Chakra Amplification

The next morning, Higashino Makoto got up right on time.

Last night, he had extracted Chakra several times in a row, then tried to lure Natural Energy while in his spiritual form and resist its power to break him down. You could say he'd had quite the eventful night.

He wondered if he'd feel mentally exhausted today.

To his surprise, when he woke up, not only did his body feel light and healthy, but his mind was clearer than usual.

He felt refreshed.

Did that mean the filtered, White Mist-like Natural Energy nourished both the body and the mind?

He'd need to observe and experience it carefully before he could be sure, but based on what he'd seen so far, it didn't seem like a bad thing.

His parents, who had drunk a bit too much the night before, were still asleep. Higashino Makoto didn't disturb them. As usual, he simply heated up the hard-boiled eggs, bread, and milk they kept in the fridge, ate a nutritious breakfast, and headed straight to the Training Ground.

He didn't know whether the sun was up in Los Angeles at four in the morning.

But it certainly wasn't up in Konohagakure at five.

He'd stayed up a little late the night before, so he hadn't slept the full eight hours as usual, yet he didn't feel tired or drowsy at all.

Great. He felt full of energy.

With Natural Energy nourishing him, it seemed he wouldn't have to worry about a lack of sleep affecting his health anymore. That meant he'd have even more time each day for training and studying.

If he'd had this in his previous life, he'd have been a born workhorse.

No, wait. I'm cultivating Supernatural Power now. Why should I work like a beast for you?

I'm not cattle!

Soon, Higashino Makoto began his usual physical training. But unlike before, he was now a fledgling Ninja who could extract and use Chakra.

He sat quietly and formed the Unfinished Seal with both hands. His Mental Energy and Body Energy combined smoothly, forming Chakra that flowed into his network of pathways.

When he stood again, it felt as though a whole new world had opened up before him.

His body felt much lighter, and his Dynamic Vision had improved. The leaves drifting down from the tree seemed to be falling more slowly.

Higashino Makoto shot out a hand and caught a leaf that had just floated in front of him, then stared at it in a daze.

He could clearly see the veins on the leaf. Its entire shape was etched into his mind, and both his eyesight and immediate memory had improved.

After thinking for a few seconds, he walked up to the tree and kicked it with a straight-leg kick. The tree didn't break, which meant he still couldn't chop one down with a single kick. He was just a rookie who had only recently learned to use Chakra.

But his strength had definitely increased. The tree shuddered, and leaves drifted down like snowflakes.

Higashino Masashi struck out with both hands in quick succession and soon caught two handfuls of leaves. His reflexes had improved too.

After experiencing how Chakra enhanced his body in every way, Higashino Masashi was thrilled. He immediately started running laps. In an instant, his body shot across the Training Ground like an arrow, moving much faster than usual.

As he ran, he felt his lightened body almost lift off the ground. But it was only an illusion. Planet Earth's gravity would soon remind him that flying was impossible.

He couldn't fly, but he could jump. What Ninja walked around like normal people? They were always leaping from one high place to another.

As he ran, Higashino Makoto looked up and spotted a branch on a tree ahead.

He bent his legs and pushed off hard, springing into the air. His target landing spot rushed toward him.

"Huh? Wait, I pushed off too hard! I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die! Ah!"

Higashino Makoto sailed past the branch he'd chosen and, with a scream, slammed straight into another tree farther ahead, as if someone had pasted a picture of him onto it.

Then he dropped to the ground and lay on the grass, staring blankly at the treetops above.

It took him nearly half a day to recover from the impact and fall. When he got back to his feet, he pressed his left hand to his face and rubbed his back with his right, grimacing in pain.

It was his first time leaping with such force. He hadn't judged the strength or distance properly and had crashed right into a tree.

He looked at the trees around the Training Ground, their branches jutting out in every direction. After thinking it over, he jumped in different directions from where he stood a dozen times, getting a feel for how much force he used and how high he could go.

Once he had a rough idea, he cautiously jumped onto a branch of the tree beside him. Then he looked at his next landing spot, estimated the distance, and pushed off with his legs, leaping over quickly.

