Living One Lifetime, The Most Shameful Thing is Dying Uselessly

"Chakra is an energy produced by the perfect fusion of the body's various components and energies."

"This energy can be extracted not only from the body's 130 trillion cells, one by one, but also through much training and accumulated experience. Mental energy is extracted to produce chakra, which can then be used in jutsu through hand seals."

These were the last two classes of the afternoon. Because there was an exam coming up, Iruka, standing at the lectern, dedicated this entire class to reviewing basic knowledge with the students.

Naruto propped his chin in his hand, ignoring his homeroom teacher's passionate lecture. He was using his sensory abilities to pinpoint Shisui Uchiha's location in the Hokage's office.

Another half a month had passed.

During this past half month, Shisui Uchiha had been visiting the Third Hokage very frequently, almost daily. He had even met with Itachi Uchiha multiple times late at night on the cliffs by the Naka River.

Because of this, Naruto had gone to guard below those cliffs several times, only to be disappointed each time.

However, he estimated that the day Shisui Uchiha would commit suicide wasn't far off, given how many times he and Itachi Uchiha had scouted the cliffs by the Naka River.

"Father, do you think Iruka's explanation of chakra is accurate?"

"Do you think he explained something incorrectly, Naruto?"

Naruto's consciousness plunged directly into the sealed space. Bored, he decided to discuss chakra with Minato Namikaze.

"I have a question that I'm very curious about. If a ninja who has successfully extracted chakra from their body dies, leaving behind a corpse or a part of their body, will their chakra still remain in the world?"

"Naruto, why are you asking this?"

Minato Namikaze's expression turned serious. He had been Hokage.

Naruto's question immediately reminded him of some classified documents he had seen in Konoha during his lifetime. Those documents were all research materials from Konoha on the First Hokage's cellular structure.

Moreover, Kurama had specifically told him in the sealed space that under the Third Hokage's initiative, the remaining members of the Senju Clan had voluntarily undergone human experiments to transplant the First Hokage's cells in an attempt to awaken Wood Release.

"Don't be so serious, I was just suddenly curious and asked," Naruto said, then turned his gaze to Kurama, who was lying beside him, and continued, "Actually, this has something to do with Kurama."

Kurama slightly opened his crimson vertical pupils and said with some annoyance, "What does it have to do with me?"

"My homeroom teacher said that chakra is an energy created by controlling bodily and mental abilities, and it can be used. But in your case, Kurama, it's a bit illogical."

"You once told me that you Tailed Beasts are aggregates of chakra, but you are also living beings. Yet, you Tailed Beasts are immortal. Even if you are killed, you are reborn in the Ninja World after a period of time."

"And after you are reborn, all your memories are preserved. In a sense, you are eternal beings."

"In this situation, it feels as if the entire world is protecting you. No! It's as if you Tailed Beasts are a part of this world, and a part of its rules."

"Why isn't anyone in the Ninja World curious about this?"

"What kind of power can establish such rules? Your existence seems to be a form of protection."

"Naruto, don't say any more!" Kurama's pupils constricted upon hearing this. He coiled his tail and sat up. "While I'm glad you've thought of this, I can't enlighten you yet!"

"It's not that others in the Ninja World haven't been curious about this question, but they prefer to believe another fact about the existence of Tailed Beasts. Am I right, Fourth Hokage!"

Facing Kurama's questioning, Minato Namikaze nodded with a rather grim expression.

"Since it's temporarily inconvenient for Kurama to reveal more, Father, let's return to our original question: if a person dies, can their chakra remain and persist in the world for a long time?"

Naruto looked directly at Minato Namikaze, awaiting his answer.

"Yes!" Minato Namikaze said gravely. "My situation is an exception. Through Kurama, you actually know that although the First Hokage died long ago, his cellular structure retained an unimaginable vitality and preserved chakra. The village once tried to regain Wood Release through human experimentation, but not only did the experiments fail every time, they were also extremely bloody and cruel."

"Furthermore, during the Third Great Ninja War, we gathered intelligence from Sunagakure that revealed someone in their village could create human puppets. They would turn human corpses into puppets, preserving that person's chakra, and then use their ninjutsu from when they were alive."

"These puppets were made from living people, and as long as they were successfully created with the person's chakra from when they were alive, they could perfectly preserve all of that person's ninjutsu, including Kekkei Genkai."

Naruto's eyes flashed. He hadn't expected his father to know about Sunagakure's ability to create human puppets.

"Father, your explanation is very detailed, but the information about Konoha is outdated. Someone in the village has mastered Wood Release again."

"What do you mean?"

Minato Namikaze was startled. Could it be that someone in the village had succeeded in the Wood Release experiments? But the Senju Clan members all...

"Father, I can tell you clearly that someone has succeeded, and not just one person. But that's not the main point you should be concerned about. Let's continue talking about chakra."

