Practice Is the Sole Criterion for Testing Truth

On the evening of May 1st, Konoha Year 42, Gengetsu, who had been training by the river, opened his eyes and glanced at the sky before getting up to head back.

It had been more than three months since he arrived in Konoha. He still had not mastered Wind Release Chakra, and Tsunade had urged him to give up on that method two days ago. Yet Gengetsu felt that he was on the verge of success.

After leaving the grove, Gengetsu suddenly stopped and looked toward a figure in the distance walking upside down.

"Once I complete my goal of 500 laps of upside-down walking, I'll challenge Kakashi tomorrow! This time, I'll definitely beat him!"

Gengetsu could not help smiling at the sight. What a familiar scene.

"For ordinary people, no success ever comes easily!"

"I may have the Uzumaki Bloodline, and my physique may far surpass that of ordinary people, but compared to those absurdly gifted freaks, I'm nowhere close. What excuse do I have not to work hard?"

Gengetsu was stirred by the thought. After considering it, he said, "Then I'll train a little longer."

"Mm, thirty minutes at most!"

He quickly made his decision, leaped up, and sat cross-legged on a tree branch. Guy's impassioned voice drifted over from time to time, yet his heart had never been calmer.

Ten minutes passed quickly. The chaotic Chakra within Gengetsu suddenly settled, replaced by a type of Chakra different from Water Release Chakra.

He got up, plucked a leaf, and held it between his palms before releasing Chakra. The next moment, when he opened his hand, the leaf had been effortlessly sliced into two.

"Wind Release, finally mastered!"

Gengetsu's face was filled with delight. Hard work truly paid off. After more than two months, he had finally cultivated Wind Release Chakra. This also meant that his original deductions and theories had all been correct, though the difficulty far exceeded his expectations, and the time required might have been far greater than the Chakra Nature Transformation methods currently circulated throughout the Shinobi World.

"However, now that I've done it, the rest will be easy!"

Everything in the world followed its own laws of development and change. Once one discovered those laws, one grasped the truth, and everything became simple. Gengetsu had now found that law.

"After Wind Release comes Fire Release!"

Standing on the branch, Gengetsu brought his hands together with a clap and slightly closed his eyes.

A moment later, Chakra appeared in his hands, followed by flames that burned brightly against the darkening sky.

"Keep it up. Next, Lightning Release!"

The firelight in his hands faded, and the Chakra vanished. This time, Gengetsu was even faster. In less than a minute, weak electric currents emerged from his palms and spread outward.

"Good, hahaha!"

"Practice truly is the sole criterion for testing truth!"

Gengetsu finally could not hold back his laughter. Only after a while did he calm down, bring his hands together again, and begin refining Earth Release Chakra.

Five minutes later, he leaped down from the tree and injected the refined Chakra into the soft soil before him. The once-loose earth quickly hardened!

"I mastered four Chakra Nature Transformations in a row. Who could possibly be better than me?"

At that moment, Gengetsu's confidence soared.

"Gengetsu..."

Suddenly, a voice called out. Gengetsu's smile froze as he looked up to see Minato rapidly approaching. In the blink of an eye, he was right in front of him.

"Brother Minato, why are you here? Did something happen?"

Gengetsu asked curiously.

Seeing that Gengetsu was safe and sound, Minato secretly breathed a sigh of relief. "Nothing happened. Kushina saw that you still hadn't come home and was worried about you!"

Warmth rose in Gengetsu's heart, and the childish excitement from earlier instantly vanished without a trace. He immediately said, "Sorry, Brother Minato. I reached a critical point in my training, so I lost track of time!"

"Oh, hmm? You mastered Earth Release Chakra Nature Transformation?"

Minato suddenly noticed the hardened earth before Gengetsu and could not help being startled.

Gengetsu nodded with a smile. "Yes, Brother Minato. I finally proved that theory I proposed before. It works perfectly. Now, aside from Water Release, I've initially mastered the four Nature Transformations of Wind Release, Fire Release, Lightning Release, and Earth Release!"

"This... is unbelievable!"

Minato was utterly shocked.

Gengetsu nodded. "It is rather unbelievable. I cultivated Wind Release through constant trial and error, and through that, I found the pattern and initially quantified my spiritual energy and physical energy. That made the following Fire Release, Lightning Release, and Earth Release much easier, which is why I could master all four Chakra Nature Transformations in one go today!"

"So the key is quantifying one's spiritual energy and physical energy? What an extraordinary innovation!"

Minato sighed in admiration, then smiled sincerely. "Come on, let's go home first and tell Kushina the news. I'm sure she'll be very happy when she hears it!"

"Of course. I was taught by Sister Kushina, after all!"

The two immediately set off. When they got home, they told Kushina, who had prepared dinner and was waiting for them. Just as expected, Kushina became wildly excited upon hearing the news.

"Really?"

"Gengetsu, you're incredible! Just as expected of my, Kushina's, disciple!"

"But tell me, how did you do it? It's so unbelievable!"

Kushina turned into a chatterbox, leaving both Gengetsu and Minato drenched in sweat. It was also the first time Gengetsu had witnessed Kushina's chatterbox side.

"Kushina, Gengetsu is already very tired. How about we talk while we eat?"

Minato suggested, finally putting a stop to Kushina's chatter. The three sat down at the table to eat and talk.

"So, while this method can be widely promoted, everyone's spiritual energy and physical energy differ in strength. Therefore, when training in the first Chakra Nature Transformation, it will still be difficult and require a great deal of time."

After hearing the details of Gengetsu's training process, Minato immediately said this.

"That's right, but I believe it is still a training method of tremendous value!"

Gengetsu nodded. As long as one quantified one's spiritual energy and physical energy, all other Chakra Nature Transformations would become as easy as drinking water.

"This kind of training method is enough to establish a formidable Ninja Clan!"

Kushina praised.

Mastering multiple Chakra Nature Transformations meant being able to use many different Ninjutsu, creating varied combat styles. Its importance could not be overstated!

Gengetsu was no longer a rookie, so he naturally understood this. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Brother Minato, I want to hand this training method over to the village!"

Minato and Kushina exchanged a glance, then both smiled.

"Gengetsu, your sister and Brother Minato will both support your decision!"

Kushina said with a smile, and Minato strongly agreed. For Civilian Ninja, there were limited ways to learn Ninjutsu. Other than the Three Body Technique, the Ninja Academy basically taught no other Ninjutsu. Only after graduating and formally becoming ninja could they select one Ninjutsu from the village to study. After that, they needed to earn sufficient merits before they could continue selecting Ninjutsu from the village for training.

Moreover, Ninjutsu obtained from the village could not be casually passed down to descendants as clan techniques. The Water Release: Water Disruption that Minato had taught Gengetsu earlier had been specifically exchanged with Minato's own merits so that he could teach it to Gengetsu.

This was the vast, inherent gap between Civilian Ninja and ninja born into Ninja Clans.

Although Kushina had the Uzumaki Clan's unique Sealing Techniques that she could pass on to Gengetsu, Gengetsu had yet to cultivate Yin Release Chakra and therefore could not practice powerful, directly offensive Sealing Techniques such as Adamantine Sealing Chains.

Minato could also teach him the Rasengan he had developed, but while that Ninjutsu was powerful, it might not suit Gengetsu at his current stage.

Giving the Chakra Nature Transformation training method to the village in exchange for Ninjutsu would allow him to make full use of his five Chakra Nature Transformations. It was undoubtedly an extremely wise choice.