Finally understanding the reason for the clan's decline, Gisei Shiraishi yawned, clearly uninterested in the topic.
The process didn't really matter; the result was simply that the Butterfly User Clan was now reduced to just two people.
Fortunately, Tobirama Senju had died early, otherwise, Gisei probably wouldn't have lived until now.
What actually interested him was just what kind of confidence the Butterfly User Clan had to contend for the position of Hokage in the first place.
At its peak, their serving Jonin accounted for one-fifth of Konoha's total Jonin forces. Jonin weren't cabbages you could just pick up at the market; how could a single ninja clan produce so many of them?
"Is our clan very special? How can there be so many Jonin?"
Regarding this question, Eisawa Shiraishi took a sip of tea and asked, "What aspects do you think are needed to measure a ninja's strength?"
"Chakra volume, ninjutsu, taijutsu, genjutsu... seems like that's it?"
"Correct. Stretch out your hand."
Gisei stretched out his hand, and Eisawa grabbed it.
A suction force suddenly appeared, and Gisei was stunned.
He felt a portion of his already scarce chakra suddenly vanish. Shocked and uncertain, he asked, "The ability to absorb chakra?"
Eisawa nodded and said, "You can try it too."
With a thought from Gisei, a stream of chakra was guided out from Eisawa's body and entered his own.
In less than a minute, it merged with the chakra in his body, perfectly becoming his own.
This ability...
If he kept absorbing other people's chakra until the Fourth Great Ninja War...
What are Tailed Beasts? I myself will be a Tailed Beast! Turning chakra into "ton-kra" is just around the corner!
Thinking of this, Gisei felt happy for the first time about being reincarnated into the Butterfly User Clan. The excitement on his face couldn't be hidden.
"Don't get happy too early. You and I are blood relatives, our chakra comes from the same source."
"That's why my chakra enters your body without any obstruction and can perfectly become yours. If you absorb someone else's chakra, retaining twenty percent out of a hundred would be considered very good."
"This ability to absorb chakra isn't rare; quite a few ninja clans can do it."
"For example, the Aburame clan's kikaichū, as well as some strange jutsu formulas and ninjutsu, can achieve this effect."
"Moreover, there is a limit to how much chakra a human body can absorb. It is inextricably linked to physical energy, spiritual energy, and even life force."
"After reaching a certain level, no matter how much chakra you absorb, it will simply dissipate in your body."
These words knocked Gisei from the clouds back down to the ground. He then remembered that in the original plot, quite a few people indeed had this ability. It was practically a dime-a-dozen skill.
"Then what use is this ability? You can have so many Jonin relying on just this?"
"I just want to tell you that with this ability, chakra won't be a hindrance to your strength. As long as your body can keep up, theoretically, there is no such thing as a lack of chakra."
"...Alright, I get it."
Seeing Gisei's lack of interest, Eisawa shook his head and said, "Next, let's talk about ninjutsu. What do you think is the most important thing for learning ninjutsu?"
"Talent?"
"Some ninjutsu indeed require talent, but not all."
"Hard work?"
"...Shape transformation and nature transformation of chakra aren't things you can learn just by working hard."
"Then what are you saying?"
"The most basic thing: chakra control ability."
After speaking, Eisawa stood up, opened his mouth, and spat out a fireball. Only after the fireball dissipated did he ask, "This is the C-rank ninjutsu, Flame Bullet. Did you notice?"
The power of the fireball wasn't great; Eisawa must have adjusted the output.
But notice what? Gisei scratched his head, completely clueless about what he was talking about.
"One more time."
This time, Eisawa started to form hand seals, then used the C-rank ninjutsu again.
Gisei blinked his eyes. "Seals?"
"Correct. When chakra control reaches a certain level, one can use ninjutsu without seals. I basically don't need to form seals for C-rank ninjutsu anymore."
The power of seal-less ninjutsu naturally went without saying.
Naruto rubbed a ball all the way to the finale relying on the seal-less ninjutsu, Rasengan.
But that was a true seal-less ninjutsu. Is Flame Bullet a ninjutsu that can normally be used without seals?
Using all C-rank ninjutsu without needing seals... hey, is this for real? Is chakra control really that important?
It seemed very impressive. Gisei asked, acting a bit cute, "How is this done? Can I use ninjutsu without seals now too?"
"Your chakra is too little. It's too early for you to practice ninjutsu. You're not even qualified for the simple Three Basic Jutsu."
"..."
Speechless. Gisei felt he had been working very hard. He started throwing kunai at age three and hitting wooden stakes at four.
Although he cried from the pain after just two punches, he at least did push-ups. He wasn't that terrible, right?
As for chakra, this was simply a fatal flaw.
The refined chakra only allowed him to run a little faster. As for walking on water and climbing trees, he had tried and failed completely.
This was also the reason he was such a slacker.
Obviously having no talent, isn't it better to just honestly be a clock-punching tool?
Why tire himself to death? What for?
Saving the world is the protagonist's mission.
If a supporting character wants to steal the protagonist's show... well, if you have a cheat, that's fine. But without a cheat, trying to force your way into the protagonist's group...
I'm afraid the aftershocks of their battles alone could shake you to death. Gisei expressed that his head wasn't that hard.
As for the Second and Third Great Ninja Wars, there was still more than a decade. They were far away from him.
Who knows what his situation will be by then? Maybe he could also rub balls for fun at that time. What's there to be afraid of?
The worst-case scenario is finding a place to hide. If that really doesn't work, becoming a missing-nin is also among his options.
