The correct way for the Uchiha to rise

Orochimaru, facing five kunai, used the Hidden Shadow Snake Hand technique to deflect three of them, easily dodging the other two. At that moment, Sakuro Sarutobi and Nawaki also completed their hand seals for their ninjutsu.

"Water Release: Water Arrow Technique".

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough"

Two ninjutsu techniques were aimed directly at Orochimaru.

Faced with this, Orochimaru finally used his ninjutsu once again.

"A major breakthrough in Wind Release techniques."

It's the same ninjutsu as Sarutobi Saku, but its power is much greater.

However, before the two ninjutsu could clash, Uchiha Kiyoshi also unleashed his own ninjutsu, "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique."

A fireball the size of a fist hurtled toward Orochimaru's Wind Release technique.

Compressing its size to the size of a fist not only makes it more powerful, but also makes it much faster.

Under Uchiha Kiyoshi's control, the fireball arrived next to the trajectory of Orochimaru's Wind Release technique and exploded.

Although it didn't cause any damage to Orochimaru's breakthrough, it did fundamentally change the direction of this ninjutsu.

Orochimaru was caught off guard by Uchiha Kiyoshi's move and was overwhelmed by the two ninjutsu.

The two of them breathed a sigh of relief, but the sound coming from beside them sent chills down his spine.

"Not bad, both of your ninjutsu are quite powerful."

Just as Nawaki was about to do something, Orochimaru struck him from behind, kicking him away and rendering him unable to fight.

On the other side, Sarutobi Saku was also approached by Orochimaru. However, unlike Nawaki, who had abundant chakra and was able to fight back, Sarutobi Saku had almost no chakra left after using the Great Breakthrough, a C-rank ninjutsu. Faced with Orochimaru's surprise attack, he had no power to resist and was eliminated directly.

Having dealt with the two spies, Orochimaru returned to Uchiha Kiyoshi's side.

Uchiha Kiyoshi was also helpless. He couldn't get there in time. Orochimaru's Body Flicker Technique was too much. Who could catch up now?

The Great Fireball consumed a large amount of his chakra, so he was quickly defeated in Orochimaru's next attack.

Chapter Thirty-One: Three Months

As it turned out, Uchiha Kiyoshi overestimated the strength of his three companions; they were wiped out in just five minutes. As for Orochimaru using the Body Flicker Technique, would you dare argue with him?

This battle clearly showed that although Uchiha Kiyoshi had a solid foundation and many of his strategies were effective, he still couldn't escape his lack of combat experience.

Although Uchiha Kiyoshi had honed his agility by fighting wild beasts in the mountains for the past few years, those beasts were, after all, wild beasts, devoid of intelligence, and fought purely on instinct. Once Uchiha Kiyoshi figured out their patterns, he could easily dodge them. But things would be different from now on. As a ninja, Uchiha Kiyoshi's future enemies would all be ninjas.

The most distinctive characteristic of ninjas is their pinnacle combat skills, which can even be described as an art. Even with their bodies weakened, they utilize various ninjutsu and tactics to defeat their enemies. This is a battle of wits, especially for those before reaching the Jonin level, where tactics and experience are crucial.

However, Uchiha Kiyoshi was also inexperienced in both of these aspects. His experience in fighting against ninjas and his tactics were all imagined and constructed by himself. He had not experienced real battles and was not yet mature.

"Humph!"

Looking at the three people with their heads drooping, Orochimaru snorted coldly and released a massive aura that made the three of them almost unable to breathe.

"Who do you think you are? Your opponent is a Jonin. Even if he's suppressing his strength, his combat experience and skills are beyond your imagination. Do you really think you can last much longer under my command?"

Although they knew Orochimaru probably wouldn't do anything serious, Orochimaru's chilling tone and the murderous aura he exuded made the three members of Team 3 feel as if they had fallen into an ice cellar.

As Orochimaru withdrew his killing intent, the three of them gasped for breath like drowning people, their backs soaked with sweat.

"Is this what a Jonin is? Just a wisp of killing intent he releases is enough to send chills down your spine. How many people must one kill to cultivate such an aura? What about a Kage-level or even Super Kage-level powerhouse?"

Uchiha Kiyoshi was panting heavily, shocked by the aura Orochimaru had just released. It was even more powerful than he had imagined. It seemed that he had been somewhat theoretical before and had not truly witnessed the real strength of a Jonin.

