Previously, whether it was Chakra Extraction, Internal Force Extraction, or Magic Meditation, they were all level 1 (1/00). Since their levels were the same, the three easily interfered with one another.
But now, his internal force level was far higher, immediately suppressing the other two activities.
"Let's go!" This time, when he controlled his internal force again, it was much less likely for Chakra to suddenly mix in. His spiritual energy was scarce while his physical energy was abundant; even if some Chakra was produced, he still had physical energy to spare.
Then Hyuga Ningyuan discovered that this excess physical energy had actually bypassed the Chakra Meridians and taken an unknown route!
"The route is right!" Hyuga Ningyuan was overjoyed. The Uzumaki Clan had powerful bodies, so when they extracted Chakra, they must have encountered situations where a heap of physical energy remained after the Chakra had been extracted.
Then someone had accidentally followed the circulation of that physical energy, created an entirely new kind of power, and used it to develop the system of Sealing Jutsu. Didn't that make sense?
"Pfft, Snake Uncle was nothing special!" Hyuga Ningyuan shook his head. A true scientist could calculate the truths of the world with nothing but a sheet of paper and a pen. Why would he need experiments?
Of course, that did not mean he was truly better than Snake Uncle. He had merely been born in an age of information explosion and had encountered more information than Orochimaru.
"The Uzumaki Clan must have discovered the power of the Metal Element. Metal has the power to suppress; in the ninja world, that manifested as sealing power. But sealing was both their success and their failure. The Uzumaki Clan never realized that the greatest value of this route was the Qi Sea that could store Chakra, not some damned Sealing Jutsu!"
Although Hyuga Ningyuan had yet to discover the power of metal, he was a master of theory and could deduce it.
The lungs belonged to metal. The Uzumaki Clan had probably followed some of the lung meridians, giving their Chakra the power of suppression.
Case closed!
Why was Senju Tobirama's Water Release so powerful?
Most likely, he had taken this route too, except he had followed the kidney meridians, strengthening his water attribute.
Combined with his Water Release talent within the Chakra system, that had made his Water Release far more exaggerated than anyone else's.
There was also a theory that he had studied Water Release in order to counter the Uchiha Clan's Fire Release.
Hyuga Ningyuan could only say that both made sense. Both were possible!
"I found the Qi Sea!" There was actually no need to search deliberately. Physical energy naturally flowed toward the Qi Sea, like water flowing into the ocean. Otherwise, why would it be called a Qi Sea?
When Hyuga Ningyuan sensed his physical energy reaching a point three inches below his navel, his perception suddenly became much weaker.
It was not that the physical energy had weakened, but that the Qi Sea was unfriendly to spiritual energy, making it difficult for it to enter.
But it was not much of a problem—just a matter of bodily adaptation. The Qi Sea had never tried accepting spiritual energy before. It would be fine after more attempts.
"Now that I've found the Qi Sea, the next step is to store Chakra inside it!" Hyuga Ningyuan had never intended to practice martial arts. He had only wanted to use internal force to locate the Qi Sea.
Now that he had found it, internal force was useless. Its energy level was still too low to compare with Chakra.
He had already memorized the circulation route. Traversing it would certainly not be a problem. The issue was that this was not a Chakra Meridian, so Chakra might not be able to pass through it.
Hyuga Ningyuan gave it a try and discovered that although it was extremely narrow, with enough effort, he could still get in!
"Holy shit?" He was somewhat surprised, but this experience also confirmed something else for Hyuga Ningyuan.
The Chakra Meridians might not be limited to those drawn in textbooks. There might be others that no one had discovered.
And some meridians might have openings leading elsewhere, but they were extremely hidden. Ordinary people could not discover them. Perhaps one needed absurdly powerful Chakra Perception, or perhaps people simply lacked the desire to discover them.
Many things in this world were like that. Many inventions and discoveries were merely flashes of inspiration, yet they could stump people for countless years.
For example, seals had been invented as early as the Shang Dynasty, yet movable-type printing, based on the same principle, did not appear until the Song Dynasty.
Storing Chakra might not be something only the Qi Sea could do. Didn't the Eight Inner Gates grant massive amounts of Chakra simply by opening eight acupoints?
