"..."
Honestly, after reading the scroll, Hakushi felt a bit disappointed, but on second thought, it was understandable.
If it had recorded how to train Sage Arts, Ruri wouldn't have handed something like that over to him on her own, right?
At this point, Hakushi had reached a bottleneck in his research on chakra. He needed something new to break through and deepen his understanding of chakra.
He'd hoped to get some inspiration from Sage Arts, but the knowledge on the scroll wasn't of much use to him.
No... Giving up this early doesn't quite fit my style.
Actually, the stuff on the scroll is still a little useful.
Although it didn't detail how to become one with nature or how to sense natural energy, if I assume that's possible, and if it's true, then how do I enter that state of fusion with nature and sense the existence of natural energy?
So, blending with nature is the key.
How do you blend with it?
Hakushi took out the notes on chakra he'd written before.
In Hakushi's research, he'd already fumbled out some hidden information about chakra.
For example, the synthesis of chakra actually follows a pattern—the fusion of physical energy and spiritual energy. Within this, a stable "system" has already formed. By following this "system", you can steadily produce chakra.
But Sage Art chakra is on top of that "system", adding in natural energy.
It goes from a two-energy system to a stable system with three types of energy.
The Sage Art chakra "system" must exist, and it must be something people can steadily and sustainably master.
There must be some deep connection between ordinary chakra and Sage Art chakra.
This connection might just be the key to drawing out natural energy.
So, how do you use ordinary chakra to lure out natural energy?
When you blend into nature, what role does ordinary chakra play in all of this?
"Physical energy is produced by training the body, or, more accurately, by maintaining essential sources of bodily life. Carbohydrates, fats, proteins—these three things oxidize in the body and are essential substances for a person's movement..."
Spiritual energy is related to consciousness; put more broadly, it's the stuff tied up with the soul.
The Uchiha Clan's Sharingan awakens based on emotion; it needs a serious emotional trigger. According to Ruri, that's a kind of spiritual energy too.
So, emotion is also spiritual energy... more precisely, the fluctuation of emotion depends on the individual's mental strength.
At the end of his notes, Hakushi wrote down his conclusion.
The refining of chakra depends on the amount of life-giving material consumed that day, the emotional state on that day, and the person's inherent mental and physical strength.
All these factors will affect the efficiency of chakra refining.
This solves the source of ordinary chakra and further analyzes the concrete ways in which physical and spiritual energy arise.
Meanwhile, natural energy comes from the air and the earth—it's everywhere.
"I'm breathing in air every moment—does that count as absorbing natural energy?"
Hakushi looked out at the pitch-black night scene outside his window, the evening breeze cool and dry, and muttered to himself.
Hmm, this actually sounds kind of promising.
◎
Another weekend holiday rolled around.
Hakushi arrived at the famed Uchiha Clan Land.
It looked practically like a village within the village.
The Uchiha Clan Land was located in the middle area of Konoha Village. To be honest, for a prestigious clan, the location was a bit far from the village core.
After all, the Uchiha Clan controlled a department as powerful as the Security Team.
How powerful? For example, the Hokage's direct Anbu, under normal circumstances, can't simply arrest people. They need to present a written order from the Hokage.
But the Uchiha Clan's Security Team doesn't need such orders—they can detain people as they please, though the final ruling still requires the Hokage's arbitration.
But that means the Uchiha Clan Security Team, in terms of authority, stands above even Hokage's direct Anbu.
For a ninja clan, having so much power never ends well in the long run.
But this is the Uchiha we're talking about. Together with the Senju Clan, they founded Konoha Village. As the two founding ninja clans, it's only natural that they have this kind of power.
And only this clan is qualified—and able—to manage the Security Team.
Walking into the Uchiha Clan Land, the first thing Hakushi saw was a huge and luxurious building—that was the headquarters of the Uchiha Clan Security Team.
At the entrance to the Security Team building, two Uchiha chunin stood guard as usual.
They saw Hakushi, an outsider, walk into Uchiha territory, but didn't stop him—or try to chase him out.
The Uchiha Clan Land doesn't ban outsiders from sightseeing. As long as you don't provoke them, they're actually quite easy to talk to... probably?
Following the directions Ruri had drawn him, Hakushi searched for Ruri's residence.
The Uchiha Clan Land covered a vast area. Just looking for Ruri's home, Hakushi passed by many large training grounds, with mansions lining up one after another.
The commercial district was bustling too, and here and there, Hakushi spotted adults who weren't Uchiha shopping there. It seemed the people got on pretty well.
Even though Hakushi had heard people say the Security Team's Uchiha ninja were obnoxiously arrogant, that was only rumors. He had never seen an arrogant Security Team ninja with his own eyes.
But in any family, it's impossible for everyone to be the same. There's the gentle ones, and naturally the hot-headed ones.
There are Konoha villagers who aren't exactly angels either. Hakushi had been ripped off when eating out; there were always drunken troublemakers on the street, too.
But most are honest, law-abiding folk, generous and kind, with many precious personal qualities.
So, whether they're high-status ninja clans or just regular folks, you can't stereotype everyone.
Thinking about this, Hakushi found the last stop on his map—Ruri's house.
He looked up at the enormous mansion before his eyes. It was by far the most luxurious place he'd seen today; none of the mansions before could compare to this one.
Hakushi estimated that this mansion covered at least several thousand square meters.
Over the walls, he could see the crowns of blooming cherry trees in the courtyard. A few pink petals floated out over the wall, carrying their fragrance.
The first impression was that this place was huge.
The second impression was that Ruri's family was seriously loaded.
This place wouldn't go for less than a hundred million ryo.
Hakushi felt like where he lived was no better than a doghouse by comparison.
Curse these filthy capitalists.
"Hello, are you here to see Lady Ruri?"
A young woman in a kimono saw Hakushi standing at the gate, stopped her cleaning, came forward and asked with a gentle smile.
"Yes, I'm Chiba Hakushi. I believe I have an appointment."
Hearing Hakushi introduce himself, the kimono-clad maid kept smiling sweetly at him and nodded.
"Please come with me. Lady Ruri is waiting for you inside."
Impeccable manners and courtesy, and even using honorifics on top of it.
Hakushi followed the maid into the absurdly large mansion.
The buildings here were mainly constructed with two-hundred-year-old Japanese cedar; the hallway boards were spotless and shiny, so clean you could see your reflection as you walked by.
The doors and windows were simple and bright; in the courtyard there was a pond, and many kinds of old trees, all with quite some age.
Walking down the corridor, Hakushi passed several other maids in kimonos. Each of them smiled politely at him as they passed. You could tell they were well-mannered.
Even with so many maids, cleaning an estate this big must be anything but easy work.
And this was only a small part of the front yard.
Ruri was in the largest building in the back garden. The maid slid open the wooden door and respectfully bowed to the person inside:
"Lady Ruri, your guest has arrived."
"You can go."
"Yes, ma'am."
The maid withdrew as Ruri instructed.
Hakushi walked in, curiously looking around.
The huge room was practically empty, with only a few seat cushions, a short tea table, and a luxurious floor mat and bedding.
The life of a capitalist: plain and unadorned.
Suddenly, Hakushi didn't feel like working hard anymore.