled his chakra, splitting off an equal amount and injecting it into that space. 

In no time, he fused over a hundred points of sage chakra. 

Just like half an hour ago, he didn’t try moving this sage chakra to strengthen other parts of his body. Instead, he used it right there. 

With such a small amount of sage chakra, transferring it around would be a waste of effort. 

Soon, he’d used up all the sage chakra, and Seimei teleported back to the surface. 

Then, he ordered the four hundred shadow clones working on developing Dust Release to simultaneously dispel their "Multiple Shadow Clone Technique." 

Poof, poof, poof~ 

With bursts of chakra smoke, all the shadow clones vanished. 

A flood of memories surged into his mind. 

Seimei quickly focused, absorbing and processing the training experience within those memories. 

He had to admit, adding an extra hundred shadow clones had seriously sped up his progress on Dust Release. 

Now, every time he dispelled the "Multiple Shadow Clone Technique" and recalled these clones, he gained new insights, allowing him to experiment from more angles. 

If he kept training like this, Seimei estimated it would take just two or three more months to fully master the theory behind fusing the chakra nature transformations of Wind, Fire, and Earth. 

After that, he could move on to practical application. 

And once he successfully recorded it on his status panel, leveling it up would just be a matter of time. 

With these thoughts in mind, Seimei pulled himself back to the present and focused entirely on absorbing and processing the memories in his mind. 

About fifteen minutes later, he opened his eyes again. 

Standing still, he pondered for a moment, then took out a few enhanced soldier pills, popped them into his mouth, and swallowed, replenishing the energy he’d just used. Then, he performed the "Multiple Shadow Clone Technique" again. 

This time, he created four hundred and sixteen shadow clones. 

Four hundred of them continued working on Dust Release, while the remaining sixteen filled in for the hundred shadow clones that had been absorbing natural energy. 

Clearly, these sixteen new clones started at a higher level than the other eighty-four. 

Not only could they absorb natural energy faster, but they could also store more of it. 

His next step was to recall the remaining eighty-four shadow clones one by one, absorbing and processing the training experience they’d gathered. 

Then, in the next hour, he’d create even higher-level shadow clones and repeat the cycle. 

Seimei checked his mental strain, confirming there were no issues, and then used the "Flying Thunder God Technique" to teleport back inside the volcano, starting a new round of training for the "Limit of the Body." 

Half an hour later, he paused his "Limit of the Body" training again. 

After some communication, he recalled five of the shadow clones absorbing natural energy. 

In an instant, over a hundred and fifty points of natural energy, carried by nearly twenty thousand points of chakra, flooded back into his body. 

Seimei immediately focused, sending all that natural energy into the special space in his abdomen, then began absorbing and processing the training experience from the five shadow clones’ memories. 

Moments later, a spark of realization hit him. 

Seimei quietly processed it, then checked his status panel. Sure enough, both "Natural Energy Sensing" and "Natural Energy Control" had broken through from level 1 to level 2 (1/500)! 

In that moment, he felt his ability to sense and control natural energy had jumped to a new level. 

Sensing aside, let’s talk control. 

Before "Natural Energy Control" reached level 2, he could only handle a little over a hundred points of natural energy—any more, and he risked losing control. 

But now… 

Seimei checked the natural energy in the special space in his abdomen. He estimated he could now control at least three hundred points of it. 

And this was just the beginning. 

As his "Natural Energy Control" progressed further at level 2, that number would keep growing. 

By the time he maxed out level 2, Seimei figured he’d be able to handle around a thousand points of natural energy. 

That was no small amount. 

Maybe by then, he could start using the sage chakra he fused to enhance his "Limit of the Body" training. 

Only then could he fully tap into the potential of sage chakra, speeding up his body’s evolution. 

A flurry of thoughts raced through his mind, but Seimei quickly reined them in. 

He used the "Heart Communication Technique" again, connecting with the shadow clones outside absorbing natural energy, and had five of them dispel their "Shadow Clone Technique." 

Instantly, another twenty thousand points of chakra and a hundred and fifty points of natural energy flooded into his body. 

Seimei repeated the process, sending the hundred and fifty points of natural energy into the special space in his abdomen. 

Now, the space held three hundred points of natural energy. 

He channeled an equal amount of chakra into it, fusing it with the natural energy to create three hundred points of sage chakra. 

Sticking to his principle of using it locally, he applied this sage chakra to strengthen the cells around his abdomen. 

With that, this round of enhancement was complete. 

Seimei focused his mind again, resuming his "Limit of the Body" training, quietly waiting for the next hour to arrive. 

Chapter 1016: Consumption 

Half an hour later, the second round of training wrapped up. 

Inside the volcano, Seimei paused his practice of the Limit of the Body technique. With a flicker of thought, he activated the Heart Connection Technique, re-establishing a link with the shadow clones outside, who were busy absorbing natural energy. 

