It was night.
Inside the room.
Qingming had once again finished refining his chakra. When he opened his eyes, they were filled with exhaustion.
Even so, he forced himself to stay alert and used the chakra he had just recovered to perform the Clone Technique, one of the Three Basic Techniques.
Unlike before, his movements were clearly much more practiced now—the time it took him to form the hand seals was already within five seconds.
This was the academy's assessment standard.
But that didn't mean he had mastered the technique.
Not at all. If it were only about forming hand seals, he could easily meet the requirement.
But that was essentially useless.
When it comes to performing ninjutsu, the most important thing isn't actually the hand seals themselves, but rather the synchronization of chakra gathering and transformation during the process.
The hand seals merely assist in guiding this transformation.
If a ninja becomes proficient enough, they can simplify this process, reducing the number of seals needed—or even perform them one-handed.
Of course, all of that had little to do with Qingming for the time being.
As of now, he hadn't even gotten the basics of the Clone Technique down.
You shouldn't think about running before you've even learned to walk.
Poof~
A puff of chakra smoke dispersed, and a distorted figure appeared nearby. Judging by its appearance, it somewhat resembled Qingming.
Expressionless, Qingming gave it a glance before dispelling the clone.
After closing his eyes and thinking for a moment, Qingming once again gathered his chakra and began forming seals.
Five seconds later, another puff of chakra smoke dispersed, and a shadowy figure resembling Qingming appeared—still just as distorted.
Like that, Qingming performed the Clone Technique five times in a row. Only after using up all the chakra in his body did he stop practicing.
Taking a deep breath, Qingming summoned the interface.
But what use was any of that?
If his guess was correct, it wouldn't be long before he had to graduate. With such a short amount of time, how much could he really improve his strength?
Genin? Chūnin? Surely not Jōnin!
And even if he did somehow reach Jōnin level, what difference would it make in a war that was sweeping across the entire ninja world?
He might not even be able to change the outcome of a single local battle.
So why should he go through all this effort with so little reward?
Moreover, he was an outsider. If he suddenly increased his strength too much, he'd only draw attention to himself—ending up in the spotlight, where someone might start to suspect him and catch him slipping.
Since that's the case, it would be better to proceed step by step.
Shaking his head, Qingming stopped overthinking it. He turned and walked out of the room, returned to his bedroom, lay down on the bed, and gazed at the bright moon outside the window.
Soon, he drifted into a deep sleep.
The next day.
Afternoon.
It was still the same training field.
However, today Sugi Kiitō didn't have them spar with each other. Instead, he had them practice throwing kunai and shuriken.
Just like hand-to-hand combat, these two skills were also among the core combat techniques for a Genin. Add in the Three Basic Techniques, and you've got yourself a qualified battlefield grunt.
As for other ninjutsu?
Forget it.
Take Uchiha Qingming, for example. His talent was indeed average—but that was only in comparison to classmates from established ninja clans. If you put him among civilians, his aptitude would already be considered quite good.
If not for the fact that he had transmigrated into this body, the original Qingming wouldn't have had much chakra upon graduation either—barely enough to perform the Three Basic Techniques a few times.
If he's already like this, then one can only imagine how the civilian students must be.
In this way, learning other ninjutsu was a complete waste of time.
So it wasn't that the school was unwilling to teach more—it was simply unnecessary.
Most students with potential already had family inheritances. They didn't need the school's instruction. Those without inheritance but with potential were assigned under capable Jōnin instructors, who would train them.
With that arrangement, the school naturally didn't have to teach more.
Besides, this batch of students would likely graduate early, and their strength would definitely be weaker compared to previous years, making it even less necessary to teach them extensively.
Thud~
A kunai flew straight and nailed into a target five meters away.
Seeing this, Qingming let out a long breath.
If he had missed the target again, he really wouldn't have known what to do.
Since he started practicing, Sugi Kiitō kept glancing his way, just like when he fought with Moriki Tetsu yesterday.
Qingming knew his performance over the past two days was noticeably worse than before, and he had already prepared excuses to bluff his way out.
Unexpectedly, the instructor didn't even ask—seeming completely indifferent to him as a student.
This left Qingming unsure whether to feel relieved or disappointed.
"Interface!"
With a thought, Qingming opened the proficiency interface.
[Name: Uchiha Qingming
Age: 10
Constitution: 5
Spirit: 7
Chakra: 44 (131)
Bloodline: Sharingan · Not Awakened (51/100)
Skills:
Chakra Refining Technique: Lv0 (8/100)
Clone Technique: Lv0 (46/100)
Basic Taijutsu: Lv0 (35/100)
Ninja Tool Throwing: Lv0 (1/100)
]
As expected, with this kunai hitting the target, a new skill appeared on his interface—Ninja Tool Throwing: Lv0 (1/100)!
Riding the momentum from the previous throw, Qingming threw another kunai.
Thud! The kunai narrowly hit the target.
Immediately, on the interface, the proficiency for Ninja Tool Throwing increased to Lv0 (2/100)!
Seeing this newly gained proficiency point, Qingming's eyes lit up. If he wasn't mistaken, this skill might become the first one he would reach beginner level in.
The reason was simple: practicing Ninja Tool Throwing did not consume chakra. As long as he hadn't yet reached the level of his predecessor, he could quickly accumulate proficiency and enter the beginner rank.
That said,
Qingming glanced at Sugi Kiitō in the distance, silently wondering, "Could he have noticed something suspicious?"
Thinking this, Qingming picked up the kunai and shuriken he had thrown and moved to the ten-meter target to practice seriously.
Even with his previous experience, he missed the target multiple times.
This undoubtedly slowed his proficiency accumulation, but it was worth it.
Because when his predecessor practiced on the ten-meter target, misses also happened from time to time. Although Qingming missed more often now, at least it wasn't as obvious as missing the five-meter target.
With just a little more time, he would be able to raise his proficiency steadily, and then he wouldn't have to worry about slipping up.