Chapter 232: There Are No Shortcuts in Swordsmanship
Chapter 232: There Are No Shortcuts in Swordsmanship
The night passed without incident, and no one realized that Uchiha Ci had brushed past the gates of hell.
The following morning, as usual, he went to Uchiha Kagami's place for another round of merciless beatings. His proficiency with his swordsmanship visibly improved, climbing noticeably:
[Uchiha Style: Dance of the Solar Halo (S+), Proficiency: (Proficient, 41/300)]
Under Uchiha Kagami's guidance, Uchiha Ci's swordsmanship proficiency increased by 30 points. At the same time, by analyzing the increase in proficiency, he discovered that if he maintained a highly focused and error-free state, utilizing methods like adjusting his breathing, footwork, posture, and attack rhythm, the growth in his proficiency within the same time frame could exceed the norm.
These were the nuances of S+ level swordsmanship. On the other hand, his basic swordsmanship proficiency skyrocketed by dozens of points. At this rate, it seemed possible that within a few days, the proficiency in basic swordsmanship might advance from "Proficient" to "Master," which would, in turn, feed back into related skills and facilitate their upgrades as well.
Thus, he quickly thought of another way to exploit this "bug."
---
At the training ground:
After being knocked flying by a wooden sword from Uchiha Kagami and landing heavily on the ground once more, Uchiha Ci hastily raised his hand and said, "Senior Kagami, wait a moment!"
"Hm?" Uchiha Kagami raised his eyebrows slightly. He smoothly halted the descending sword strike, sheathed his wooden sword, and turned back with a puzzled expression to look at Uchiha Ci.
Uchiha Ci pointed to the Curse Mark of Heaven on his neck and proposed, "May I activate this? I think I'll improve faster in that state."
Having mastered the Sage Art: Projection of Distant Shadows, Uchiha Ci had made significant progress in suppressing the curse mark's side effects and controlling his mental state, which could easily spiral into madness.
Now, he was capable of quickly activating the second stage of the curse mark at any time. With the enhanced physical control granted by this form, he could perfectly execute the movements he envisioned in his mind, greatly increasing the efficiency of his proficiency training.
Uchiha Kagami neither agreed nor refused. He simply gazed at Uchiha Ci with calm, deeply contemplative eyes.
"Here I go then!"
With that, the lines on Uchiha Ci's neck rapidly spread out. In an instant, natural energy stored in the Curse Mark of Heaven poured into his body.
White scales stretched out from beneath his skin, forming a smooth armor-like layer across his body.
Unconsciously, his Sharingan opened, and his pupils narrowed, transforming into a pair of eerie, crimson serpent eyes.
"This is the technique Orochimaru taught you?"
Watching the transformation, Uchiha Kagami narrowed his eyes slightly, carefully observing the subtle changes in Uchiha Ci's muscle structure.
There was no doubt—under this state, even the most basic taijutsu was infused with raw, primal power.
But shortly thereafter, Uchiha Kagami shook his head with calm composure.
Without saying much, he activated his three-tomoe Sharingan, drew his wooden sword, and stood straight with one hand behind his back.
"Be careful, Senior Kagami!"
Uchiha Ci swung his wooden sword into a stance, stepped forward, and launched himself.
Whoosh!
The wooden sword in his hand slashed through the air in an instant, drawing a brown arc.
Uchiha Ci darted forward like a black mamba, his wooden sword raised high, bringing it down with a powerful diagonal strike.
However, Uchiha Kagami merely observed his movements calmly. With a flick of his arm and a twist of his waist, he gripped the wooden sword's hilt with one hand and swung it forcefully.
Clack!
The blades clashed, and wooden splinters flew.
Uchiha Kagami's eyebrows twitched as he felt the tremendous force from the impact almost split the skin of his palm. A faint trace of alarm flickered in his heart.
Still, for the sake of his dignity as a senior, he quickly suppressed his emotions and, enduring the numbing pain in his hand, coldly critiqued, "This won't do!"
As soon as he spoke, he withdrew his sword abruptly, allowing Uchiha Ci's wooden sword to fall with its momentum. This created an unavoidable opening at Uchiha Ci's waist.
