That day, when Uchiha Gen returned home, his hands were already full with a large bundle of scrolls.
They included the middle and lower parts of Uchiha Style Swordsmanship, B-rank or higher Fire Release Ninjutsu secretly passed down within the clan, and several Sharingan genjutsu given by the Great Elder.
There were five genjutsu in total. One of them, Genjutsu: Sharingan, Uchiha Gen had already learned via the Ninja Path Sasuke character card. The remaining four genjutsu consisted of two A-rank and two B-rank.
The A-rank ones were Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique and Mirror Heaven and Earth Change. The former was also a technique for constructing a genjutsu space, almost comparable to a youthful version of Tsukuyomi, capable of binding the enemy within a mental space and pinning them down by impaling their limbs with iron nails, causing their body in the real world to fall into a state of rigidity. The latter could utilize ocular power to capture the flaws in an enemy's genjutsu and reflect it back.
The other two B-rank genjutsu were Bubble and Ignis; the former was a secret-type genjutsu that required coordination with Ninja Crows, while the latter was a more conventional genjutsu that directly attacked the enemy's spirit.
The former two were extremely difficult genjutsu; the scrolls contained records from predecessors stating that both techniques were created by imitating certain Mangekyo ocular techniques, making them the most powerful and difficult techniques among Three-Tomoe Sharingan genjutsu.
The latter two were much lower in difficulty but still had decent power. Especially the former, where the difficulty mainly focused on the coordination with the summoned crow, making it an ocular technique that could potentially be learned in a short time.
"Now I have my work cut out for me."
Given the large batch of scrolls before him, if one were to follow common logic and have an ordinary Ninja train in the normal way, they might not even finish practicing them in two or three years.
But for an Uchiha with the Three-Tomoe Sharingan, it was a different matter entirely.
He had already mastered the explosive Nature Transformation of Fire Release. Techniques like Great Dragon Fire and Dragon Flame Song could be copied directly, and his level of mastery in Shape Transformation met the requirements for learning techniques like Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation and Fire Release: Great Fire Destruction.
Except for Ninjutsu like Dust Concealment, which required mastering Nature Transformations like Smoke Transformation, he could copy most Fire Release techniques from the Great Elder using his Sharingan.
The same was true for Fire Release Ninjutsu; Uchiha Style Swordsmanship, as a form of Ninja Taijutsu, could also be quickly introduced this way, though he wouldn't be able to reach the level of ease and proficiency quickly.
What really required hard work and careful study were those few Sharingan genjutsu and the Phantom Body Flicker Technique.
However, Uchiha Gen was not in a hurry to practice these techniques immediately, because he had other things to attend to.
The next day.
After resting for the night, Uchiha Gen took the Great Elder's warrant and went to another Clan Treasury responsible for material collection and storage.
With the Great Elder's full support, he had the authority and quota to exchange for supplies from the Clan Treasury every year. He could also use the clan's name to issue missions and collect precious items.
After such a long time, the Clan Treasury had long since gathered the materials for his next snake body transformation. In the meantime, while he was on the battlefield, they had received a letter sent back by Uchiha Gen and had increased the quantity of these medicinal materials.
He now possessed the incomplete Sage Body from the young Tsunade; his basic physical fitness and recovery were quite formidable, allowing him to withstand the stimulation of larger doses of medicine, accelerating the process of the snake body transformation. One session was worth two or three, significantly shortening the entire snake body modification process.
This time, he didn't trouble Orochimaru; everything was prepared by Uchiha Gen himself.
That night, he completed this snake body transformation.
"The strengthening of physical fitness will be more obvious than last time. However, unlike the incomplete Sage Body, the snake body transformation tends more towards enhancing flexibility, agility, and resistance to impacts, while increasing resistance to negative status effects like shockwaves and toxins. It perfectly complements the straightforward power of the Sage Body and has higher compatibility with the Sharingan."
Climbing out of the bathtub, Uchiha Gen dried himself off, easily bent over to perform several high-difficulty yoga poses, and nodded in satisfaction as he looked at the "Tai" value that had increased by one point on his attribute panel.
The "Tai" item does not refer to physical constitution, but to Taijutsu.
What is directly related to physical constitution are the three data points of Strength, Speed, and Energy, especially the first two. However, Taijutsu is also closely related to these three; it is the skill built upon the three physical attributes to bring them into play.
The improvement in flexibility and agility meant he could more easily perform high-difficulty moves in combat and better control his explosive power and attack speed.
In the process of fighting Kage-level Experts like Chiyo and Kakuzu, there were situations where his Sharingan's dynamic vision had reacted, but his body couldn't keep up, leading to injuries.
If he had undergone the second snake body transformation back then, his performance would have been better, and certain attacks that were enough to cause injury could have been dodged or blocked.
"Now, it is time to verify that previous conjecture."
After resting until his Chakra recovered, Uchiha Gen picked up the bottle containing the soldier pill produced by the system and performed the Reverse Summoning Jutsu, heading once again to that eerie canyon that didn't know where it was located.
Will-o'-the-wisps drifted, the King of Hell hovered in the air, and the eerie bell sounds of the Rashomon echoed in his ears once again.
Revisiting an old place, walking this path again, Uchiha Gen felt significantly more relaxed.
The incomplete Sage Body had lengthened his health bar and recovery ability, and this time the snake body transformation had also increased the dosage of medicine. The temporary effects after the transformation were also stronger, further enhancing his resistance.
Last time, it took a great deal of effort to reach the first gate, but this time it was quite easy. It wasn't until he reached the second gate that Uchiha Gen felt the familiar pressure.
The ringing in his ears became increasingly distracting and chaotic, and the energy contained in the sound waves caused the surface of his muscles to undulate, while his internal organs began to convulse along with it.
Every meter from here on out could be described as difficult to traverse.
Last time, he had relied on that soldier pill from the Nara Clan to restore his physical strength and had crawled here while suffering from serious internal injuries.
This time, although his condition was also poor and his aura was somewhat listless, at least he could still stand, and his internal organs had not yet been subjected to much injury.
"It is time."
Once he passed this gate, the difficulty would inevitably rise again, and injury would be unavoidable. Now was the most appropriate time to use that soldier pill.
The bottle stopper was removed, and the high-quality soldier pill, which gave off an exotic fragrance, was consumed.
It melted upon entering his mouth, causing his mouth to water.
Not long after, accompanied by a strange sensation, his Chakra, which had been mostly depleted, began to recover rapidly at this moment.
For a moment, the ringing in his ears seemed to diminish significantly, and the ripples and wrinkles on the surface of his skin caused by the sound waves were smoothed out as well.
The somewhat listless aura on his body began to rise again, and a warm current surged forth, slowly healing and counteracting a portion of the damage caused by the sound waves.