Hiroki was jogging!
GOOGLE SEARCH: TWKAN
Hiroki didn't stop. As if he were walking on dry ground, he crossed the stream twice, then even tried crouching down to touch the cold water with his finger. The whole thing seemed effortless and as natural as breathing.
He'd done it on his first try again!
No, he'd done more than succeed—he moved as if he'd practiced countless times.
Nawaki's mouth fell open as he stared at Hiroki. The confidence he'd worn that morning had given way to bewilderment. Hiroki was two years younger than him!
Kushina stared blankly at the figure walking across the water, unable to say a word.
"How—how did you do that?" Nawaki finally asked, his voice tinged with unmistakable frustration.
Hiroki walked back across the water and stopped in front of them, his expression still calm.
The answer was that he'd simply cheated with his Golden Finger.
But that clearly wasn't a suitable answer for teaching children, so Hiroki thought it over and gave them an inspiring one instead. "Hard work, thinking, and learning."
"Just now, Lord Orochimaru said that tree climbing takes one-third of the chakra used for the Transformation Technique, while Water Walking takes two-thirds." Hiroki held out his right hand, palm up. "But that's still too vague. It's easy to make mistakes if we rely only on instinct and imitation. We need a visible standard."
He slowly gathered chakra in his palm.
A faint blue, almost transparent ball of energy gradually appeared, holding steady as a tiny point of light about the size of a thumbnail. It hovered quietly, without the slightest wobble.
"Let's define the chakra used for one basic Transformation Technique as 100 units. I'll call them '100 Kaka,'" Hiroki explained. "So the amount in my hand right now is exactly '1 Kaka.' You can think of it as a ruler, a basic unit of measurement—
"Like one centimeter or one gram."
Of course, to maintain this standard output, Hiroki only had to write the corresponding code in his programming.
If he wrote that it should output one Kaka per second, then it output one Kaka per second.
Not a bit more or less. That was what the Golden Finger's systematization was for.
Hiroki withdrew his chakra and looked at the two of them. "Now you try it. You don't need much—just try to output one Kaka."
Kushina and Nawaki exchanged glances, both seeing the same stubborn determination in the other's eyes.
Kushina took a deep breath and copied Hiroki, gathering chakra in her palm.
A ball of blue chakra suddenly burst out, like a flame she couldn't control. It swelled to the size of her fist, then shrank rapidly, flickering and bouncing above her hand.
Its instability was plain to see.
Gritting his teeth, Nawaki tried too. He did a little better at controlling the size of the chakra in his palm, but it still flickered violently, like a lightbulb with a loose connection.
Fine beads of sweat appeared on both their foreheads.
This seemingly simple "1 Kaka" was even harder than tree climbing!
"Interesting."
Orochimaru's voice came suddenly, carrying a hint of chill.
His golden, slit-pupiled eyes fixed on Hiroki, and his tone turned strange. "Hiroki, do you know what you just did?"
Before Hiroki could answer, Orochimaru continued on his own:
"You've established an unprecedented quantitative system for chakra control."
"For the decades since Konoha was founded, countless talented shinobi have studied how to control chakra better. But every teaching method has relied on vague instructions like 'practice more' and 'feel it carefully.' Even the First never managed to turn that sensation into a standard that could be taught."
"Yet you did, Hiroki!"
"With a simple unit called a 'Kaka,' you've solved the problem. This is far more than just a unit of measurement—it means that from today onward, chakra-control training can be precisely assessed, recorded, and improved!"
But had this really been Hiroki's own idea?
Orochimaru stared into Hiroki's eyes. He would rather believe the Second Hokage had come up with it. After all, the Second Hokage had developed countless jutsu and founded the Konoha Ninja Academy. He would have been the natural person to establish this kind of quantitative measure!
But the Second Hokage had never thought of it during the nearly thirty years since Konoha's founding. Would he have hidden it until his death, then told an experimental subject instead of one of his disciples?
That made no sense. No matter how much he wanted to believe this had been the Second Hokage's work, Orochimaru still had to admit that Hiroki, the Second Hokage's legacy, was a genius in his own right!
Then Orochimaru turned to Kushina and Nawaki.