This time, after checking their progress, he decided to dispel eight of them. Instantly, over 30,000 points of chakra, mixed with more than 300 points of natural energy, surged back into his body. 

As usual, Seimei first funneled the natural energy into the special space in his abdomen. Then, he quickly sorted through the memories of the eight shadow clones, absorbing and processing their training experiences from the past two hours, converting them into skill proficiency. 

But when he checked his status panel, he noticed something odd—the proficiency gained was less than he’d expected, even though these clones had trained for an extra half hour. 

At first, Seimei was puzzled. But it didn’t take long for him to figure out why. 

It was simple, really. These eight shadow clones were created when his Natural Energy Perception and Natural Energy Control skills were still at Level 1. Now that both skills had reached Level 2, the proficiency they could contribute was naturally lower. Their starting point was just too low, wasn’t it? 

Seimei could already foresee that as his skills continued to improve, the older shadow clones would yield even less proficiency. But he wasn’t too bothered by it. Why? Because this was only temporary. As long as he kept cycling through this process, the issue would resolve itself once the proficiency needed for each level-up became harder to achieve. 

For now, he was just grateful that the early levels of each skill were relatively easy to climb. Otherwise, his progress wouldn’t have been nearly as noticeable. 

With that in mind, Seimei split off a portion of his chakra and sent it into the abdominal space, where it mixed with the natural energy to create over 300 points of sage chakra. He then drew this sage chakra out and used it to enhance his body. 

Soon, the sage chakra was fully consumed. 

Wasting no time, Seimei used the Flying Thunder God Technique to teleport back to the surface. He glanced at the shadow clones—both on the island and beyond—who were working on developing the Dust Release. Without hesitation, he canceled the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique. 

In an instant, the clones dissolved into chakra, carrying an hour’s worth of training experience and memories back to him. Seimei closed his eyes, carefully sorting through the memories and absorbing their training insights. 

About fifteen minutes later, he opened his eyes again. It was already 5:00 p.m. 

According to his usual schedule, he should’ve finished his Limit of the Body training by now and moved on to practicing the Wood Clone Technique to boost its proficiency. That would take four hours, followed by two hours of the Heart Reflection Technique to stimulate the evolution of his Sharingan. By the time everything was done, it’d be around 11 or 12 at night, and he could finally rest. 

But today? Things were off. Because he’d spent the morning and part of the afternoon getting started with Natural Energy Perception and Natural Energy Control, he’d only completed two rounds of Limit of the Body training—far short of his planned sessions. 

In other words, his training schedule was incomplete. 

So, Seimei started weighing his options. Should he keep going with Limit of the Body? If he did, it would definitely cut into his time for the Heart Reflection Technique and Wood Clone Technique. But if he didn’t, his physical enhancement would fall behind, and that was something he didn’t want. 

After some thought, he made his decision: he’d stick with Limit of the Body for now. The Heart Reflection Technique and Wood Clone Technique? They could wait for today. 

Why make that call? Two reasons. First, skipping one or the other was only a half-day delay—nothing major, so he could just go with what felt right. Second, right now, boosting his Physique attribute was more urgent than his Mental attribute. 

Decision made, Seimei didn’t waste another second. He cast the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique and kicked off a new round of training. 

Six hours flew by in a flash. 

During that time, Seimei kept up the same rhythm as the first two hours, constantly creating and dispelling shadow clones. While training Limit of the Body, he also worked on improving his Natural Energy Perception and Natural Energy Control proficiency. 

By the time he stopped for the night, both skills had reached Level 3, undergoing a small but significant qualitative leap. He could now control over 2,000 points of natural energy—a big step forward. 

On top of that, after an afternoon and evening of training, Seimei had calculated the chakra loss from using 100 shadow clones to absorb natural energy. It came out to about 300,000 points per day. Of course, that was just the initial cost. As his skill levels increased and he could handle more natural energy, he’d need to dispel clones more frequently, which would drive up the loss. He estimated it would eventually stabilize around 500,000 points. 

But that 500,000-point cost? Totally worth it. Why? Because it came with a massive boost to his physical enhancement efficiency. 

How did he know it was a massive boost? Simple. After Natural Energy Control hit Level 3, he’d tested using sage chakra for Limit of the Body training. Compared to regular chakra or even Yang Release chakra, sage chakra was noticeably more effective at strengthening his body. 

Seimei figured that once he could use sage chakra for full-day training, his efficiency would at least double. That’s right—double! At that rate, he wouldn’t need five months to transform his body. Two and a half months would be enough for a complete overhaul. 

By then, his Physique attribute would spike, bringing his mental and physical stats back into better balance. 

Speaking of balance… before heading to bed that night, Seimei used the Sealed Heart, Locked Soul: Contract Instant Movement Seal to temporarily seal part of his mental energy. This way, his mind wouldn’t overwhelm his body while he slept. 

With that done, he could finally catch a good night’s sleep and relax a bit.