A week later, sitting in my hospital room, I was studying my hundred‑and‑somethingth scroll. I lost count after the forty‑third.
A multifaceted, deep dive into chakra theory. What chakra is in the locals' understanding, how they use it, how new techniques were created. My twenty‑first‑century brain, which had long since forgotten what it means to be starved for information, pounced on all that like a starving beast.
Some scrolls were huge, really wide. Big enough that you could probably mummify a dozen bodies my size in their paper. But that didn't stop me from reading them.
There was, without a doubt, a ton of information. But after finishing, I realized I actually hadn't learned all that much. The scholarly works were packed with minutiae, patterns that weren't always useful (at least for now), and sometimes a fair bit of fluff. Still, that didn't change the fact that I was very pleased—both with myself and overall—with how much I'd managed to learn.
Telling Hiruzen about my abilities had definitely been the right move. He really does seem like a world‑class grandpa.
He'd said that if anything important came up, I could drop by.
Running out of scrolls—that's important, right? Right. Besides, my development is kind of a secret. So I should probably report to him in person.
Still, before I crawl out from under this last scroll and go beg for more, I might as well sum up what I've managed to learn.
The first thing was about chakra development and was one of the most important facts: I'd been completely wrong to baby my Chakra Pathway System (CPS). It turned out to be tough as all hell. From birth. Actually, even earlier. That durability applies in particular to my "Uzumaki" CPS. It could, right after birth, withstand the fox's chakra, even if only in small doses, or so I figure.
From that it follows that all my previous "don't overload it" precautions about my CPS were mistaken. And, as several studies pointed out, even harmful. Because to develop the CPS, you're supposed to hit it with all‑around abuse as hard as you can; that's one of the most, if not the most, effective ways to stimulate it to grow. By babying my CPS, I was just developing way slower than I could have.
But whatever. Again, good thing I found out early. Otherwise I could've been stuck developing much more slowly.
Of course, there are nuances to "abusing" the CPS. The problem is that after heavy loads it builds up damage just like muscles do, and it needs some rest and resources to recover.
In a chakra system as developed as mine, more than ninety percent of the system's resource is self‑produced. The locals don't know exactly why, but people with dozens of times more Yang don't eat dozens of times more food; the energy just somehow appears in their bodies. They do eat a lot—yeah—but not proportionally more. So where does the energy come from? From faith in a brighter future, probably. Jokes aside, local researchers lean toward: first, that the energy itself (yin and yang) partially produces more of itself without taking anything in return; and second, that it also absorbs energy from the outside world.
As for recovery, my chakra system bounces back in no time—many times faster than that of other shinobi. They didn't tell me why, but I'm almost sure it's thanks to the bijuu's energy, which it "voluntarily" shares. Because of that recovery rate, the standard formula‑manual—what intensity to use, on which sections, and in which poses to huff and puff over your CPS—didn't really fit me. It had to be recalculated by hand, based on my recovery and growth graphs. That's what Hiruzen was busy with, because, in his words, he knows his stuff in that department.
On the practical side, there was nothing pervy in the CPS training method itself. The chakra user just sat or lay down—basically got into a comfortable position (you can even stand on your head if that's your thing)—and then used a technique: Pulsation Method: Wave Strike. The essence of the jutsu is elementary, but moderately hard to execute—the user generates a big amount of chakra, compresses it as much as they can, and sends it as a pulse/wave through specific points. Then they repeat it as fast as they can. Over and over, making the process rhythmic.
That's more effective than just running a continuous, even powerful, stream of energy, because it creates a higher load. The method is also considered relatively safe, since users usually don't have the control to launch a wave strong enough to cause real injury. And, as you'd expect, as the user's reserves grow, their experience and overall control of the technique slowly grow too, so they eventually become able to inflict micro‑damage even on their already‑toughened CPS. Because of that, this technique usually stays effective right up until the user's death.