At the same time, Uchiha Kiyoshi witnessed firsthand that even within the ninja system, the difference in true strength between individuals of different ranks was immense. This further solidified his belief in becoming stronger, in possessing the power to control his own destiny. Leaving aside anything else, like saving the world, his greatest motivation was simply not wanting to be easily eliminated by stronger individuals.

"If that aura just now was that of a Jonin, then my estimation was inaccurate. It seems that it's difficult to reach Jonin level in a short time. I can only reach Special Jonin level as soon as possible, or at least the peak of Elite Chunin level, so that I can awaken the Sharingan and make good use of it. Even if it's just a two-tomoe Sharingan, it will greatly improve my strength. Only in this way can I progress faster and reach Jonin level as soon as possible."

Orochimaru released his aura to intimidate the three people, and he was very satisfied with their performance.

"Although you lost the battle a bit quickly, your overall strength is still acceptable. It's just that your tactics and combat experience are too limited. From now on, you will have to have a battle every day, whether it's a battle against me or a battle between you. This step cannot be skipped."

Oh, and your rewards.

With that, Orochimaru tossed out three scrolls, one for each of the three people.

Among them, Sakuro Sarutobi received training experience in ninjutsu, Nawaki received notes on various combat techniques, and Kiyoshi Uchiha received a different kind of notebook—a scroll of Earth Release ninjutsu. Both of these notebooks contained explanations of chakra control training.

It must be said that the scrolls Orochimaru gave the three were perfectly suited to them. Sarutobi Saku was a typical one-man swordsman; he didn't seem to lack ninjutsu, but needed to control its release and minimize chakra waste. Nawaki, on the other hand, had terrible combat skills; it's a mystery how he survived under Tsunade for so many years. He seemed only capable of taking hits, and his counter-attacks were always clumsy. Therefore, he was given notes on combat techniques to study on his own, hoping to master them in future battles.

As for Uchiha Kiyoshi, Orochimaru admired his control over the Great Fireball Technique, so what he needed was not deeper training, but other new ninjutsu.

Orochimaru was quite satisfied with the direction of his three subordinates. Two damage dealers and one support was a good combination, considering there were only three of them.

Saku Sarutobi's future development will focus on burst damage output, while Nawaki will be a sustained damage dealer; the two will be the main sources of damage. Kiyoshi Uchiha will have a more complex role, serving as both a tank and a healer, making him a crucial component. Orochimaru, who is in the same team as Tsunade, naturally understands the benefits of Kiyoshi as a medical ninja. Not only can he provide timely healing after injury, greatly increasing survivability, but more importantly, he can also heal during battle, enhancing endurance.

Of course, to free up his hands to treat her, he would need to create a shadow clone, so Uchiha Kiyoshi would need a lot of chakra, otherwise he would collapse after a short while. It seems that Uchiha Kiyoshi's chakra reserves are quite good. Although he can't compare to Nawaki, a ninja from the Senju clan, he has at least twice as much as Sarutobi Saku.

Saku Sarutobi's chakra reserves are around 30 to 40 calories, which is enough for a single C-rank ninjutsu. Even so, this is considered a lot among his peers; many other ninjas only have 10 to 20 calories, and some commoner ninjas have less than 10 calories.

Although Orochimaru had arranged the training for the group very thoroughly, he had no time to explain to them. He only left them with the words, "Practice according to the scroll. He will check the results. If you don't learn well..." The three of them quickly promised to train hard.

After arranging the three's training, Orochimaru disappeared with a Body Flicker Technique. He had other things to do and didn't have much time to supervise the three kids' practice; checking their training progress daily would suffice.

After Orochimaru left, Nawaki could no longer hold on and collapsed to the ground.

"That was terrifying just now. How many people did he kill? Even my sister doesn't have that kind of murderous aura."

"Yes, Orochimaru-sensei's personality is terrifying. I always feel a bit creepy about him."

......

Soon, thanks to the energetic "efforts" of Nawaki, Sarutobi Saku became familiar with the two of them.

Training time flew by, and three months passed in the blink of an eye.

The three of them not only had to undergo the training prescribed by Orochimaru, but also complete the assigned tasks. With Nawaki as a burden, Kiyoshi Uchiha's workload was also enormous. However, even though Kiyoshi was well-prepared, he found himself struggling with those D-rank missions. If it weren't for the relatively high pay for the missions, Kiyoshi Uchiha wouldn't have been able to keep going.

Chapter Thirty-Two: Earth Escape

Three months have passed, and the three of them have made very rapid progress.

In the occasional battles between Orochimaru and the three of them, facing Orochimaru's ruthless moves, the three of them also used their own moves frequently, and their potential was explored to the maximum extent.

