Chapter 7: News

Qingming withdrew his gaze and closed the status panel. He took out a military rations pill and stuffed it into his mouth.

Crunch~

With a bit of effort, he bit down on it.

Immediately, a bitter taste exploded in his mouth, causing the corners of Qingming's eyes to twitch involuntarily.

"No wonder no one likes this stuff. The taste is awful."

Qingming shook his head, forcing himself to endure the discomfort as he swallowed the crushed remnants.

Soon, a warm current began to rise from his stomach, quickly spreading throughout his limbs.

He wasted no time and immediately sat cross-legged, focusing his mind to begin refining chakra.

After more than two hours, his chakra was fully restored. Qingming halted the "Chakra Refinement Technique" and began practicing the "Transformation Technique" and "Substitution Technique."

Among them, the "Transformation Technique" was relatively straightforward; he simply needed to methodically gather chakra and alter his appearance to gain proficiency.

However, the "Substitution Technique" was different; practicing this technique required pre-prepared auxiliary tools, like a wooden board for the substitute.

The "Substitution Technique" doesn't involve spatial transformation; it's more like a deception.

When attacked, the user quickly replaces their body with a prepared substitute, causing the opponent to misjudge the situation.

At this moment, the user can take the opportunity to counterattack or escape.

Thus, this technique requires the ninja to have a keen sense of timing. When used effectively, it can be a godly skill; if not, it can expose more flaws.

Nevertheless, no matter how skilled one becomes with the "Substitution Technique," it still has its limits.

As long as the process of substitution exists, there will inevitably be flaws exposed.

This minor flaw might not matter in battles between Genin and Chūnin, but when it comes to Jōnin, nearly everyone can seize such opportunities.

Therefore, in battles between Jōnin, the "Substitution Technique" is rarely used to deceive opponents.

However, this concern was a bit far from Qingming.

At this stage, the "Substitution Technique" was indeed an invaluable life-saving skill for him.

Thus, even though practicing it was quite troublesome, he felt no impatience.

After more than ten minutes, his chakra was depleted again. Qingming swallowed another military rations pill and resumed refining his chakra.

Two hours later, after restoring his chakra, he practiced the "Transformation Technique" and the "Substitution Technique" once more.

As the night grew late, Qingming finally completed his last round of training.

Compared to previous days, he had trained the "Chakra Refinement Technique" for an additional two hours today, increasing his chakra limit by two points and gaining three points in proficiency.

At the same time, the extra hundred points of chakra allowed him to increase his proficiency in both the "Transformation Technique" and the "Substitution Technique" by over ten points.

Don't underestimate this little change; as the saying goes, "little by little becomes a lot." Increasing proficiency by this much in a day would add up significantly over a month, and what about a year?

Uh, a year is a bit far off, but Qingming could still look forward to a month.

If it weren't for the fact that refining chakra and practicing ninjutsu consumed a lot of mental energy, and that eating too many military rations pills could lead to indigestion, Qingming would have really liked to pull an all-nighter.

"Ha~~~"

Stretching lazily and yawning, Qingming washed up briefly before returning to his bedroom.

Soon, familiar snoring could be heard.

Time passed second by second.

At one moment, a figure appeared on the telephone pole outside the window, a pair of crimson three-tomoe Sharingan fixed on Qingming, seemingly observing something.

After a moment, the figure vanished.

In the depths of the Uchiha clan, at the residence of the elder.

Knock knock knock~

A gentle knocking sound echoed.

"Come in!"

An elderly voice responded from within the room.

Uchiha Chihito pushed the door open, looking at the old man behind the desk, and bowed slightly. "Elder!"

"Oh, it's Chihito!"

The elder lifted his head and glanced at Uchiha Chihito, saying, "What brings you here?"

"Reporting to the elder, it's about the observations regarding Qingming."

Uchiha Chihito replied respectfully.

Upon hearing this, a glimmer of light flashed in the elder's eyes, and he leisurely asked, "So, has he awakened the Sharingan?"

"No," Uchiha Chihito shook his head and said, "After several days of observation, there has been no explosive increase in chakra within him, and his mental state seems quite stable. We can basically conclude that he does not have the potential to awaken the Sharingan."

"Is that so?"

Hearing Uchiha Chihito's response, the elder felt a tinge of disappointment, even though he had already expected it.

Generally speaking, if a clan member possesses the potential to awaken the Sharingan, they would immediately do so upon receiving a stimulus such as the death of their parents.

Even if they didn't awaken it right away, their body and spirit would show some changes, and with a little more stimulation, they could easily awaken it.

However, after learning of his parents' sacrifice, Qingming neither awakened immediately nor displayed any corresponding changes in his body afterward.

Thus, it could be concluded that he did not possess the potential to awaken the Sharingan.

"Elder, should we continue observing him?"

Seeing the elder's prolonged silence, Uchiha Chihito spoke up.

"No need."

The elder waved his hand, saying, "You can leave now."

"Yes, Elder!"

Chihito replied and exited the room.

Qingming was unaware that today was his last chance to be valued by the clan.

If he could awaken the Sharingan due to the stimulus of the condolence money, it wouldn't mean he would walk a smooth path to success, but the road ahead would definitely be much smoother.

Moreover, it would even be possible for him to secure a bodyguard during his Genin phase.

Indeed, this was the Uchiha clan. Although they were difficult to deal with externally, they were quite united internally.

Uh...

Except for that one traitor!

However, since Qingming did not awaken the Sharingan, he was destined not to enjoy the treatment of a genius.

But even if Qingming knew, he wouldn't care.

His reliance had never been on the Uchiha clan; with the proficiency panel at his disposal, he would eventually grow stronger.

Five days later.

As school was nearing its end.

Clap clap clap~

Uzumaki Ikuten clapped his hands, calling out loudly, "Everyone, gather around!"

"Teacher, what's the matter? It's almost time to leave!"

"Yeah! Really?"

"..."

Hearing Uzumaki Ikuten's call, over thirty students hurriedly gathered around him, chattering excitedly in a lively atmosphere.

Qingming stood at the edge of the crowd, saying nothing. He sensed something off from Uzumaki Ikuten's serious expression.

Sure enough, what came next confirmed his suspicion.

"Silence!"

Uzumaki Ikuten shouted, and after the crowd quieted down, he continued, "The village has decided to change your annual assessment scheduled for two weeks from now into a graduation exam.

At that time, those who pass the assessment will be granted the status of Genin in Konoha, becoming real ninjas."

Though he had anticipated this, upon hearing the news, Qingming felt a renewed sense of urgency.

However, in stark contrast to his seriousness, many students in the crowd reacted with excitement.

"Teacher, is what you said true?"

"Really, teacher? We can become ninjas ahead of time?"

"..."

Listening to these somewhat naïve responses, Qingming shook his head, thinking, "These people have been too sheltered. They don't realize the dangers of being a ninja, especially during this period."

If it were possible, Qingming would want to stay in school for his entire life.

But that was impossible.

Now, he could only hope they wouldn't be sent to the battlefield immediately after graduation. Otherwise...

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