Speed Chakra Mode (Chakra-Modified Sunflower Manual)

The battle on the Training Ground had just come to an end.

Sarutobi Toru turned and asked, "How was my strength, Uncle Hiruzen?"

"Not bad. A little stronger than I expected." Sarutobi Hiruzen put away his kunai, looking satisfied.

Yet inwardly, Sarutobi Hiruzen was already greatly shocked. Sarutobi Toru's performance in other aspects had surpassed that of an ordinary Genin and could be called outstanding, but it had not been too far beyond Sarutobi Hiruzen's expectations.

After all, he was his nephew. Sarutobi Hiruzen sometimes saw him training at the Ninth Training Ground, so he had some understanding of Sarutobi Toru's strength.

But Sarutobi Toru's speed and reactions had left him stunned. That opening barrage that had forced him back would almost certainly kill anyone below the rank of Jōnin on first encounter. Even a Jōnin could easily be caught off guard and killed if they were not skilled in taijutsu.

Ninjas had high offense and low defense; every one of them was fragile. A kunai through a vital point was basically a death sentence.

Even someone as tough as the Third Raikage would not have a Physical Body harder than steel without activating Lightning Release Chakra Mode.

With that move alone, even if he fell short in every other area, Sarutobi Toru already possessed the combat strength of a Special Jonin.

"Your speed was so fast just now. Did you use some kind of ninjutsu?" Sarutobi Hiruzen asked.

"That? It was Speed Chakra Mode, a new type of ninjutsu I developed!" Sarutobi Toru answered without hesitation.

Sarutobi Hiruzen's eyes narrowed. He had only asked casually; he had not expected it to truly be ninjutsu.

If Sarutobi Toru's naturally superior speed and reaction nerves had already pleasantly surprised Sarutobi Hiruzen, then developing Godspeed Ninjutsu was enough to send him into rapture.

"I never thought... it really is ninjutsu."

"Don't celebrate too soon, Uncle Hiruzen. This ninjutsu has a flaw!"

Hearing that it had a flaw, Sarutobi Hiruzen instead found it perfectly normal. If the ninjutsu Sarutobi Toru had developed was already completely mature, then Sarutobi Hiruzen would have to wonder whether his nephew was the reincarnation of the Sage of Six Paths.

"What flaw does this ninjutsu have? Is its duration too short? Does it consume too much Chakra?"

"No. It disrupts the endocrine system and can cause people to die from Yang Excess!"

"Cough, cough, cough. What did you say?"

"I said this ninjutsu disrupts the endocrine system and can cause people to die from Yang Excess!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen was utterly speechless. He had never expected that answer. And was his nephew maturing too early? Whether it was drug development or ninjutsu development, why did it all have this sort of flavor?

It took Sarutobi Hiruzen quite a while to recover. Then he asked, "What about women?"

Sarutobi Toru rolled his eyes at him. "Yang Excess is a condition that affects both men and women. It's just more obvious in men! So anyone who trains this ninjutsu ends up with the same result!"

"So only children can practice it?"

"Yang Excess does not distinguish between men and women, nor does it distinguish by age! I merely used medicine to regulate myself!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen frowned. "There won't be any aftereffects, will there?"

"Don't worry! I'm the one who cares most about that sort of thing. How could there possibly be aftereffects?"

"Still, I've only developed a special medicine tailored to myself. I haven't developed a formula for general use yet, so for now, I'm the only one who can use it!"

Of course, even if he developed a formula, it would only be a temporary one. They would have to take medicine before every fight.

As for a permanent formula? To dominate the Shinobi World, wield the blade and castrate oneself.

That was right. This Speed Chakra Mode was the Sunflower Manual!

Or rather, it was a Chakra-modified version of the Sunflower Manual. After all, Sarutobi Toru had no internal energy, and he had no desire to find out what would happen if someone cultivated internal arts while possessing Chakra.

He merely used Chakra to imitate the internal energy circulation method of the Sunflower Manual. Though it could not increase his Chakra like internal arts cultivation, it greatly enhanced his speed and neural reactions.

As for the Sunflower Manual's flaw, Sarutobi Toru, with the Hormone Fruit, could easily avoid it simply by changing the proportion of hormones in his body while circulating the Sunflower Manual.

