Might Guy hadn't expected his identity to be exposed the moment he appeared.
He had originally planned to engineer a "chance encounter," but after learning that Uchiha Shunichi practically never left Uchiha clan territory, he had no choice but to come here himself.
"Ahem!" Might Guy cleared his throat, awkward yet determined to preserve his dignity. "I was entrusted by the Hokage to serve as your taijutsu instructor."
"I see. Then I'll be in your care, Guy-sensei," Uchiha Shunichi said politely. "However, I'm not a formal taijutsu specialist. Because of my physical condition, I simply need to strengthen my body as quickly as possible."
"Boy…" Might Guy's expression turned solemn. "There are no shortcuts in taijutsu training!"
But almost immediately, he reverted to his usual self.
"That said, I can teach you the correct methods for conditioning your body." He flashed his trademark smile once more.
If one ignored his inexplicable self-confidence and the occasional awkwardness in his speech, Might Guy was actually an excellent teacher. After just a few explanations and demonstrations, Uchiha Shunichi could already feel his training movements becoming far smoother and more efficient.
However, since this wasn't formal instruction, Might Guy only stayed for the afternoon before taking his leave.
After Guy left, Uchiha Shunichi didn't continue training.
Because of his physical condition, there was a strict limit to how long he could train each day. Once he exceeded that threshold, failing to recover in time would result in irreversible damage to his body.
Granted… that damage was reversible for Uchiha Shunichi.
Uchiha Shunichi left the training grounds and went to the bathhouse. He stepped into a wooden tub filled with water at the perfect temperature and began adding various medicinal solutions.
Physical conditioning required more than just intense training—it also demanded sufficient nutrition, adequate rest, and body-strengthening concoctions.
Otherwise, training alone wouldn't strengthen the body at all. Instead, it would only make it weaker.
After soaking for over an hour, Uchiha Shunichi finished his bath for the day. After briefly drying himself, he headed to a hidden underground chamber located far from the main residence.
This place had originally been a weapons vault for the Uchiha clan. But those weapons had long since been sold off by Uchiha Shunichi, and the underground storage had been converted into a laboratory.
A laboratory was something deeply out of place in the ninja world.
Because of the existence of ninja, this world's technological development had taken a skewed path. Although many powerful technologies had been invented, they were little more than expensive toys for the nobility.
That said, conducting scientific research in the ninja world was remarkably convenient—especially research involving the human body. The existence of chakra was practically a cheat code.
After more than three years of self-study, Uchiha Shunichi was already capable of producing some moderately useful results. The nutrient solutions he drank daily and the medicinal bath concoctions he used all originated from this very place.
As he entered, the laboratory lights flickered on. Uchiha Shunichi moved with practiced familiarity toward a row of cages covered in cloth.
He lifted the white coverings, revealing numerous white mice of various shapes and conditions.
"Experiment log. Subject One: failure… Subject Two: failure… Subject Thirteen shows slight abnormalities—worth observing…"
Uchiha Shunichi created a shadow clone to handle the records, while he himself carefully examined the condition of the eighteen test mice.
"There's no point in continuing this line of experiments," the shadow clone said as it wrote. "The Uchiha bloodline won't integrate into animals so easily."
Though they were the same person, a shadow clone with identical thinking could still approach problems from a different angle.
"No. Subject Thirteen has already shown some results," Uchiha Shunichi replied calmly, continuing his observations. "My goal isn't successful transplantation—it's finding a direction for bloodline transfer. After all, I can't actually conduct human experiments."
"We could consider starting from the embryonic stage," the clone suggested after jotting something down. "Also… I think we can try introducing chakra."
"Too early." A flicker of excitement crossed Uchiha Shunichi's mind, but he ultimately shook his head. "If something goes wrong, I won't be able to control it."
"What a pity Orochimaru isn't in the village," the clone said regretfully. "That guy has a terrible personality, but he's actually pretty good to his students."
In truth, Uchiha Shunichi had once considered seeking out Orochimaru. Whether through Danzō or Mizuki from the Academy, it wouldn't have been difficult to make contact.
With the memories in his mind, Uchiha Shunichi was at least seventy percent confident he could entice Orochimaru.
But none of that was something he could act on right now.
"At this stage, learning still comes first. Even though it's difficult to obtain technological materials in Konoha, it's not impossible."
Uchiha Shunichi tossed all the mice except Subject Thirteen into a nearby brazier. Then he took out another batch of mice and injected them with a potion he had haphazardly concocted himself.
After that, with the help of his shadow clone, he began extracting nutrient solutions.
This was something he needed to drink every day. Without sufficient nutrition, he would eventually be crushed under the burden of the Mangekyō Sharingan.
The Mangekyō Sharingan was a double-edged sword.
Even with an ability as special as Uchiha Shunichi's, this truth remained unchanged.
After preparing enough nutrient solutions and medicinal bath liquids to last three days, Uchiha Shunichi sealed the laboratory and returned to the study in his home.
The study was piled high with books—some on ninjutsu, some on basic sealing techniques, but the majority were texts on medical ninjutsu and biological experimentation.
Acquiring these books had cost Uchiha Shunichi an enormous amount of effort.
In the end, he had to rely on Granny Cat to obtain them, even gaining a few mysterious experiment logs from unknown origins as a bonus.
Fortunately, thanks to chakra, technology in this world was relatively simplified. But precisely because of that, so-called experiments often had no real theoretical foundation—only procedures.
The advantage was that there was no need to learn overly complex knowledge.
The downside was that knowing only the process made it impossible to predict the outcome.
"Shunichi, I'm back!"
As evening fell, Uchiha Sasuke returned, dragging his exhausted body behind him, a large bundle strapped to his back.
"Looks like you did pretty well," Uchiha Shunichi said, his eyes lighting up at the sight of the package. "Did you manage to buy everything?"