Name: Uchiha Kiyoshi (10 years old)

Chakra: 134 calories / 134 calories (156 calories)

Nature Transformation: Fire Release, Earth Release (Beginner)

Ninjutsu: Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall (simplified version), omitted.

Secret Technique: Omitted

Others: Fire-Sealing Seal, etc.

Under three months of extreme pressure, Uchiha Kiyoshi's progress reached its fastest pace ever, doubling his chakra reserves in just three months. The other two were roughly the same, with Sarutobi Saku's chakra also increasing to around fifty-something kilocalories. This is where Uchiha Kiyoshi's body-cultivation technique truly shone. With the same training intensity, Uchiha Kiyoshi not only increased his chakra reserves but also achieved a higher multiplier than Sarutobi Saku. This was mainly because after each period of intense exertion, Uchiha Kiyoshi's physical abilities improved even more rapidly through the nourishment provided by his body-cultivation technique. Furthermore, the solid foundation built through over three years of training in this technique allowed him to progress so quickly.

Nawaki's chakra was impossible to discern, far exceeding Uchiha Kiyoshi's measurement range. Uchiha Kiyoshi estimated chakra by sensing it unit by unit. As his chakra level increased, he might have been able to count it, which would likely improve his counting ability considerably. However, at present, Uchiha Kiyoshi could only accurately determine a couple hundred calories of chakra in a short period. As for Nawaki, a rough estimate was still possible, roughly six or seven times his own, which was about a thousand calories.

At that moment, Uchiha Kiyoshi almost went into a rage. Just the fact that Nawaki possessed so much chakra made him question the meaning of life. Indeed, in the ninja world, bloodline is paramount. Nawaki himself, being a member of the Senju clan's Sage Body, likely had many advantages, such as regenerative abilities. Add to that his grandmother's pure Uzumaki clan Sage Body, and his chakra reserves were immense. Even if it wasn't fully inherited, it still brought him considerable benefits.

However, Uchiha Kiyoshi, who believed more in science than bloodline, was not completely devastated. He was only momentarily dazed before recovering. Besides, he wasn't jealous of his own Uchiha bloodline.

Today, Sakumo Sarutobi and Nawaki were sparring on the side, while Kiyoshi Uchiha was practicing Earth Release techniques on the other side.

Speaking of Earth Release ninjutsu, Uchiha Kiyoshi quite admired Orochimaru. The ninjutsu scroll Orochimaru gave him that day was a training method for the B-rank ninjutsu, Earth Release: Wall. Normally, Uchiha Kiyoshi wouldn't have been able to learn it with his limited chakra. However, Orochimaru's talent in ninjutsu was truly outstanding; he simplified this B-rank ninjutsu, reducing its chakra consumption to only a few dozen calories, equivalent to a C-rank ninjutsu. After learning this simplified version of Earth Release: Wall, once Uchiha Kiyoshi's chakra level increased, he could directly transition to the true Earth Release: Wall technique.

Orochimaru's idea at the time was based on Uchiha Kiyoshi's fighting style, and Earth Release was more suitable, so he gave him an Earth Release ninjutsu. As for Uchiha Kiyoshi's chakra nature, he didn't consider it. He could just train Earth Release first and then develop it slowly. Although the power it could unleash was a bit small, it still suited Uchiha Kiyoshi's situation.

Orochimaru was unaware that Uchiha Kiyoshi actually possessed earth-style abilities, though even if he had known, he wouldn't have cared.

Three months was enough time for Uchiha Kiyoshi to learn the simplified version of Earth Release: Earth Wall. With four years of research into the principles of hand seals, Uchiha Kiyoshi was also very fast at learning ninjutsu. He successfully released the ninjutsu in just over half a month. In the following two months, Uchiha Kiyoshi also practiced the hand seal process and is now able to use it in actual combat.

A week ago, after checking on Uchiha Kiyoshi's training progress, Orochimaru didn't say anything, but he was still quite satisfied. After all, although the chakra consumption was less, the difficulty was still half a level higher than a C-rank ninjutsu.

Orochimaru left after dropping off another Earth Release scroll.

This time, Orochimaru gave him Earth Release: Earth Spikes, a ninjutsu that creates earth spikes on the ground. It's considered quite advanced even among C-rank ninjutsu.

Unlike his previous training with Earth Release: Earth Wall, which required studying many unfamiliar Earth Release micro-circuits, Uchiha Kiyoshi had the experience from last time. The number of micro-circuits he needed to compare was greatly reduced, and within a week, he had basically figured it out.