Minato Namikaze's expression changed. He immediately wanted to ask who had mastered Wood Release, but Naruto shook his head to stop him.

"In my opinion, there's a fundamental problem with the nature of chakra. Humans can use chakra, but chakra seems to have been parasitic in human bodies since birth."

"Its definition is based on bodily and mental abilities, and as long as one masters the extraction method, chakra can be refined. But humans have souls, while chakra has almost no connection to souls. Except for the First Hokage, after people die, their chakra also dissipates. You can also prove this through the Reaper Death Seal, where your soul was taken by the Shinigami. The part of your chakra that is currently conversing with me is a remnant."

"The principle behind this portion of chakra is similar to Shadow Clones. This means that Shadow Clones, in a sense, possess chakra, mental energy, and even life, but no soul. You must be aware of this."

"Naruto, what have you learned from the Mirrored World this time? Are you preparing some new plan?"

The more Minato Namikaze listened, the more he felt something was wrong. He had a feeling that Naruto's sudden discussion of these matters today had some deeper meaning.

"I had some ideas sparked by the topic. I won't deny that I've learned some things, but I'm just discussing them with you, Father."

"But I feel like you're very interested in the First Hokage's cells."

Seeing his father's worried gaze, Naruto smiled slightly and shook his head again.

"I am a little interested, but not in the way you think. I'm wondering how exactly he died. His cells could survive, but the person died inexplicably. That doesn't make sense."

"I'm not sure about that either. The issue of the First Hokage's death remains a mystery in the village to this day."

Naruto nodded and withdrew his consciousness from the mental world. Iruka had just handed out the exam papers.

Taking the answer sheet passed to him by Shikamaru, Naruto began to write his answers while deep in thought.

When he watched Naruto in his previous life, he realized that Hashirama Senju was too special. Throughout the entire anime, there were only three depictions of battles between the Sage's Eyes and the Sage's Body.

The first was Indra versus Asura.

The second was Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju.

The third was Naruto versus Sasuke.

The scenes of the battles between the three reincarnations of Indra vs. Asura were similar for the first and third. Both featured Nine-Tails Mode with Truth-Seeking Orbs against Susanoo, with no Wood Release appearing at all.

Only Hashirama Senju, the reincarnation of Asura's Chakra, summoned Wood Release in the second battle, making him an extremely special existence.

Even after his mysterious death, his remaining cells still possessed a vitality like a deadly virus. This vitality manifested in two ways: granting people immense Chakra and the ability to use Wood Release!

This was more akin to the characteristics displayed by the Ten-Tails or the Divine Tree in the manga.

(Sorry, I found the Asura Wood Release from the TV original to be a bit far-fetched. I really didn't see Asura use Wood Release in the manga.)

Ring ring ring—

The exam ended. As soon as Naruto handed in his paper, he sensed that Shisui Uchiha had gone to the Hokage's office again.

~~~~~~~~~

Time flowed by quietly, and soon night fell.

Naruto sat on a chair on the second floor, holding a book, silent, his gaze unfocused.

Shisui Uchiha had been in the Hokage's office since the afternoon until now.

"Huh? Where did he go with that person? And why did the Third Hokage suddenly leave?"

Just as Naruto felt he had waited in vain again tonight, Shisui Uchiha suddenly left with someone. And not long after that person left, the Third Hokage also departed with a group of people.

"Hmm? There are so many people... No! This Chakra fluctuation! They're fighting!"

Naruto sensed that as soon as Shisui Uchiha and the group met, their Chakra suddenly surged to another level. He immediately formed hand seals, created a Shadow Clone, then pulled out a scroll from his body, slapped it, and grabbed a mask and a pitch-black robe, disappearing instantly.

Swish!

When Naruto reappeared, he was already on a reef beneath a waterfall in a certain location by the Naka River that he had been to before. He formed hand seals again, creating six Shadow Clones.

Besides the area beneath his feet, he had scattered sturdy net bags under every waterfall. Now, all he had to do was wait quietly.

About ten minutes later, he sensed the Chakra of Shisui Uchiha and Itachi Uchiha on another cliff. Naruto immediately moved to the cliff below them and waited for a signal.

Splash!

Huge splashes of water erupted from beneath the waterfall.

The signal had arrived!

Naruto pulled, confirming that Shisui Uchiha had fallen into the net, and he breathed a sigh of relief. But the next moment, he sensed Itachi Uchiha's Chakra rapidly descending towards his position.

His heart tightened. Naruto immediately called out to his other Shadow Clones to collect the net bags they were holding and vanished into the night.

Swish!

When he reappeared, Naruto was already in the Forest of Death.

"Who are you?"

As soon as he landed, Shisui Uchiha actually spoke.

"Oh? You're not dead yet?"

"I... Ugh!"

Before he could say anything else, Naruto inserted a kunai wrapped in Wind Release Chakra into his heart.

"It's better if you stay dead."