Natural Energy's Initial Efficacy

After returning home from the dinner, Higashino Makoto stuck to his usual routine of Chakra Extraction training, then practiced Hand Seal speed for a while before bed.

Finally, he deliberately refrained from extracting chakra, and even made sure the chakra in his meridians had completely dissipated before he started to sleep.

Emptying his mind, gathering his thoughts, and letting his body fall into sleep, Higashino Makoto found that he was still clearly conscious, but he could sense this was controllable.

At this point, he could choose to let his consciousness sleep along with his body, or detach from it like the night before.

Making sure there was no chakra left in his meridians before sleep was intentional—he wanted to see if the consciousness-leaving-body phenomenon was tied to leftover chakra in his body before bed.

The result proved that without chakra in his meridians, the same thing happened as last night.

In other words, the first Chakra Extraction was just a trigger, unlocking the state where his consciousness left his body after sleep; afterward, it wasn't needed.

With a thought, Higashino Makoto's consciousness floated above his physical body again. In the all-around, no-blind-spot observation of his consciousness, he found himself about twenty centimeters above his body.

He tried to move his consciousness, but it was still fixed in place, completely unable to soar through the skies or kill invisibly like the Spirit Transformation Technique.

It seemed this was nothing like the Spirit Transformation Technique; it was more like a special state unique to him.

After thinking it over, he could only tentatively assume it might be related to his reincarnation—a soul that didn't belong to this world.

After all, from what he knew, the souls of people in the Shinobi World were basically all chakra-ized, with no chance of reincarnation after death. They only went to the Pure Land, becoming collectibles of that old hag, the Six Paths Sage.

Like goods stamped with an owner's label.

If his soul was fundamentally different from the people of the Shinobi World, then he really was the only one who could do this.

This was his alone—a state where he could communicate with Natural Energy from the very start, without losing control and killing people like Jūgo did.

If this wasn't a Golden Finger, then what was?

The scene in space was just like last night. In his conscious observation, those colorful mists flowed freely between heaven and earth.

They weren't clearly separated; instead, they rubbed and pressed against each other, and at the edges, he could even see them encroaching and transforming one another.

The red mist was savage and domineering, towering over the other colors in sheer volume, like a middle schooler barging into a kindergarten class.

The other colors could still hold their ground, but white was the worst off—the weakest in the big class, reduced to being the "Diandian" in the penguins' routine of eating, sleeping, and beating up Diandian Ming.

Higashino Makoto didn't dare touch any other color. After all, you pick the softest persimmon to squeeze.

Ah, no—it was about upholding justice, standing up for Diandian Ming.

Come into uncle's arms quickly; it's safe here.

As usual, Higashino Makoto lured the White Mist, using his consciousness as a filter to guide the mist, stripped of its decomposition power, into his body.

Throughout this process, his consciousness closely monitored his body's changes. If any anomaly appeared, he would immediately turn into a heartbreaker and cut off the connection with the mist.

Higashino Jiro's leave was about half a month long. After all, guarding the border was a tough and dangerous job; ninjas couldn't be denied time to rest and relax.

Otherwise, their minds would break. The ninja population was prone to becoming Psychopaths, and since they wielded Supernatural Power, if someone fell, it would be a disaster for the Commoners of the Shinobi World.

A Chunin elite, if he went all out, could easily turn a bustling town into a Death Ground in no time.

In the following days, Higashino Jiro spent most of his time in the village, training during his breaks. At any time, strength was always the best weapon you could rely on.

But when he trained, he went to a larger Training Ground. The one near the Higashino Family was too small, meant for kids who hadn't officially become ninjas yet.

Higashino Makoto stuck to his own Training Plan, though he occasionally picked his father's brain for advice.

There wasn't much he could ask, since he'd already taken a path completely different from his father's or any Regular Ninja's.

Natural Energy was powerful. Through nightly nourishment, he found that not only was it gradually strengthening his body, but it was also giving him impressive progress in controlling chakra.

Too bad he couldn't pass it on to his family yet.

He'd probed indirectly; his parents couldn't sense any special energy at all. They had no concept of it, nor the special method of observing with consciousness.

