Chakra Refinement

Chakra Refinement [Please Vote for This Book]

Chakra was a powerful substance produced by combining the energy of the 130 trillion cells in a person's body with their spiritual energy.

It was the foundation of more than ninety percent of all ninjutsu.

Refining it required a person to focus their mind and locate the energy within their body.

Toneri had never refined chakra before, but he had experienced its power—and it had been the chakra of a Tailed Beast.

Though it had been mixed with plenty of malice, it was still extremely high-quality chakra, so he had some understanding of it.

There wasn't much to the chakra refinement technique. It took only a few minutes to read from beginning to end.

But understanding it took him a full hour.

After all, it covered a lot of things, including meridians, acupuncture points, and cells.

Refining chakra wasn't particularly difficult. As long as you trained consistently, there was a decent chance you could manage it.

But once you had refined chakra, increasing its quantity was what mattered. That meant boosting either the total energy you could draw from your cells or your spiritual energy.

That was why the total amount of chakra a person could produce often increased significantly as their body grew and developed.

Toneri had some familiarity with meridians and acupuncture points, which allowed him to understand everything in an hour. Otherwise, the Ninja Academy spent half a year teaching and explaining this kind of knowledge.

A door to a whole new world slowly opened before Toneri.

After finishing Introduction to Chakra Refinement, Toneri didn't try it right away.

Instead, he continued looking through the other books and scrolls on the desk.

Konoha Calendar, Deeds of Past Hokages, <An Introductory Guide to Throwing Ninja Tools and an Advanced Guide to Burying Them>, Basic Taijutsu Training Methods, Three Basic Ninjutsu Techniques...

"Tsk. Though Shikashin Nara tried every which way to bury me under a mountain of books, I have to admit, there's a lot of useful stuff in here.

"But this book, Konoha's Will of Fire—no, this whole series—is ridiculously long, isn't it?"

Toneri skimmed through the books on the desk. Quite a few caught his interest, but Konoha's Will of Fire made up half the pile.

What was that about?

"Heh. You think you can purify my rotten will with an ocean of knowledge?" Toneri scoffed.

But he didn't toss aside the entire series, even though he knew without looking that it would be incredibly dull.

After all, the Third Hokage placed great importance on the contents of this series, and it was essential knowledge that Ninja Academy students had to learn before graduating.

Putting the last book back on the desk, Toneri had a general idea of what he should study next.

"I'll leave the mental nourishment for later. I should try refining chakra first."

He carefully recalled the method for refining chakra, then sat quietly on the bed.

Actually, chakra refinement had nothing to do with posture, but Toneri thought he should take it seriously.

Focus your mind and search for the energy within your cells.

But... focusing your mind was exhausting.

So... Toneri inevitably fell asleep...

It was already dark, and it was indeed time for bed. Still, Toneri probably hadn't expected chakra refinement to be so exhausting.

But though he had fallen asleep, his consciousness once again entered the sealing space.

The dim sealing space.

After coming here so many times, Toneri no longer found it cold and gloomy. Instead, it felt strangely familiar.

Two-Tails lay bored in her cage, eyes closed and breathing evenly.

Toneri found the familiar spot where he liked to sit, plopped down with his head propped up, and quietly watched the motionless Two-Tails.

Sometimes, he thought, it wasn't bad to have such peaceful days.

If he could really get along peacefully with Two-Tails, more than half the danger he faced would disappear.

It was just a question of how long it would take to make that happen.

At least for now, their relationship was getting better and better.

Looking closely at Two-Tails, he could see that she hadn't changed all that much since she was little.

"Little guy, had enough staring?"

Two-Tails suddenly spoke, startling Toneri, who had been watching her in a daze.

"Whoa, you scared me! Big Beauty, you weren't asleep after all?" Toneri said with a grin.

Two-Tails' tails swished back and forth behind the bars. She slowly raised herself and stretched luxuriously, looking quite comfortable.

"In this sealing space, I can sleep whenever I want. I don't need to sleep all the time."

After stretching, Two-Tails lay back down.

She seemed a little hesitant. After a moment, she asked, "Did you think I was asleep just now, so you didn't want to wake me?"

Toneri nodded openly without denying it.

"Tsk—"

Two-Tails pursed her lips and looked away from Toneri.

But for some reason, when she saw the openness in his eyes just now, something stirred in her heart.

A feeling she had never experienced before slowly spread through her, warming her from head to toe.

"Big Beauty, guess what? I finally got my hands on a chakra refinement method today, along with some basic ninjutsu and taijutsu training methods. As long as I work hard and keep practicing, we'll be able to achieve our plan soon!"

Toneri sounded a little excited as he spoke.

In the Naruto world, having chakra and not having chakra meant being on completely different levels.

"You still need to refine chakra? I can give you as much as you want. There's no need to go through all that trouble." Two-Tails turned around to look at the excited Toneri.

At some point, Two-Tails herself had failed to notice that she could now speak to the little guy before her as an equal.

It was a strange feeling.

Toneri waved his hands. "It's different, Big Beauty. Like I said from the beginning, only power you earn yourself is truly yours!"

"So you're not interested in my power at all, then?"

A powerful surge of chakra rose from Two-Tails. The temperature throughout the sealing space gradually climbed, as if she wanted to show Toneri just how strong she was.

"That's not what I mean, Big Beauty. You know that you Tailed Beasts are the targets of countless people, and your power is the key to everything.

"But being interested in something is one thing; being able to accept it is another.

"What I'm after is strength that comes from the heart. When you're truly willing to support and help me with your power without holding anything back, that's when I'll be willing to accept it as mine.

"You might not understand what I mean right now, but I believe you will someday.

"That's all for today. I'm a little tired, and I don't know if my chakra refinement worked."

Toneri patted his backside and stood up. He waved at Two-Tails. "I'm going to work hard at training. I hope I can gain the ability to fulfill our promise soon, so we can become good friends!"

With that, Toneri's figure slowly vanished from the sealing space.

Two-Tails watched Toneri leave, her expression shifting as the chakra surging around her slowly settled.

Friends?

That word...

No one had ever said it to her before.

"Tsk—a self-important little brat!"

Before she knew it, the corners of Two-Tails' mouth had curled upward.

Toneri didn't wake up immediately after leaving the sealing space. His consciousness sank straight into sleep.

Yet, without anyone noticing, wisps of blue energy slowly appeared around Toneri.

After lingering faintly on the surface of his body for a while, the energy silently slipped through his pores and entered him.

At the same time, a faint blue chakra slowly began to flow through his meridians, from nothing to something.

It seemed to be growing from a ditch into a stream.

And the increase didn't stop...

Without him realizing it, Toneri's natural advantage was slowly beginning to show itself.

It's Friday, and this week's votes have already passed ten thousand. Keep them coming! Once we hit 13,000, I'll owe you an extra chapter! Hmm, it's been a while since I've had much debt to pay off. I'm a little rusty!

The story's gradually settling into its stride. Jin Mu likes writing slow-burn novels, taking time to build things up and develop the story. So if it doesn't feel exciting enough yet, don't worry. We'll take it slow and steady!

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