Upon returning home, Itachi placed Sasuke on the bed, urging him to rest while he quietly left the room.

Sasuke, however, had no desire to rest. Without resolving the issue with his chakra, sleep was impossible. He sat up to restore his chakra, but after a while, he realized that even though his chakra had been replenished, the accumulated energy was useless. Itachi had been right.

The chakra focal point was the dantian, with each person's dantian varying in size, yet invisible from the outside. Even the Byakugan could only see the dantian as the size of a tennis ball, though its internal structure differed greatly.

When Sasuke first gathered chakra, his dantian felt no larger than a ping-pong ball, but as his abilities grew and he aged, the dantian expanded.

Once the chakra reached a certain level, further accumulation yielded no increase, with the excess energy merely refining the body.

The original text also confirmed the resilience of a ninja's body. Take Iruka, for example—when Mizuki hurled a massive Fūma Shuriken at him, Iruka blocked it with his back, suffering only a minor injury. This clearly demonstrated the toughness of a ninja's physique.

Since chakra could no longer be increased through accumulation, Sasuke stopped trying.

“Is there truly no way?” Sasuke thought, disheartened.

He pondered deeply in his room. Was he really going to have to train in the Eight Gates technique to increase his chakra? Yet, Sasuke was reluctant to take this path. The Eight Gates were not only difficult to master, but also consumed a significant amount of time. Moreover, their power was limited—as seen in the battle between Guy and Kisame, where Guy had to open seven gates to defeat Kisame, leaving himself exhausted. And Sasuke knew he would one day face opponents of Madara’s caliber; in such cases, the Eight Gates would be of little use. Sasuke was determined to avoid this training unless absolutely necessary.

He preferred to focus his efforts on ninjutsu and genjutsu, believing that as long as his taijutsu wasn’t too weak, reaching the level of Kakashi’s skill would suffice.

The thought of Madara filled Sasuke with frustration. Although Madara hadn’t shown any hostility towards him in the original text, Sasuke was certain Madara had ulterior motives. Why else would he orchestrate so many events behind the scenes? Could it be that he was after Sasuke’s Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan? Sasuke speculated, knowing that all he wanted was a peaceful life, yet Shimura Danzō, Orochimaru, and Madara wouldn’t let him be. Since they wouldn’t leave him alone, Sasuke vowed to take their lives in return.

“Sasuke, what are you doing? Come out for dinner!” Uchiha Mikoto’s voice came from outside the door, interrupting Sasuke’s thoughts. He rubbed his tousled hair, wondering how many strands he’d pulled out that afternoon without finding a solution.

Sasuke slowly got out of bed and headed toward the door, feeling dejected. “If I can’t think of a solution tonight, I’ll start training in the Eight Gates,” he thought, resigning himself to the idea. “It might be grueling, and eventually less useful, but it’s a start, and it will help me for now.”

Sasuke, looking weary, sat at the dinner table and glanced around. As usual, only he, Itachi, and Uchiha Mikoto were present. As for Uchiha Fugaku, he was absent ninety percent of the time, likely scheming with the elders in the clan leader’s office. Sasuke felt close only to Itachi and Mikoto; the rest of the Uchiha clan, including Fugaku, felt like strangers.

“Sasuke, what’s wrong? You look exhausted. Itachi, what did you do with your brother this morning to tire him out like this?” Mikoto first expressed concern for Sasuke before turning to question Itachi.

“Mother, I was teaching Sasuke ninjutsu today. That’s why he’s so worn out,” Itachi replied, guilt evident on his face.

“Sasuke is only three years old—how could you be teaching him ninjutsu already?” Mikoto’s reprimand was tinged with concern.

“Mother, it was my idea, not Itachi’s fault,” Sasuke said, trying to spare Itachi from taking the blame.

“Sasuke, you’re only three. There’s no need to rush. You can start learning when you’re six and in the Ninja Academy. For now, you don’t need to train so hard,” Mikoto’s voice softened, her affection for Sasuke making it hard for her to scold him.

“Yes, Mother, I’ll be more careful in the future,” Sasuke answered reluctantly, unable to refuse her care.

“Here, Sasuke, have some chicken soup to nourish yourself,” Mikoto said, handing him a bowl.

“Okay,” Sasuke replied, accepting the soup. The sight of the green onions and golden chicken fat floating on the surface made his mouth water. As he swirled the bowl, the steam rising from the soup showed it was still hot.

“Chicken soup, steam… chicken soup, steam… water, steam… water, water vapor… liquid, gas…” Staring at the soup, Sasuke’s thoughts began to race. “I’ve got it!” he mentally exclaimed.

“Huff… huff…” Sasuke quickly finished the soup and dashed to his bedroom, ignoring the burning heat of the liquid.

“Sasuke, what are you… that kid, always so mysterious,” Mikoto muttered, amused. She had wanted to ask where he was going, but Sasuke had already disappeared into his room. Itachi glanced at Sasuke’s door and smiled as well.

Back in his room, Sasuke found three sheets of paper and wrote on them: “Gas, Liquid, Solid.”

He picked up the sheet labeled “Gas” and mused, “If I think of chakra as steam, what if, when its density reaches a certain point, it condenses into water? If that’s possible, I’ll never have to worry about chakra again. Imagine—three identical spaces, one filled with gas, one with liquid, and one with solid matter. Which one holds the most? The solid, of course, followed by the liquid, and then the gas. So, if the container can’t change, the only way to increase its contents is…”

“If I can compress my chakra from a gas to a liquid, wouldn’t it multiply? And if I could compress it further into a solid, wouldn’t it multiply again? Eventually, my chakra would be ten times what it is now,” Sasuke thought, his imagination running wild. The prospect of multiplying his chakra by ten excited him, and he couldn’t wait to start compressing his chakra.