Mouth—exhale.
Nose—inhale.
Swing the arms, step forward, drive the thigh upward, keep the lower leg tight and springy.
Throughout the entire run, Uchiha Yoru paid close attention to every single movement. He had already realized that focusing on one specific thing was itself helpful for stabilizing emotions.
The key was—
There was no need to worry about imbalance.
Gradually, he entered that hollow, empty state of mind. His eyes remained fixed straight ahead, his focus unfocused as if he were looking at nothing, yet he still avoided every obstacle with perfect accuracy. Each time he brushed past a person or object, the distance was kept at exactly one centimeter.
In that ethereal state, his Omniscient Mind's Eye could be pushed to its limit, reflecting everything in the surrounding environment into his inner world with himself at the center. Without needing conscious thought, he could guarantee absolute evasion.
As the run continued, the monkey fur and pig blood in Yoru's mental world were steadily digested. The purified spiritual power produced from that digestion nourished his eyes, while another portion subtly pushed this evasive state into a new transformation.
By the time he reached the third lap, that strange state of absolute evasion had stabilized.
It fused together his Omniscient Mind's Eye, instinctive judgment, and lightning-fast reflexes—
Becoming an entirely new ability.
Uchiha Yoru could now open and close it with ease. And the moment he activated it, he would automatically enter that ethereal state, even interrupting the buildup and eruption of intense emotions.
[Is this Lingbo Weibu? No… how could a name like that possibly be worthy of it? This is…]
[Free and Easy Wandering.]
[A new divine ability. Not easy at all. I finally have my first divine ability related to combat. Even if it's still auxiliary in nature, at least it can actually function in battle now. That's still a step beyond purely observational abilities.]
[Actually, the ability itself isn't the important part. What matters is the ethereal heart. Only like this can I rise above all things, go beyond my own senses and emotions, and control everything around me.]
[Not only can I evade every attack, I can also launch attacks against everyone. Feels like I won't have to worry about being surrounded anymore.]
[That's right. As long as I'm stronger than every enemy individually, then even if several of them come at me together, I can still defeat them easily.]
[Though exactly how many… that still needs real combat to verify.]
[If I can handle eight, then it truly won't matter whether it's one-on-one or one-against-many.]
[After all, at most only eight people can really surround me at once. And even that only works with four on the inside and four on the outside.]
[Now… I finally have the confidence to stay outside for extended periods. Even in wartime, I'll be able to survive.]
Crisis always came hand in hand with both danger and opportunity. After digesting this inner crisis, what remained was growth in strength.
Uchiha Yoru ended the weighted run in complete satisfaction. His body was utterly exhausted, but it did nothing to diminish his good mood.
He decided—
He was going to eat well today.
Right.
With so many ingredients sent over by Shisui, they would spoil if he didn't use them in time. Especially that top-grade venison from the Nara clan—ridiculously expensive. Yoru had been a shinobi for six years, and not once in all that time had he earned as much money as that pile of deer meat was worth.
Wasting it would make his heart ache to death.
So—
Roast venison for lunch.
Whatever they couldn't finish would have to go into Shisui's large icebox for storage. But frozen meat was troublesome. It had to be thawed, and once thawed, the texture was never as good as it had been before.
As for making jerky or cured meat—
Yoru had no intention of trying.
He had no experience making those kinds of foods, and there was no way he was willing to experiment on meat this good.
When he returned home, he first went beneath the shade of the tree and inspected the whole deer hanging on its wooden frame. Confirming that the surface was completely dry, he nodded repeatedly in satisfaction.
This deer had started being prepared yesterday afternoon. It had first been soaked in well water to draw out the blood, then steeped overnight in a seasoned broth infused with spices, only being hung out to dry this morning.
Now it was finally ready for coating.
Yoru mixed eggs, minced ginger, flour, salt, and five-spice powder together in a basin. Even before water was added, the dry mixture's aroma was already spreading, drawing out the tabby cat from wherever she had been hiding.
"So fragrant, meow. Roast whole deer really is something to look forward to."
"This is still nothing. The real problem is that we don't have cumin powder. Without that perfect spice for grilling, roast meat loses half its soul."
"The Cat Castle's business spreads all across the shinobi world, but I've never heard of cumin powder. Do barbecue shops use it, meow?"
"They don't. Which probably means no one's discovered it yet. So I don't know where it is either. But one day, I'll definitely find it."
"No one's discovered it yet… then does this spice called cumin even exist at all, meow?"
"Who knows?"
"Did you foresee it, Yoru? Or dream it in a dream, meow?"
"Obviously I dreamed it."
"..."
"Only a dog would believe you, meow!"
Once the dry mix was ready, Uchiha Yoru boiled the seasoned liquid used to soak the deer yesterday, then poured it into the basin to make a hot batter-like paste.
He immediately began spreading it over the deer, carefully coating the entire animal without leaving even the smallest gap.
Only with a complete seal would the paste lock in the deer's juices during roasting, preserving exactly the right amount of moisture so the meat would come out tender and delicious.
After all, this was deer—
Not pork.
It lacked that rich layer of fat.
If even one small patch wasn't sealed properly, the moisture there would escape, and that piece would turn into dry, unchewable jerky.
Watching the bright red venison slowly turn pale yellow beneath the coating, Miwa Masayo suddenly remembered something.
They didn't have a grill large enough to hold the whole deer.
After she asked about it, Yoru only smiled.
"We're not in the barbecue business. Of course we wouldn't have a grill that big."
"Then what do we do? Can you roast it with Fire Release, meow?"
"Fire Release… Rika-chan, that's actually a pretty good training suggestion. I should try it sometime in the future. But today's fat deer from the Nara clan is too expensive. We can't afford to waste it."
"We'll dig a pit and roast it in the pit."
Earth Release: Rock Excavation Core
Without a sound, the ground in the center of the courtyard split apart. Soil burst upward like a fountain, and in short order, a cylindrical pit two and a half meters deep and one point four meters wide had been dug out.
The bottom was lined with charcoal prepared in advance. Yoru used Fire Release to ignite it, accelerating the burn until the entire bed of charcoal glowed red.
When every piece was fully lit, he bound the whole deer tightly with Uchiha steel wire and lowered it into the fire pit.
Then he poured in salted water, filling the pit with steam, covered it with wooden planks, and sealed the entire thing with the soil that had just been dug out. After that, he mixed another bucket of water into the dirt to make mud, ensuring the pit was airtight and preventing the fire from growing too strong and burning the venison.
Yoru dried the mud on his hands with Fire Release, then lightly clapped them together. Using the control of Earth Release, every trace of dust instantly left his hands—clean enough to rival washing them three times with fresh water.
"There. In forty-five minutes, we'll have delicious roast venison."
Miwa Masayo had "helped" just now as well. Whatever dignity a Cat Sage was supposed to have had been thoroughly tossed into the mud pile. At this point, she had become nothing more than a mud-ball cat, with only her bright black eyes remaining pure.
Yoru raised an eyebrow and smiled.
"So then, honored Cat Sage—would you prefer a hot bath? Or, like me, a fire bath?"
"I can't merge into flames like you can. If I took a fire bath… how many hairs would I have left, meow?"
"I choose a hot bath… please."
"It would be my pleasure to serve you, adorable Rika-chan."
"I already told you, meow, don't call me Rika-chan…" she muttered softly.
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