Library

Bang!

The clone dissolved into a puff of white smoke.

"All right, dismissed." Chiba let out a long breath.

Uchiha Hirohiko and Hyuga Yukina nodded, but neither left. They sat down on the ground to recover their strength, and Chiba did much the same.

"Chiba, Hirohiko, do you want to go to the Library together after dinner tonight?" Hyuga Yukina suddenly asked.

Chiba froze. The Library? Damn, he had actually forgotten about the Library. He had been so muddleheaded from training every day these past few days that he had completely forgotten.

"Okay!" Uchiha Hirohiko nodded, and the two of them looked at Chiba.

"Oh, then let's go together. How about we eat together today?" Chiba suggested.

"I need to go home and tell my father," Hyuga Yukina said seriously. Though she looked cold and frosty, she was actually a very earnest and well-behaved girl. After spending these past days with her, Chiba understood Yukina's character well.

Chiba nodded. "All right, then. Go home and take a bath first. We'll meet at Ichiraku Ramen."

Uchiha Hirohiko nodded in agreement.

Afterward, the three got up and said their goodbyes. Yukina and Hirohiko headed home in the same direction, so they took the same road, while Chiba went the other way.

Whether Kushina Uzumaki had done it intentionally or not, this clearing was quite close to Chiba's home and relatively close to both the Hyuga Clan and Uchiha residences as well. None of them needed long to get back.

After taking a quick shower, Chiba felt the day's exhaustion wash away. At the same time, he realized that after only three days, he had gradually adapted to this kind of training. He no longer collapsed into sleep like he had during the first few days.

He could also clearly feel that his body had grown tougher. Opening the Fourth Gate next year probably would not be a problem, as long as he kept up this training every day.

Twenty minutes later, the three of them appeared punctually at Ichiraku Ramen. Since they were Kushina's students, Old Man Ichiraku generously added plenty of chashu to their bowls.

However, Chiba and the other two found it difficult to lift their chopsticks.

It was not because the ramen tasted bad, but because... the hands holding their chopsticks were trembling wildly.

Their training had clearly exhausted them so thoroughly that they could barely hold their chopsticks.

It was not that they had adapted to the intense training. Rather, Chiba and the others were so tired that they could no longer feel their physical exhaustion!

The three of them finished their ramen with great difficulty, then left the Ichiraku Ramen shop beneath Old Man Ichiraku's worried gaze, which seemed to ask, "Are these children all right?"

Then, without stopping, the three hurried to the Library. After presenting their library cards and medals, the librarian readily allowed them inside.

After entering the Library, Chiba and the other two split up with clear purpose. The Library closed at eight, leaving them only a little over an hour to browse ninjutsu books.

Chiba walked between rows upon rows of shelves, occasionally taking out a scroll to read. Scrolls could not be taken out, so they could only be read inside the Library.

The Library was quiet. Occasionally, he could hear Hirohiko and Yukina turning pages. Apparently, not everyone was permitted to enter the Library.

"Chakra Nature Transformation" and "Chakra Shape Transformation." After reading several ninjutsu scrolls, Chiba was drawn to these two.

Chakra Nature Transformation and Shape Transformation could be considered another set of fundamentals. They were methods of using chakra. Basically every ninja mastered at least one Chakra Nature Transformation, while Shape Transformation was a more advanced application beyond Nature Transformation.

Every ninjutsu involved the use of these two transformations.

There were seven chakra natures: fire, water, earth, lightning, wind, yin, and yang. The chakra extracted by the human body was unaligned. Only through Nature Transformation could it gain an attribute and be used to perform the corresponding elemental ninjutsu.

The Eight Gates Chakra produced by the Eight Gates was also unaligned. If Chiba wanted to use elemental ninjutsu, he needed to undergo Chakra Nature Transformation as well.

How did I forget about this? The reason I probably can't use Fire Release must be a problem with Chakra Nature Transformation! Chiba read the scroll, memorizing every word. These two scrolls systematically explained the applications of the two chakra transformations, allowing him to gain a thorough understanding of them.

Chakra Nature Transformation! The reason I can't use Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique must be that I can't perform Fire Release Nature Transformation. In other words, I'm not Fire Release-aligned. I used Earth Release so easily, so I can now confirm that I'm probably Earth Release-aligned. I wonder whether I have any other attributes.

Chiba analyzed as he read.

So that's how it is. There are two forms of Nature Transformation. One changes the chakra inside the body into an attribute, while the other uses one's attribute chakra to create objects of the corresponding attribute or perform corresponding Nature Transformations on existing objects.

For example, changing unaligned chakra into Earth Release Chakra is a chakra attribute transformation. Creating earth, or strengthening or changing the state of existing earth—such as turning soil into a hard wall—counts as creating an object of the corresponding attribute or performing Nature Transformation on an object of that attribute.

Shape Transformation, on the other hand, basically concerns changes to chakra itself. The Rasengan, for instance, is a highly concentrated mass of chakra that changes chakra's form and state.

But something still seems wrong... I remember that during the Fourth Great Ninja War, when the Ten-Tails launched a Tailed Beast Bomb, Shikamaru had Kitsuchi teach the Allied Shinobi Forces Earth Style Wall. Everyone successfully used it, though its power was not very great.

Then why... can't I use Fire Release? Even if I'm not Fire Release-aligned... uh, could it be that I don't have enough chakra? That I can't cast it?

Chiba frowned and began thinking.

Still, one thing was certain: if the attribute did not match, the power of the elemental ninjutsu used would be greatly reduced, and the chakra consumption should be immense as well.

Holding the two scrolls, Chiba pondered. Before he knew it, closing time had arrived. He could only return the scrolls to their original places and leave the Library.

After leaving the Library, the three said goodbye and returned to their homes.

All the way back, Chiba was distracted, his mind filled with Nature Transformation and Shape Transformation. Within Nature Transformation, changing chakra into an attribute was simple. During the hand signs, if one used Earth Release and was an Earth Release ninja, one could naturally transform unaligned chakra into Earth Release Chakra.

But if one wanted to create earth—in other words, transform Earth Release Chakra into the substance of earth—or strengthen existing matter and make similar changes, then that form of Nature Transformation required training. It was not so easy.

However, through training, one could also master the Nature Transformations of other attributes. The Third Hokage and the future Kakashi had both mastered all five chakra natures. But mastering chakra attributes other than one's own should have been extraordinarily difficult. Aside from certain descendants of the Sage of Six Paths, Chiba remembered only those two as having mastered all five Nature Transformations.

Generally speaking, even a Jonin only mastered two.

The Naruto World had produced many geniuses, yet very few had mastered five Nature Transformations. That showed just how difficult it was to master the Nature Transformations of other attributes.

"Tomorrow, I'll do some ninjutsu training and see whether I have any other chakra attributes." Chiba climbed into bed and muttered, "I happened to see a Water Style Ninjutsu scroll just now. I'll try it tomorrow."

With that thought, Chiba closed his eyes. Within seconds, soft snores rose as he fell asleep.

Clearly, he was still tired enough today to fall asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.