Terrifying Talent

In the evening, after finishing dinner, Li Chuan returned to his room and began his first attempt at Chakra refinement.

Having taken Chiriku as his master, Li Chuan had Kino and the others head back to the Prince's Mansion first. He came to the Fire Temple to train, not to enjoy himself, and had no need for servants to attend to him. This behavior of Li Chuan's made Chiriku nod to himself in approval.

Although he knew that someone starting Chakra refinement and training at Li Chuan's age would likely only ever reach the level of a Genin at best, since he was now nominally his disciple, Chiriku still hoped the young man would put in some effort. Of course, as a prince of noble status, Li Chuan's treatment differed from ordinary disciples—at least he had a private room and didn't have to sleep on a communal bunk like the other monks.

"Huh, this is pretty simple!"

Li Chuan's first attempt at extracting Sage Art Chakra wasn't as difficult as Chiriku had described, who had said it might take a week or two just to get started. Instead, he smoothly blended the three energies—body, mind, and nature—in the proper proportions, successfully converting them into Sage Art Chakra.

After a moment's thought, he figured it made sense. What were the difficulties in extracting Chakra? What determined the speed of Chakra cultivation? Chiriku had explained all of this in detail during today's lesson.

Normally, extracting Chakra had three main challenges: body, mind, and control. Sage Art added a bit of natural energy, but since the required amount was minimal, it could be ignored. The stronger the body and mind, the easier it was to sense and extract energy. The stronger the control, the smoother the fusion of the three energies into Chakra.

For an ordinary seven- or eight-year-old child, this might be quite difficult. But for Li Chuan, it was extremely simple.

First, the body. In martial arts, the body was paramount. Stance training, breathing methods, Tiger-Leopard Thunder Sound—all were meant to strengthen the internal organs and physical form. Even without Chakra or ninjutsu to enhance his body, Li Chuan's pure physical strength was likely far superior to an average Genin, perhaps even comparable to some Chunin. After all, his original body had been pushed nearly to the limits of human potential, and after arriving in this world, his cell count had more than doubled.

As for the mind, someone who had trained martial arts to his level and frequently fought life-or-death battles couldn't be weak in spirit or willpower. Add to that the accumulated mental experience of two lifetimes, and he was even stronger. A clear sign was his incredible memory in this life—if he focused, he could achieve photographic recall.

Finally, control. This was his forte. As a martial artist, being able to control every muscle in his body was the bare minimum. So when Li Chuan began extracting Sage Art Chakra using the method Chiriku taught him, it went smoothly.

Moreover, with his physical condition, his Chakra refinement speed far exceeded ordinary people, because refinement speed was primarily tied to the body. The stronger one's life force, the stronger their physical energy, and the faster they could extract Chakra. A prime example was Naruto's Uzumaki Clan.

Of course, having a lot of Chakra didn't necessarily mean strength. Ninjutsu, Body Technique, experience, skill—all had to be considered to judge a ninja's power. When Naruto was still a Genin, his Chakra reserves far exceeded Kakashi's, an elite Jonin, but Kakashi could take him down with one hand. Still, having more Chakra was definitely a good thing—it meant that under equal strength, the one with more Chakra would win in a drawn-out fight, and many powerful techniques required large amounts of Chakra to use.

The next day, in the same training room.

"Chuan, Sage Art refinement is inherently more difficult than normal Chakra refinement, so you need to be patient. After last night's attempt, if there's anything you don't understand, speak up, and your master will explain it to you. Our goal for these two weeks is to first extract Chakra. Only with Chakra can you proceed to the next steps."

Chiriku knew that beginners always faced many problems when starting Chakra extraction. He was worried his princely disciple might get discouraged, so he offered some reassurance as soon as they sat down.

"Master, I've already extracted Chakra!"

Li Chuan smiled faintly. He felt no need to hide his abilities and talent from Chiriku. He believed he should show his potential. Only by making Chiriku see that he wasn't just fooling around but truly had hope of becoming strong would his master teach him all his ninjutsu.

"What? You've already extracted Chakra? That's impossible! Regarding Chakra extraction, I think you don't need to feel pressured. It's normal for it to take a few months."

Chiriku didn't believe Li Chuan at all. His first thought was that his princely disciple was too concerned with saving face. This was understandable—having served as a guard for the Daimyo, Chiriku knew well how much the Nobles valued their pride.

Li Chuan didn't bother to explain. Instead, he gathered Sage Art Chakra in his hand, making it emit a faint golden glow. He still couldn't form hand seals or use ninjutsu, so this was the only way to prove he had successfully extracted Sage Art Chakra.

When Chiriku saw the signature golden light of Sage Art Chakra in Li Chuan's hand, it was as if he had been hit by a Silence Jutsu. His eyes widened, his mouth fell open, and all sound stopped.

He was certain that yesterday, Li Chuan's body had held no Chakra at all. He was also certain that the golden glow now emanating from Li Chuan's hand was the unique Sage Art Chakra of the Fire Temple. So Li Chuan, this twenty-year-old prince, had truly succeeded in extracting Sage Art Chakra in just one night.

At the same time, he felt a pang of regret. With such excellent ninja talent, if he had become a ninja as a child, he might have become a capable Jonin in the future. What Chiriku didn't know was that Li Chuan hadn't taken a whole night—he had done it in just over ten seconds, extracting the even slower Sage Art Chakra with ease.

"Very good. You have great talent. Your master is very pleased. Since you've successfully extracted Chakra, today we'll learn the most basic ninjutsu skill: hand seals. Most ninjutsu are released through hand seals. There are twelve seals in total, each with a unique gesture, and some are quite difficult. Now, follow me and learn them one by one. Remember, they must be precise, or the technique won't work. First: Boar!"

"Boar!"

Li Chuan glanced at Chiriku's gesture and immediately replicated it exactly. With a martial artist's control over his muscles and his photographic memory, these hand seals posed no challenge at all. Chiriku carefully examined Li Chuan's form, ready to correct any mistakes, but found nothing to fix.

"Good. The Boar seal is relatively simple. Next, we'll learn the Ox seal."