I'm Really a Genius

Chakra was formed by extracting physical energy from the cells with spiritual energy, then fusing the two together. So where did the physical energy in the cells come from? Naturally, it was restored through eating and the like. To a certain extent, physical energy could be equated with stamina.

During the process of refining Chakra, cells were like machines that produced Chakra. As machines kept running, they constantly wore down. Once that wear reached a certain point, parts had to be replaced. For cells, that meant cell division.

However, just as certain machine parts could not be replaced and the machine would eventually be scrapped, cell division also had a limited number of times it could occur. Once that limit was exceeded, the cells would stop dividing, then wither and die.

Thus, even the Sage of Six Paths, hailed as a creator god, could not escape the end of bodily death. He could only continue to exist in the form of a spirit body, or Chakra.

"Then why is Kaguya immortal? And that giant toad called Gamamaru, the Great Toad Sage, has lived for over a thousand years!"

Gengetsu was filled with deep doubts, but he could only bury them in his heart.

Kushina had no idea what he was thinking. Seeing that Gengetsu had already refined Chakra, she immediately took out a sheet of Chakra Test Paper to test his Chakra Affinity.

Gengetsu followed her instructions and infused Chakra into the paper. It first became wet, then split in two.

"Wind and Water. Not bad!"

Gengetsu was quite pleasantly surprised. Water Release was one thing, but Wind Release had incredibly high offensive power.

"You have the same Affinity as me. However, Gengetsu, we of the Uzumaki Clan are born with a third Affinity. It is usually Yin for women and Yang for men!"

"Yang?"

Gengetsu raised a brow. Affinity did not mean a person possessed only that attribute. Rather, it meant they were naturally inclined toward it, or had a greater affinity for it.

In other words, Wind Release and Water Release were the two Chakra Nature Transformations Gengetsu was naturally born with. He could easily perform Wind Release and Water Release, using Chakra to create water and wind.

"Earlier, I only explained the five attributes of Wind, Fire, Water, Earth, and Lightning. Beyond those, there are also Yang Release and Yin Release."

Kushina explained carefully, "Yin Release creates form from nothing. Yang Release is the power of life, infusing all things with life."

"For example..."

As she spoke, Chakra surged within Kushina's body. Then, one Golden Chain after another whistled out from behind her.

Adamantine Sealing Chains!

A Sealing Technique unique to the Uzumaki Clan, it could suppress Tailed Beasts and possessed considerable destructive power!

"This is the Uzumaki Clan's unique Sealing Technique—Adamantine Sealing Chains. It belongs to Yin Release. Gengetsu, if you can master Yin Release Chakra in the future, then Big Sister will teach you this Sealing Technique!"

Kushina smiled as she made the promise, then withdrew the Chakra Chains under Gengetsu's reluctant gaze.

Gengetsu could not help asking, "Big Sister Kushina, how do I cultivate Yin Release Chakra?"

Kushina's eyes curved into crescents as she smiled and pressed a hand onto Gengetsu's head. "Now, now, don't aim too high."

This is so embarrassing...

Under Kushina's brute force, Gengetsu naturally could not resist. He could only let her knead his red hair into a mess.

The day quickly passed. That night, seated at his desk, Gengetsu wrote down the seven Chakra Nature Transformations in his notebook: Wind Release, Fire Release, Water Release, Earth Release, Lightning Release, Yin Release, and Yang Release.

Kushina had already explained the seven attributes during the day, but she had not gone into much depth. Or perhaps she herself had not mastered them deeply. He had also found many notes on Nature Transformations in Minato's notebooks, yet there was no discussion of the deeper relationships between the seven attributes, only a simple diagram of their mutual restraints.

"Chakra is like mana in Immortal Cultivation novels, while ninjutsu is like techniques and divine arts. Understanding and comprehending the seven attributes is like one's cultivation in Immortal Cultivation!"

"Without mana, no amount of cultivation is useful. But if one's cultivation is low, then no matter how great their mana, the power of their techniques and divine arts will have an upper limit."

