After the holidays, the third academic year began.
This academic year, Adachi Genki would focus on other aspects of being a Ninja, besides combat abilities.
Feng Zheng was a bit surprised why he didn't continue to push for learning more advanced Ninjutsu, but after thinking it over, he understood.
More than half of the class couldn't keep up with the studies. Considering he asked Feng Zheng to learn Wind Release Ninjutsu, Feng Zheng guessed he gave similar advice to others who could keep up.
This way, students with poor grades could catch up, and students who performed well could improve further.
Feng Zheng guessed they wanted to ensure every child in this class could become a competent Ninja to fill the void left by deceased Ninjas.
However, judging from his speech, it seemed all teaching content would be covered this year.
After class, Feng Zheng went to the Library. He entered section E and picked up a scroll titled "Introduction to Sealing Technique."
He remembered reading this scroll a few years ago. This time, he read it again, more carefully. After finishing, he analyzed it.
Sealing Technique consists of two parts. First, the writing part. However, this also has two sub-parts.
First are the symbols. Sealing Technique has special symbols, and he must understand them before attempting to create a Sealing Jutsu.
Feng Zheng needed to learn how to correctly draw each symbol and infuse Chakra into them in the aforementioned manner.
Any mistake would cause the Sealing Jutsu to fail and could potentially lead to unexpected complications due to incorrect operation of the Sealing Jutsu.
This was actually very similar to Hand Seals, only with a much larger number of symbols.
These symbols have multiple functions. The main function Feng Zheng could see was their ability to generate elements.
Each of the five elements has symbols, as well as symbols that can suppress or enhance them. There are also symbols that control time and space.
Simple storage Sealing Jutsus have many space symbols, while complex storage Sealing Jutsus not only have space symbols but also time symbols, used to ensure time slows down within the storage Sealing Jutsu.
The second part is the logic part. This part is very similar to programming on Earth.
Since Feng Zheng understood programming, this part was easier for him.
However, this didn't provide much of an advantage. Programming was very easy to learn, and he believed the smart kids in his class could learn it in a week or two.
After the writing part, the next part was shaping Chakra to create the purpose of the Sealing Jutsu.
For a simple Sealing Jutsu scroll, storage space must be created with the help of symbols, and conditions for activating the Sealing Jutsu must be set.
Alas, this was still quite complex.
Feng Zheng planned to start with the symbols, but there were hundreds of symbols. If he wanted to learn all of them, it would take at least several months.
So he would first choose a Sealing Jutsu and learn its symbols. This way, Feng Zheng could monitor his progress.
After analyzing all the Sealing Jutsus on the scroll, Feng Zheng decided to learn the most commonly used one—the storage Sealing Jutsu.
It used 16 symbols. Most of them were different types of space symbols. Some increased the amount of space in the Sealing Jutsu, some restricted space to maintain boundaries, some ensured space stability, and so on.
He perfectly drew the required symbols on a spare scroll and took relevant notes.
He had seen several people do this in the Library, so he wasn't worried about getting into trouble.
However, he was very surprised by Konoha's generosity.
After finishing, he left the Library.
He went to the market, transformed in an alley. After some searching, he found the shop he was looking for. There, he bought the special ink and special scrolls needed for Sealing Technique.
These scrolls were made of special materials.
They were stronger and, if not damaged by external forces, could apparently last for centuries.
They could easily withstand the Chakra applied during the engraving of the Sealing Jutsu.
The special ink made it easier to inject Chakra; creating symbols with ordinary ink was much more difficult.
However, there was another alternative to this special ink. That was Ninja blood.
But these items were quite expensive. scrolls were 60 Ryo each, and a small bottle of ink was 100 Ryo.
He bought 5 bottles of ink and 5 scrolls to practice. He sighed, thinking.
"I hope these last at least a few months. I only have 4370 Ryo left."
Then he returned home, and upon arriving, he immediately created a Shadow Clone.
Several months of intense physical training, extensive Meditation, and continuous Ninjutsu training until he collapsed from Chakra exhaustion had made his Chakra grow very quickly, increasing by about 25%.
This meant that if he wanted to, he could now create two Shadow Clones.
However, these two Shadow Clones would have very little Chakra to use.
If he created a Shadow Clone with exactly 50% of his Chakra, that Shadow Clone could last until his Chakra dropped to 32% of Feng Zheng's maximum Chakra.
