Chapter 11: Expectation

Three days later, at 2:00 p. m.

A cool breeze blew past, and the vines twined around the fence in the courtyard swayed lightly, making a soft 'shasha' sound.

Beneath the eaves, the faded red thread hung wind chime bore pale yellow, slender bamboo tubes and variously colored shells that swayed gently, weaving a clear, delicate, and tranquil melody.

Bright sunshine slipped through the crack in the window, pouring into the room like a mischievous girl who had grown feet, darting past the elegant cabinet, leaping onto the small wooden table, and pausing momentarily atop the thick stack of scrolls, documents, and notes.

Then it spread across the floor to the sofa, reaching the peaceful, handsome face asleep there, gently stroking his slightly furrowed brow.

A gentle breeze stirred, and the golden light danced in the wind; as it swayed, the golden hem brushed his profile, as if giving him a shy kiss, leaving a faint warmth.

"Mmm!" Yuzhibo Dongshilang jolted awake, sat up from the sofa, glanced at the scattered notes on the table, and pinched his temples, making himself much clearer-headed.

The scrolls and books on the table mostly covered techniques for refining, gathering, and controlling chakra. Over the past two months, aside from his training, he would always set aside time to read them one by one. Whenever he reached a profound passage or had a doubt or speculation, he would record it in the notebook he had specially prepared. He deeply agreed that a good memory is no match for a bad pen.

He rose, gathered the scattered materials and notes on the table, then went to the bathroom to wash his face with cool water, refreshed himself, and returned to the living room.

"Dong Shilang Wolf! Are you home? We've come to play with you!" At that moment, Yuzhibo Longhuo's loud, carefree voice came from the courtyard outside, accompanied by the noisy chatter of his friends.

Indeed, it was "Dong Shilang Wolf" rather than "Dong Shilang," as the Werewolf game spread among the clan's children these past days. As the game's inventor, and having often played roles like the Hook Wolf and Charge Wolf in the game, the surrounding friends marveled at his insight and thus bestowed this nickname upon him.

"Don't go giving people such meaningless nicknames, you idiot!" As the game spread among the clan's little ones, Yuzhibo Dongshilang also discovered an interesting trait.

No one knows why, but everyone tacitly agreed not to spread the game outside; they only played together within the Uchiha clan's grounds. A sense of subtle superiority, "I have what you lack," permeated the group of children.

"Not today! Someone will be delivering the items we previously ordered later; we can't have nobody at home then!"

"Is that so?" Yuzhibo Longhuo felt as if struck a heavy blow, his expression somewhat displeased. Suddenly, as if he had thought of something, his spirits lifted greatly.

"How about we play at Dong Shilang's house today?"

"No way!" He mercilessly rejected Yuzhibo Longhuo's suggestion again. "Just kidding"—if these little brats came inside to play another afternoon, who knows what mess they'd make? Later, wouldn't it still be him and Yuzhibo Meixiang who'd have to clean up?

After a few words to send off his newly made companions of the past few days, Yuzhibo Dongshilang did not return to the main house but entered the building on the left side.

This old house, passed down from the ancestors, has a distinctive layout. The central area is the family's living space, containing bedrooms, kitchen, living room, bathroom, and dining room. To the right lies an open training hall used for the children's practice.

The building on the left, however, resembles a ninja weapons depot. Inside are shuriken, kunai, steel wires, Fuma shuriken, small tachi, katana. Also displayed here are ninja vests, arm guards, cloaks, and other ninja gear.

Yuzhibo Dongshilang also saw, inside one of the chests, a set of crimson lamellar armor in a Warring States style. He found no explosive tags or poisonous items—likely they had been removed beforehand.

Taking a rag and oil from the cabinet inside the house, Yuzhibo Dongshilang began carefully maintaining each weapon one by one. This was also a task assigned to him by Yuzhibo Meixiang.

In her view, given Yuzhibo Dongshilang's precocity, it was no bad thing for him to learn beforehand about the items ninjas use in missions and combat. After teaching him how to maintain these weapons and supervising him once, she handed the task over to him.

Half an hour later, after finishing the work at hand, Yuzhibo Dongshilang picked up a wooden sword and headed toward the training hall on the left.

Holding his breath and focusing, Dong Shilang gripped the wooden sword with both hands, his eyes fixed dead ahead on the dummy's vital points—head, neck, heart, kidneys, and so on.

"Ha!" With a loud shout, Dong Shilang poured nearly all his strength into a single strike aimed at the dummy's face, producing a dull 'thud' as the wooden sword hit the wooden dummy.

Feeling the recoil from the violent impact at the hilt and the numbness in his palms, he did not stop; instead, he increased his speed, slashing, chopping, thrusting, and sweeping at the dummy's vital points.

Such an all‑out burst always leads quickly to a lull. Yet within just ten minutes, the thuds of the wooden sword striking the dummy, coming in rapid succession like a sudden downpour, grew slower and slower until they were barely audible.

After thirty minutes, Yuzhibo Dongshilang, panting and drenched in sweat, had no choice but to halt his movements and end this training session.

Returning to the living room, Yuzhibo Dongshilang picked up the prepared saline water, gulped a mouthful, then exhaled deeply. He casually grabbed the apple prepared on the table and took a big bite, then sat on the sofa to rest.

In his mind he recalled the various books and materials he had browsed over the past few months, as well as his memories from his previous life of the anime Naruto.

Chakra, the ninjas' source of power, is produced by mixing a person's mental and physical energy. In more scientific terms, mental energy originates from the human brain.

As a person's knowledge, experience, age, and repeated mental breakthroughs—or elevations—increase, so does mental energy. Physical energy, however, is gained through repeated grueling physical training, injury recovery, food replenishment, and continually pushing past one's limits, growing with age.

There should also be corresponding training methods for Yin Release and Yang Release. However, after searching through all the books in the house, he found nothing. With no alternative, Yuzhibo Dongshilang could only improve himself through arduous training.

"Hmm! In the clan's secret archives, there ought to be manuals for Yin Release and Yang Release. For now I won't mention it, but later I must find a way to get hold of them…" In the Uchiha clan, Yang Release is set aside for the moment; at the very least, the method for cultivating Yin Release surely exists.