The Second Soul

At last, he understood why the clan had declined. Shiraishi Yoshijo yawned, uninterested in the topic.

The details didn't matter. The result was that only two members of the Shide Clan remained.

It was a good thing Senju Tobirama had died early. Otherwise, he might not have lived to see this day.

What interested him was what gave the Shide Clan the confidence to contend for the position of Hokage.

At their peak, they had made up a fifth of Konoha's active jonin. Jonin weren't exactly a dime a dozen. How could one ninja clan have so many?

"Is our clan special? How did we end up with so many jonin?"

At that question, Shiraishi Eizawa took a sip of tea and asked, "What do you think determines a ninja's strength?"

"Chakra reserves, Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, Genjutsu... I think that's about it?"

"Good. Hold out your hand."

Shiraishi Yoshijo held out his hand, and Shiraishi Eizawa took it.

A sudden pull made Shiraishi Yoshijo freeze.

He felt some of his already meager Chakra suddenly disappear. He asked, alarmed, "You can absorb Chakra?"

Shiraishi Eizawa nodded. "You can try it."

Shiraishi Yoshijo focused, and Chakra flowed out of Shiraishi Eizo and into his body.

In less than a minute, it had blended with his own Chakra, becoming completely his.

This ability...

If he kept absorbing other people's Chakra until the Fourth Shinobi World War...

What did he need a Tailed Beast for? He'd be a Tailed Beast himself. Before long, his Chakra would be measured in tons!

At the thought, Shiraishi Yoshijo felt happy for the first time about being reincarnated into the Shide Clan. He couldn't hide his excitement.

"Don't get too excited. We're blood relatives, and our Chakra comes from the same source."

"So when my Chakra enters your body, there's no resistance at all. It can become yours completely. If you absorb someone else's Chakra, you'd be lucky to keep even two-tenths of it."

"Absorbing Chakra isn't that rare. Quite a few ninja clans can do it."

"For example, the Aburame Clan's Kikaichū, as well as various strange techniques and Ninjutsu, can produce the same effect."

"Besides, the body can only absorb so much Chakra. It's closely linked to your physical energy, spiritual energy, and even your life force."

"Once you reach a certain point, no matter how much Chakra you absorb, it'll dissipate inside your body."

Those words brought Shiraishi Yoshijo crashing back down to earth. Only then did he remember that plenty of people in the original story could do this. It was as common as dirt.

"Then what's the point of this ability? Is that how we get so many jonin?"

"I'm just telling you that this ability means Chakra won't hold you back from getting stronger. As long as your body can keep up, in theory, you'll never be short of Chakra."

"Fine, I get it."

Seeing Shiraishi Yoshijo's dejected expression, Shiraishi Eizawa shook his head. "Now, let's talk about Ninjutsu. What do you think is most important for learning it?"

"Talent?"

"Some Ninjutsu do require talent, but not all of them."

"Hard work?"

"You can't learn shape transformation and nature transformation of Chakra through hard work alone."

"Then what is it?"

"The basics: Chakra control."

With that, Shiraishi Eizawa stood up and spat out a fireball. Once it had faded, he asked, "That was the C-rank Ninjutsu Enton. Did you notice anything?"

The fireball hadn't been very powerful. Shiraishi Eizawa must have adjusted its strength.

But what was he supposed to notice? Shiraishi Yoshijo scratched his head, completely lost.

"Let's do it again."

This time, Shiraishi Eizawa formed Hand Seals before using the C-rank Ninjutsu.

Shiraishi Yoshijo blinked. "The seals?"

"Exactly. Once your Chakra control reaches a certain level, you can use Ninjutsu without Hand Seals. I can use most C-rank Ninjutsu without them now."

The power of Ninjutsu without Hand Seals went without saying.

Naruto had used the Rasengan—a technique that required no Hand Seals—to spin a little ball of Chakra all the way to the end of the story.

But that was a true no-seal Ninjutsu. Was Enton really a technique that could be used without Hand Seals?

He could use every C-rank Ninjutsu without them? Hey, was that for real? Was Chakra control really that important?

It sounded pretty impressive. Shiraishi Yoshijo asked innocently, "How do you do that? Can I use Ninjutsu without Hand Seals now, too?"

"You don't have enough Chakra. It's too soon for you to train in Ninjutsu. You're not even qualified to use the Three Basic Techniques yet."

Shiraishi Yoshijo had nothing to say. He felt like he'd been trying hard. He'd started throwing Kunai at three and hitting a wooden post at four.

Sure, he'd only managed two punches before the pain made him cry, but at least he'd done push-ups. That wasn't so bad, was it?

As for Chakra, that was his real weak point.

The Chakra he managed to refine was only enough to help him run a little faster. He'd tried Water Walking and climbing trees, but failed at both.

That was why he'd become such a slacker.

He clearly had no talent. Wouldn't it be better to just be a clock-punching nobody?

Why wear himself out for nothing?

Saving the world was the protagonist's job.

If a side character tried to steal the protagonist's spotlight, fine—if he had a cheat, that was. But trying to force his way into the protagonist's group without one?

He'd probably get killed by the shock waves from their fight. Shiraishi Yoshijo wasn't eager to test how hard his head was.

As for the Second and Third Shinobi World Wars, they were still more than a decade away. They had nothing to do with him yet.

Who knew what things would be like by then? Maybe he'd be able to make Rasengan by that point. What did he have to worry about?

The worst that could happen was that he'd find somewhere to hide. Becoming a rogue ninja was also an option if things came to it.

