The World Tree and the God Tree

Mitokado Satoru picked up a notebook and began scribbling in it.

The principle behind Scorching Swiftness was indeed as described, but how to cast it was up to him—the book only explained the theory, not providing any ready-made incantations.

Probably because Archmage Khadgar no longer needed incantations to cast such spells...

First, the control of Arcane Power.

The Book of Medivh was not just a spellbook recording magical knowledge; it was also a powerful artifact.

Satoru owed his successful acquisition of Arcane Power to its aid—

In this world where Arcane Power had no physical manifestation, it would have been nearly impossible for Satoru to comprehend it on his own—even living beside the Well of Eternity, it took the elves tens of thousands of years before true Arcane Mages emerged.

Primal Arcane Power was incredibly difficult to harness, especially in the early ages without a systematic magical tradition.

The book recorded that after the Well of Eternity exploded, the elves, relying on the World Tree, became far more adept at wielding Arcane Power.

The principle of the World Tree was to use vast life force to guide Natural Energy, tempering the violent Arcane Power of the Well of Eternity, allowing casters to use it safely.

Like the owls' Starfire and Moonfire, for instance.

And the Magic Net that later spread across the world was also the foundation for magic apprentices to quickly master Arcane Power.

Now, Satoru could already see this part of the content—

It belonged to the history of magic.

"Heh, no Magic Net here, no World Tree either, so this book takes their place..."

Satoru's hand holding the pen suddenly stopped, a bead of cold sweat seeping from his forehead.

"No... World Tree..."

"But... there is a God Tree..."

The God Tree, the Ten-Tails, the Chakra Progenitor.

Chakra was a special energy formed by mixing the body's physical energy and mental energy, but humans had possessed physical and mental energy since ancient times.

Why did chakra only appear after the God Tree emerged?

The God Tree absorbed the planet's life force and bore the Chakra Fruit, which...

The Book of Medivh clearly recorded that Arcane Power was Titan Power, that is, Star Soul Power—the manifestation of a world-soul's power.

The Well of Eternity was the manifestation of Azeroth's Star Soul Arcane Power, the source of magic and Natural Energy.

Here, in the Shinobi World, Arcane Power could also be mastered.

That meant this planet had a Star Soul?

Chakra... was a new energy, distinct from Natural Energy, processed by the God Tree from Arcane Power?

Even the environmental changes over a thousand years had affected the creatures of the Shinobi World, allowing them to master chakra!

Just as, after the Well of Eternity appeared, Azeroth produced all sorts of bizarre magical flora, fauna, and minerals over tens of thousands of years.

"If that's really the case..."

Forgetting about Scorching Swiftness for the moment, Mitokado Satoru immediately tried to use Arcane Power to perform a ninjutsu.

If his guess was correct, Arcane Power should be able to replace chakra's function, or at least be convertible between the two...

"Boar—Snake—Tiger—Ninja Art: Clone Technique!"

"Poof!"

As he formed the hand seals, Satoru felt something was off, but before he could think it through, one of the most basic E-rank ninjutsu, the Clone Technique, was already complete.

"This is..."

Mitokado Satoru stared with a face full of black lines at the strange lump that had appeared as his clone.

It wasn't the illusory clone of an E-rank Clone Technique; it had some substance, meaning the technique's effect was stronger, but this grotesque form...

He had long since mastered the Clone Technique, damn it!

"Arcane Power can activate ninjutsu, but controlling it is much harder."

"And Arcane Power can also be converted into chakra to activate ninjutsu, and it's more special than normally produced chakra..."

A faint purple glow flickered in Satoru's eyes—a sign of unstable mental state causing Arcane Power to leak out.

"As I thought, my hypothesis has merit. The deeper principles might require more arcane knowledge for me to understand."

"But for now, I'm much more confident about surviving safely in this world!"

Mitokado Satoru was panicking. His father, Mitokado Homura, held a high position and considerable fame in all of Konoha, not even a nobody across the Shinobi World.

But who had ever heard of Mitokado Homura having a son?

Fellow advisor Utatane Koharu was so old her teeth had fallen out without changing her surname, clearly meaning she either never married or married a civilian, with unknown descendants...

The Scapegoat Lord was also an oddity, let's not go there.

Among his friends, the early-deceased Kagami Uchiha had descendants like Shisui, let alone the Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen and Torifu Akimichi of the Akimichi clan—but what about Mitokado Homura...

Satoru arrived at a horrifying conclusion—

If he originally had a son, the kid was either a total loser or already dead.

And a loser clearly didn't match the level of ninja talent he had now...

Finally, there was something to look forward to.

Satoru pulled himself together, let out a long breath, and the Arcane light faded from his eyes.

A mage's mastery over Arcane Power was inseparable from knowledge and mental strength.

With abundant knowledge and a strong mind, one could efficiently harness Arcane Power to achieve their goals.

From this perspective, the existence of Chakra made spellcasting in this world far easier by an order of magnitude—even a child of a few years could perform ninjutsu.

The God Tree's presence was almost like an enhanced version of the World Tree. Not only did it absorb the Arcane Power of planetary souls, but it also used life force to harmonize it. It seemed the various Nature Transformations of Chakra were tied to this process as well.

"A wealth of Arcane knowledge strengthens the affinity between mental energy and Arcane Power, making control more effortless. The stronger the mental energy, the more Arcane Power one can command. Guardian-level mages like Medivh and Khadgar basically never worry about mana."

Mitokado Satoru returned to the desk, picked up his notebook again, and began summarizing the casting principles of "Scorching Swiftness":

"This kind of research is also an effective way to train Arcane affinity..."

"Satoru! You there!"

A familiar kid's shout came from downstairs outside the window.

"..."

Satoru set down his pen, slumped onto the desk, and let his hair dip below the windowsill...

"Hey! Satoru, don't hide! Every time I've come looking for you since we were kids, you've been holed up at home!"

"Shwoosh!"

A rustling sound came from the window. Satoru grimaced helplessly, lifted his head, and saw a chubby kid hanging outside.

Slit eyes, a round face—looked pretty amusing—

Akimichi Choza from the Akimichi clan, son of Torifu Akimichi and a friend of Satoru's father, Mitokado Homura. He was born about ten days before Satoru.

"Like you've grown up or something..."

Satoru got up and opened the window. Choza jumped in. The Book of Medivh sat on the desk, but Choza couldn't see it at all—only Satoru's notebook.

"What new weird thing are you studying now?"

Choza skillfully pulled out a bag of chips, opened it, and handed one to Satoru, then couldn't help complaining:

"I mean, Satoru, you're literally ten days younger than me, so why do I always feel like you're way older?"

"My dad keeps telling me to learn from you... but reading books? I just can't get used to it!"

"...That's just because you're from the Akimichi clan."

Satoru took the chip from Choza, popped it into his mouth, muttered under his breath, then perked up with some excitement:

"Choza, perfect timing. I just had some new ideas—let's go test them by the river!"

"Huh?"

Choza bit his finger and shivered, remembering what happened the last time Satoru said that...

"You're not gonna pull some jutsu that turns me into a sheep again, are you?"

"No, no, not at all. This time it's a jutsu I cast on myself. I just need you to help prevent any accidents~"

"Really?"

"Really, really. Let's go. I'm actually sacrificing my home-staying time to go out!"

Half an hour later, Choza stared wide-mouthed as Satoru, yelling like his ass was on fire, vanished from in front of him in an instant and plunged headfirst into the river. The chips slipped from his hand.

"Was that... a Body Flicker Technique...?"