Reincarnating as Itachi in a cultivation world!

As soon as the clone dispelled a wave of spiritual energy started filling up his dantian, coursing through his body like a raging river.

The energy that the clone had cultivated flowed back into him in a burst so overwhelming that it was as though he'd been standing beneath a spiritual waterfall.

His body began to transform as the influx of qi reshaped him. His bones grew denser and stronger, emitting faint cracking sounds as they adjusted to the flood of energy. His muscles thickened and tightened, as if they were being reforged in the fires of a forge. The spiritual energy nourished his blood and marrow, infusing his mortal body with the vitality of a cultivator once more.

And then it hit him.

Body Tempering Realm – Mid Stage!

Itachi's eyes widened in disbelief. "It… it worked?" he muttered, the sheer speed of his cultivation progress leaving him flabbergasted. He had only just started cultivating again, and now, mere moments later, he had already returned to the Body Tempering Realm, the very foundation of cultivation!

A grin spread across his face, the frustration and despair from earlier evaporating as joy swept over him. "It worked, you idiot!" he said, turning to the scroll triumphantly.

But the scroll, floating lazily nearby, let out a bored yawn. "Oh, are you finally done celebrating? How quaint."

The smug tone made Itachi's grin falter slightly. "You don't sound as excited as I feel. Do you even realize what just happened? My cultivation skyrocketed! Maybe my talent has improved after all."

The scroll's doodle eyes squinted as if unimpressed. "Are you seriously thinking your talent changed?" it said dryly. "Let me stop you right there, genius: your talent is exactly the same as it's always been. Nothing changed."

"What?" Itachi blinked, the wind taken out of his sails.

The scroll huffed, clearly exasperated. "The only reason you progressed so fast was because your body was already in peak condition. You've spent years cultivating and pushing your limits, so your body didn't need to start from scratch. Advancing through the Body Tempering Stage is mostly about improving on your already existing physical form, and since yours was already strong, it just needed a little improvement. That's why it felt so quick for you."

Itachi frowned, the explanation making too much sense for his liking. "So… what you're saying is that I'm going to start struggling once I cross over into the next stage?"

"Ding ding ding! You win the prize for obvious conclusions!" the scroll said sarcastically, its doodle eyes rolling in mock applause.

Itachi clicked his tongue in annoyance but quickly pushed the thought aside. "Struggling or not, it doesn't matter. I'll take what I can get. Let's see how far I can push this."

With that, he formed the hand seals for the Shadow Clone Technique again, his fingers moving confidently as he shouted, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Another puff of smoke filled the room, and a single clone appeared before him.

Itachi blinked. One? He had expected at least two clones now that his spiritual energy had upgraded.

"Are you surprised?" the scroll said smugly, its tone practically dripping with mockery. "Did you really think you'd be summoning an army of clones just because it worked the first time? The first one was a freebie—don't get used to it. I had to help you out since you didn't have any spiritual energy to summon one in the first place."

"Help me out?" Itachi repeated, his voice laced with irritation.

"Yes, help," the scroll said, unbothered by his tone. "From now on, you're on your own. And in case you haven't noticed, the Shadow Clone Technique is a major energy drain. It's not cheap."

Itachi furrowed his brow, deep in thought. "That makes sense, I guess. Even in the Naruto series, only someone like Naruto—who had absurd amounts of chakra—could summon thousands of clones without exhausting himself. For me, a low-level cultivator starting from scratch…"

"It's not just about your cultivation level," the scroll interjected. "Let me give you some numbers. Summoning a single clone will drain 1 point of spiritual energy every minute. However, if you're cultivating in a place with high spiritual energy or using a spirit stone to feed it, the consumption rate slows down."

"For example, right now, your clone was receiving spiritual energy from your mid-tier spirit stone, which is allowing it to sustain itself. But even then, only 60% of the energy is being converted into cultivation. The other 40% is being used to maintain the clone due to which it didn't effect your cultivation or your spiritual energy reserve."

Itachi nodded, slowly piecing it together. So, I'll need an external source to keep my clones running longer if I want to maximize the cultivation gains.

"How much spiritual energy do I hold right now?" Itachi asked.

"About 150 SEP, give or take," the scroll replied.

Itachi froze, his body trembling slightly. "You mean… after 10 hours of cultivation, with two people cultivating at the same time, I've only managed to accumulate 150 SEP?!"

"Of course," the scroll said casually, as if the answer were obvious. "Your talent isn't bad, but let's face it: it's not exactly amazing either."

Itachi's eye twitched, but he forced himself to remain calm. "Fine," he said through gritted teeth. "Is there a way to cultivate more efficiently with my clones, without relying on spirit stones?"

"Sure," the scroll said nonchalantly.

Itachi's eyes lit up with hope. "What is it?"

"Get a better talent," the scroll said bluntly.

"…What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Itachi asked, his voice rising in frustration.

The scroll shook its head. "I've already told you more than I had to. As far as I'm concerned, we're good now. I've even added an additional feature to the system: you can now see the amount of SEP you currently hold, so you can do the math yourself."

"That's good and all but..." Itachi nodded, noticing the new SEP indicator glowing faintly on the screen. "Why do you sound like you're about to leave?"

"Because I am."

"Wait, what?"

"DO YOU THINK YOU'RE THE ONLY IDIOT I MANAGE?!" the scroll bellowed, its voice loud enough to rattle the walls. "There are other worlds, other users, and trust me—every single one of them is just as annoying as you! In fact, 58 users have already died under my watch just this week. And now, here I am babysitting you!"

"What?!" Itachi said, completely baffled.

"Forget about it!" the scroll shouted, clearly done with the conversation. "Just don't die, idiot! I'll see you again when you've accomplished something worth my time. Until then, you're not going to see me again!"

With that, the scroll disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving Itachi alone in his room. Is that scroll bipolar?

Shaking his head, he turned his attention back to cultivating. If he was going to survive in this world, he'd have to push through no matter how absurd the circumstances.

The clone of his grabbed another mid-tier spirit stone and began cultivating as well.

"Sigh! Since I've found one solution another problem rose up again..." Itachi muttered to himself, "What I need now is a steady supply of spirit stones at the very least to boost my cultivation, if not even with the clone technique I am going to be left out on my own once again."

"But where the fuck am I going to get it..." Itachi shook his head. 

The few spirit stones he had gathered was already shared between him and his brother, and even those stones were gathered through battling some strange cultivators on his path home.

"But with the information provided, I can tell that I can manage at least another clone easily if I breakthrough another stage." Itachi nodded to himself, "I wonder if I can do it even now, with one already being sustained with the spirit stone, the other can freely use up my spiritual energy."

Itachi did his hand sign and surely enough another clone popped out.

Similar to the one before he handed it a spirit stone and had it cultivate.

Itachi repeated the step twenty more times until only 3 mid-tier spirit stones were left and began his cultivation as well.

For now boosting my cultivation is my biggest priority. Then I have to deal with getting more spirit stones. Itachi took mental notes, I could probably get a few more if I ask father but that won't solve the problem. And there is Xiao Chen that I still have to look after.