Chapter 6: Natural Energy
Konoha Year 42, late December. Several consecutive days of snowfall had given the village an unfamiliar look.
Small-scale skirmishes at the border checkpoints kept flaring up, keeping the jonin busy with missions and forcing the newly graduated genin to cycle through team leaders on a regular basis.
The unsettled situation outside hadn't touched the mood inside the Academy. When the afternoon tactics class let out, most of the classroom was happily gossiping:
"Wait, Kakashi might get to sit the chunin exams next year?"
"Can you even take the exams at six years old?"
"Ninja go by talent. No talent and you could be a genin your whole life."
"That's insane. If he passes, he'd be a chunin at six. That means actual combat deployment, right?"
"Apparently he's already seen some fighting recently..."
"..."
A lot of the girls liked to talk about this kind of thing during breaks. Kakashi, the one who'd graduated ahead of everyone, was exactly the sort of person they admired. Nohara Rin was no different in that regard. Whenever his name came up, her face took on that same look of longing as everyone else's.
Whenever that happened, Uchiha Obito would drift over with a sour expression. He used to jump in and argue back loudly, but after the girls started shutting him down, lately he'd settled for stewing in silence.
"What's so great about chunin anyway? He already graduated, why are we still talking about him..."
"Once I awaken my Sharingan, I'll surpass him easily."
"Do you guys actually think Kakashi will pass the chunin exams?"
Obito had been muttering to himself but eventually couldn't help turning around to ask Furukawa Osamu, who was sitting behind him flipping through his notes. He didn't get the answer he was hoping for. Instead, Shizune blinked and replied simply:
"Probably yes. Kakashi already has a solid handle on some C-rank jutsu, and his kenjutsu is impressive too."
"Even the Hokage has praised his ability."
Obito scratched his head in frustration as the words sank in. The gap between people was just too wide. No matter how hard he trained, he couldn't close the distance on someone like that.
"You've got the old ladies' seal of approval, though. That's not something just anyone can pull off."
Furukawa Osamu looked up from his experiment notes and couldn't resist a jab. At the mention of "old ladies," Might Guy, sitting behind them, delivered one of his rare genuine complaints:
"Every time you say you'll come train with us, you end up late because of some old lady."
"If you're going to commit to something, you have to actually follow through."
Even his usual "youth" catchphrase was nowhere to be found. After being stood up enough times, Might Guy genuinely didn't know what to make of this supposedly passionate Uchiha.
"Ha... I was helping an old lady carry her bags yesterday."
Obito offered a brief, slightly embarrassed explanation and made a quick exit. He didn't want to admit that Might Guy's training regimen had broken him. His stamina simply couldn't keep up.
"Is this guy actually from the Uchiha clan? His shuriken work isn't much either."
Shiranui Genma, headband wrapped around his head, watched Obito make his escape and voiced the question again. The Uchiha in the neighboring class was top of the year, making Class A's situation look completely different.
Ebisu, for his part, had some sympathy for Obito's position. His little sunglasses seemed to catch the light as he gave a measured analysis:
"That's not really fair. Not every Uchiha is going to be an elite."
"Ninja traditions have to be passed down. Obito probably hasn't had much guidance to begin with."
The Uchiha clan's shuriken work and Fire Style were legendary, which had led a lot of people to assume everyone born into it would be naturally gifted. Obito had thoroughly shattered that assumption.
While the group was making plans to train out in the snow that afternoon, Shizune noticed Furukawa Osamu had drifted into one of his usual quiet spells and spoke up softly:
"Osamu, creating a new secret medicine right now would be incredibly difficult. Tsunade-sensei only mentioned it offhandedly."
The pharmacology class a few days ago had been led by jonin Tsunade. While teaching them how to make military ration pills, she had brought up the secret medicines of the Akimichi and Inuzuka clans as examples, mainly to make sure nobody underestimated what went into a ration pill. But once the class ended, Furukawa Osamu had come away thinking about how to improve on the existing formula.
