Chakra Enters the Qi Sea: A Confidential Matter

Chapter 9: Chakra Enters the Qi Sea · The Secrecy Problem

Previously, whether it was Chakra Extraction, Internal Force Extraction, or Magic Meditation, they were all Level 1 (1/00) with the same rank, so the three easily interfered with each other. But now, with the Internal Force a full tier higher, it immediately suppressed the other two activities.

"Let's go!" This time, when he manipulated the Internal Force, it was no longer so easy for chakra to suddenly mix in, because with less spiritual energy and more physical energy, even if some chakra was produced, there was still physical energy left over. Then Hyuga Ningyuan noticed that this excess physical energy actually bypassed the Chakra Meridians and took an unknown path!

"The route is right!" Hyuga Ningyuan was ecstatic inside. Because the Uzumaki Clan had powerful bodies, they must have also experienced a surplus of physical energy after extracting chakra. Then someone accidentally followed the circulation of physical energy and created a brand-new power, and then used that brand-new power to develop the Sealing Jutsu system—does that make sense?

"Tch, Snake Uncle, nothing special!" Hyuga Ningyuan shook his head. A true scientist could calculate the truth of the world with just a piece of paper and a pen; there was no need for experiments. Of course, that didn't mean he was really better than Snake Uncle—he was just born in an age of information explosion, with access to far more knowledge than Orochimaru.

"The Uzumaki Clan probably discovered the power of the Metal Element. The Metal Element has the ability to suppress, which in the ninja world manifests as sealing power. But success lies in sealing, and failure lies in sealing too. The Uzumaki Clan never realized that the greatest value of this path is the Qi Sea that can store chakra, not some damn Sealing Jutsu!"

Although Hyuga Ningyuan hadn't discovered the power of Metal yet, he was a master of theory and could deduce it. The lungs correspond to Metal; the Uzumaki Clan likely took the meridian paths of the lungs, giving their chakra the ability to suppress. The liver corresponds to Wood; Senju Hashirama probably took the liver meridian paths.

Case closed!

Why was Senju Tobirama's Water Release so powerful?

He likely took this path too, but he walked the kidney meridians, strengthening his Water Element. Stack that on top of his natural talent for Water Release in the chakra system, and it created the phenomenon of his Water Release being far more exaggerated than others'. There was also a theory that he studied Water Release specifically to counter the Uchiha's Fire Release. Hyuga Ningyuan could only say—both made sense, both were possible!

"I found the Qi Sea!" Actually, there was no need to search deliberately; physical energy would naturally flow toward the Qi Sea, like water merging into the ocean. Why else would it be called the Qi Sea? Hyuga Ningyuan felt that when his physical energy flowed to a spot three inches below his navel, his perception suddenly weakened significantly. It wasn't that the physical energy had weakened, but that this Qi Sea place was unfriendly to spiritual energy and didn't let it in easily. Still, it wasn't a big problem—just an issue of physical adaptation. The Qi Sea had never tried spiritual energy before; a few more tries and it would be fine.

"Since I've found the Qi Sea, the next step is to store chakra in it!" Hyuga Ningyuan had never planned to practice martial arts; he only used Internal Force to find the Qi Sea. Now that he'd found it, the Internal Force was useless. The energy level of Internal Force was still too low, inferior to chakra. He had already memorized the energy circulation route; walking it wouldn't be a problem. The issue was that this place wasn't part of the Chakra Meridians, so it might not be passable. Hyuga Ningyuan gave it a try, and then discovered that although it was very narrow, with some effort, he could still get through!

"What the—?" He was a bit shocked, but with this experience, Hyuga Ningyuan confirmed another thing. The Chakra Meridians might not be exactly as drawn in the textbooks; there could be some that hadn't been discovered yet. Also, some meridians might have openings leading elsewhere, but they were very hidden, and ordinary people wouldn't find them. It might require an abnormal level of Chakra Perception, or perhaps people simply had no desire to discover them. Many things in the world were like this—many inventions and discoveries were just flashes of insight, yet they could stump people for countless years. For example, seals were invented as early as the Shang Dynasty, but the same principle of movable type printing didn't appear until the Song Dynasty. Chakra storage might not be limited to the Qi Sea either. Didn't the Eight Inner Gates unlock eight acupoints to gain a massive amount of chakra? Energy was conserved; how could unlocking eight acupoints out of nowhere grant so much chakra? Most likely, chakra was usually stored in these acupoints. Even the Eight Inner Gates might not be the correct way to open them. If one followed the Qi Sea meridian system, they might be able to open the Eight Gates normally and channel all the chakra from the eight acupoints into the Qi Sea.

