Tremors

"Trivet, trivet!"

Ayari came out of the kitchen carrying a pot, speaking hurriedly.

Shin brought over a cloth trivet and placed it on the table for Ayari to set the pot down.

"Phew..." Ayari let out a long breath and rubbed her hands together.

Sibi jumped onto the table at that moment to see what was in the pot, only for Shin to shoo him back down.

Ayari lifted the lid, and the rich aroma of instant noodles wafted out.

"Looks pretty good." She sounded quite pleased with herself.

Shin, who had brought over bowls and chopsticks, was rather speechless. Ayari had been busy in the kitchen for ages and would not let him get close enough to look. He had thought she was making something delicious.

"What kind of look is that?" Ayari glared at him.

"You called me over to cook for me, and you're serving instant noodles?" Shin could not help asking.

"I made this myself. Other people would not even get this treatment."

"..."

Shin sat down helplessly and set down the bowls and chopsticks.

"Hurry up and try it. I even fried three eggs."

"Why three?"

"One is for Sibi!"

"Woof!"

The noodles themselves tasted ordinary enough, but Ayari had added salt when frying the eggs and had not spread it evenly. One bite nearly salted Shin to death.

Ayari seemed to notice something when she ate her egg as well. She spent a while taking tiny, cautious bites, then placed her fried egg into Sibi's bowl.

"Sibi, you can have mine too."

"Woof~"

Shin: "..."

After eating the instant noodles, Ayari went to play with Sibi on the sofa, directly dumping the job of washing the pot and dishes on Shin.

She showed no consideration at all for the fact that he was a guest.

After Shin finished cleaning up, he did not stand on ceremony and took a can of soda from the refrigerator.

"Get me one too," Ayari said as she lay on the sofa.

Shin tossed a can over. It landed steadily on the coffee table, making barely any sound.

Ayari froze when she saw it. "That's amazing. How did you do that?"

Shin walked over and sat across from her. "Some Chakra control techniques."

Ayari thought for a moment, recalling that something similar had happened when they had gone shopping together earlier.

She sat up, took the can in her hand, and abruptly flung it toward Shin.

As though he had expected it, the can came to an abrupt stop in midair right before reaching him, then dropped into his hand.

Ayari was astonished. "How did you do that?!"

Shin casually tossed the can onto the coffee table and leaned back on the sofa. "Call me teacher."

Ayari curled her lip. "Tell me or don't!"

She turned and picked up Sibi again, saying to him, "Some people really don't know how to be grateful. Who knows who found him so many books to read?"

Shin said helplessly, "It's vibration."

Ayari paused. "What?"

"Chakra vibrations."

As Shin spoke, he extended one finger. Ayari saw a small cluster of blue Chakra suddenly flicker from his fingertip like a flame.

Ayari leaned closer, wanting to see more clearly.

Shin caught that faint fragrance drifting from her again.

He held his finger beside the can on the coffee table, leaving a distance of one centimeter between them.

That flame-like cluster of blue Chakra appeared again, and the can was pushed a full meter across the tabletop.

Ayari asked, "Did you use Chakra to knock it away?"

"No. That's too crude."

Ayari looked a little lost.

Explaining physics to Ayari seemed troublesome, so Shin said, "Simply put, I can use Chakra vibrations to alter the state of motion of many objects."

Ayari looked even more lost.

Shin suddenly opened his palm. The can sitting more than two meters away from him on the coffee table slid toward him on its own. When it reached the edge, it even jumped up by itself and landed steadily in Shin's palm.

Ayari cried out in surprise. "That's incredible! How did you do that?"

Shin: "...Didn't I just explain it?"

Only then did Ayari say awkwardly, "Ah, I mean... what vibration? I don't understand any of it. Did any of the books I gave you talk about this?"

"No. I figured it out myself."

The technology tree in this world had gone in the wrong direction. Even those who studied physics could not reach the level of his nine years of compulsory education.

Ayari stared at him blankly. "Shin, you're... amazing."

"I think so too."

Ayari: "..."

The image of him she had just begun to build up in her mind shattered instantly.

She asked again, "What can these vibrations of yours do?"

"Quite a lot."

"Like when I threw something at you just now. Could you block a kunai or Shuriken?"

"Yes."

"Could you block Ninjutsu?"

"In theory, yes."

Ayari thought for a moment, then asked, "Other than blocking and controlling things?"

"Use your Byakugan and take a look."

Ayari nodded and activated her Byakugan as instructed. The things in her field of vision immediately changed.

A stream of Chakra was constantly surging through Shin's raised arm, while a thin layer of Chakra clung to his palm.

Snap!

Shin snapped his fingers. In an instant, Ayari saw the layer of Chakra on his palm gather together.

A flash of fire appeared.

It startled Ayari.

"Fire... Fire Release?" she asked, still shaken.

"It was only heat from friction igniting it. Without anything flammable, it went out," Shin said. One look at Ayari's expression told him that she had not seen anything.

The Chakra was vibrating at an extremely high frequency. She could not see it at all.

Nor could she see anything other than the Chakra inside a human body.

"I don't know why, but I understand even less now," Ayari said.

"The Byakugan can only see Chakra inside the human body. It cannot see what lies outside it."

Ayari looked puzzled. "Outside the human body... what is there?"

"The books on sensory perception that you gave me mentioned it. Beyond the human body, there is energy drifting through heaven and earth that cannot be controlled by human power. It is called Natural Energy."

"Natural Energy is everywhere. From birth to death, people are surrounded by it, but only sensory-type ninja of an extremely high level can perceive it."

"Legend says that whoever masters Natural Energy becomes a sage, possessing the power to move mountains, fill seas, and change the world."

Ayari immediately asked, "Can you control it?"

"No. I can only make it move, like how you can wave your arm and fan up a gust of wind."

Ayari seemed to understand, yet not quite.

Shin continued, "Whenever people use techniques, they inevitably consume some Chakra. That Chakra is actually transformed into Natural Energy in the outside world, which creates the illusion that it has disappeared."

"Sensory Ninjutsu is simply detecting Chakra before it becomes Natural Energy. You can think of Natural Energy as a medium that carries Chakra."

"The more Chakra is released, the longer it takes to transform into Natural Energy. At that point, it can be detected even without sensory abilities. The less that is released, the shorter the time."

"That is why you can sense the amount of Chakra. It is like the difference between pouring a cup of water onto the ground and wetting a small area, versus pouring a basin of water and wetting a much larger area."

Ayari scratched her head, and it was impossible to tell whether she understood. "It feels so confusing. Weren't we talking about vibrations? How did we get onto Sensory Ninjutsu?"

Only then did Shin say, "The Chakra I release outside my body becomes Natural Energy, but its state of motion does not change. So I can use my own Chakra to make Natural Energy move."

Seeing that Ayari still looked utterly confused, he added, "You can understand it as me being able to control the air. Control the wind."

He gave a light wave of his hand, and Ayari suddenly felt a powerful gust of wind blast toward her.

The wind cleared Ayari's head considerably, while also tossing her long hair into disarray.

"I think... I understand a little now."

"I wasn't expecting you to understand."

"Then can you teach me?"

"Sure. First, read all those books you found for me yourself."

"Then forget it."