In short, Gisei had a typical "muddle along" mentality. He didn't want to think too much; it was tiring.
In his previous life, he worried too much, worked desperately overtime to make money, and as a result, one illness exhausted all his savings. The taste of lying in a hospital bed waiting for death...
Whoever tries it knows. Anyway, the world is big, but I am the biggest.
My life is my own. What is a clan? What is the Will of Fire? Not worth mentioning.
"Chakra control ability can be cultivated later, but this ability to release ninjutsu without seals requires a massive amount of time even for genius ninjas to reach this level. But our clan..."
Speaking of this, Eisawa asked, "I'm twenty-eight this year. I started training at ten and became a Jonin at twenty-three. Do you think I'm a genius?"
This was really hard to say. Gisei hesitated and said, "You should be considered a genius, right? After all, you are a Jonin. Some people train for a lifetime and can't become a Jonin."
"Your grandfather was the clan head at fifteen. Your father reached the level of Jonin at sixteen. They were the true genius ninjas. Whereas I can only be considered mediocre at best in the entire clan."
Smiling bitterly and shaking his head, Eisawa continued, "But even someone like me still became a Jonin."
"Honestly, I am lucky, and you are also lucky. We are both people with mediocre talent."
"If born in another clan, I would be a Chunin at most right now, and you might be a Genin for your whole life."
Being told his talent was mediocre was still hurtful. As for being a Genin for life, Gisei felt he still wanted some face.
"Impossible. Although my talent isn't great, I wouldn't be a Genin for life, right?"
"No talent and you don't know how to work hard. Do you think I don't know? You punched the wooden stake in the yard exactly twice in total, and you even cried. What a disgrace."
"How did you know?" Gisei was shocked. Having his most shameful secret known was unbearable. His face flushed red and then green. "You spied on me?"
Eisawa rolled his eyes. "Our clan is famous for chakra control and sensory abilities. Even in the tavern, I can sense the situation at home. I know exactly what you did every day."
Sensory ability?
"What's with this sensory ability?"
"You should be able to do it now too. Close your eyes, hold your breath and focus, try to sense with your chakra."
Gisei did as told, but unfortunately, he couldn't sense anything. Closing his eyes, it was dark; opening them, it was bright again. Closing and opening again...
"You really have no talent. Stand up and turn your back to me."
Can you stop hitting my confidence? Gisei raged impotently in his heart but didn't dare say anything, obediently doing as told.
The next moment, his heart suddenly tightened.
He didn't need to turn around to be clear about the scene behind him—Eisawa was thrusting a kunai straight toward his back!
Suddenly whipping around, the kunai stopped.
Just by a hair's breadth!
Gisei broke out in a cold sweat and swallowed dryly. "Uncle Eisawa, no need to be so extreme..."
"When a person faces a crisis, their sensory ability will increase exponentially. You must have sensed what I was doing. How was it?"
Smiling and putting away the kunai, Eisawa patted his shoulder. "Scared like this by such a small scene? If you face a real enemy, I'm afraid you won't even be able to withstand their killing intent."
I'm still a child!
"Alright, back to the main topic. Let's continue talking about chakra control."
"The difference between our clan and other ninja clans lies in the fact that their strength must rely on long-term training to improve, while our clan relies on time—or rather, the growth of the body—to improve strength."
"Generally speaking, training in the secret technique starts at ten. After passing the most difficult larval stage, strength will increase significantly."
"The larval stage is the period when the larva in the body turns into a pupa."
"This period is the weakest time for our clan. Not only does the butterfly seed in the body need to eat chakra, but your own body's growth also needs chakra."
"This easily leads to a situation where physical energy can't keep up, chakra can't be refined, leading to frailty and sickness. In severe cases, even death is possible."
"The butterfly seed in the larval stage basically acts on instinct and is extremely gluttonous. If there is no chakra, biting your heart is a common occurrence."
"Although it won't be fatal, it will be very painful. This is also why I made you take medicine. That is the clan's secret medicine which can supplement some physical energy and chakra, similar to soldier pills."
"Once the larval stage is passed, the butterfly seed in the pupal stage will enter a state similar to dormancy."
"At this time, you only need to feed a small amount of chakra to ensure its survival, and you can control the feeding time yourself. Only then can you truly be considered a qualified ninja."
"The butterfly seed in the pupal stage will slowly grow over time and gradually develop its own consciousness. This is the chakra control ability I wanted to talk about."
"It acts as your second soul. Not only can it improve your chakra control ability, but your sensory ability will also improve."
"From then on, no matter what ninjutsu you practice, you will get twice the result with half the effort. Becoming a Jonin will become a fairly simple matter."
"This is also the reason why our clan has many Jonin."
"Those with high talent can become Jonin before twenty. Those who are more mediocre can do it in their twenties. Even those with really no talent can become Jonin in their thirties."
Finishing all this in one breath, Eisawa picked up his teacup and began to drink.
Gisei began to digest these things. It sounded quite simple and easy to understand.
He had to say, the Butterfly User Clan's secret technique was quite creative.
To even come up with something like a "second soul"—Gisei gave a thumbs up to his ancestors.
The importance of a second soul was self-evident.
In the story, Sakura had the possibility of becoming Tsunade's disciple precisely because she had a "second soul" (Inner Sakura).
In the Chunin Exams, Sakura even used her second soul to break the Yamanaka clan's secret technique, and in the end, she perfectly inherited Tsunade's medical ninjutsu.