Energy was conserved. How could opening eight acupoints out of thin air grant so much Chakra?
Most likely, Chakra had been accumulated within those acupoints all along.
Even the Eight Inner Gates might not be the correct way to open them. If one followed the Qi Sea meridian system, perhaps one could open all eight gates normally and channel all the Chakra within them into the Qi Sea.
"Pfft." A clump of Chakra slipped effortlessly into the Qi Sea, like a drop of water merging into the ocean.
There was no sound, and not a single ripple was raised.
"It worked!" Hyuga Ningyuan was somewhat dazed and excited, but he quickly calmed down.
This was only the first step on the path of cultivation!
Besides storing qi in the Qi Sea, cultivation also required qi to circulate through the entire body, nourishing every part of it.
That circulation process was also a process of refinement.
The Chakra Hyuga Ningyuan used now was not his own, but Otsutsuki Kaguya's Chakra. Otsutsuki Kaguya could reclaim it with a single thought, but by using meridians and acupoints, he could wash away those imprints and truly turn the Chakra into his own.
Furthermore, meridians could grant Chakra all kinds of properties. Suppression and sealing, for example, were one such property.
One property corresponded to one Cultivation Method. If one could travel through many meridians and acquire many properties, that meant the cultivation method was incredibly powerful.
What the Uzumaki Clan cultivated could be called the Metal Demon Suppression Art, while what Senju Hashirama cultivated could be called the Wood Longevity Art.
To develop all kinds of cultivation methods and all kinds of properties, he still had plenty to research!
"Right, there's also the issue of secrecy!" Hyuga Ningyuan thought of this problem again. Quite a few people in this world could observe other people's Chakra, especially the Hyuga Clan.
He had painstakingly developed a cultivation method, only for someone else to see the whole thing with one glare. How could that be acceptable?
The Qi Sea was not sealed off. Sensory ninjutsu could detect a Tailed Beast Jinchuriki from a great distance. If it did not store Chakra, it did not exist; once it did, it could be discovered.
Moreover, cultivation methods had to be practiced, which required Chakra to circulate. That process could be seen not only by the Byakugan, but also by the Sharingan!
At that thought, Hyuga Ningyuan himself wanted to wipe out the Uchiha Clan. They had absolutely no respect for intellectual property rights!
After drawing out the Chakra in his Qi Sea and dispersing it, Ningyuan began pondering the secrecy problem.
Actually, Chakra also had a Chakra Dantian, located almost exactly where the Qi Sea was in the Qi Sea meridian system.
That way, if others saw Chakra in the Qi Sea, they might mistake it for the Chakra Dantian.
But there was a problem: Chakra was not always present in the human body. If it went unused for a period of time, it would disperse on its own.
In other words, when you used the Byakugan to look at a ninja, that ninja did not have Chakra in their body twenty-four hours a day.
Of course, at higher levels, extracting Chakra had become instinctive for ninjas, so Chakra would remain constantly present. But Hyuga Ningyuan was only five years old and had not reached that stage yet!
"To research a method for concealing cultivation methods, I first need to understand the principles behind seeing through and sensing Chakra, then conduct targeted research!"
"The sensory abilities in this world can roughly be divided into five types: Uzumaki Perception, Sharingan, Byakugan, Chakra Perception, and Tailed Beast Perception. I live in the Hyuga compound, so I won't encounter any sensory ninjutsu besides the Byakugan for the time being. Obito won't awaken his eyes before graduation either, so that can be ignored!"
"So, I can first study ways to counter the Byakugan. There's no rush to store Chakra either—I should develop cultivation methods first!"
Without a cultivation method, the stored Chakra would not be his own. No matter how much he stored, it would be useless.
Kaguya's Chakra could only be activated through hand seals, while his own Chakra would not even require him to press his hands together. A thought would be enough.
What cultivator needed to chant incantations and form hand seals to cast Ninjustu? Usually, weren't hand gestures just for looking cool?
"Now, let's turn to page four." All the students in the class had finished introducing themselves, and Teruhi Sōun began teaching.
But who could have imagined that in such a short time, one of the students below had already switched from a reserve ninja to a reserve cultivator?
Before you continue