When Seimei returned from the Senju clan's ancestral archives, it was already past one o'clock in the afternoon.
He went straight to his room, dropped all the copied scrolls on his table, and sighed lightly. Those scrolls didn't just contain different Fire Release Ninjutsu.
In fact, he had also copied a few Water Release, Lightning Release, and Wind Release Ninjutsu. As for the Earth Release Ninjutsu, he didn't copy any of them.
It wasn't that he was ignoring Earth Release Ninjutsu. Even though it lagged behind a little compared to his other standard nature transformation affinities, it was still at the peak of LV5, enough to give most Elite Jonin, who specialized in Earth Release, a run for their money.
As for the average full-fledged Jonin of Konoha, most have only mastered two elemental affinities to LV4, with their main affinity reaching close to the peak of LV4.
Compared to them, Seimei was far ahead.
A bit more grinding, and he would be able to cross the LV6 threshold within the next two or three months.
"Anyway, I normally use the Earth Release techniques mainly for defense, distraction, diversion, tactical terrain alteration, setting hidden traps, hiding, creating solid constructs, binding, and occasionally, for offensive purposes."
Seimei muttered slowly as he thought about the applications of the Earth Release Ninjutsu.
He was about to dismiss his thoughts, but then it struck him, and he suddenly paused.
Seimei: (⊙_⊙)?
"Wait a damn minute."
"I usually try to finish the battles with overwhelming offense, so I never really noticed it before."
"But for an affinity that I have developed the least, am I not using techniques involving Earth Release a lot?"
"Yes, many of my large-scale trapping, distraction, and crowd control methods involve Earth Release."
"Perhaps I won't be using them in one-on-one fights too much as my power increases in the future. But in large-scale skirmishes, group battles, Chakra Beast riots, and the upcoming Shinobi world wars, many of my Earth Release techniques will be an absolute game changer."
"The beast riot in the Kitakari town had already shown the importance of Earth Release Ninjutsu."
Seimei sat down at his study desk and began to tap the table with the index finger of his right hand.
Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap!
An almost hypnotic tapping sound echoed in his room as he rested his chin against the back of his left hand while resting the elbow on the table's surface.
The expression on his face was absolutely serene as he thought deeply about how he had neglected developing his Earth Release affinity as much as the other four standard nature transformation affinities.
At first, he truly didn't care whether he developed his Earth Release affinity all the way similar to the other four affinities.
After all, he usually preferred fast and deadly battle styles combined with a fair share of deception and trickery.
He didn't ignore the development of his Earth Release affinity, but he never prioritized it.
However, as he got closer to the Kage-level, he had an indescribable sensation. As if his intuition was shouting at him not to neglect developing even a single one of the five nature transformation affinities.
His sixth sense told him that if he ignored developing Earth Release, he would regret it in the long run.
And this vague feeling had only intensified in the last few months.
If there's anything I have learned from my life as a Shinobi in this world, it's that you should never ignore your sixth sense, especially when it's literally ringing warning bells at 120 decibels.
I have to focus on developing my Earth Release affinity, too. I must give it as much attention as I gave to the other four standard nature affinities.
I have already learned enough Ninjutsu. It's time for me to focus on mastering and completely comprehending the Ninjutsu I have already learned.
I can draw inspiration from countless Ninjutsu. And use those inspirations to develop new Ninjutsu that are exclusive to me.
Only by constantly researching and understanding the essence of Ninjutsu, nature transformation, shape transformation, and chakra can I truly improve my power beyond the shackles of mortality.
Additionally, this approach will allow sufficient time to focus on other aspects, such as enhancing my affinity with Earth, Yin, and Yang Release.
Seimei thought inwardly as he refocused on the Earth Release.
His mind couldn't help but wander for a while, recalling the things he had learned about the Iwagakure, Tsuchikage, and their mastery of Earth Release through countless Naruto fanfics and the original Naruto series in his previous life.
His lips couldn't help but twitch a little as he thought about various sinister Earth Release techniques and how dealing with Iwagakure ninjas' Earth Release Jutsu could be a huge pain in the ass.
They could use the tunneling technique to travel underground and lurk beneath your feet, ready to unleash an almost unavoidable ambush on you.
To counter it, you would either need powerful sensory skills or Dojutsu like Byakugan.
Many Earth Release techniques could be cast by a whole group of Shinobi, making even weaker techniques unleash countless times more destructive, terrain-altering, and crowd-controlling capabilities.
Iwagakure specifically trained its ninjas to follow a close-knit, militaristic battle formation, allowing even Chunin-level ninjas to unleash Jonin-level power together should they get the opportunity to unleash their combination techniques.
Imagine a dozen Iwa ninja unleashing B-rank Ninjutsu, Moving Earth Core, and controlling a terrain as large as a football stadium. Such crowd-controlling capabilities were insane.
Then there were techniques like Earth-Flow Spear, which would cause earth spears to erupt from the very ground people were standing on, killing unsuspecting enemies by impaling them almost instantly.
Seimei didn't even want to talk about the Earth Release: Antlion Technique. If you didn't have proper countermeasures and you failed to act quickly, this Jutsu would suck you underground and crush you into meatpaste.
Sinister. Too sinister.
If you give a group of Earth Release experts an inch, they would create one obstacle after another, making you completely exhausted before finishing you off.
And people said that the Earth Release users were defensive ninjas.
Bullshit.
"Anyway, let's not think about it now."
"I should be going. I promised Tsunade that I would play with her today."
Seimei shook off his thoughts about the sinister and fence-sitter Iwagakure ninjas and their techniques, and stood up.
Although he promised to meet her at 3 PM, and it wasn't even 2 PM yet, spending more time with his dear little cousin wouldn't hurt, would it?
So, he hummed happily and walked toward the place Tsunade usually spent her time playing with toys or reading books given by his Aunt Mito.
As he got closer, he could hear Tsunade and Uncle Hashirama happily laughing. It was natural. After all, Hashirama, who was still recovering from internal wounds and the excessive drain of vitality, had nothing to do.
Therefore, he usually spends much of his free time with Tsunade, his sweet granddaughter, whom he doted on as much as Seimei.
But then he suddenly remembered one of the worst habits of his uncle—gambling.
His lips twitched violently as he thought about Hashirama's obsession with gambling.
But he wouldn't teach gambling to little Tsunade, who had recently turned four, right?
At least, not after he and Uzumaki Mito opposed it vehemently, right?
But then he heard the sound of boisterous laughter and Hashirama's smug words.
"Hahahahahaha…Tsunade. You're still too young. You have lost this round, too."
"You still have a lot to learn. Now, fulfill your bet and give me your snacks."
This was obviously Hashirama's voice.
At the next moment, Seimei heard a sweet, childish voice complaining vehemently, "No, grandpa. How can I lose every round to you?"
"You must have cheated. I won't let you eat my snacks again."
"Just wait. When I become a ninja like Big Brother, I will definitely not fall for your tricks."
At that moment, Seimei's eyes went wide.
Oh shit! Uncle Hashirama is leading Tsunade astray again!
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