Because of that last fact, not many shinobi bothered to think up new development methods. It felt like everything had already been invented. Still, there were always tinkerers. Some of them, by showing by example how not to do things, let other people write better safety procedures. How else, if one "genius" literally burned himself from the inside out when he decided that turning all the chakra in his pathways into fire was a brilliant idea?
But back to the actual point. At my request, after a bit of thought, Hiruzen even tweaked my training regimen.
Originally, for all shinobi except those belonging to a certain Hyuga clan, it's considered enough to develop the CPS in just a few spots: the palms, so that the energy that goes through them when you form hand seals passes more easily; the legs, to better accelerate your movements; and sometimes the lungs and throat, if the shinobi uses techniques like the Fireball, where you need to stockpile chakra in the lungs and then exhale it.
But now I'm developing my entire chakra system evenly. Which means that later, in theory, I'll be able to perform Hyuga clan techniques like Kaiten. That's where a shinobi evenly releases chakra from all their tenketsu and spins it around themselves into a very tough hemisphere. Or, say, shoot the same Fireball out of my ass. There's just enough room there to pack chakra and then blast it out in one go.
This only slightly slows CPS development, and honestly, I'm not in any particular rush right now. I'll hit the limit of how developed my chakra system can get in just a few years anyway, and after that I'll have to move at a snail's pace.
That limit… doesn't make me happy. The fact that it's very far off—sure. But the fact it exists at all—not so much. Something inside me kept whispering that if I don't find a way to at least push that ceiling further back, I'll end up feeding the God Tree. Maybe not the one Kaguya might grow if things line up that way. Maybe I'll just become a tasty piece of fruit in the hands of some passing Otsutsuki.
I don't like either option.
But that just makes me more motivated to keep moving forward.
Putting it even shorter: a big chunk of the theory was about hand seals. Those little signs you make with your hands. And that section was tightly tied to something called "affinity." Better to start with the second one.
Affinity is basically an accumulated array of chakra properties. It's split up between the components to some degree, but no one uses pure Yin and pure Yang completely separately, except maybe the Sage of Six Paths, if you believe the locals' guesses. So you can treat affinity as belonging to all your chakra.
You could say chakra has a kind of "memory." When a ninja uses, say, a Fireball, the already‑existing chakra, like one big template, gets supplemented by the properties the ninja manually gives it to transform the energy into elemental form; properties for controlling shape, and so on. With practice and time, the chakra remembers which properties it took on (for creating the Fireball, for example), and the template expands. That way, the shinobi doesn't have to impart all the necessary properties to the energy from scratch, because they're already there to some degree. Or rather, they still do, but their starting point is further along than before, so they need to put in less effort. That doesn't mean the chakra will keep getting more and more "fiery" over time—though a harmless imprint might stay. You could also call affinity the "sleeping" properties of energy, since they don't affect the world as much as they can once they're "awakened."
On top of that, with effort and practice, shaping a technique starts costing less effort for the brain too. It's like training your subconscious to handle repetitive tasks, so your mind doesn't really strain itself to do routine stuff. The subconscious works together with that "chakra memory," which makes the effect even stronger.
It's important to mention that affinity isn't just something you grind up on your own. That takes a long time and a lot of effort. No, affinity also gets passed down by inheritance. To be born with a "high" affinity, your parents need to have high affinity too—that's the first factor. And the chakra of the baby has to pick up those properties strongly enough—that's the second, and it happens differently for everyone.
You can get really lucky, and almost any technique your parents know will come to you almost right away. Or you can get really unlucky, end up with barely any affinity, and have to bust your ass just to learn even basic techniques.
The trend in this world is that affinity does grow with each generation. Not fast, but still. Because of that, every generation is stronger than the last—their starting point is just further along.
In my case, I can't say I hit the jackpot with affinity, but I didn't get screwed over either. The part of my affinity that's responsible for wind is actually pretty damn good. Overall I'm noticeably above average, but there are people who can beat me in those stats.
