Chakra Refinement

"Make yourself at home. I'll finish cooking first."

Wu Liang first poured Naruto a glass of juice, then went to the refrigerator and took out another cleaned fish. He placed it in a frying pan to cook. Although he had not cooked in a long time, he had not forgotten the more than twenty years of cooking experience from his previous life. He was merely a little rusty.

The Senju Clan's Chakra Refinement scroll was still lying on the table. Wu Liang had no intention of hiding it. Although the Senju Clan's Chakra Refinement was certainly far more efficient than those of other clans, it was not particularly precious to Wu Liang.

Naruto stared at the open Chakra Refinement scroll on the table, frowning as he studied it for a while before asking Wu Liang, "A Liang, what's with this refinement technique? I can't understand it at all."

Wu Liang did not answer him immediately. He divided the prepared food into two portions, carried them out of the kitchen, and set them on the table. Only then did he pick up the Chakra Refinement scroll and say, "This Chakra Refinement technique is cultivated by my clan. It's much more efficient than the standard Chakra Refinement technique, but it's also more profound. It's normal that you can't understand it. I'll teach you after I've practiced it. Eat first—we still have class this afternoon."

"Then it's settled. You have to teach me!" Naruto said happily. "As for this afternoon, I don't want to go to class at all. If I don't go, everyone will only be happier. They'd love for me not to show up."

Wu Liang froze for a moment before remembering that the anime had mentioned how difficult Naruto's childhood had been. Everyone treated Naruto like a monster. No one liked him. Thinking of that, Wu Liang said, "Naruto, as long as you become stronger, they won't dare treat you like this anymore."

"But I don't need them to be afraid of me. I just want them all to acknowledge me." Naruto smiled as he ate the fish on his plate.

"And thank you, A Liang. You're one of the few people in the village who doesn't hate me and even invited me to eat."

Hearing that, Wu Liang could not help admiring Naruto's mindset. If someone lived in a village with such an atmosphere and did not develop hatred, that would be a lie. "Naruto, come eat here from now on. I'll always save you a portion when I cook."

"Really? Hehe, that's so embarrassing." Naruto scratched his golden hair sheepishly.

"Eat up. Call me when you go to the academy this afternoon. I want to look over this Chakra Refinement technique first." After saying that, Wu Liang put his finished plate in the sink, picked up the Chakra Refinement scroll, and began reading it carefully.

Strangely enough, the scroll had originally been written in Japanese, but Wu Liang could understand it. After memorizing the key points and precautions of the entire Chakra Refinement technique, he sat cross-legged and began refining his own Chakra.

From the body's one hundred and thirty trillion cells, traces of blue energy were squeezed out bit by bit. Combined with his own white spiritual energy and mixed according to the proportions described in the Chakra Refinement technique, a stream of pale blue Chakra immediately appeared in Wu Liang's dantian and slowly completed a full circulation through his meridians.

When the Chakra completed one cycle, another burst of golden energy suddenly surged from the cells in his body and mixed into Wu Liang's Chakra. The sudden development frightened him, and he hurriedly called out to Seria in his mind. "Seria, what is this golden energy? Why can't I control it?"

Seria said, "Host, don't panic. These are the Yang-nature Chakra factors within your cells. If your Chakra did not contain these factors, you would be unable to use Yin Release and Wood Release. Even if you could use Wood Release, you would only be able to use it to build houses like Yamato. These factors cannot be controlled. They will automatically mix into your Chakra at a certain ratio. As for why your Yin Release Chakra factors are golden, that is because of your physique. You possess the Sun God Demigod Body and the Sage Body. Just wait and see—this is only the beginning. You should be able to sense that your body's cells are brimming with vitality. The amount of Chakra you refine will be far greater than anyone else's. In the end, you will be like the First Hokage—no, you'll be even more impressive than the First Hokage. You'll practically be a humanoid tailed beast."

After hearing Seria say that there was nothing wrong with his body or Chakra, Wu Liang gradually relaxed and resumed using the Chakra Refinement technique to refine Chakra.

After Naruto finished the food on his plate, he put it in the sink as well. Seeing that Wu Liang had entered a cultivation state, he did not forget to wash the pots and dishes for him before leaving.

The Third Hokage watched everything happening in Wu Liang's house through the Telescope Technique. He was also incredibly shocked to see Wu Liang refine Chakra on his very first attempt. The pale blue Chakra leaking from Wu Liang's body as he refined Chakra could not be faked. One had to know that the first Chakra Refinement was the most difficult. The difficulty lay in being unable to sense cellular energy immediately. That step alone took several days. Even after sensing it, figuring out how to combine one's spiritual energy and cellular energy in a certain ratio to produce Chakra took another few days. Yet Wu Liang had accomplished in mere minutes what ordinary people needed more than ten days to achieve.

"A genius indeed. The Senju Clan is full of monsters and freaks," the Third Hokage muttered as he puffed on his pipe. "But he's gotten involved with Naruto. I wonder whether he'll still treat Naruto like this after learning the truth. Sigh..."

