Relax, Don't Be Nervous. It'll Be Over Soon

Aoba sat on the tatami in his home, idly turning over the notes he had brought back from the hospital. Blue light flickered in his eyes as the Chip System ran simulations.

As Aoba's status changed, there were more things he could do. No one would stop him from taking ordinary research materials like these home.

Books and reference materials were piled all around the room, while crumpled sheets of draft paper littered the floor. He had to keep up appearances, after all. If someone happened to visit his home one day, they would at least see that he was a good student devoted to research.

There were actually quite a few incomplete techniques among the materials Teacher Ueno had made available.

They served all kinds of purposes. Of course, that did not mean Teacher Ueno had developed all of them.

Many had been left behind by those who came before, but their research had stalled for various reasons, or perhaps simply been abandoned.

The records had been preserved in the hope that someone later on might continue refining them.

Yet only a handful could ultimately be completed. Most became yellowed documents like these.

Who knew how many hands they had passed through? Even the corners of the pages had frayed.

The reason Aoba had taken an interest in the [Chakra Absorption Technique] was that it was an exceptionally unusual existence among the many ninjutsu.

It possessed an almost heaven-defying trait: it could absorb Chakra from outside sources to replenish itself.

In this world, Chakra was your mana bar. It was your endurance.

There had been several examples of Chakra absorption in the original anime. The most memorable was Samehada, the great Ninja Blade of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of Kirigakure. It could absorb an opponent's Chakra and inject that absorbed Chakra into its wielder.

Then there was the Rinnegan and the rarely seen Dark Release. Of course, absorbing Chakra was only one of the Rinnegan's abilities.

Oh, right. Madara seemed able to do it too. During the Fourth Shinobi World War, right after being revived and while still eyeless, he had extracted Edo Tensei Hashirama's Sage Chakra.

Who could resist lifesteal in a fight?

And then add a Dragonslayer...

Uh, no. He was getting off track.

Samehada and the Rinnegan were out of the question for now.

He could start by researching the budget version.

This technique used the formula structure of the [Delicate Illness Extraction Technique]. Both relied on direct contact to guide Chakra out of the target's body.

"Interesting."

Aoba's eyes glimmered faintly behind his sunglasses. Compared to relying on external forces or tools, he wanted to grasp the essence of the technique itself. That was something no one could take from him.

Based on memories from his previous life, during the Chunin Exams, an Otogakure spy named Akado Yoroi had used this technique on Sasuke.

It had been performed as a ninjutsu, not some bloodline limit or special ability.

From that, he could conclude that Orochimaru had completed this technique, or would complete it in the future.

As for why Orochimaru did not use it himself, either he looked down on it, or the technique failed to meet his standards.

Judging from Akado Yoroi's performance back then, the technique was horribly inefficient. Its extraction speed was painfully slow, and it was easy to be counterattacked while absorbing Chakra. It had far too many flaws. No wonder Orochimaru had not thought highly of it.

A textbook case of something useless.

Still, useless as it was, it held limitless potential.

Aoba believed every technique went through a process, from nothing to something, from weak to strong.

Orochimaru could do it, so there was no reason he could not. Even if he could not, the Chip System surely could.

"Come on, System. Time to work."

[Command confirmed... Establishing model...]

Aoba poured all his processing power into simulating the new technique, and his Chakra slowly depleted.

It was not until noon the next day that Aoba dragged his exhausted body out of bed.

He had used up too much Chakra. His whole body felt sluggish and unmotivated.

That was also why he valued this new technique so highly.

He was short on mana~

Fortunately, after a night of simulations, the system had barely managed to complete the formula.

That was right, barely.

The Chip Database contained data Aoba had personally scanned in. He knew exactly what it held. If he spent a few days on it himself, he could also complete the formula. The Chip had merely sped up the process.

So the Chip only served as an aid. It could not create knowledge out of thin air when that knowledge did not exist.

The entire technique was still extremely crude.

He ran another simulation through the Chip.

Safe.

"Need to find a guinea pig to try it on."

After a quick turn of thought, Aoba took a box of Red Bean Dumplings and went to find Yuhi Kurenai.

"Kurenai, come here for a moment. Help me with something."

"What is it?"

Kurenai warily glanced at the box in his hand and instinctively took several steps back.

Damn. Aoba recalled everything involving Kurenai, and it did not seem like he had ever done anything to her.

It was just that on a few previous occasions, Aoba had asked Kurenai to try new seasonings he had been researching. They had been a little spicy, and her lips had stayed red for days.

"I won't fall for it again. Don't think you can trick me."

"These are just your favorite Red Bean Dumplings. Really, I didn't add anything else."

To prove he was trustworthy, Aoba opened the box and ate one himself.

"Really? Why are you being so nice? What do you want?"

Sigh.

The child had grown up and slowly learned to view the world with a discerning eye.

Aoba was relieved too. At least she would not be easily lured away by a bad uncle with a piece of candy.

"I just developed a pretty fun ninjutsu and wanted to find someone to test it on."

"You developed a ninjutsu?"

Kurenai looked surprised.

"It's only a very simple ninjutsu. There won't be any danger, so relax."

"Really?"

Kurenai was somewhat doubtful, but she agreed out of trust in Aoba.

She also wanted to see what kind of ninjutsu Aoba had developed.

"What do I do?"

"Just relax and stand normally."

Kurenai did as instructed. Aoba walked closer and rested his hand on her shoulder.

Blue light flickered faintly in his eyes behind his sunglasses.

[Chakra Absorption Technique Version 1.0, activated.]

His palm grew slightly warm, and an incredibly weak pulling force emerged.

Kurenai's body suddenly stiffened. A strange, tingling sensation came from her shoulder, and the Chakra inside her body seemed to be pulled away by something. It was not painful, just somewhat strange.

"Aoba, are you done?"

Kurenai turned her head, her cheeks slightly flushed. "...Why does this feel so weird?"

"Oh, that's normal. Relax, don't be nervous."

"It'll be over soon..."

Aoba soothed her softly while staring at the real-time data on his retina.

Too slow, and the conversion rate was outrageously low.

The absorbed Chakra was mixed and impure. He still had to expend energy to purify and assimilate it himself. After all that back and forth, it might end up being a losing trade.

A few minutes later, Aoba withdrew his hand.

"How do you feel?"

"Mm..."

Kurenai moved her shoulder, her face red. "A little tired, like I just ran ten laps around the track. And I feel... kind of hungry?"

Naturally. Some of her Chakra had been extracted, so her body's energy would inevitably be depleted.

"Looks like the effect is decent. These Red Bean Dumplings are yours. You'll feel better in a bit."

Aoba placed the snacks in Kurenai's arms, then turned and hurried toward the hospital.

Kurenai: ???

Wait, he was just leaving?

Kurenai watched Aoba leave, puffing out her cheeks in annoyance. She swore that next time, she would never pay attention to him again.