After lunch, Aozora retrieved the wooden chest.
The chest contained twenty-three ninjutsu scrolls detailing thirty-three different techniques.
He successively learned the Great Fireball Technique, Hokuto Fire Technique, Manipulated Shuriken Technique, Shadow Clone Technique, and Shifting Body Technique.
Among these, the Great Fireball Technique and Hokuto Fire Technique granted him [Fire Release: Intelligent Hard Work].
The Shadow Clone Technique improved both [Bunshin] and [Yu Qi], and activated [Embody Beyond the Self].
However, neither the Manipulated Shuriken Technique nor the Shifting Body Technique triggered any reaction from the Heavenly Book.
Now, except for the Shifting Body Technique, he had already mastered all other skills very well. So Aozora decided to add some new techniques to his repertoire.
Firstly, he placed aside two scrolls that recorded basic genjutsu techniques. At first, he had intended to learn genjutsu, but later switched focus to mastering the Shadow Clone and Shifting Body Techniques. He had only briefly looked at [Hellish Gaze Technique] and [Kasumi's Shadow Binding Technique] but hadn't started practicing them yet.
Now that his Sharingan was active, drawing Yin-natured chakra became effortless—genjutsu came much more naturally now. This was the perfect time to dive deeper into genjutsu.
After browsing for a while, he selected two more scrolls from the wooden chest, which contained the techniques [Hokuto Flower's Crimson Claw] and [Dragon Fire Technique]. These advanced Fire Release techniques were upgraded versions and derivatives of the Hokuto Fire Technique and Great Fireball Technique respectively, sharing the same origin. Aozora felt confident that mastering them wouldn't be too difficult.
After fighting against Uchiha Tetsuka, he realized that while he was still far from mastering Breath Fire, his Fire Release abilities had grown significantly stronger than most others.
Therefore, he decided to learn higher-level Fire Release techniques to strengthen his existing advantages.
Next, Aozora picked another scroll, which recorded an advanced version of the Vanishing Technique—one of the high-level Three Basic Jutsu.
Transformation, Substitution, and Shadow Clone Jutsu together were known as the "Three Basic Jutsu," while among high-level ninja, the Shifting Body, [Vanishing Technique], and Immobilization Techniques were commonly referred to as the "Advanced Three Basic Jutsu."
Of these Advanced Three Basic Techniques, the Shifting Body Technique was the most widely used—nearly every Jonin mastered it. Moreover, its development potential was great, as speed was always a major advantage in battle. This was best demonstrated by Aozora's older brother, Shisui Uchiha — after all, as the saying goes, "In martial arts, speed conquers all."
The other two Advanced Three Basic Jutsu—Immobilization and Vanishing—were not as versatile, though still effective. For instance, the [Vanishing Technique] could hide one's figure and visually conceal the person, but couldn't eliminate their scent or mask their chakra signature, making detection by enemy sensors quite likely.
The Immobilization Jutsu had been around for ages, with various versions circulating across the Ninja World. However, the standard version recognized among the Advanced Three Basic Techniques was a basic technique that used the user's own chakra to immobilize enemies.
Although it could only freeze opponents for an instant, that single moment often meant life or death on the battlefield!
Nevertheless, the Immobilization Jutsu had limitations. First, it typically only worked on ninja weaker than oneself—the higher the opponent's strength, the shorter the immobilization time, sometimes even resulting in counter-effects.
Secondly, the technique was relatively slow to activate and moved directly toward the target, making it useless against fast-moving ninja.
Despite this, among high-level ninja, both the Immobilization and Vanishing Techniques remained highly valued.
One important reason for this choice was that high-level ninja often needed to work in teams, and in such collaboration, techniques like Immobilization Jutsu and Vanishing Technique were extremely valuable, essential for stealth operations and assassinations.
Since genjutsu also acted as a form of control, Aozora decided to learn the Vanishing Technique first.
