A whirlwind of thoughts swirled through Seimei's mind, but he quickly reined them in, pushing distractions aside. He reached into his ninja pouch and pulled out a few enhanced soldier pills, popping them into his mouth.
Seimei chewed slowly, letting the pills restore his energy while he took a moment to rest.
Then, it was time for the next round of training.
This time, though, he didn't stay on Moon Island. Instead, he used the Flying Thunder God Technique to teleport straight to the dense, primal forest in the northeastern part of the Land of Fire.
His next step was to perform the Mind's Reflection Technique to push his Sharingan toward evolution.
No need for a specific location for that!
So, there was no reason to keep training on Moon Island.
This way, his wood clone wouldn't have to shuttle back and forth with sealing scrolls, saving a bit of chakra in the process.
In no time, Seimei summoned 365 shadow clones, splitting them into two batches.
Three hundred of them scattered throughout the forest, continuing to absorb natural energy.
The remaining 65 shadow clones found a random spot and split into smaller groups to experiment with fusing the seven types of chakra nature transformations.
Watching his clones disperse, Seimei gathered some firewood nearby, lit a small campfire, and sat cross-legged. He began performing the Mind's Reflection Technique, urging his Sharingan to evolve.
Time ticked by, second by second.
Before he knew it, night had fallen.
Seimei wrapped up his final training session of the day, letting out a big yawn. Dragging his exhausted body, he returned to Moon Island to rest.
The next morning, he was up early, diving right back into training.
This routine stretched on for five days.
As his ten-day intensive training neared its end, Seimei finally calculated how long it would take for his body to undergo its next transformation.
Thanks to his increased physical resilience, he was strengthening his body faster than before.
Even though each transformation made the next one harder, he estimated it would only take eight months for his body to transform again.
Of course, this was based on his current rate of physical enhancement. In about two months, when his Sharingan's evolution reached its critical point, that timeline would likely shorten.
In the end, compared to the five months it took last time, it might only take about a month longer.
Back then, he'd initially estimated seven months.
Snapping out of his thoughts, Seimei stopped overthinking.
He packed up his gear, double-checked everything, and then used Wind Release: Wings of Wind combined with his Chakra Cloak to take to the skies, heading toward the Hidden Leaf Village.
---
Time slipped by, swift as a shadow.
Two months passed in the blink of an eye.
It was now mid-September.
Late that night, in the Land of Fire's northeastern forest, Seimei opened his eyes, pausing the Mind's Reflection Technique.
"Panel!" he called out in his mind.
With a thought, he opened his proficiency panel.
His Sharingan's evolution progress was now at (79,620/100,000), just 380 points shy of breaking through the (80,000/100,000) milestone.
Based on past experience, he could easily make up those remaining points during his physical enhancement training and the final body transformation.
So, he decided to stop focusing on evolving his Sharingan for now.
As for the six hours he'd save each day?
He planned to dedicate that time to training The Extreme of the Body.
This would significantly boost the efficiency of his physical enhancement.
And naturally, it would push his body toward the transformation's critical point much faster.
How much faster? He'd need to test it to find out.
But that was a task for tomorrow.
For now, Seimei glanced at the sky—it was already late.
With a thought, he dispelled the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique.
After absorbing and processing the training experiences and memories from his clones over the past hour, he returned to Moon Island to rest.
The next day, Seimei woke up early.
He washed up, grabbed a quick bite to fill his stomach, and dove back into training.
This session lasted the entire day.
Late that night, inside a volcano, Seimei finished his final training round and teleported back to Moon Island. Sensing his body's progress, he estimated how long it would take for his next transformation.
Just as he'd predicted, it wouldn't take six months. In about four months—mid-January of the next year—his body would transform again.
When that happened, his Physique attribute would improve, and his Spirit attribute would follow suit.
After that, his Sharingan could continue evolving.
This brought him one step closer to achieving the Rinnegan.
Hope surged in Seimei's heart.
Four months—long or short?
It wasn't exactly short.
But the ninja world was in an unprecedented era of peace right now. When you're focused on one thing, time flies by.
Plus, with the proficiency panel, he could see his progress every single day, so it never felt dull.
All he had to do was keep training.
Thoughts flickered through his mind, but Seimei pushed them aside.
He dispelled the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique, reabsorbing all his shadow clones and processing their training experiences and memories from the past hour. Then, he headed back to his wooden hut to rest.
The next day, he was up early, training again.
And this routine stretched on for four months.
He didn't even pause for his birthday.
Or the New Year.
Seimei trained straight through to January 14 of the following year.
That afternoon, inside the volcano beneath Moon Island, Seimei completed another round of The Extreme of the Body.
But when he sensed his body, he noticed no progress at all.
A faint smile spread across his face.
He knew he'd reached the critical point for transformation.
"Phew…"
Letting out a long breath, Seimei performed The Extreme of the Body one more time to confirm. Once he was sure his body couldn't improve further, he immediately used the Flying Thunder God Technique to teleport away.
In a flash, his surroundings shifted.
In an instant, Seimei stood in the clearing at the center of Moon Island.
He paused for a moment, letting his body heal from the damage caused by the volcano's harsh environment. Then, he dispelled the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique.
Instantly, every shadow clone—on the island and beyond—dissolved.
A flood of memories, chakra, and natural energy surged into him.
Seimei quickly sorted and stored the chakra and natural energy, then sifted through the memories, absorbing the training experience they contained.
Once that was done, he didn't hesitate. He swallowed a few enhanced soldier pills to replenish his energy and began the breakthrough process.
The process was the same as always.
First, he used Human's Control to guide his body's evolution.
Then, he performed an improved version of Mystical Palm Technique, channeling Yang Release chakra into his body to fuel the transformation of his cells.