Chapter 24: Shifting Body Technique Training

The next morning, before the sky had even lightened, Uchiha Aozora was already awake.

After a quick wash and refreshment, he stored some food and training aids inside a sealing scroll, then made his way to the mountaintop beside the Uchiha Compound.

Sitting atop the peak with legs crossed, Aozora meditated through controlled breathing, circulating chakra throughout his body to enhance his familiarity with its control.

When he sensed the approaching dawn, Aozora guided a thin thread of chakra into his eyes.

Unlike activating the Sharingan, when this strand of chakra entered his eyes, he felt a cool sensation.

Gradually increasing the amount of chakra, Aozora began feeling pressure in his eyes. At the same time, the world before him became significantly clearer and brighter.

Even though the sun hadn't risen yet and the surroundings remained dim, he could clearly see scattered pebbles on the ground and wild grass growing by the roadside.

When his eyes began to sting slightly, Aozora quickly stopped channeling chakra.

After adjusting to his sharpened vision, Aozora stared toward the horizon, waiting for the first light of dawn.

As the faintest trace of white appeared in the eastern sky, his eyes suddenly widened. He intently observed every hue and ray of color in the morning clouds.

With the sunrise, the sky gradually turned golden under the morning glow, and Aozora finally withdrew his gaze.

He exhaled slowly, ending his Yang Eye training session.

"Purple cosmic energy or whatever—why can't I see that? Thought I might develop the Mystic Purple Eyes."

Aozora gave a small shake of his head, a flicker of disappointment lingering in his chest.

But soon enough, he shrugged off this minor disappointment.

Shibi Aburame had only given him two days off. Originally, he planned to focus entirely on training the Shifting Body Technique. However, the family meeting had disrupted his schedule, costing him precious time.

Now with just one day left, Aozora decided to dedicate the entire day to practicing the Shifting Body Technique.

Uchiha Aozora pulled a rice ball from his sealing scroll, chewed it thoughtfully, and then walked into the dense forest at the base of the mountain.

This forest was filled with towering trees, each trunk thick and sturdy—so solid that even a sword strike from a normal person would leave only a shallow mark.

Moreover, these trees defied natural spacing patterns, growing densely packed so that another massive tree stood every three to five meters.

Clearly, it was a perfect place to practice the Shifting Body Technique.

Aozora didn't begin training immediately. Although he was tough-skinned and hardy, he still felt pain like anyone else. Running straight into those trunks would definitely hurt.

So he retrieved multiple blankets and pillows from his sealing scroll, wrapping the nearby tree trunks in blankets while tying the pillows facing outward onto the trees.

With thorough safety measures in place, Aozora began his training in the Shifting Body Technique.

This time, he did not activate his Sharingan during training.

Firstly, using the Sharingan consumed too much chakra, which would have left little remaining for practicing the technique itself.

Secondly, while the Sharingan was powerful, Aozora also wanted to strengthen the sensitivity of his other five senses.

During combat, he didn't mind using the Sharingan, but in daily training, he preferred to strengthen his other five senses to compensate for weaknesses.

Chakra surged beneath his feet as Uchiha Aozora shot forward in a flash.

Thanks to yesterday's training, he had initially grasped the proper use of the Body Flicker Technique—understanding how much distance a specific chakra output could cover. Thus, he smoothly bypassed three trees unharmed.

However, when dodging the third tree, due to being too close, he instantly erupted with chakra and space-time energy, causing him to turn sharply and crash into another nearby tree.

Since he had wrapped the tree with blankets beforehand, Aozora wasn't seriously hurt—merely scraping some skin while rolling on the ground.

This outcome hadn't surprised Uchiha Aozora in the least.

With a quick kip-up, he sprang back to his feet and shouted, "Again!"

The Body Flicker Technique wasn't like ordinary Ninjutsu such as the Great Fireball Technique—learning it was just the beginning; only through mastery could one truly utilize its power.

Otherwise, relying on an incomplete grasp of the technique in battle was practically volunteering for a beatdown.

"Crash!"

"Crash!"

"Crash!"

"…"

Crashing into trees over and over, then falling to the ground time after time.

Uchiha Aozora didn't stop—he kept getting back up to continue training.

After depleting his chakra, rather than returning home, Aozora ate some food to replenish himself before refining more chakra and resuming practice once again.

Every second on the battlefield is bought with ten years of unseen toil.

To train hard so you don't bleed hard.

He understood these principles well. In his previous peaceful life, he still had room for laziness. But in the Ninja World, Aozora knew that slackening off meant insufficient power, leading inevitably to death and clan annihilation.

Now, Third Generation Hiruzen Sarutobi's intentions remained unknown, but Danzo Shimura—who proposed the relocation plan—definitely harbored murderous intent toward the Uchiha.

Though he had crossed over into this Ninja World, apart from the day before yesterday, he hadn't yet taken any action influencing the story. Yet who could foresee that even a butterfly flapping its wings across the Pacific might set off the butterfly effect and unleash a typhoon?

Once the Uchiha Relocation Plan was put into motion, the entire clan would be on the verge of annihilation.

Yet currently, his power remained too weak, and his prestige too low.

Therefore, no matter how convincingly he argued, his words would ultimately be dismissed as nonsense.

When easily suppressed by Fugaku Uchiha, Aozora realized that strength dictated hierarchy—it was the real rule of the Ninja World.

If he possessed Jonin-level strength, Fugaku Uchiha would have at least listened carefully to what he said.

If he were Kage-level, the village would deeply reconsider every decision regarding the Uchiha.

If he reached power beyond the Kage level, the Uchiha wouldn't have to grovel before Konoha anymore—they'd be free to carve out their own dominion anywhere they chose.

If he achieved Six Paths-level strength, building a sanctuary on the Moon itself for the Uchiha to dwell in would become a real possibility.

Realizing the importance of power, Aozora abandoned even the slightest thought of laziness. Again and again, he fell down—only to rise again. Gradually, in his flickering movements, he maneuvered past three trees, four trees… eventually surpassing even those areas he'd padded with quilts and pillows.

Now when he slammed into a tree, there was no padding—just the hard, gnarled bark meeting his face.

And the thick branches in the forest tore through Uchiha Aozora's clothes as he sped forward, carving a series of shallow to deep wounds across his body.

As more wounds crisscrossed his skin, Uchiha Aozora came to believe that humans were born with a kind of self-destructive instinct.

Wherever he'd padded himself, he kept messing up, no matter how many times he tried; but the moment he stripped it all off, he stopped making the same mistakes.

Based on this observation, Uchiha Aozora decisively removed the padding that afternoon and let his injuries teach him the feel of [Shifting Body Technique].

Sure enough, without the padding, Uchiha Aozora felt his mastery of [Shifting Body Technique] suddenly accelerate. Naturally, along with this came a rapid increase in bodily injuries.

When the sun finally dipped below the horizon, every inch of Uchiha Aozora's body was bruised, cut, or bleeding.

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