In Uchiha Ci's astonished gaze, Uchiha Kagami raised his wooden sword and struck down swiftly, blocking the path of Uchiha Ci's horizontal cut and landing a sharp blow on the back of his hand with a crisp "snap!"
Following up, Uchiha Kagami delivered a powerful kick to Uchiha Ci's lower back.
The force of the kick sent him flying.
Afterward, Uchiha Kagami coughed lightly, switched the wooden sword to his other hand, and asked once more, "Being able to follow the sword path shows that your eyes are no weaker than a three-tomoe Sharingan."
"So, did you see it clearly?"
Uchiha Ci frowned slightly. With his 360-degree field of vision, he could naturally tell that this senior Uchiha had predicted his next move one, two, or even three steps ahead—almost as if he could see the "future."
But could such a thing really be achieved consistently?
"Again!"
Uchiha Ci shook his head, his crimson serpent eyes narrowing. He surged forward once more!
---
However, Uchiha Kagami merely raised his wooden sword and blocked each attack in a textbook manner. No matter what sword path Uchiha Ci used, he followed the same set of movements: first blocking, then sealing the sword path, supplementing his counters with elbow strikes, kicks, and palm slams that left Uchiha Ci utterly helpless.
This exchange continued for five minutes until the natural energy in the Curse Mark was exhausted. Uchiha Ci had no choice but to exit his curse mark state.
After the battle ended, Uchiha Ci glanced at the proficiency panel and frowned:
[Uchiha Style: Dance of the Solar Halo (S+), Proficiency: (Proficient, 43/300)]
Under normal circumstances, this round of training should have earned him 5 points of proficiency. Yet despite the improvements in stamina, strength, speed, and precision afforded by the curse mark state, the proficiency only increased by 2 points.
Where did it go wrong?
For a moment, Uchiha Ci was perplexed.
At that moment, Uchiha Kagami turned his back, clutching his trembling arms, and spoke calmly:
"Uchiha Ci, I can feel it—"
"It seems there is a goal in your heart that you cannot stop pursuing."
"But techniques and skills are two different things."
"Growing too quickly has made you instinctively rely on direct solutions to problems. However, this is detrimental, even harmful, to the practice of swordsmanship."
"Swordsmanship has no shortcuts!"
"Those who rush fail to succeed, and those who pursue minor gains will never achieve great accomplishments."
"Your eyes can no longer see the road ahead clearly. So, starting tomorrow, there's no need for further sparring."
Shaking his head, Uchiha Kagami added, "From now on, every morning, swing your sword 3,000 times here according to the sword manual."
"During this process, reflect on this: without these peculiar techniques, what do you have left?"
With that, he walked away from the training ground with a stern face, clutching his nearly fractured hand.
Uchiha Ci was left sitting in the middle of the training ground, dazed.
"What do I have left without these techniques?"
He murmured, thought for a moment, and furrowed his brows deeply.
"But aren't ninjas defined by their mastery of ninjutsu?"
After thinking it over for some time and still unable to find an answer, Uchiha Ci shook his head and stood up.
"Well, if Senior Kagami says so, there must be a reason!"
Resolving himself, he stood with legs shoulder-width apart, gripped the wooden sword's hilt, and began practicing deliberate and precise swings under the morning sun, following Uchiha Kagami's advice.
---
He trained until noon.
Noticing the time, Uchiha Ci wiped away the sweat dripping like rain, then retrieved a letter he had written the previous night from his luggage.
Regarding the White Snake Sage, the communication methods of Ryūchi Cave were no longer reliable.
Thus, he had already decided to have this letter delivered to Orochimaru through Uchiha Setsuna's network. Even if it took longer, it didn't matter.
After all, at this time, Orochimaru likely hadn't perfected the Living Corpse Reincarnation technique yet.
What Orochimaru would do upon learning of the White Snake Sage's plans, Uchiha Ci couldn't say.
But since the original story had already deviated significantly due to his actions, one more twist hardly mattered.
After all, a few more fleas don't make much of a difference.