Enchanting Body Tempering Technique

Satoru had noticed long ago.

These seven- or eight-year-old brats were remarkably precocious.

But on second thought, it made sense.

Even kindergarten kids in his previous life often claimed that so-and-so was their wife!

Had he not seen enough of this sort of heckling?

Still...

"These guys... At Nonō's age, she could practically be my daughter. Calling her my little sister would already be a stretch!"

Satoru gritted his teeth as he glared at Shikaku's retreating back. Someday, he would have to introduce that guy to a strict wife...

Nonō seemed completely unable to figure out what was happening. The little girl had been startled by the spectacle, though they appeared to be welcoming her...

"Don't mind them... They're just a bunch of people who like messing around."

Satoru could only smile wryly and comfort Nonō. His teacher really knew how to make trouble for him.

He still had magic to study. Where was he supposed to find so much time to tutor Nonō...

"Satoru... I'll... I'll be relying on you from now on. I'm quick at memorizing things, so I won't take up too much of your time!"

Nonō looked at him with those adorable little eyes, like a kitten.

"No problem. Leave it to me!"

Could anyone resist a kitten's little eyes?

"Anyway, I can't..."

Once a devoted cat servant, Satoru weakly closed The Book of Medivh, took out his class notebook, and handed it to Nonō.

"These are my notes. Take a look first. If there's anything you don't understand, just ask me."

"Th... thank you!"

Nonō took Satoru's notebook and eagerly opened it—

What greeted her were lines of neat, beautiful handwriting. The key points were organized with clear logic, marked with all kinds of Satoru's own annotations, and even included directions for deeper study.

"As expected of Satoru, whom the teacher praised so highly. I've never seen knowledge analyzed this way before..."

Nonō quickly immersed herself in this unprecedented notebook.

Many of Satoru's methods of analyzing knowledge, some of the applications he proposed, and the connections he drew to history and legends opened a whole new door for Nonō.

After all, as a mage who researched knowledge, this was Satoru's specialty.

Combined with the rigorous, rational thinking and scientific analytical methods he had developed as an engineer in his previous life, Satoru's notebook was more than good enough to be used as advanced teaching material.

It was simply that Satoru clearly had no intention of showing off.

Part of the reason Choza, Shikaku, and Inoichi had so much time and energy to practice taijutsu with Satoru was that he had shared his notes with them, greatly improving their learning speed.

With the help of the notes, it would not take Nonō much time to catch up with the second-year curriculum.

Though he had somehow acquired a kitten-like little classmate to look after, Satoru still did not neglect his magic and taijutsu training.

Before he knew it, another year had passed. Under Dai's guidance, Satoru's physical abilities and taijutsu combat skills had already surpassed those of his peers by far.

And hard work paid off. Satoru had successfully developed a method of casting the Arcane Body Tempering Technique on others through enchantment.

Although its effect was much weaker than casting it on himself, once he became stronger in the future, he could replace it with a more powerful body-tempering enchantment.

This Enchanting Body Tempering Technique mainly strengthened the body's interior, making it sturdier. It would not produce any immediate improvement in combat power, at most enhancing one's ability to take hits.

But for Dai, who trained in the Eight Gates Formation, its significance was entirely different.

With this, leaving aside whether Dai could survive in the future, might he be able to wipe out the Seven Ninja Swordsmen?

Besides, Dai's exceptionally strong body made him an excellent experimental... ahem, subject.

When Satoru found Dai training alone and told him about this achievement, Dai could hardly believe it.

"There's... such a secret technique!"

Dai understood very well what kind of help this Enchanting Body Tempering Technique would bring him if it worked as Satoru described.

"To keep it secret, this technique hasn't been tested on a person yet... It's also different from the version I use to train myself."

Satoru frankly told Dai that this was his personal secret. Dai was briefly taken aback before accepting it.

"Youth is always full of little secrets!"

Dai's teeth gleamed with golden light as he laughed and gave Satoru a thumbs-up.

"Brother Satoru, don't worry. No secret has ever leaked from the mouth of Might Dai!"

"To risk exposing your secret just to share such a secret technique with a genin like me, I truly... truly..."

Two streams of hot tears ran down Dai's face. He grabbed the grimacing Satoru in a hug and said emotionally,

"From today onward, you're my blood brother!"

"I've never been afraid of danger! Go ahead and experiment!"

"..."

Satoru finally managed to break free from Dai's bear hug. Seeing Dai's face turn utterly resolute, he nodded solemnly.

"Don't worry... Even if it fails, it just won't have any effect. It won't make things worse."

To perform a large-scale enchantment on a human body, without the support of magical materials as rich in mana as those in Azeroth, Satoru could only use Arcane Power together with a magic circle.

To Dai, the magic circle merely looked like a somewhat strange ninjutsu formula—more gorgeous and mysterious than ordinary ninjutsu formulas.

Dai sat cross-legged on the ground while Satoru used special ink infused with abundant Arcane Power to draw a magic circle around him. With a wave of his hand, he summoned The Book of Medivh and began casting.

Satoru performed mysterious incantations and complex hand seals. Gorgeous purple Arcane Power lit up from the magic circle, growing increasingly dazzling.

Sitting in the center of the magic circle, Dai felt an unfamiliar yet somehow familiar power slowly seep into his muscles and bones.

It seemed different from Chakra, yet somehow related to it.

Bright purple light flashed in Satoru's eyes, and a bright purple radiance rose around his body—

This was the phenomenon produced when Arcane Power was pushed to its limit.

But in Dai's eyes, it seemed to be merely a special kind of Chakra.

Satoru urgently shouted the final few mysterious syllables. The magic circle flared brilliantly, swallowing Dai at its center...

"Enchanting Body Tempering Technique—complete!"

Crack!

The magic circle shattered into drifting arcane fragments and slowly faded away. Dai, at its center, gradually opened his eyes.

"This feeling... It's beyond imagination!"

Dai clenched his fists in shock. He had closed his eyes just now to sense the changes in his body. As a ninja who specialized in taijutsu, his control over his own body surpassed that of most people.

Now, his body's strength was roughly ten percent greater than before!

What did that mean?

In just a few minutes, Dai's increase in physical strength was equivalent to a year of grueling training!

And this was comprehensive enhancement, including his bones!

Ordinary training could build muscles, but bone strength was incredibly difficult to train!

"I feel like... I'm at least fifty percent stronger than before!"

Dai rose to his feet, nearly unable to resist throwing his head back and howling to vent his excitement, but he held himself back.

"As long as it worked."

Satoru took a breath. The enchantment circle had consumed a great deal of his energy. This was his first time using such distinctly recognizable arcane magic in front of someone else.

"But I'm still far too weak. At present, I can only strengthen you this much."

Satoru felt somewhat regretful. His understanding of The Book of Medivh was only a little over twenty percent. Not only was his arcane knowledge limited, but even when activating this powerful magical artifact, he could only bring out this much of its power.

"It's already incredibly strong!"

Dai took several deep breaths, his expression solemn as he clenched both fists.

"Eight Gates Formation: First Gate of Opening—open!"

"Second Gate of Healing—open!"

"Third Gate of Life—open!"

"Fourth Gate of Pain—open!"

"Fifth Gate of Closing—open!"

Before Satoru's shocked gaze, Dai's entire body turned red, veins bulged on his forehead, and his eyes became nothing but white!

He had already opened five gates! Satoru secretly admired him. When Dai had demonstrated for the four of them before, he truly had held back quite a bit.

Just as Satoru thought that, Dai immediately let out a roar.

"Sixth Gate of Joy—open!"