He misjudged the distance and didn't put in enough force, but this time he didn't hit a tree. Higashino Makoto quickly grabbed the branch with both hands, swung himself up onto it, and continued toward the next spot.

Between the gaps in the trees, his small figure moved slowly from one place to another, like a long-tailed leaf monkey that had only just learned to travel through the forest. It seemed that before every leap, he had to calculate how far he needed to go and how much force to use.

As time passed, he moved faster and leaped farther between the trees.

Once he'd used up the Chakra he'd extracted, he immediately sat cross-legged on a branch and extracted more.

But the amount he extracted the second time seemed far less than the first.

The sky brightened, and the sun rose above the horizon.

Finally, during another leap, Higashino Makoto felt his body go limp and his foot slip. As if he'd lost all power, he plunged straight toward the ground.

"Thud!"

He didn't land on the grass. He landed in someone's arms.

Higashino Makoto looked up and saw his father. He didn't know when he'd come to the Training Ground.

Seeing his son panting heavily, Higashino Jiro led him out of the woods and set him down in an open area of the Training Ground.

This kid had always been precocious, confident about everything he did, and never made a fool of himself. Now he was covered in bruises, and Higashino Jiro couldn't help feeling delighted. At last, he looked like a child who'd gotten his hands on a new toy.

He couldn't resist teasing him. "Did you crash into a tree?"

Higashino Makoto felt the faint warmth of the spring morning sunlight. Instead of admitting it, he asked, "Mr. Higashino, did you crash into a tree when you were little too?"

"Ahem!" Higashino Jiro didn't admit it either. He changed the subject with another question. "Do you feel like your Chakra has decreased? You could extract it several times in a row last night, but today you can't even manage twice before you're exhausted?"

It seemed he'd been hiding nearby and watching for a while.

Higashino Makoto knew why. "The Chakra I extracted last night eventually dispersed back into my body, so I could train several times. Today, I used up the Chakra I extracted. Is that right, Father?"

"You've got a good grasp of the basics. That's right. In my eyes, you're certainly a genius. You had an impressive Chakra Amount from the start. But you're only four, and that amount is impressive only compared to other kids your age or those two or three years older than you.

"Overall, it's still not much. Don't go overboard like this again. Extracting too much Chakra can affect your health. Your growth and development should be your priority right now. Understood?"

"I understand, Father. Thanks for the reminder!" Higashino Makoto had indeed gotten a little carried away today.

"Good. I'll take you home!"

He lay across Higashino Jiro's back as they left the small woods and entered the street.

The shops on both sides were open. Steam billowed from the eateries, and pedestrians walked by in twos and threes. There were ordinary people and Ninja alike. Some were eating breakfast, while others were buying groceries. The street was full of the bustle of everyday life.

It all made Higashino Makoto feel as if he'd been transported to another world. He remembered when his father had carried him on his back to the market as a child in his previous life.

Just like now, his father had had a broad back.

When they got home, Higashino Megumi had already made breakfast. She seemed to know what had happened today; there was a lot more food than usual.

After washing up, Higashino Makoto didn't even bother changing out of his dirty clothes. He immediately dug in.

He really was starving.

Higashino Megumi smiled and placed her hand on her son's face. A faint green glow appeared.

A little while later, she started treating the bruises on his back too.

Medical Ninjutsu, the miraculous and highly effective healing method of the Naruto World.

He'd been lucky to be reincarnated in the Shinobi World with both parents alive, one of whom was a Medical Ninja. He had someone to teach him, and whenever he got hurt, he didn't even need to go to the hospital.

He even came with a happiness buff, which was far more useful than a limitless-magic buff.

After finishing the treatment, Higashino Megumi looked at her son seriously. "Injuries and pain are the best teachers. They show you that becoming a powerful Ninja isn't easy. Even if you're a genius, you can't be willful or arrogant. You have to take things one step at a time."

"They're great teachers, all right. Don't worry, Mom. I'll be more careful next time."

Higashino Jiro smiled and ate his breakfast without saying anything.

Every Ninja went through this. Lectures weren't always enough. You only learned the lesson when you felt the pain yourself.

No matter how miraculous Chakra was, you couldn't master it overnight. It took plenty of time to learn how to control and use it.