Under his mother Yamanaka Seiko's guidance, Yamanaka Tohru began learning to refine Chakra.
Chakra was the physical energy drawn from each of the body's 130 trillion cells, one cell at a time. Greater mental strength helped a person sense Chakra more quickly and refine it. The amount of Chakra someone had determined the direction their growth as a ninja would take.
It was easier to succeed at refining Chakra for the first time with help from someone in the family. At its core, the world of Naruto was one where bloodlines mattered most. By the later stages, all the fighting and killing boiled down to infighting among the Six Paths family. Yamanaka Tohru didn't know who his father was, and he had never expected to rely on a Sage Body or Sharingan. He was determined to forge his own path.
With two lifetimes' worth of experience and the Yamanaka Clan's secret techniques, Yamanaka Tohru had formidable mental strength and sensed his physical energy with ease. Before long, he had refined Chakra of his own. "So this is Chakra?" Feeling it flow through his body, Yamanaka Tohru had finally taken the first step toward becoming a powerful ninja at the age of four.
After refining Chakra, Yamanaka Tohru couldn't wait to find out his nature. He had watched all of Naruto, after all, and knew how to train in some techniques. He couldn't exactly use them openly, but there was no problem with training. Having one more technique meant having one more way to save his life.
Yamanaka Tohru knew full well that whether he wanted to take part in the Third Shinobi War or not, he wouldn't be able to avoid it. Judging by the course of history, Konoha was already struggling by the war's later stages, and even students who had graduated from the Ninja Academy were sent to fight. Knowing his nature would help him plan for the future. Right now, the most important thing was to grow stronger before the Third Shinobi War and survive!
"Mother, I did it! Can I learn ninjutsu now?"
"Tohru, how many times have I told you not to get ahead of yourself? You have to take things one step at a time. Learning ninjutsu doesn't happen overnight." Yamanaka Seiko shook her head helplessly. She knew her son was a genius, but she hadn't realized he was this talented. Refining Chakra had been no challenge for him at all.
"Nooo! I want to learn ninjutsu!" Yamanaka Tohru made full use of his advantage. What parent could refuse a four-year-old begging like that? Sure enough, Yamanaka Seiko could only give in.
"Tohru, before learning ninjutsu, you have to find out your nature. Our Yamanaka Clan focuses on training in mental techniques, with our secret clan ninjutsu as a secondary focus. We're not especially talented at ninjutsu otherwise. But your mother is a little different. Come on, son, first pour your Chakra into this paper." As she spoke, Yamanaka Seiko took out a sheet of Chakra Paper.
Chakra Paper wasn't easy to get in the world of Naruto. Only Special Jonin or ninja who had made special contributions were allowed to buy it. Yamanaka Tohru had assumed his mother would get it from the Yamanaka Clan's storehouse, but he hadn't expected her to already have some. It seemed his mother wasn't an ordinary ninja either. Thinking this, Yamanaka Tohru took the paper and pretended he had never seen one. "Mother, what's this?"
"This is Chakra Paper. Tohru, gather your Chakra in your fingertip, then channel it into the paper. If you have a Fire nature, it'll burn; a Water nature will make it damp; a Wind nature will cut it; an Earth nature will crumble it; and a Lightning nature will make it wrinkle. Go on, give it a try!"
Yamanaka Tohru nodded and channeled his Chakra into the paper. As the Chakra flowed into it, one half became damp while the other half wrinkled.
Yamanaka Tohru breathed a sigh of relief. He had both Lightning and Water natures, and he had really hoped to have Lightning. In his previous life, he had been a surgeon and knew the human body inside out. He was sure that if he had a Lightning nature, he could develop the Lightning Release Chakra Mode. And there was also Kakashi's Chidori. Sorry, but this time around, the original creator of Chidori would be Yamanaka Tohru.
As for the Water nature, he didn't care much about it. After all, Water Release hadn't seemed all that powerful in the original story.
"Lightning and Water, huh? The same Lightning as his..."
"Mother, what did you say?" Yamanaka Seiko's voice was quiet, and Yamanaka Tohru hadn't heard her clearly.
"I said my son has both Lightning and Water natures. What a genius." Yamanaka Seiko came back to herself and explained.
Yamanaka Tohru nodded and didn't press her further. Yamanaka Seiko thought she had gotten away with it and breathed a sigh of relief. "Son, I have a ninjutsu scroll for the Three Body Technique. Since you have Lightning and Water natures, these two techniques should suit you." As she spoke, she handed Yamanaka Tohru two more scrolls.
Yamanaka Tohru took the three scrolls. Besides the Three Body Technique, the other two were Lightning Release: Earth Flow and Water Release: Water Ripple. He was already very satisfied to get these three techniques, and he understood that trying to learn too much at once would get him nowhere. Not only was it unclear whether his mother had any advanced techniques, but even if she did, it was unknown whether he could learn and use them with the little Chakra he had. Getting these three C-rank techniques was already quite good.
"Tohru, don't rush into practicing ninjutsu. Refine Chakra first, until you've reached the limit your body can hold." Seeing how excited her son was, Yamanaka Seiko worried he would focus only on ninjutsu and neglect Chakra training, which would be a waste.
"Okay, Mother. I understand! I'll go train now."
"Good! Go ahead."
Yamanaka Tohru returned to his room and sat cross-legged. Following his mother's instructions, he continued refining Chakra. For the next week, he focused on refining it until the amount in his body stopped increasing.
Yamanaka Tohru then examined the Chakra inside him. He had never seen how much Chakra anyone else had, so he had no standard to judge whether he had a lot or a little. In theory, with his strong mental strength, he should have refined a good amount of Chakra by combining it with his physical energy.
Yamanaka Tohru didn't know that he had not only a good amount of Chakra, but a great deal of it. His reserves were already close to those of an ordinary Chunin. At that moment, he eagerly opened the ninjutsu scrolls, ready to learn the techniques he had dreamed of mastering.
"Lightning Release: Earth Flow!" Watching a few little sparks jump around the courtyard, Yamanaka Tohru felt utterly dejected. Where was the protagonist's aura? Where were the techniques he could learn at a glance? He really wasn't destined to be the protagonist! He couldn't even learn a simple technique just by looking at it.
After lamenting the unfairness of fate for a while, Yamanaka Tohru opened the other ninjutsu scroll: Water Release: Water Ripple.
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