Higashino Makoto guessed that even if they learned the Spirit Transformation Technique, it wouldn't work.

If the Spirit Transformation Technique could let someone observe the various colors of Natural Energy like he did, then Dan Katō would have learned to use it long ago and become stronger, instead of getting Eliminated while performing the technique.

Chakra divided people into two kinds of existence, and Natural Energy did the same to ninjas. Currently, in the Shinobi World, the only ones who could use Sage Mode, aside from Summon Beasts, were maybe half a person—that super Pervert named Jiraiya.

If Dan Katō had known Sage Mode, he wouldn't have died so easily.

Was the dream of becoming Hokage not sweet enough, or were Tsunade's Big Buns not soft enough?

Higashino Makoto still had no way to infuse Natural Energy into his parents.

Even if he did, he wouldn't dare use it, because messing up could create a "Parents Sacrifice to Heaven, boundless power" buff.

For details, see the piles of toad-shaped stone statues on Mount Myōboku—all of them were once humans who tried to master Natural Energy and failed.

Over ten days passed in a flash.

Higashino Makoto went to the Training Ground as usual one morning. But just as he was about to start, he felt a faint sense of being watched.

Could it be the Third Hokage's Crystal Ball?

He was just a child from a Commoner Ninja family. Even if his parents thought he was a Genius, in the eyes of a Kage Level, he was nothing special—not worth paying attention to.

Besides, did the Hokage start work that early? Did they think everyone was the Seventh Hokage?

Higashino Makoto's heart stirred as he quickly completed the Chakra Extraction, his body instantly flooding with power.

Over a dozen days had passed, and he had already reached the goal he'd set earlier—turning the Extraction Technique into a bodily instinct.

He could only say that Natural Energy was truly miraculous.

Not only that, but due to his continuous absorption of white Natural Energy, the chakra he extracted could now resonate with the outside world.

However, limited by his current Chakra Amount and the short time he'd spent cultivating Natural Energy, the range of this resonance wasn't large—but it was enough to envelop this small Training Ground.

With just a simple sweep of his senses, Higashino Makoto spotted the hidden target.

He looked up toward a nearby Big Tree and called out, "Father, what are you hiding there for?"

"Huh?" Higashino Jiro let out a puzzled sound, hopping over to his son in a few steps. "How did you know I was there?"

"Sensed it."

"Sensed? That's a Perception Ability, isn't it? When did you learn perception? That's not something you can just pick up—you need talent."

"I didn't learn it. It just came to me a few days ago."

"Natural Awakening? Could it be a Bloodline Ability? Does the Higashino Family have this kind of Bloodline Inheritance?" Higashino Jiro was baffled.

Being naturally precocious wasn't a big deal—there were plenty of such children in the Shinobi World. Succeeding at the first Chakra Extraction in under a minute and having decent Chakra Amount wasn't outrageous either; among Commoners, that would make him a Genius.

But even the Uchiha Clan and Hyuga Clan, born Ninjas, had plenty of bright kids who could do the same.

This Natural Awakening of a Perception Ability, though, couldn't be explained by mere genius. Higashino Makoto not only sensed someone was there but even knew whose chakra it was.

Could it be... this kid isn't mine? Have I been cuckolded?

But he and Hui had been together the whole time from marriage until she got pregnant. Konoha even had Marriage Leave, after all.

"Mr. Higashino, I feel like you're thinking something unpleasant. Should we go back together and ask Mother for confirmation?"

"No way, no way—please don't. I'll get Eliminated."

Higashino Jiro quickly stopped him, cursing himself inwardly for losing his head.

He knew his Wife's character. There was no way she would do anything to betray him—she simply wasn't that kind of person. They'd known each other since childhood, understood each other inside and out, and their Emotional Foundation was rock solid.

The Shinobi World was full of strange things anyway. Some people even awakened Kekkei Genkai out of nowhere.

His Own Son just having a Perception Ability wasn't that big a deal.

With that thought, Higashino Jiro suddenly relaxed again. His son really was a Genius.