Through over a year of research into chakra, combined with insights from books and memories of his past life, Uchiha Chi understood that a normal shinobi possesses chakra of only one of the five elemental natures.
Possessing two or more was a rarity, while mastering all five was an absolute, one-in-a-million prodigy feat. Uchiha Chi had a gut feeling that fusing the five elements of water, fire, wind, lightning, and earth might be the correct path for chakra cultivation, but lacking any proof, he could only bury the idea deep in his heart.
As for the Yin and Yang releases, theoretically everyone possessed them.
Combining the knowledge from his two lives, Uchiha Chi deduced that the foundation of Yin Release was spiritual energy, whereas the foundation of Yang Release was physical energy. Anyone with chakra inherently possessed both Yin and Yang releases, since chakra itself is composed of spiritual and physical energy. However, he believed there were only two ways to truly activate them.
The first was a quantitative change: when a person's spiritual and physical energies combined to form chakra, if the ratio became imbalanced to a certain degree, the corresponding Yin or Yang release would naturally emerge. This was how the vast majority of people acquired it.
This method could be achieved later in life through superb self-control and special chakra extraction techniques, but it would only yield either Yin or Yang release, never both.
The second path was a qualitative change: once a person's physical and spiritual energies underwent a qualitative shift, they would inevitably attain the corresponding Yin or Yang chakra attribute, and this variety was far more stable.
Take the Senju and the Uchiha, for instance. As descendants of Asura and Indra, affected by their own bloodlines, their innate spiritual or physical energy existed in an incomplete state of qualitative change, which would only be further reinforced as their bloodlines awakened.
Consequently, after the Senju integrated into Konoha, many people within the village possessed Yang Release—the very foundation that enabled Konoha to establish the most perfect medical system in the shinobi world in later years.
Uchiha Chi theorized that when both methods of mastering Yin Release were achieved, one might qualify to attain the ultimate Yin Release. Of course, this was merely a hypothesis; how it actually worked remained to be verified by him in the future.
Similarly, Uchiha Chi believed that the combination of Yin and Yang releases into Yin-Yang Release should boast a might inferior to none, even the fusion of all five elements, though this too remained a conjecture.
With this thought, Uchiha Chi suddenly struck upon an idea: if a member of the Uchiha Clan engaged in continuous spiritual cultivation, could they awaken their eyes upon reaching a certain threshold?
At this thought, his heart raced, and he felt a strong urge to try. Possessing a healthy and mature worldview, he craved the power of the Sharingan, yet wished to avoid the excruciating pain that came with it. Moreover, as a mature individual whose rationality had long since overpowered his emotions, it would not be easy for him to experience that kind of agony. After all, he would never invest his most genuine feelings into others; without deep emotional attachment, how could such profound pain ever arise?
Thus, over this recent period, Uchiha Chi grew increasingly enthusiastic about practicing the Meditation Technique for spiritual power. After all, this was genuine, tangible power—power that allowed one to grasp their own destiny.
That evening, Uchiha Chi was waiting for dinner in the dining room when Uchiha Mikoto returned. Catching sight of Uchiha Chi, she hurried over, pulled a small pouch from the school bag she was carrying, and said, "Chi, here you are. This is an admission gift I bought for you." With that, she patted Uchiha Chi on the head and flashed a bold, spirited smile.
Uchiha Chi glanced down at the gift. It was a shinobi pouch for beginners, containing three unsharpened kunai, ten shuriken, and a handful of senbon—all unsharpened, naturally—along with a few other miscellaneous items.
What delighted Uchiha Chi the most was the inclusion of an extra short sword. Although it did not contain Chakra Metal, the material was of exceptional quality and the craftsmanship was top-notch, clearly worth a pretty penny. It left him thoroughly satisfied.
Uchiha Chi was overjoyed in his heart, but his body instinctively replied, "Thank you, Elder Sister."
Moments later, Uchiha Chi calculated in his mind that Uchiha Mikoto's private purse definitely couldn't cover this; she didn't usually have the habit of saving money, so she must have asked Uchiha Chiri for extra funds.
A tiny swell of warmth touched Uchiha Chi's heart. He took the ninja tools out of the pouch, examined them closely, and felt immensely happy. If he had had to buy them himself, his own private funds would have fallen a bit short, and he had even planned to borrow some from Uchiha Mikoto.
Especially the short sword—he had long harbored the idea of practicing Kenjutsu, and it seemed Uchiha Mikoto understood his needs very well. As for the swords around the house, since they were all sharpened and exceptionally keen, Uchiha Chiri would never let him touch them.
Beaming, Uchiha Chi looked at Uchiha Mikoto and said happily, "Elder Sister, how did you know I needed a sword? I never even told you."
Hearing the initial expression of gratitude, Uchiha Mikoto nodded happily, looking like a queen.
However, as Uchiha Chi finished the latter part of his sentence, her face flushed slightly. She stammered for a moment before replying, "With those little schemes of yours, how could you ever hope to keep them from me?"
One look made it clear to Uchiha Chi: it was most likely prompted by their mother. Otherwise, how could Uchiha Mikoto, who wasn't particularly observant, have possibly figured it out? He had gotten excited over nothing.
Of course, he wouldn't dare say that out loud. His current strength was no match for Uchiha Mikoto's tyrannical rule; if he voiced it and left her with no way to back down, he would ultimately be the one suffering. Most importantly, accepting gifts makes one's hands soft—he was currently racking his brain for a way to change the subject.
Fortunately, at that exact moment, Uchiha Chiri walked in carrying the dishes. Uchiha Mikoto hurried over to take them from her, breaking the awkward silence. Then Uchiha Chiri said, "Mikoto, Chi, dinner is ready. If you two want to study Kenjutsu from now on, I will instruct you both."
Uchiha Chiri felt that Uchiha Chi's physical condition now met the bare minimum requirements for practicing Kenjutsu, and with her keeping an eye on them, there would be no problem at all. Thus, she intended to teach Uchiha Chi Kenjutsu.
As for Uchiha Mikoto, she wasn't fond of Kenjutsu and instead focused entirely on Genjutsu, which was why she hadn't been taught Kenjutsu back then—after all, interest is the best teacher.
Hearing this, Uchiha Chi said happily, "Thank you, Mother. I will work extremely hard and live up to your expectations."
"My standards are very strict, you know. You must be serious. Now hurry up and eat; you need a full stomach to practice swordplay," Uchiha Chiri said gently, and the three of them began their dinner.
After the meal, as Uchiha Chiri was clearing away the dishes, Uchiha Mikoto brought Uchiha Chi out to the backyard to start their post-dinner workout, practicing basic Taijutsu for shinobi.
Uchiha Mikoto launched a continuous stream of attacks while Uchiha Chi focused on dodging, occasionally putting up a defense. The two sparred for a while; although Uchiha Chi remained entirely on the defensive, he was never knocked down.
Clearly, Uchiha Mikoto was holding back. After all, ever since that incident, no matter how fiercely Uchiha Mikoto spoke beforehand, she had never once actually struck him.