There can be a bunch of reasons why a shinobi's affinity doesn't get passed on well. In my case, maybe it's the influence of the fox's chakra. I can easily imagine that, in order to fight off the aggressive properties of that foreign energy, my CPS just didn't have enough spare resources left to inherit better affinities. Though that's relative, of course. Instead of stronger elemental affinities, for example, I got high resistance and regeneration. Or maybe the bijuu's chakra didn't interfere at all, and it's just how my internal mutations lined up: the gene lottery isn't exactly something you control.
Anyway, back to where I started.
Hand seals. They're directly tied to affinity. Chakra can remember any properties you give it. The property of accepting other properties through hand gestures is deeply imprinted in the energy of pretty much every shinobi. It's an ancient art that, I figure, started out as self‑suggestion to make manipulating energy easier—"repeat a certain chakra manipulation together with a specific gesture so that later your subconscious itself will give the chakra the right properties whenever that gesture is made." And it works very well, which is why it's insanely popular.
There are twelve basic hand seals, named after animals. By forming them, a shinobi can feel their chakra start to move and take on properties on its own. Even properties the ninja might not consciously know about. But those properties are already in their affinity and get awakened by the hand seals.
Overall, this makes using chakra a lot easier. But there's a downside—it takes time to form seals. If two equally experienced shinobi meet, one a ninjutsu specialist and the other a taijutsu specialist, then even at medium distance the taijutsu master will usually have enough time to close in and kill the ninjutsu master.
I memorized all the hand seals. Obviously, I rewarded myself with a pastry for that. And now I've started forming and holding them. First, to be able to form them faster later. Second, to feel what properties each seal gives, so I can later strengthen those same properties in my chakra myself, and so that, over time and constant reinforcement, they get imprinted deeper into my affinity. In the end, that's supposed to boost the power of my techniques, both with hand seals and without. Along with the basic ones, they also gave me a few specific hand seals, even some one‑handed ones. I started drilling those too, of course.
These hand gestures make life much easier. But they can also complicate it. A shinobi who's trained with hand seals and roughly knows what result they want can create a technique just by picking the right gestures. But it works the other way too: if a shinobi with a well‑trained affinity for hand seals forms them in a random order, something unpredictable can happen.
After that deep theory, I finally moved on to something more superficial. The basic shinobi techniques, i.e., E‑rank. In theory, every graduate of the Ninja Academy is supposed to know them. There are six ranks total, from E to S. Roughly: E is for students, D for genin, C for chunin, B for jonin, A for jonin and Kage, and S‑rank techniques can be pulled off only by a tiny handful of shinobi.
Each rank of technique is harder to perform than the one below it. But that doesn't mean, say, that a genin can't perform a C‑rank technique. On average, if they train hard enough, they can. If a genin is really talented, they might manage B‑rank, or even something A‑rank.
Back to E‑rank techniques. They differ from village to village, but in the Leaf they're:
Transformation Technique—when a ninja changes their own properties, turning into another person, an animal, or even an inanimate object, adopting all the relevant properties in the process. That's with perfect execution of the technique, which almost no one reaches. According to the scrolls, for graduation it's enough for students just to take on the appearance of another person. But the jutsu has huge potential. Changing the properties of your own body, even temporarily. That's mind‑blowing.
Another promising technique is the Illusionary Clone Technique. Using chakra, a shinobi creates several non‑corporeal copies that can move and distract the enemy. The variation where you create a clone of yourself is what's classified as E‑rank. The ninja's chakra kind of "remembers" what their body is supposed to look like originally and always strives to return to that form. In this technique, that helps you spend less effort than, say, on creating an illusory copy of some other object, which is why this ninjutsu is placed in the lowest rank.
The third technique, similar to the second, is the Cloak of Invisibility. You apply it over fabric, which is harder than creating clones. But it's static and doesn't let you move, which, on the other hand, simplifies the technique. The shinobi basically uses an external illusion on the fabric to blend into the surroundings. I saw a mention of an improved version of this technique, where the shinobi makes themselves invisible and can move. That upgrade was invented by some Jiraiya, and, based on my knowledge of canon, I have my doubts it was meant for espionage or any other noble, righteous shinobi business.