All in all, Shiraishi Yoshijo had a take-it-as-it-comes attitude. He didn't want to think too much about the future. It was exhausting.

In his previous life, he'd worried too much and worked himself to the bone, doing overtime to earn money. Then one illness had wiped out all his savings. The feeling of lying in a hospital bed, waiting to die...

You had to experience it to understand. Anyway, nothing mattered more than looking after yourself.

His life belonged to him. What did the clan matter? What did the Will of Fire matter? None of it was worth mentioning.

"Chakra control can be trained. But even a genius ninja would need a lot of time to reach the point where they could use Ninjutsu without Hand Seals. And our clan..."

At this point, Shiraishi Eizawa asked, "I'm twenty-eight. I began training at ten and became a jonin at twenty-three. Do you think I'm a genius?"

That was hard to say. Shiraishi Yoshijo hesitated. "I guess so. You're a jonin, after all. Some people train their whole lives without becoming one."

"Your grandfather became clan head at fifteen, and your father had reached jonin level by sixteen. They were the real geniuses. Compared to the rest of the clan, I was at best mediocre."

Shiraishi Eizawa smiled wryly and continued, "But even someone like me became a jonin."

"Honestly, I was lucky. And so are you. Neither of us is particularly talented."

"If I'd been born into another clan, I'd probably be no more than a Chunin now. And you might have spent your whole life as a Genin."

Being told he had no talent still hurt. As for spending his whole life as a Genin, Shiraishi Yoshijo had some pride left.

"No way. I may not be very talented, but I'm not going to be a Genin my whole life, am I?"

"No talent, and you don't even know how to work hard. You think I don't know? You only hit that wooden post in the yard twice, and then you cried. What a disgrace."

"How do you know?" Shiraishi Yoshijo was shocked. Having someone discover his most humiliating secret was unbearable. His face flushed red and then went pale. "Were you spying on me?"

Shiraishi Eizawa rolled his eyes. "Our clan is known for Chakra control and sensory abilities. I can sense what's happening at home even when I'm in a tavern. I know exactly what you do every day."

Sensory abilities?

"What are these sensory abilities?"

"You should be able to do it now, too. Close your eyes, calm your mind, and try to sense things with your Chakra."

Shiraishi Yoshijo did as he was told, but couldn't sense a thing. He closed his eyes, and the world went dark. He opened them, and it was bright again. Closed them, opened them...

"You really don't have much talent. Stand up and turn your back to me."

Could he stop putting him down? Shiraishi Yoshijo raged helplessly inside, but didn't dare say anything. He obediently did as he was told.

The next moment, his heart clenched.

Without turning around, he could see everything behind him clearly. Shiraishi Eizawa was holding a Kunai and thrusting it toward his back!

He spun around, and the Kunai stopped.

It had come within a hair's breadth!

Shiraishi Yoshijo broke out in a cold sweat and swallowed hard. "Uncle Eizawa, wasn't that a little too much?"

"When people face danger, their sensory abilities improve several times over. You should have sensed what I was doing. What do you think?"

Shiraishi Eizawa put away the Kunai with a smile and patted him on the shoulder. "You're scared by something this minor. If you faced a real enemy, you might not even be able to withstand their killing intent."

I'm still a kid!

"All right, back to the point. Let's keep talking about Chakra control."

"What sets our clan apart from other ninja clans is that their members have to train for a long time to improve their strength. Our strength, on the other hand, grows with time—or, more precisely, as our bodies mature."

"Usually, we begin training in the Secret Technique at ten. Once we get through the hardest part, the larval stage, our strength increases significantly."

"The larval stage is when the larvae inside our bodies turn into pupae."

"This is the weakest period for our clan. The Butterfly Seeds inside our bodies need Chakra to feed on, and your own body needs Chakra to grow, too."

"This can easily leave you short on physical energy, so you can't refine Chakra. That can make you frail and sickly, and in serious cases, it can even kill you."

"During the larval stage, the Butterfly Seeds act mostly on instinct and are extremely greedy. If there's no Chakra, they'll often gnaw at your heart."

"It won't kill you, but it'll be extremely painful. That's why I make you take medicine. It's a clan secret remedy that can replenish some of your physical energy and Chakra, much like a Military Ration Pill."

"Once you get through the larval stage, the Butterfly Seeds enter a kind of dormancy during the pupal stage."

"At this point, you only need to feed them a little Chakra to keep them alive. You can also control when you feed them. That's when you truly become a qualified ninja."

"As time passes, the Butterfly Seeds in the pupal stage slowly grow and gradually develop their own awareness. That brings me to Chakra control."

"They're like a second soul. They can improve not only your Chakra control but also your sensory abilities."

"From then on, whatever Ninjutsu you train in, you'll get twice the results for half the effort. Becoming a jonin will be quite simple."

"That's why our clan has so many jonin."

"The talented ones can become jonin before they're twenty. Those with average talent can manage it in their twenties, and even those with very little talent can become jonin in their thirties."

After saying all that, Shiraishi Eizawa picked up his teacup and started drinking.

Shiraishi Yoshijo began to digest what he'd heard. It all sounded quite simple and easy to understand.

He had to admit, the Shide Clan's Secret Technique was extremely inventive.

They'd even managed to create something like a second soul. Shiraishi Yoshijo mentally applauded his ancestors.

The importance of a second soul went without saying.

In the story, Sakura had only gotten the chance to become Tsunade's disciple because she had a second soul.

During the Chunin Exams, Sakura had even used her second soul to break the Yamanaka Clan's Secret Technique. In the end, she'd gone on to inherit Tsunade's medical skills perfectly.