"The same goes for ninjutsu!"

In Gengetsu's view, Chakra should rank first in a ninja's training, because only someone with Chakra could be considered a ninja. Second should not be ninjutsu, but Chakra Nature Transformation. Ninjutsu itself should come last.

Of course, that was under the premise of having sufficient time.

If one thoroughly mastered Chakra Nature Transformation, learning ninjutsu would definitely become much easier!

Of course, Gengetsu also knew that Chakra Nature Transformation was quite profound. Usually, only Jonin came into contact with Nature Transformations beyond their own Affinity.

Put simply, Chakra Nature Transformation depended on comprehension and talent, while ninjutsu depended on experience points. With diligent practice and hard training, one could always learn it.

He had already succeeded in refining Chakra. From now on, he only needed constant training to become proficient at extracting it evenly from the cells throughout his body. By training his physique as well, his Chakra limit would naturally rise step by step.

So Gengetsu had now set his sights on Chakra Nature Transformation. He felt that training without using theory to guide practice and practice to refine theory was completely unscientific!

Of course, he had three reasons for doing this. First, he was already far behind others his age. Second, the Third Shinobi World War was not far off. Third, having been born into a family of traditional Chinese medicine practitioners in his previous life, he had a unique understanding of Yin-Yang and the Five Elements. Though they might not perfectly correspond to Chakra's seven attributes, he still had an advantage over others through drawing inferences from parallels.

Lastly, as a top student in his previous life, he did not think his comprehension was poor!

"According to the principles behind Chakra's formation, every person's Chakra actually contains all seven Nature Transformations. Affinity most likely comes from bloodline inheritance."

"Or rather, anyone should be able to refine seven different kinds of Chakra from their body!"

"Refining!"

Gengetsu wrote the word "refining" in his notebook, then circled it. He pondered silently, The key really lies in refining. In the original story, Naruto specifically trained his Wind-nature Chakra Nature Transformation. But Wind Release was already his Affinity, so logically, he should not need to deliberately perform a Nature Transformation to use Wind Release ninjutsu...

"Rasengan, Wind Release: Rasenshuriken... Hand-signless ninjutsu. Could it be related to hand signs?"

Gengetsu wrote down the word "sign" again, then added, "Do 'signs' serve to guide Chakra Nature Transformation?"

"If that's the case, then it explains why so many ninja simplify the hand signs for their ninjutsu!"

Gengetsu muttered to himself, then fixed his gaze on the word "refining" once more and continued writing, "Could the key to refining lie in the ratio between spiritual energy and physical energy?"

"According to the theories of Yin-Yang, Four Symbols, and Five Elements, the waxing and waning of Yin and Yang gives rise to changes in the Four Symbols and Five Elements. That seems to correspond with Chakra's seven attributes as well..."

After closing his eyes and pondering for a moment, Gengetsu opened them and drew a diagram of the Four Symbols' transformations in his notebook.

On the left was Lesser Yang, representing spring and corresponding to Wind Release. Then Yang energy rose, and Lesser Yang transformed into Greater Yang. Thus, Greater Yang was at the top, representing summer and corresponding to Fire Release. Next, Yang energy declined and became Lesser Yin. Thus, Lesser Yin was on the right, representing autumn and corresponding to Lightning Release. After that, Yin energy rose and transformed into Great Yin, representing winter and corresponding to Water Release.

Finally, the Four Symbols balanced and harmonized, Yin and Yang held each other in equilibrium, forming Earth among the Five Elements, corresponding to Earth Release.

"Would it work if I replaced Yang energy and Yin energy with physical energy representing Yang and spiritual energy representing Yin?"

Blinking as he looked at the diagram in his notebook, Gengetsu felt that he truly was a genius.

"But what about pure Yin Release and Yang Release? Do they correspond to absolute Yin and absolute Yang?"

Gengetsu frowned. This was probably the hardest part. His head was starting to hurt!