The fourth technique is probably the coolest one in my opinion. Substitution. A space‑time jutsu where a shinobi turns into energy and instantly swaps places with a nearby object. Sounds awesome as hell! But in reality, like any jutsu, it takes some time to execute. For example, in close combat, two more‑or‑less equal opponents won't be able to use it unless one of them catches the other off guard and somehow buys some time. And even then, it's not always the best play. Because if you've got spare time in close combat, it's usually better to shove a kunai into the enemy's neck than to run away.
The fifth is basically not even a technique, but a manual on how to escape from bonds. Ropes, for example. How to dislocate your joints and then pop them back in. How to focus chakra in your limbs, with which properties, to temporarily make your bones more flexible. How to concentrate properly so you can then release a surge of chakra and try to stretch the bindings. If you're really good at Substitution and can use it without hand seals, you don't really need this last one. But in general—it's a useful little book.
Finally, I put aside the theoretical study of the greatest technique of all, the one that lets you completely destroy your opponent. Physically and morally. Its name—A Thousand Years of Death!
The shinobi puts their hands together, extending the index and middle fingers. Then they concentrate chakra into them. Then, with a sharp thrust, they ram them into the enemy's anal cavity and, with that same impulse, release the chakra.
A very cruel technique. It shows how a chakra burst can multiply the damage from a simple strike. To truly master it, you need pretty fine control. But even with crap control, the technique is very effective. If you use it on a shinobi who doesn't know how to reinforce their body, their asshole will literally get torn apart.
All in all, a very useful technique. Or rather, a very useful scroll. Because it also has recommendations for future genin on what books to read to better learn how to reinforce the body. I read that too, by the way—they threw it in as a bonus. In short, a regular shinobi just concentrates chakra in their body. That's it. That's the Body Reinforcement Technique, which also toughens you up in the process. But the technique can be improved over time if the ninja runs chakra through their body, as if feeling out and memorizing the structure of their flesh.
With greater mastery, during reinforcement a shinobi subconsciously creates temporary "energy" muscles, bones, and everything else. Almost no one gets to that level. Only if they've got good affinity and got lucky with their potential for control. That energy flesh is usually invisible, but as you'd expect, it boosts physical stats like strength, durability, and agility even more than just flooding your body with chakra.
Though it won't help much against A Thousand Years of Death. A shinobi it's used on will feel nothing but pain, despair, sorrow, and disappointment in life. Or, if they're lucky—they'll just die quickly.
So yeah. I read a lot, but it still feels like not that much.
With that, I got up from my scroll and headed outside. No one had actually been restricting me before. I could have gone out whenever I wanted. I just hadn't really wanted to. Mostly because of paranoia and prejudice.
Once outside, I wandered toward a tall building with a red circle on the roof and the kanji for "Fire" inside. The Hokage Residence is visible from almost anywhere in Konoha. You just have to climb a bit higher and the distinctive building is easy to spot.
Walking the streets on my own, I, to my surprise, didn't draw much attention. Lots of people just walked by without paying any mind to some random little kid. That… was different from what I'd read in fanfics… Ah, those unreliable sources.
At a leisurely pace I covered about five hundred meters in maybe four minutes. Small legs are evil. But the important thing is that only now did I run into the reaction I'd been expecting… Well, kind of. Some little brat out for a walk with his grandma, by the look of it, shamelessly pointed at me and asked her what those whiskers on my face were. The old lady, without even throwing a tomato at me, just clicked her tongue at her grandson and hauled him away.
I watched them go and thought, what the hell? I was supposed to get pelted with half the produce from the local market and at the very least be called a demon. Where's all that?
Snorting, I kept going. And another ten minutes later I reached the Residence. A complex of three round buildings painted red. The one in front was bigger, with an extra floor—so three total—and an open roof. The roofs were covered in crooked pipes installed by who‑the‑hell‑knows. One thing was clear: whoever did that job was a complete hack.
Not bothering to be shy, I walked through the main gates like I owned the place and swaggered over to some guy at the reception desk.
"Hello, esteemed sir," I said from a few steps back so he could see me over the counter. "Is the Hokage‑sama in?"
