"The weather's been good lately. At this pace, another three days and we'll reach Sunagakure."
Having just returned from fetching water in some village within the Country of Wind, Chiyo ducked into the roadside shelter and smiled, patting Hii Kōri's shoulder. He simply nodded and continued chewing his soldier pill.
Swallowing the pill, he silently accepted the water skin Chiyo handed him, took two small sips, and then capped it.
Though they could buy food from village shops, Hii Kōri was curious about these pills—considering it early adaptation to ninja field life.
Truth be told, soldier pills weren't exactly palatable. But one small pill could fill your stomach and quickly restore some chakra. For ninja, there was nothing to complain about.
The only real drawback: after eating these glutinous rice flour-based pills, you couldn't drink too much water.
But similarly, opportunities to guzzle water were scarce in the desert anyway.
Complementing soldier pills was another type called "thirst quenching pills." These contained shredded pickled plum, stimulating saliva secretion to somewhat alleviate thirst.
Their main function, though, was soothing throat pain—preventing coughing during missions that might disrupt breathing rhythm or expose position.
Sand ninja typically mixed thirst quenching pills with drinking water to reduce consumption.
Seeing Hii Kōri had finished resting, Chiyo began explaining Sand's history and various ninja trivia, preparing him for future life.
Partly this was at Hii Kōri's request, but also due to Chiyo's naturally lively personality.
For someone like her, who'd chatter endlessly about random topics when the mood struck, Hii Kōri—who rarely responded, never complained, simply listened—was an ideal audience.
After nearly a month traveling together, this pair had grown accustomed to their dynamic.
During breaks, listening to Chiyo's lectures gradually veer off-topic had become routine. Hard to say whether Chiyo deliberately used this approach to dispel any shadows lingering in Hii Kōri's heart.
But... shadows?
Hii Kōri had none to begin with. Chiyo's efforts were like casting flirtatious glances at a blind man.
Still, he rather enjoyed being cared for—it gave him that warm, corpse-like feeling. So he didn't rush Chiyo to hurry.
Among the Five Great Nations, the Country of Wind was largest in area and population.
Yet this nation occupying the vast southwestern portion of the map consisted mostly of unusable desert and wilderness, with minimal annual rainfall.
Harsh living conditions forced Wind Country citizens to build settlements almost exclusively around desert oases.
Scarce arable land made self-sufficiency in food impossible. Vegetables, grains—all heavily dependent on foreign trade. Poor transportation meant import costs often carried premiums, while export prices were frequently depressed by several tenths.
One could say Wind Country maintained its status as a Great Nation primarily through its large population and Sunagakure's unbroken lineage of exceptional talent.
Like other Wind Country settlements, Sunagakure sat within a desert oasis.
Routes there shifted with seasons and changing desert climate.
Alone, Chiyo could return from Rivers Country quickly. But with Hii Kōri? Impossible.
He was only six. No way his body could endure such intense travel. Besides, Wind Country was unlike other nations—he'd need time adapting to the harsh desert climate.
Those first few days entering Wind Country, Hii Kōri suffered heatstroke almost daily. Chiyo panicked, and he gained clearer appreciation of this body's fragility.
Fortunately, Uzumaki's constitution proved reliable. After several days' adaptation, the unbearable heat ceased affecting him.
As a precaution, Chiyo taught him chakra refinement methods to enhance physical conditioning.
Chakra, simply understood, mixed spiritual energy and physical energy. Given his Special Grade sorcerer soul and Uzumaki body, Hii Kōri should easily generate large amounts of chakra.
But reality differed.
No matter how simple the definition, actual operation spawned countless details demanding attention.
Like mathematics—simple at first, but the moment you encounter that damned variable X, alarm bells should ring. Hell awaits. (×)
For instance: rotation direction when mixing spiritual and physical energy. Chakra had two rotational forms—left rotation and right rotation. One could determine their natural direction from hair growth patterns. Following your natural rotation improved efficiency.
But rotation angle and speed? Choosing optimal values? Maintaining subconscious refinement after adjustment? All required repeated experimentation.
Or optimizing chakra flow through the systemic meridian system? Filling every corner of that network like blood vessels without waste? Fully mobilizing all 361 chakra points to minimize release blind spots?
These details couldn't vary from person to person be clarified by others.
Having experienced Black Flash as a jujutsu sorcerer, Hii Kōri knew precisely how much such detailing enhanced strength. Hence he didn't immediately focus on chakra
quantity.
Besides, encountering an energy system entirely different from his previous life—how could he not be fascinated?
From Chiyo's perspective, however, the whole situation was rather alarming.
These detail issues requiring years of accumulation to gradually adjust and internalize—things many ninja never noticed throughout their entire careers—she certainly hadn't taught him initially.
A child his age refining chakra independently within a day would be remarkable enough. Chiyo had merely intended to guide him in testing his chakra cap.
But how had things escalated to this point?
I'm not asking you to restrain your talent. I'm not jealous of ability.
But researching this stuff now? Where's your beginner's confusion?
You're six years old! At this rate, you'll become jōnin at twelve, develop forbidden techniques at twenty-four, and end up as Kazekage.
As your foster mother (not really), I might have to go all out raising you.
For real.