Sasuke wasted no time, sitting cross-legged on his bed, he began to focus on compressing the chakra within him.

"Sasuke, are you still awake?"

Mikoto stood outside Sasuke’s door, one hand holding a tray with steaming hot food, the other gently knocking on the door.

"Oh, no, I’m still up." Interrupted in his training, Sasuke had no choice but to get up and open the door. A glance at the clock revealed that two hours had passed. Although he hadn’t managed to compress his chakra into liquid form during that time, his efforts weren’t in vain—he had compressed one percent of his blue chakra into a deep blue, and his chakra reserves had slightly increased. This was proof that his method was working.

“Sasuke, you missed dinner. I was worried you might be hungry later, so I made you something.”

Mikoto said as she walked into the room. “Oh, thank you.” Sasuke took the tray, his face full of gratitude.

“Silly child, I’m your mother, after all.”

Mikoto smiled warmly, gently patting Sasuke’s head.

Placing the tray on the table, Sasuke quietly ate his meal while Mikoto, seeing him occupied, began tidying up the messy room.

Watching her silently clean his room, Sasuke felt a warmth in his heart, yet deep inside, there was also a lingering sense of worry and melancholy. From the moment of his rebirth, Sasuke had reminded himself not to get too emotionally attached to anyone in the Uchiha clan, knowing that their fate was sealed. However, Mikoto’s boundless love and care gradually softened his resolve, making him see her as his mother. After all, no one’s heart is truly cold, and it’s impossible to remain indifferent to such kindness.

Sasuke was painfully aware that in three years, the powerful Uchiha clan would be annihilated in a single night by Itachi and Tobi, leaving only himself and Itachi as the sole survivors. This also meant that the woman who cared for him so deeply, his mother, would also be…

“No,” Sasuke resolved in his heart, “the lives of others may not concern me, but I will not allow anyone to harm Mikoto Uchiha. If anyone dares to lay a finger on her, I’ll make them regret ever coming into this world.”

“Sasuke, once you’re done, get some rest, alright?”

Mikoto said after finishing tidying the room, noticing that Sasuke had finished eating. She gathered the tray and quietly left the room.

As he watched her retreating figure, Sasuke reaffirmed his vow: Itachi, I won’t let you harm her.

“It seems I’ll have to intensify my training. Who knows how strong I’ll be in three years.”

Sasuke sat back down on his bed, preparing to resume compressing his chakra.

The next morning, Sasuke finally ended his training, utterly exhausted and unable to continue. Compressing chakra had drained him mentally, and he hadn’t rested in over a day. The fact that he had lasted this long was a testament to his iron will. With a thud, he collapsed onto his bed and immediately fell asleep.

When he woke, it was already evening. Mikoto had checked on him twice, quietly leaving each time after seeing him sound asleep. Itachi, meanwhile, had left early for a mission.

Upon waking, Sasuke saw that his method had indeed been successful. In one night, he had managed to compress one-tenth of his blue chakra into deep blue. Though he hadn’t yet achieved liquid chakra, Sasuke was elated. If it had been too easy, it would have been hard to believe. The greater the difficulty, the more it proved how much his chakra had increased.

Since he hadn’t yet fully succeeded, Sasuke limited his training to a few daily repetitions of the Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu and Lightning Style: Ground Walk. He didn’t want to waste any chakra; all of it was devoted to compression.

One month passed.

For an entire month, Sasuke remained in his room, compressing his chakra. He had completely transformed his blue chakra into deep blue, replenishing it after each compression. By the end of the month, his dantian was filled with deep blue chakra. The chakra’s color had even begun to darken, indicating that its concentration had reached a critical level. He was just one step away from compressing it into liquid form.

Sasuke was astonished to discover that his chakra now automatically transformed from blue to deep blue as it regenerated, without any additional effort on his part. When he used ninjutsu, it reverted to blue. This effectively doubled his previous chakra reserves.

With his chakra doubled, Sasuke was overjoyed. He could hardly wait for the moment when it would turn to liquid. Unable to resist the temptation, he plunged once more into the process of compression.

“Ugh!”

Just as before, Sasuke realized that his strength alone wasn’t enough to compress the gaseous chakra into liquid.

“It seems I’ll need to rely on external help again. I’ll have to ask Itachi for assistance. Luckily, he’s home today.”

Sasuke thought as he headed for the door. “Brother, I need your help.”

Sasuke found Itachi engrossed in a scroll. “Oh, Sasuke. What is it?” Itachi set the scroll aside, looking up at Sasuke, waiting for his question. Instead of answering, Sasuke pulled him toward the training ground.

“Wait a moment, Sasuke.” Itachi followed, unable to refuse, putting down the scroll and quickening his pace.

“Brother, it’s like this…” Standing in the training ground, Sasuke explained his plan to Itachi.

“What?”

Itachi couldn’t hide his surprise after hearing Sasuke’s explanation. Placing his hands on Sasuke’s shoulders, he sensed the chakra within him. “Indeed, I hadn’t expected you to come up with such a method. But using my strength could be dangerous, Sasuke. You must be sure about this.”

Itachi removed his hands and solemnly advised Sasuke.

“I know, but I still want to try.”

Sasuke’s determination was unwavering.

“Very well, but if it gets dangerous, we stop immediately.” Itachi’s concern was evident.

“Understood,” Sasuke nodded. But in truth, this method could only be used by Sasuke himself. If Itachi attempted to compress his chakra, the effort might not be worth the risk.

First, Itachi’s chakra reserves were vast, comparable to a Jonin’s, and it had taken Sasuke an entire month to compress just a fraction of his own. It was impossible to predict how long it would take Itachi.

Second, the older one gets, the more impurities accumulate in their chakra. The more impurities, the longer the process takes, and it may not even be possible to compress the chakra into liquid form. Liquid chakra requires pure, untainted chakra.

If Itachi spent years compressing his chakra only to double its amount, it would be more effective to learn a few powerful jutsu. After all, a ninja’s strength isn’t solely measured by the quantity of chakra.

As for trying to have other children compress their chakra, that was out of the question. A three or four-year-old who could refine chakra was already considered a prodigy, and few could fully control their chakra at that age. Moreover, compressing chakra demanded a tremendous amount of mental energy, and at three or four, a child’s mental strength was still quite fragile. This method could only be used by Sasuke, who had been reincarnated.