"I just want to put what I've learned into practice. Don't worry about it."
Seeing the concern on her face, Osamu gave a brief answer, then did what he always did, and invited Shizune to review the afternoon medical class material with him.
When homeroom teacher Kimura Ryosuke stepped up to the front of the room, Osamu listened with half his attention while his mind wandered. The Essence gathered from the Gathering Technique was almost certainly natural energy. The thought had been opening up all kinds of possibilities:
Could you produce sage chakra without being able to sense natural energy directly?
* * *
In the final days of Konoha Year 42, the weather finally cleared and the shopping district came back to life.
The new year was almost here, and for everyone in the village it was something to look forward to. People were hoping for a peaceful, quiet start to the year.
With the rare holiday to himself, Furukawa Osamu had stayed in and set up a small experiment in his basement, keeping an eye on his test subjects' reactions to the compounds he'd prepared.
He gave Rabbit No. 6 a careful look. No visible abnormalities on the outside. He was just starting to feel relieved when he noticed the rabbit's mouth was now full of sharp, jagged teeth.
"Failed again?"
Furukawa Osamu frowned slightly in his plain clothes, checked everything over carefully, and let out a resigned sigh. He used Gathering out of habit, got nothing from it, then opened his notebook and recorded the result:
"Optimized Formula No. 6 unsuccessful. Suspected natural energy leakage."
"..."
Unlike the petrification that came from absorbing natural energy the way he remembered it, the Essence energy drawn from trees through Gathering seemed considerably gentler. The abnormalities it caused weren't life-threatening.
Essence couldn't be used directly. It dissipated completely in under half a day. During his pharmacology classes, Osamu had stumbled onto the discovery that it could be infused into certain medicinal ingredients, which was what had started these experiments.
The military ration pills from the curriculum were dense in protein, capable of restoring stamina and replenishing chakra, and carried a mild stimulant effect.
Osamu wasn't aiming for any of that. What he wanted was a compound that could effectively suppress the side effects of abnormal transformation. Two months of trial and error had actually gotten him somewhere meaningful.
He kept observing and recording, confirmed which formula produced the best results so far, then looked at his notes and winced quietly at the cost:
I really hope this ends up being worth something.
...
On the first day of the new year, snow fell early in the morning. The weather wasn't cooperating, but the shopping district was more packed than ever.
Furukawa Osamu had received an invitation from both Shizune and Tsunade. Contrary to his expectations, the teacher who was always so precise and serious in class had ended up completely drunk at home.
Tsunade lived in what passed for Konoha's inner ring, not far from the hospital. The second-floor apartment was spacious but had a slight air of neglect, clearly belonging to someone who didn't put much thought into the upkeep.
Looking at the spotless, empty dishes on the low table, Shizune explained with a slightly embarrassed look:
"Lady Tsunade isn't usually like this. She may have run into some trouble recently. She'd originally meant to hand these to you herself."
Shizune passed over a scroll. Furukawa Osamu smiled warmly, and they exchanged new year's gifts. Before he could even say thank you, Tsunade lifted her head from where she'd been half-dozing, tilted to one side, and fixed both of them with a clear-eyed look despite the drinking:
"Having ninja talent isn't necessarily a good thing, kid. People who are exceptional always end up chasing something great."
"What about you? Studying this hard, making Shizune less adorable in the process..."
Unlike her usual jonin attire, Tsunade was wearing a kimono today, her golden hair loose. The look she gave Furukawa Osamu was surprisingly clear.
"For now I just want to live better. And protect the people who matter to me."
"So boring. I want a bowl of plain noodles..."
Tsunade grumbled something under her breath at that and slipped back into her drunken haze.
Shizune saw Osamu nod and start to get up, and looked a little apologetic. She was just about to say something when Tsunade pulled her into a hug.
Osamu noticed Tsunade had started rambling again with the girl pulled close, glanced over once, and thought quietly to himself:
One of the Legendary Sannin, all right.