In the central clearing of Moonlight Island, Seimei stood in silence, lost in thought.
After a long moment, his gaze settled on the ground beneath his feet—or, more precisely, the volcano below.
To speed up his body's transformation, he needed to boost the efficiency of his physical training. And to do that, he could either pump in more chakra or alter the external environment to amplify its effect on his training.
He'd already maxed out his chakra input—his body couldn't handle any more. So, the only option left was to change the environment.
Originally, he'd planned to wait until his "Body" attribute hit 40 and underwent a qualitative leap before making this move. But now, he decided to take the risk and act early.
With that thought, Seimei didn't hesitate. He activated the Byakugan in his forehead, its piercing vision scanning the volcano below for a more suitable training spot.
Minutes ticked by.
About five minutes later, he found it—a small chamber deeper down than his current third cavity. Though smaller, its conditions were far harsher.
Without a second thought, he used the Flying Thunder God Technique, teleporting to a platform in the sea where he'd trained before. From there, he zeroed in on the new chamber's location and swam along the volcano's outer wall.
It didn't take long to reach the closest point to the chamber. After carefully scanning with his Byakugan to map out a path, he cast Earth Release: Earth Vein Dragon Technique, merging seamlessly into the rock wall.
To speed things up, he even entered Sage Mode. With sage chakra boosting his Earth Release, he moved through the rock like a fish through water, reaching the target chamber in no time.
His body wriggled free from the rock wall, emerging into the new cavity.
Activating his Byakugan's gravity manipulation, he floated into the air and surveyed the chamber.
Just as he'd seen from the outside, the space was tiny—about a quarter the size of the third cavity—but the environment was brutal. The confined space amplified the harshness. Two rivers of magma converged in the lower half of the chamber, birthing toxic gases that filled the air, spiking both the pressure and temperature far beyond the third cavity.
Even after just a short time here, Seimei could feel the damage to his body was significantly worse than in the third cavity. The pressure was intense, too.
Training in these conditions would definitely accelerate his evolution.
Decision made, Seimei got to work. He used Earth Release to carve two stone bridges from the surrounding walls, intersecting in a cross shape at the center.
Stepping onto the bridge, he walked to the intersection and used Earth Release again to expand it into a circular platform about three meters wide.
With the setup complete, he paused, then pressed his hand to the platform's center, leaving a Flying Thunder God mark.
A moment later, he teleported back to Moonlight Island's surface.
After waiting for his body to fully recover, he formed hand signs and cast Multiple Shadow Clone Technique twice in succession, creating 560 shadow clones. He sent them off to absorb natural energy and work on Bloodline Encompassing development, then teleported back to the new chamber.
His figure materialized in the platform's center.
Without delay, he entered Sage Mode and began practicing "Body Extreme," pushing his physical limits.
An hour passed in a flash.
Back in the central clearing of Moonlight Island, Seimei reappeared.
His body told the story of the harsh new environment. His skin was bright red, covered in large blisters, with some areas showing burn marks. He was panting heavily, his organs feeling like they were melting—an ordeal far worse than training in the third cavity.
And this was with sage chakra protecting him and his body's natural healing working overtime. An ordinary person wouldn't last minutes in that chamber, let alone train for an hour.
"Inhale… exhale…"
Seimei gulped down fresh air, waiting for his body to heal. This time, it took several minutes for him to fully recover.
"Phew…"
With a long exhale, his tense expression softened.
Focusing inward, he carefully sensed the changes in his body.
A faint smile crept onto his face. The new chamber was tougher, no doubt, but it had boosted his training efficiency noticeably.
Still, one session wasn't enough to gauge the full effect. He'd need a few more rounds to be sure.
With that in mind, he dispelled his Multiple Shadow Clone Technique. Over the next fifteen minutes, he absorbed and processed the training experiences and memories from his clones' hour of work.
Once done, he opened his ninja pouch, pulled out a few enhanced soldier pills, and popped them into his mouth. After chewing and swallowing, he replenished his energy and dove into another round of training.
He kept at it for several sessions, only stopping as evening approached.
By then, he could accurately calculate the new environment's impact on his training.
His initial estimate? The new chamber had boosted his training efficiency by over 20%.
That might not sound like much, but considering how high his baseline efficiency already was, a 20% increase was huge. Based on his latest calculations, the next transformation, which would've taken about ten months, was now down to just seven—barely a month more than his last transformation.
If he stopped using the Mirror Heart Technique in two months and redirected that time to physical training, he could shave off even more time, potentially hitting the transformation point in just over seven months.
Seven months wasn't long at all.
Seimei was thrilled.
But the efficiency boost came at a cost. The chakra needed for training and recovery in this new environment was no small amount.
By his calculations, full-day training in the new chamber required an extra 10 million chakra points compared to before—not quite a 20% increase, but significant. Even with six hours daily still dedicated to the Mirror Heart Technique, he needed an additional 7 million chakra points to meet the demands of physical training.
That meant his daily chakra surplus dropped from 7.118 million to a mere 118,000—basically breaking even.
It was just as he'd predicted: that 7.118-million surplus was only temporary.
Still, it was worth it.