Chapter 4: The Chakra Extraction Technique
Minato Namikaze handed the scroll detailing the Chakra Extraction Technique to Orion, watching his son's expression nervously. Because he didn't have much time to spend with Orion, he didn't really understand his own child, and this gift was a decision Minato had mulled over for a long time.
He knew that Orion was four years old this year and could begin extracting chakra, so he chose this as Orion's fourth birthday present. However, he was still a little worried, a little afraid that Orion wouldn't like the gift. But it was clear that he had been overthinking it.
Orion stared at the Chakra Extraction Technique in his hands, incredibly excited. A look of ecstasy spread across his face. Three years. I've been in this world for a full three years, and I can finally start extracting chakra. This is the first step to becoming a powerhouse in this world.
Seeing the look of joy on Orion's face, Minato breathed a sigh of relief. He was glad Orion liked the gift; he hadn't made the wrong choice. He just didn't know if he could be considered a qualified father.
Because he was away from his child's side for long periods, he naturally didn't know Orion's thoughts, nor did he know what kind of image he had in his child's heart.
But I will do everything in my power to give my child the best life possible, to keep him from getting hurt, to keep him from being sad, and to let him have a happy childhood, Minato thought to himself at that moment.
Orion hurriedly returned to his room and took out the scroll for the Chakra Training Technique that his father, Minato Namikaze, had personally given him. He stretched out both hands and gently unrolled it.
The Chakra Training Technique wasn't actually a particularly rare item. For someone of Orion's status, it was relatively easy to obtain. But for ordinary villagers with no status, it was an incredibly difficult thing to acquire.
Because they had no way of obtaining the Chakra Extraction Technique, they could only live their whole lives as ordinary villagers, with no way of becoming strong. However, if one's talent was exceptionally good, there was still a chance to obtain it. People like Minato Namikaze, for example, were civilian ninjas with no backing, but his talent was good enough that he could acquire a great deal of resources.
These things varied from person to person, which was to be expected. Talented people could obtain vast resources, while those with poor talent couldn't even dream of it; just obtaining a single Chakra Extraction Technique was difficult. Therefore, fairness did not exist in the world of Naruto.
The scroll was still very new, so Orion judged that it must have been made not long ago. His father had certainly purchased it specifically for him. The price of such a scroll was really not cheap.
The price of scrolls that detailed the training methods for jutsu was still within an affordable range. Minato Namikaze could still afford to buy a few of these. But if a jutsu was stored inside a scroll, the price would become truly exorbitant.
Setting aside the issue of price, the difficulty of creating such jutsu scrolls was immense. They couldn't be made by just anyone; even some geniuses couldn't produce them.
To create this type of jutsu scroll, one needed to possess great talent and then go through countless experiments. Only then would there be a possibility, a chance, a probability of creating a jutsu scroll that sealed a technique within it.
Although the price of these jutsu scrolls was high, it wasn't without reason; they were worth the cost. These scrolls were extremely convenient to use. All you had to do was tear the scroll open, nothing else.
Even an ordinary villager who had never trained and had not a single drop of chakra in their body could use this kind of jutsu scroll. Because of this, these scrolls were always in high demand. Powerful figures like the Daimyo of the various countries would always carry many jutsu scrolls with sealed techniques.
Coupled with the difficulty of their production, the selling price of these scrolls was extremely high. Even Minato, as Hokage, didn't have much money to buy them. Even if he wanted to, he could only purchase a few; any more and he wouldn't have enough money.
Orion suppressed his excitement, focused his gaze, and carefully studied the technique for extracting chakra inscribed before him.
After reading for a while, Orion began to understand. Extracting chakra wasn't difficult, but it wasn't simple either. To extract chakra, one had to draw out physical energy from each of the 130 trillion cells within one's body.
Then, by merging that with the spiritual energy generated from one's accumulated experience and training, the combination of the two would form the most basic chakra.
Chakra is a form of energy created by perfectly blending the various controlled energies within the human body. It is the foundation for performing ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu, and can also be formed into threads to bind opponents or sever things made of chakra.
There was also a more advanced type of chakra, which was Senjutsu Chakra.
Cultivating Senjutsu Chakra was extremely difficult. It required the fusion of three types of energy. The energy produced after these three energies slowly merged was Senjutsu Chakra.
Two of these three energies were relatively easy to obtain. The third, however, was not so easy. The third energy was natural energy. To obtain natural energy, one had to go to one of the Three Great Sage Regions. One first had to form a summoning contract with the animal summons of a Sage Region, and only then could they go there to gather natural energy and finally begin the training for Senjutsu Chakra.
These Three Great Sage Regions were Mount Myoboku, Ryuchi Cave, and Shikkotsu Forest.
Mount Myoboku was a mysterious and unknown holy land in the ninja world, the habitat of the toad summons. It was the sage region where his father, Minato Namikaze; his father's teacher, Jiraiya; and his yet-to-be-born brother, Naruto Uzumaki, would form their contracts. It was also the place where Jiraiya and his unborn brother Naruto would train in Senjutsu Chakra.
Ryuchi Cave, also known as Taki Cave, was a place for cultivating Senjutsu Chakra that was as famous in the Naruto world as the legendary Mount Myoboku and Shikkotsu Forest. In the series, Orochimaru had once tried to train in Senjutsu Chakra there, but because his arms had been sealed by the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, using the Reaper Death Seal, his body could no longer withstand the power of a sage. Therefore, he attempted to take Sasuke's body to cultivate Senjutsu Chakra.
Shikkotsu Forest was another of the legendary sage lands in Naruto. Together with Mount Myoboku and Ryuchi Cave, it formed the Three Great Sage Regions. The master of this holy land was Lady Katsuyu, whose power was mysterious and immense. It was also the place where Tsunade Senju, one of the Sannin, formed her summoning contract.
Other than these three great sage regions, Orion had never heard of any other places that possessed natural energy for cultivating Senjutsu Chakra. Naturally, all of this was information his mother, Kushina Uzumaki, had told him.
He just didn't know if, besides these three, there were any other places that held natural energy and where one could train in Senjutsu Chakra.
(End of this chapter)