Awakening Of Uchiha [Naruto/One Piece]

Chapter 16: Physical Training Genius

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"It's not just me and my mother! Almost everyone in the entire ninja world has this innate characteristic!"

"So, does that mean people from the ninja world who come to the pirate world—or those who gain access to the resources here—are naturally physical training geniuses?"

Katsumi pondered this thought, but he quickly reminded himself that even with the same advantage of having three times the number of cells, physical training talent could still vary greatly between individuals.

For instance, Guy's talent in physical training far surpassed that of most people in the ninja world.

"Hmm… once Might Guy is born, we should find a way to bring him under our command," Katsumi thought.

"Even now, we could gradually build a relationship with his father, earn his loyalty and goodwill, and contract him first!"

Might Dai's physical training talent likely isn't inferior to Might Guy's. The reason for the disparity in their achievements lies in conditions and foundational limitations.

Might Dai developed and perfected the Eight Inner Gates all on his own, suffering countless hidden injuries along the way. Those injuries ultimately lowered his upper potential.

Not to mention his lack of resources.

In contrast, Might Guy had the advantage of his father's guidance and limited resources, which, while not abundant, were still far better than Might Dai's starting from scratch.

"As long as you understand," Kureha said, seeing that Katsumi had absorbed her advice. She turned and began walking toward the exit.

"I've shown my sincerity here. Should I expect some of your medical books in return?"

Katsumi followed with a smile and replied, "I've already memorized all of my medical books. I recently copied more than a hundred of them, so I can share those with you first."

"For the rest, I'll need more time to copy them. I hope you can understand!"

"Well, how could I not?" Kureha replied.

"Oh?" Kureha raised an eyebrow, a little surprised by his claim, though she didn't doubt him.

"Alright, more than a hundred books are enough to keep me occupied for a while. Your memory is even better than I expected!"

The two soon returned to the living room.

Under Kureha's curious gaze, Katsumi waved his hand and retrieved over a hundred meticulously copied medical books from his space-time gate.

He placed them before her and said, "Here. These are the ones I've copied so far. You're free to read them, but I won't give you the originals—I don't want to have to copy them again!"

"You can copy them yourself. Is that alright?"

He had plans to use some of these medical books as bargaining chips to trade with Tsunade for her medical expertise and related ninjutsu.

As for trading them with the village? That idea had never crossed his mind. He had no intention of getting involved with the Third Hokage for the time being.

"You little brat! You really know how to make an old lady work!"

Kureha's expression froze for a moment, but she quickly picked up one of the medical books and began flipping through it, clearly intrigued despite her feigned annoyance.

As for the sight of Katsumi pulling a large number of books out of thin air, she was only mildly surprised. She didn't dwell on it—she had lived for over a century and had seen many strange and magical Devil Fruit abilities.

While spatial storage abilities were rare, she had encountered them before.

"Hehe," Katsumi chuckled, spreading his hands. "Your medical books wouldn't allow me to take the originals either, so I had to copy them myself. Looks like we're even!"

Kureha owned thousands of medical books, and Katsumi realized copying them all would take an unimaginable amount of time.

For now, he decided against copying them and instead planned to memorize everything. When the need arose in the future, he could selectively copy the required texts.

It was convenient to have a good memory.

Next, accompanied by his mother, Katsumi traveled to a nearby town and purchased a large stock of medicinal materials—enough to last them for a long time.

Upon returning, he immediately began preparing the medicines.

At first, Kureha noticed Katsumi was a bit unfamiliar with the process, but it didn't take long before his skills and proficiency improved dramatically. She wasn't surprised, though.

Katsumi's experience with pharmaceutical preparation in his previous life allowed him to quickly adapt and excel. Initially, his unfamiliarity stemmed from his body not being accustomed to the process, but with a bit of practice, he adjusted with ease.

[You prepared a conditioning potion, pharmaceutical proficiency +1, Ancient medicine proficiency +1.]

[You...]

He prepared more than 20 doses in one session. Ten were for his mother, and the rest he kept for himself.

"Here, Mom, drink one bottle and see how it works!" Katsumi said, handing a dose to Kaori.

"Alright!" Kaori raised the bottle to her lips and drank it.

Moments later, she felt a warm current flow through her body. Wherever it passed, her lingering illnesses and hidden injuries dissipated rapidly. A wave of hunger hit her soon after.

Katsumi, anticipating this, waved his hand to retrieve a selection of prepared delicacies from the space-time gate and laid them on the table.

"Eat! After eating, practice the health-preserving exercises to maximize the potion's effect," he instructed with a smile.

After ensuring his mother began eating, Katsumi drank a bottle of the potion himself. He then carefully stowed away the remaining doses and closed his eyes, focusing on the changes occurring within his body.

[You have taken the top-grade conditioning medicine. Your bodily functions are recovering... Your life span is increasing...]

He could distinctly feel his congenital deficiencies—issues that had plagued his organs for years—recovering at an accelerated pace.

When the potion's effects had mostly been absorbed, Katsumi also felt an intense hunger. Opening his eyes, he walked over to the table, sat down, and began eating the delicacies made from Sea Kings' meat.

With every bite, he felt the powerful energy of the Sea Kings spread from his stomach throughout his body.

It was clear that his digestive ability had improved tenfold compared to when he first consumed Sea Kings' meat. This improvement was a result of consistent health-preserving exercises, enhanced by eating Sea Kings' meat, which boosted his vitality and physical fitness.

After finishing a large plate of meat, Katsumi moved to an open space nearby and began practicing health-preserving exercises.

[You eat the meat of Sea Kings to aid in practicing health-preserving exercises. Proficiency +7, life span +7, life essence +0.025.]

[You eat the meat of Sea Kings to aid in practicing health-preserving exercises. Proficiency +7, life span +7, life essence +0.025.]

...

"Sure enough, the effects have improved again—not bad!" Katsumi smiled with satisfaction as he reviewed the results.

At this rate, he estimated he could completely recover within a month.

"You kid! Refining so many potions at once without proper preservation methods will cause their efficacy to evaporate!"

Kureha, who had been glancing at him occasionally while reading a book, called out a reminder.

At the same time, Kureha muttered inwardly, "So this must be their primary method of recovery—a conditioning and health-preserving practice technique. It's really remarkable!"

She was eager to learn it herself, suspecting it could be highly beneficial. However, she knew the timing wasn't right, and she lacked the proper bargaining chips for now.

Her plan was to build rapport with Katsumi over time and prepare suitable terms to negotiate for the health-preserving exercises. Clearly, this technique was an important secret, and bringing it up prematurely could backfire.

"Thank you for the reminder!" Katsumi said while continuing his practice. "I have a special storage method to ensure the medicinal effects won't evaporate."

"I spoke out of turn," Kureha admitted, her gaze drifting to the steaming food on the table, which looked freshly cooked. Realization dawned on her—she had overlooked an important detail earlier.

Before, she hadn't paid much attention to such nuances. Now, she acknowledged it as her oversight.

"No need to apologize! Your reminder is appreciated; we've taken it into account," Kaori interjected with a warm smile.

She observed Kureha and thought to herself, "This woman is much easier to get along with than I initially expected."

More importantly, Kureha was extraordinarily capable.

Kaori felt it was crucial to foster a good relationship with her. A medical talent of Kureha's caliber was invaluable.