After all, the Hormone Fruit's power was perfectly suited to the task. It would have been strange if Sarutobi Toru had not given it a try.

Fortunately, this was a Chakra-modified Sunflower Manual. The internal energy cultivated by the orthodox Sunflower Manual could only be endured by those who had castrated themselves. Otherwise, unless he abolished his internal energy, Sarutobi Toru could only use hormones to maintain a state of being neither man nor woman.

"I see." Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded. "You needn't rush. Just develop it slowly."

Sarutobi Hiruzen had considerable confidence in his nephew. Since he had already developed a medicine specifically for himself, creating a formula for general use would naturally be much easier.

Now, Sarutobi Hiruzen no longer felt that his nephew's research was a waste of time. On the contrary, he held a certain degree of hope for Sarutobi Toru's research.

"Give me a list of the equipment you need for your experiments. I'll have it prepared for you after a while."

"Also," Sarutobi Hiruzen paused before continuing, "would you be willing to record Speed Chakra Mode in the Scroll of Sealing?"

"Sure, but I won't be handing it over for nothing, right?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen glared at him. "You won't lose out. I'll count it as an S-rank mission, and you can choose one ninjutsu from the Scroll of Sealing!"

Hearing that, Sarutobi Toru was no longer sleepy. The Scroll of Sealing contained countless ninjutsu, and several of them had long caught his eye.

Flying Thunder God, Spirit Transformation Technique, and Impure World Reincarnation were the three ninjutsu he desired most.

Of course, that was all for tomorrow. Right now, Sarutobi Hiruzen had already chased him home to sleep.

Reincarnation Warehouse.

Sitting cross-legged on the floor, Sarutobi Toru quietly recovered his Chakra.

Ten Shadow Clones were studying and training in the space, all of them looking extremely busy.

Chakra in the Shinobi World was a combination of physical energy and spiritual energy. Unlike cultivation systems from China, it had no concept of circulating through the heavenly cycle to increase one's power.

When Uzumaki Naruto first went on a mission, he did not even know what Chakra was called, yet that did not stop him from becoming a Chakra Monster.

Sarutobi Toru had also fantasized about cultivating Chakra as True Qi. He spent several months circulating Chakra through his body, only for it to be utterly useless, finally putting an end to his dream of becoming an immortal cultivator.

A ninja's strength was not entirely tied to the amount of Chakra they possessed. When Naruto had just graduated, he already had several times Kakashi's Chakra, but Kakashi could still flatten the Naruto of that time while giving up one hand and one leg.

But without question, ninjas with more Chakra held enormous advantages in both training and battle.

There was no need to mention the advantage in battle. In terms of training alone, take Uzumaki Naruto as an example. Leaving aside his cheat-like Multiple Shadow Clone Training Method, which was no longer merely a matter of Chakra but also required incredibly thick nerves and extraordinary perseverance.

Just look at how he learned the Rasengan in seven days. The greatest factor was that he had so much Chakra he could not use it all up. He could train day and night until his body could no longer endure it without exhausting his Chakra.

Sarutobi Toru had also imitated the Rasengan. He could say with full responsibility that after an ordinary Genin made one Rasengan, they would not have much Chakra left. After two, they could basically imitate Kakashi and lie down like a corpse.

Over the course of a day, accounting for Chakra recovery time, making ten Rasengan was already the limit. With that kind of training efficiency, how could they compare with a Chakra Monster?

At first, Sarutobi Toru had also been troubled by his insufficient Chakra. Though he now had more Chakra than Tsunade had at the same age, he was still young. His potential was immense, but in practice, it was still not quite enough.

That was until he thought of the Heavenly Crystal Sword gathering dust in the Reincarnation Warehouse. Though he could not use it, the light emitted by the Heavenly Crystal had the miraculous effect of restoring energy and eliminating fatigue.

Every night, he would leave a Shadow Clone outside while he himself trained extra inside.

Not only that, under the Heavenly Crystal's radiance, Sarutobi Toru only needed one hour of sleep to recover all his energy. He would be brimming with vigor, without the slightest drowsiness.

This greatly increased both his training time and training efficiency.

It could be said that Sarutobi Toru's talent and cheats were both excellent, but his diligence also far surpassed what others could imagine.