"Pfft." A clump of chakra, like a drop of water merging into the ocean, easily slipped into the Qi Sea. Silent and soundless, it didn't stir a single ripple.

"It worked!" Hyuga Ningyuan felt a mix of bewilderment and excitement, but he quickly calmed down. This was only the first step on the path of immortal cultivation! Besides storing energy in the Qi Sea, immortal cultivation also required circulating energy throughout the body to nourish every part. This circulation process was also a refining process. Right now, the chakra Hyuga Ningyuan used wasn't his own—it was Otsutsuki Kaguya's chakra. With just a thought from Otsutsuki Kaguya, it could be taken back. But by using the meridians and acupoints, he could wash away those imprints and truly turn the chakra into his own. Additionally, the meridians could grant chakra various characteristics. For example, suppression and sealing were one characteristic. One characteristic corresponded to one Cultivation Method. If he could circulate through many meridians and obtain many characteristics, that meant the immortal cultivation method was very powerful. What the Uzumaki Clan cultivated could be called the Metal Demon Suppression Art, and what Senju Hashirama cultivated could be called the Wood Longevity Art. To develop various Cultivation Methods and various characteristics, he still had plenty to research!

"Oh, right, there's also the secrecy problem!" Hyuga Ningyuan thought of this issue again. Many people in this world had the ability to perceive others' chakra, especially the Hyuga Clan. If he painstakingly developed an immortal cultivation method, and someone could see it all with just a glare, how could that work? The Qi Sea wasn't sealed. Perception ninjutsu could detect a tailed beast Jinchuriki from far away. This thing—if you didn't store chakra, it didn't exist, but the moment you stored it, it would be discovered.

Moreover, the cultivation method he created would require chakra circulation to practice, and this circulation process could be observed not only by the Byakugan but also by the Sharingan!

Thinking of this, Hyuga Ningyuan himself felt like wiping out the Uchiha Clan—too disrespectful of intellectual property!

First, he withdrew the chakra from his Qi Sea and dispersed it, then began pondering the issue of secrecy.

In fact, chakra also had a Chakra Dantian, and its location was roughly the same as the Qi Sea in the meridian system.

Thus, if others saw the chakra in the Qi Sea, they might mistake it for the Chakra Dantian.

But there was a problem: the human body didn't always have chakra present; chakra would naturally dissipate after a period of disuse.

In other words, if you used the Byakugan to look at a ninja, they wouldn't have chakra in their body 24 hours a day.

Of course, at higher levels, ninjas had made chakra refinement an instinct, so chakra would be permanent then, but Hyuga Ningyuan was only five years old now and hadn't reached that stage yet!

"To study a method for keeping my cultivation method secret, I first need to understand the principles of clairvoyance and chakra perception, then conduct targeted research!"

"The perception-type skills in this world are roughly divided into five types: Uzumaki Perception, Sharingan, Byakugan, Chakra Perception, and Tailed Beast Perception. I live in the Hyuga Clan compound, so I won't encounter the other four perception ninjutsu besides the Byakugan for a while. Obito won't awaken his eyes before graduation either, so I can ignore them!"

"Therefore, I can first research ways to counter the Byakugan, and at the same time, I don't need to store chakra urgently—I'll develop the cultivation method first!"

Without a cultivation method, even stored chakra wasn't his own; no matter how much he stored, it was useless.

Kaguya's chakra could only be mobilized through hand seals, while his own chakra didn't even require hands clasped together—just a thought would suffice.

Have you ever seen a cultivator needing to chant incantations or form hand seals to release ninjutsu? Usually, gestures were just for showing off.

"Then let's turn to page four." All the students in the class had finished their self-introductions, and Teruhi Sōun began the lesson.

But who could have imagined that in that short span of time, a student in the audience had already transitioned from a reserve ninja to a reserve cultivator?