The Third Hokage withdrew the Telescope Technique, and Seria immediately informed Wu Liang of the situation. Upon learning this, Wu Liang immediately began refining Chakra with all his strength. Chakra instantly raged through the room, yet it did not damage a single thing. Ever since learning that the Third Hokage was watching him, Wu Liang had not dared to refine Chakra at full power. Otherwise, the Third Hokage would have appeared in his house immediately.

Wu Liang cultivated until around two in the afternoon, when Naruto knocked on the door. "A Liang, it's time for school!"

Wu Liang ended his cultivation and sensed the modest amount of Chakra in his dantian. He had cultivated for only two hours, yet he already had more Chakra than Hinata. It had to be said that the Sage Body and Sun God Demigod Body were truly incredible. The energy contained within his cells was tens of millions of times greater than that of ordinary people.

He went to the Ninja Academy with Naruto and silently sat in the same spot as that morning. Hinata had not arrived yet, so Wu Liang quietly began cultivating Chakra. Of course, he slowed the speed considerably—at the very least, ordinary people would be unable to notice it.

Not long after, Hinata arrived and sat beside Wu Liang. Others might not have known what Wu Liang was doing, but how could Hinata, who came from the Hyuga Main Family, a family of Byakugan users, fail to see that Wu Liang was refining Chakra?

Wu Liang, who was cultivating, sensed someone watching him. When he opened his eyes, he saw Hinata looking at him. Wu Liang nodded to her. "You're here."

Caught peeking on the spot, Hinata's little face immediately turned red. "Mr. Senju Ryo is truly diligent. You're still working so hard to refine Chakra even at the academy."

Wu Liang smiled faintly at Hinata. "You can call me A Liang. By the way, I still don't know your name, young lady of the Hyuga Clan."

"My name is Hyuga Hinata. Nice to meet you," Hinata said shyly.

"Then I'll call you Hinata. What class do we have later?" Wu Liang asked. After all, she had been here since the academy opened, while he was merely a transfer student at best and did not even know the curriculum.

"We have an outdoor class later. It's for Shuriken throwing, basically a free elective. You can choose not to attend, or you can attend," Hinata said softly.

"But I didn't bring any ninja tools." Wu Liang smiled bitterly. He simply had not had time to buy his own ninja tools. Unlike those large clans, whose ninja tools had long been prepared for them by others.

"You can use mine. I can't use that many." Blushing, Hinata took out her ninja tool pouch.

"How could I accept that?" Wu Liang said awkwardly. "By the way, what does the academy usually teach?"

"Chakra Refinement, but you already know that.

The Three Body Technique: Transformation Technique, Substitution Technique, Clone Technique, Shuriken throwing, how to use Exploding Tags, how to dispel common genjutsu—those are all afternoon classes. Today is Shuriken throwing," Hinata said seriously, counting on her fingers.

"Shuriken throwing... Shuriken throwing..." Wu Liang muttered. "Hey, Seria, can general skills be activated in this world?"

Seria said, "Don't even think about it. I know you want to learn Throwing Mastery, but it can't be activated here. You came here using an experience-card transmigration. If you had used an otherworld transmigration card, then you could use it."

"Is that so? Then is this world real? After I return, will this world still exist? Can I come back here again?" Wu Liang suddenly felt a little melancholy. Only now did he remember to ask Seria about this world.

Seria said, "I know what you're worried about. Don't doubt it—this world is real. Even a world experienced through an experience card is a real world. And this world is merely one among countless Naruto Worlds. You can understand it as a branch of a certain timeline. Put simply, this world is also the Naruto World, but after you transmigrated here, this world diverged from the Naruto main storyline. It became a branch belonging to you. Do you understand?"

Wu Liang was stunned. "So the true Naruto main storyline only belongs to Naruto's world, while from the moment I came here, the branch created in this world became one that belongs to me? No matter what I do here, it won't affect the development of the Naruto main storyline?"

Seria said, "It seems you aren't too stupid after all. According to the paradoxical rules of time, from the moment you appeared in this world, the Naruto main storyline had already separated from this period of time. You merely entered a branch timeline within the main timeline. Although it will still develop according to the main storyline, they are already two different worlds."

"Alright, alright. I don't understand the rules of time or the development of worlds. I just need to know that this world is real. Then what will happen to this world after I leave?" Wu Liang asked.

Seria said, "After your experience ends, this world will be sealed away by the system. If you draw the Naruto World again in the future, you will return to this world where you exist, rather than the main storyline world."

"What if I die midway through before completing the experience and get sent back to Douluo Continent?"

Seria said, "Then this world will be annihilated. If you draw the Naruto World again in the future, you will only open another branch from the main storyline. The system will only preserve worlds where the experience was completed. It will not preserve worlds where you fail halfway through."

"Damn, that's cruel. I'd better be more careful, then. Otherwise, my sins would be enormous. If I die, this whole world will be destroyed along with me. Just thinking about it is terrifying," Wu Liang said, drawing in a cold breath.