So, the available Chakra for the Shadow Clone had more than doubled during this time.
Feng Zheng and his Shadow Clone began to study the first symbol. After half an hour of trying, Feng Zheng confirmed.
"As I thought, the amount of Chakra required to practice this is low."
This was good news for Feng Zheng, as his Shadow Clone could last longer.
Based on the remaining Chakra of Feng Zheng's Shadow Clone, he estimated he could last four hours while practicing these symbols.
After an hour of practice, he dispelled his Shadow Clone.
Upon dispelling, he received all of the Shadow Clone's memories, along with a slight headache.
He then created another Shadow Clone. This time, the clone practiced symbols for 2 hours, rested for 2 hours, practiced for 1 hour, rested for 1 hour, and then practiced for another 1 hour.
Feng Zheng, meanwhile, went out to practice throwing Shuriken at a Wind Clone and expanding the radius of his Chakra Field.
He didn't practice any Ninjutsu because practicing with only half his Chakra wouldn't last long.
Seven hours later, he dispelled the clone. This time, the headache was a bit worse but still bearable.
Then, remembering Hiruzen's instructions, he decided to go to sleep.
He was very satisfied with what he had done today.
Waking up early the next morning, he thought.
"Great, the experiment was successful."
Now his Shadow Clone could last 7 hours and practice these symbols for 4 hours.
When Feng Zheng went to school, he left his Shadow Clone at home so the Shadow Clone could continue practicing Sealing Technique.
Feng Zheng guessed his Chakra would need to increase by another 20-25% for his Shadow Clone to practice continuously for 7 hours.
However, he also needed to decide what the Shadow Clone should do with the remaining 3 hours of free time.
He thought for a while and suddenly had an idea.
"Yes, why not? I should buy some cookbooks for the Shadow Clone to learn. In the past two years, I've learned to make various breakfasts, but I haven't learned to make a decent lunch or dinner because I haven't had much free time. This seems like an excellent opportunity to learn it! Okay, I'll go buy the books after school today."
Very happy to finally be able to eat delicious meals, he decided to analyze his daily schedule.
"Given this, I'll continue physical training in the morning, my Shadow Clone can practice Sealing Technique during lectures, while my main body can concentrate on listening to lectures and practice the Chakra Field in the remaining time."
After class, Feng Zheng had to go home, dispel the clone, and then take a nap, about an hour. Then he could practice Ninjutsu and Shuriken throwing.
The year continued like this.
Genshu taught a lot of practical knowledge needed by Ninjas. Feng Zheng, meanwhile, continued his diligent training.
Feng Zheng noticed that the students in this year's class seemed more serious. He thought.
"His one-on-one talks worked pretty well."
Six months later, Feng Zheng could already perform Rank E Wind Release Ninjutsu without Hand Seals; only the Wind Clone required one Hand Seal.
Among Rank D ninjutsu, he could perform Wind Push Technique without Hand Seals, but the rest required one to two Hand Seals.
23 days before the end of the third-year exam, he could successfully complete all Ninjutsu without Hand Seals except for the following two.
Only Dust Cloud Technique still required a few Hand Seals, and Wind Clone only required one Hand Seal.
Similarly, Shadow Clone Technique was also reduced to only one Hand Seal, the Clone Sealing Jutsu, which could not be completed without Hand Seals.
His Breakthrough Technique and Wind Blast Technique could now cause higher damage, and his other Wind Release Ninjutsu had all been mastered to a certain extent.
His Shadow Clone spent three months mastering these 16 symbols and another month to successfully create a storage Sealing Jutsu. He practiced for another month to be able to complete it with ease and without any errors.
So far, he had spent four thousand Ryo on materials, and now he only had a little over two thousand Ryo left.
He had already created five authentic Sealing Jutsu talismans (scrolls).
Each time he bought materials, he did so from different shops and in different disguises.
Among the five Restaurant Owners he encountered, he observed that one of them seemed more greedy and less ethical. He thought.
"I can't keep spending money on Sealing Technique. If this continues, I'll be broke in about four more months. So I must sell my scrolls. The problem is, to whom. I can't expose my identity, and I don't know if any Restaurant Owner would agree to buy without knowing the seller. Alas, I'll just have to approach someone with low morals and a greedy nature."
"Fortunately, one of the Restaurant Owners fits the bill. I should also take some precautions. It's best to send a clone in disguise to conduct the transaction."