Uchiha Sei calmed himself down, began forming hand seals, and focused his attention on the mobilization of chakra within his body.

As he performed the hand seals, Uchiha Kiyoshi also coordinated the circulation of chakra within his body, creating one small cycle after another.

After four years of research on hand seals, Uchiha Kiyoshi had gained a general understanding of the principles behind ninjutsu release. Similar to the techniques of sealing jutsu, different ways of circulating chakra within the body produce different effects, and many special effects in ninjutsu are granted by specific chakra circulation.

Uchiha Kiyoshi called these processes, which resembled the flow of chakra from his lower abdomen to his arms and back, "small cycles." This is also the basis for releasing ninjutsu corresponding to sealing techniques. By performing different small cycles in a specific order, various ninjutsu can be released.

These small cycles, which Uchiha Kiyoshi summarized over the past four years, number in the hundreds. To facilitate memorization, he categorized and numbered them. Cycles passing through the brain begin with the letter "甲" (jia), while those for the limbs begin with "乙" (yi), "丙" (bing), "丁" (ding), and "戊" (wu). The torso is also divided into several regions, such as the internal organs, which are represented by the letters A, B, C, and D. Cycles passing through two or more parts are arranged in chronological order; for example, a cycle starting from the lower abdomen, passing through the brain, then the heart, and returning begins with "'甲A'". The "'" refers to the lower abdomen.

As for the order of the numbers, Uchiha Kiyoshi did not arrange them randomly, but planned to sort them first as he learned ninjutsu, figuring out the function of each small cycle first.

Therefore, this task can only be accomplished through learning a large number of ninjutsu techniques; it's not something that can be done overnight. Orochimaru happens to be the ninja with the most ninjutsu techniques in the entire ninja world, second only to the Professor of Ninjutsu and Tobirama Senju. With him, how could one possibly worry about not learning enough ninjutsu techniques?

Uchiha Kiyoshi first performed a "B" cycle, which involved drawing chakra from his lower abdomen to his spleen (earth element), and then circulating it within the spleen without returning to his lower abdomen. He then divided the chakra remaining in his spleen into three streams, performing three smaller cycles: "B1", "Bding (left leg) 3", and "Bwu (right leg) 3". He then performed several similar processes, with most of the chakra ultimately flowing into his legs, except for the chakra remaining in his spleen. Finally, with the completion of the last hand seal, he performed two more cycles: "Bding 1" and "Bwu 1", injecting all the chakra into his legs.

Then, Uchiha Kiyoshi controlled the chakra in his legs to flow into the ground, and kept controlling it until it was five meters away from him. With a thought from Uchiha Kiyoshi, three soil spikes, each five centimeters thick and twenty or thirty centimeters long, suddenly appeared on the previously flat ground.

"Success!"

Seeing the three earthen spikes sprouting from the ground, Uchiha Kiyoshi was also excited. Sure enough, his theory was useful. With a grasp of the basics, learning ninjutsu would be much more efficient. As he became more familiar with the functions of various small cycles, mastering ninjutsu in seconds would be no problem.

"I guess the Uchiha clan's Sharingan copying ninjutsu was just a copy of the opponent's chakra circulation, right?"

Uchiha Kiyoshi also thought of the Sharingan's copying ability of his Uchiha clan, and at this moment, he had a certain understanding of the principle of this copying.

Chapter Thirty-Three: Rank C Mission

As Uchiha Kiyoshi learned the Earth Spike Technique, Nawaki and Sarutobi Saku, who were engaged in battle, noticed the commotion and stopped to run over to check on the situation.

"Wow! Qing, you're amazing! You've only been learning Earth Spikes for a week, which is much faster than when you learned Earth Flow Wall last time."

"Nonsense, although the simplified version of Earth Release: Earth Wall last time consumed less chakra, its difficulty still reached the threshold of B-rank ninjutsu. How could the learning difficulty be the same?"

Over the course of three months, the three of them became quite familiar with each other, and Sarutobi Saku would occasionally refute Nawaki's mindless remarks.

"I need to practice more. Right now, I can only release one ninjutsu, and I need to concentrate my full attention during that time. It's completely unusable in actual combat, and I still can't guarantee that I can use it."

Faced with Uchiha Kiyoshi's modesty, neither of them believed him. It was quite remarkable that he could learn to release a new ninjutsu in just one week. The process of mastering it wasn't difficult either. The most important thing was that he had already completed the process. How far away was it from being able to use it in actual combat?