Chapter 71: Depression

The next day. Early morning. Seimei and a dozen other Genin, escorted by a Jonin team and a Chunin team, embarked on their journey back to the village. Along the way, people would occasionally sneak glances at Seimei. It was no wonder they did so, as Seimei had his Sharingan activated the entire time, making it hard not to attract attention. However, Seimei didn't care about it. The exposure of his Sharingan meant he had lost his trump card. In this situation, he naturally had to do his best to improve his own strength. If he didn't use the travel time to increase his Sharingan's progress, wouldn't he be wasting time? As for the gazes of others, what did it matter to him? Therefore, Seimei remained calm the entire time, but this gave people the illusion that he was deliberately showing off his Sharingan. However, everyone had come from the battlefield, so no one would cause trouble for him because of this, although he wasn't afraid of it either. But if he could coexist peacefully, Seimei didn't want to waste any effort. Just like that, two days passed quietly. That night. As usual, Seimei completed a practice session of 'Genjutsu: Sharingan' when a flash of insight suddenly crossed his mind. Immediately, he understood that his 'Genjutsu: Sharingan' had leveled up. He opened the panel and glanced at it. Sure enough, its level had changed from lv1 (191/200) two days ago to lv2 (1/500) now. Seimei tried to use it, and the hand seal speed was about 20% faster than before, and the effect was also slightly stronger. Although the improvement wasn't significant, it was still some progress. Seimei calmed down and continued his training for the night. In a flash, several hours passed, and it was late at night. Seimei finally completed his training plan for the day and then fell asleep. Of course, he didn't sleep soundly. It was wartime now, and who knew if enemy ninjas would come to ambush them, so Seimei always maintained a bit of vigilance. This method would undoubtedly reduce the effectiveness of his rest, but he was already used to it, and it wouldn't affect his state in a short time. The night passed uneventfully. It was early morning the next day. The group ate a little something and then continued on their way. Just like that, Seimei traveled during the day and trained at night. Five days later, when he returned to Konoha Village, his Sharingan's evolution progress had reached (872/1000), and the proficiency of 'Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique' had also increased to lv2 (442/500). As for the ambush he was worried about on the way, it didn't happen. ... After saying goodbye to the Jonin leader, Seimei returned home. No one had lived in the house for several months, and it was already covered in dust. Seimei spent some time thoroughly cleaning the house from the inside out before starting to rest. That's right, just rest. Months of life on the battlefield had left him physically and mentally exhausted. In that environment, it was impossible to get a good night's sleep. Even at the base camp, he had to be wary of enemy surprise attacks. It was really terrible! Now that he had finally returned to the relatively safe village, Seimei didn't plan to start training immediately. Instead, he planned to have a good sleep first to relieve his fatigue. And this sleep lasted for a whole day. When Seimei woke up, he felt refreshed all over. The fatigue accumulated for a long time had disappeared, and he felt much more energetic. "Ah~, comfortable!" Seimei stretched and couldn't help but say. *Grrr~~~* At this moment, a "gurgling" sound came. Seimei touched his stomach, took his wallet, and walked out of the room. Walking on the street, Seimei could clearly feel that the village was much more depressed than before, and there was more worry on people's faces. Thinking back to half a year ago, during the last Chunin Exams, there were still new stores opening. But now, there were mostly notices of stores for sale on the street. Even some stores that were still open were lifeless, with very few customers. It made sense. In Konoha Village, although ordinary people made up the vast majority, ninjas were the high-income group. In the past, it was they who drove consumption. Now that these people had gone to the battlefield, the stores were naturally deserted. Coupled with the turmoil in the ninja world, transportation costs had greatly increased, and prices in Konoha Village had soared. It was no wonder that it was depressed. Shaking his head slightly, Seimei stopped thinking about it and immediately quickened his pace, running in one direction. From afar, he saw a ramen shop that was open for business. That's right, it was Ichiraku Ramen. Seeing Seimei coming, Teuchi, wearing a white chef's coat, hurriedly greeted him warmly, "What would you like to eat, customer?" "A bowl of miso chashu ramen." Seimei didn't waste any words and directly ordered the most luxurious ramen. "Alright, please wait a moment!" Teuchi replied and then started making the ramen. Soon, a bowl of ramen that looked, smelled, and tasted delicious was served. *Gulp~* Seimei, who had been eating dry food and simple meals for several months, immediately swallowed his saliva when he saw this bowl of ramen. Seeing Seimei's appearance, Teuchi seemed very satisfied and said with a smile, "Enjoy your meal, customer." At this time, Seimei couldn't hold back anymore. He picked up a pair of chopsticks and started to eat voraciously. In less than two minutes, he finished a large bowl of ramen. He touched his stomach, feeling that it wasn't enough, so he ordered another bowl. Soon, another bowl of miso chashu ramen was served. Seimei finished it in a few bites, still feeling unsatisfied, so he ordered another bowl. However, this time he didn't order miso chashu ramen, but tonkotsu ramen instead. Just like that, Seimei ate ten bowls in a row. He only stopped when there was a stack of empty bowls on the table. *Burp~* Seimei burped, patted his stomach with satisfaction, and asked, "Boss, how much is it?" "Thank you for your patronage, it's 875 ryo," Teuchi replied. Seimei roughly calculated and found that the other party hadn't raised the price, but he didn't say much. He just took out his wallet, counted 875 ryo, and handed it to him. Teuchi received the money, his eyes smiling so much that they were almost invisible. Finally, under the other party's warm farewell, Seimei left the ramen shop. He didn't go home immediately. Instead, he first went to the Hokage Building. Because his team leader had died in battle, he needed to go there in person to get the application form for the Chunin Exams. Without any obstacles, he successfully got the application form, signed his name, and handed it back. Next, he just needed to wait for the exam in ten days. And in these ten days, Seimei didn't plan to idle around either. First, his 'Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique' was about to level up. Seimei planned to raise it to lv3 before the exam. It wasn't to deal with those examinees, he just simply set a goal for himself to avoid slacking off. In addition, there was the 'Uchiha-Style Kenjutsu'. He had been on the road for the past few days and didn't have time to practice. He could make good use of these few days to work on it. Maybe he could also promote it to lv4 before the exam. Seimei had a vague premonition that once he had practiced both the 'Konoha-Style Kenjutsu' and the 'Uchiha-Style Kenjutsu' to perfection, he could merge them together to create a more powerful and suitable sword technique for himself. At that time, he might also be able to develop some ultimate moves similar to the '三日月之舞' (Mikazuki no Mai, Dance of the Crescent Moon). With this thought in mind, Seimei returned home and began his training. (End of this chapter)