"Um, hello, Uzumaki‑san. Yes, he is."
Oh, he knows me? Ah, right, the whiskers… I guess anyone can recognize me now.
The man called over some kid with a Leaf forehead protector but no chunin vest. A genin, probably, working here as the local "fetch‑this, go‑there, now‑get‑out‑of‑the‑way." He led me upstairs to the office of the biggest boss around—that is, the Hokage.
"…," I muttered, eyeing the door handle that was pretty high up. "Could you open the door, please…?"
I decided not to humiliate myself by jumping like… some kid who can't reach the handle.
After thanking the genin for the help, I went into the office. Wide, bright, thanks to the large panoramic windows. The view of all of Konoha was mesmerizing. Inside, along the walls, were lots of cabinets, a huge open space in the middle, and at the far end a solid-looking desk with a familiar old man sitting behind it.
"Hello, Hokage‑sama. You've got a nice setup here," I commented without thinking, looking up at the high ceiling. For some reason, in my head a heating bill counter immediately started spinning upward.
"Hello, Naruto," he said, looking up from some paper and greeting me just as formally. "Did something happen?"
"Yes…" A note of sadness slipped into my voice. I made my eyes as big as I could and, wearing my best pleading face, walked closer to the desk. "The scrolls ran out. Please, sir, may I have some more…"
"Eh… hmm…" He scratched his goatee.
Ah… Judging by Hiruzen's face, my little act didn't work. A shame the Hokage isn't a forty‑year‑old woman. Then I could use this look constantly and wheedle out even more than I'm already getting.
"So fast. That's commendable, commendable," he nodded. "Of course, I'll give you more scrolls. I promised, after all. But for now, I have a better proposal."
"Oh?" I perked up.
"How about we hone your knowledge in practice?"
"O‑o‑o‑oh…" That would be awesome.
"Excellent." The old man nodded again and shouted, "Weasel!"
In my spherical field of vision I caught a blur as, from the hallway, a shinobi in a painted porcelain mask—a weasel, apparently—burst in at such speed he almost knocked the door off its hinges. My body only felt a gust of wind before the shinobi was already beside me.
"Impressive," slipped out of me, and I turned around to look over the newcomer, then the door. "That's some seriously sturdy hardware."
I turned back and saw Hiruzen staring thoughtfully in the same direction.
"You know… it really is sturdy. Anyway, to business." He glanced at the ANBU. "Shisui should be off‑duty right now. Escort Uzumaki‑san to the reserve station and tell Uchiha he's to go with him to Training Ground Seventeen. As an instructor."
"Hai, Hokage‑sama!"
He yelled the local military "Yes, sir," then turned to me, clearly meaning it was time to go.
After thanking Hiruzen, I left with yet another escort. We walked a bit through Konoha and found another round building, smaller this time. On its roof, like on the Residence, there was a circle, only with the first kanji of the word "jonin." This village had all sorts of different organizations. The one whose building we entered was called the "Jonin Reserve Station." Jonin could hang out here when they were, say, waiting for an order from the Hokage, or just if they felt like sitting around.
Soon we entered a huge round room, with lots of couches lined up along the walls and a column with plants around it in the center. Or rather, judging by the marks on the floor, that's how the furniture had been arranged recently. Right now, a few ninja had pushed the couches aside, dragged over a table, and were playing cards.
When Weasel and I walked in, everyone stared at us—or rather, at me.
A chill ran down my spine. Suddenly I felt really awkward.
Luckily, my escort didn't waste any time and went over to a black‑haired kid of about nine. He explained what the Hokage had told him. Hm… This guy. Shisui. I'd definitely heard that name before…
"Hey," he walked up to me, scratching the back of his head. "We heading to the training ground, yeah?"
By then the ANBU who'd brought me had already left.
I nodded. I shouldn't have.
Because this… let's just call him a bastard, casually scooped me up into his arms. And before I could even object, he took three steps, opened a window, and my body got plastered to his chest as the guy shot off at insane speed.
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