Aozora didn't choose the Vanishing Technique because he anticipated needing it for future covert missions. It was simply about preparing in advance.
Although the Vanishing Technique couldn't fool Sensor ninja, it could still allow him to escape detection by ordinary ninja.
Moreover, invisibility was a common supernatural technique described in ancient Daoist legends. Aozora believed the Heavenly Book would surely offer something new.
The Heavenly Book's version of "invisibility" might completely erase his presence, allowing him to evade even a Sensor ninja's perception.
Aozora couldn't guarantee that wandering the Ninja World wouldn't bring trouble; once he learned the Vanishing Technique, he'd have an advantage—when facing powerful enemies, whether to fight or flee would become his choice.
Most importantly, today Aozora had taken a look at the New Compound. As expected, it was surrounded by Mount Yougan, Nanaha River, and the Sealing Team.
Aozora was certain that after the Uchiha relocation was complete, Konoha would send Anbu to monitor the Uchiha Clan.
If he wanted to secretly accomplish anything in the future, he'd need strong hiding abilities.
Finally, after picking through the scrolls somewhat casually, Aozora picked up two bound together.
One of them recorded the Summoning Technique, while the other was a contract scroll with ninja ravens.
The Uchiha clan's usual summoning beasts were ninja cats, which got along well with them due to their ties with Cat Country. Proud as the Uchiha were, they didn't need overly powerful summons—ninja cats' agility and skill in support ninjutsu made them a perfect match.
The contract scroll with ninja ravens, however, had been an unexpected acquisition of Shisui Uchiha. Perhaps currently in the entire Ninja World, only Shisui had formed a contract with the Raven Clan.
Ninja ravens were nothing like ninja cats.
Ninja cats could scout and fight, having some skill in both areas—but nothing deep.
In contrast, ninja ravens were natural-born genjutsu masters, highly proficient in illusions but knowing absolutely nothing about other forms of ninjutsu.
After weighing the pros and cons of both options, Aozora decisively chose Nagare's path with the ninja ravens.
After all, he favored a cool and dashing style rather than a cute and adorable one.
Once he'd decided on his cultivation direction, Aozora returned the remaining scrolls to the box, locked it, and placed the box back where it belonged.
Originally, Aozora had wanted to study Hokuto Flower's Crimson Claw and Dragon Fire Technique first, since he already had some foundation in these techniques and they would be easier to master quickly.
However, glancing at the genjutsu scrolls, Aozora decided instead to first learn [Hellish Gaze Technique] and [Kasumi's Shadow Binding Technique]. He feared that if he delayed any longer, he would forget about them altogether.
At present, what he lacked most was a controlling technique—he had to correct this weakness. Learning genjutsu would also deepen his understanding of illusions, thus helping him better defend against them. He certainly didn't believe that even awakening the Sharingan made him immune to genjutsu.
Laying out the scroll, Aozora began reading every word carefully.
After finishing the reading, Aozora did not immediately start practicing the two techniques. Instead, he steeled his mind and sank into his Spiritual Sea.
Looking at the single drop of gongde remaining on the Heavenly Book, Aozora gave it a moment's thought before visualizing ['Yu Qi'].
The golden droplet quickly merged into the ancient characters glowing with a faint golden light. Soon, the words "Yu Qi" transformed into pure gold.
Aozora estimated that it would take only two or three units of Gongde to fully complete "Yu Qi."
After briefly performing a sensing on the new knowledge within "Yu Qi," Aozora began practicing the two genjutsu techniques.
Since learning several ninjutsu techniques, Aozora had gotten much better at understanding how each one used chakra through hand seals.
The Hellish Gaze Technique and Kasumi's Shadow Binding Technique were both categorized as Basic Genjutsu techniques, no more difficult than the Great Fireball Technique. Therefore, after practicing each one or two times, Aozora completely mastered them.
When the Hellish Gaze Technique was correctly performed, the Celestial Manuscript absorbed all the cold and sinister chakra.
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