"Uzumaki Kushina, measured by Hiroki's standard, your chakra output reached about 6 Kaka per second at its peak and dropped below 0.1 Kaka at its lowest."
Kushina's face flushed red.
"Nawaki, your average output was around 2.5 Kaka, with a range of 0.8 to 4.2." Orochimaru narrowed his eyes. "You had better control than Kushina, but it was still far from stable."
The two of them were stunned as Orochimaru rattled off one precise figure after another.
So chakra output could actually be measured like this?
Hiroki was stunned too.
How had Orochimaru sensed how much chakra the two of them were outputting? And how had he estimated it so precisely—and with such certainty!?
Not once had the name Orochimaru appeared in Hiroki's WiFi interface!
Could Orochimaru have been making it up?
Or did he have a way to sense chakra without being detected by Hiroki's WiFi interface?
Hiroki was still thinking it over, while Orochimaru continued explaining to the two children.
"Your problem isn't that you're outputting too little chakra. It's that your control is poor. Your chakra output keeps jumping up and down, like water gushing inconsistently from a faucet. Naturally, you can't form a stable point of support on a wall or on the water's surface."
Seeing the thoughtful looks on their faces, Orochimaru decided to make the concept more concrete.
"We can also represent that instability with a number." He looked at Hiroki. "Hiroki, how would you define this measure?"
Hiroki's train of thought had been interrupted, but he still considered the question before answering. "We could call it a 'fluctuation value' or a 'standard deviation.' It represents the average amount by which chakra output varies above or below the target value. The smaller the number, the better the control."
"Excellent." Orochimaru nodded approvingly. "Then, according to that definition—"
He held out a hand. A faint blue point of light appeared in his palm, so steady it seemed almost motionless.
"My standard deviation is about ±0.02 Kaka, which is practically negligible. As for you, Hiroki—"
Orochimaru paused, an odd emotion flickering in his eyes.
"By my perception, your output doesn't fluctuate at all. Your standard deviation is close to zero."
01
Was this level of control even possible for a person?
How could it be?
And yet, to Orochimaru's senses, Hiroki's output was exactly that precise—so precise it made him seem like an artificial creation.
After all, even Orochimaru himself couldn't control his chakra with that kind of precision!
As for chakra control, Orochimaru thought that only Tsunade-hime and his teacher, the Third, Sarutobi Hiruzen, could surpass him in the village.
Perhaps it was only to be expected of someone chosen by the Second Hokage?
Orochimaru could only speculate and set his suspicions about Hiroki aside for the time being.
"Nawaki, according to the definition we just established, your standard deviation is ±1.7 Kaka," Orochimaru continued.
"Kushina, yours is ±2.9 Kaka."
" To complete tree-climbing training, you need to keep your standard deviation within ±0.5 Kaka. For Water Walking, you need to bring it within ±0.2 Kaka."
Standard deviation—±2.9 Kaka—
These unfamiliar terms and precise figures were like a key, opening a new door in Kushina and Nawaki's minds.
This was the first time they'd thought that even after graduating from the Ninja Academy, they still had to take classes. What a pain—why did shinobi, who spent all day fighting, have to do math too?
But it was also the first time they'd clearly seen the gap between themselves and Hiroki—not just a vague sense that he was "amazing" or that something was "impossible," but a level of achievement they could never hope to reach.
Chakra control without any fluctuation!
How did he do it!?
"But—"
Nawaki suddenly pouted and asked, unconvinced, "If we only look at control, wouldn't people with more chakra be at a disadvantage? A shinobi's strength can't depend on chakra control alone, right?"
"Good question."
For once, Orochimaru looked both pleased and relieved.
"That's the most ingenious part of Hiroki's theory. It doesn't just quantify control; it also opens the door to systematically evaluating a shinobi's strength."
"Now that we have a standard unit for chakra, we can roughly establish a measure of total chakra reserves—and even more measures of a shinobi's strength."
He walked up to the three of them and held up three fingers.
"But today, we'll focus on chakra-related measures. There should be at least three key ones."
"First, total chakra reserves." Orochimaru looked at Kushina. "A typical Chunin should have somewhere between 6,000 and 12,000 Kaka. As for you, Uzumaki Kushina, your total chakra reserves are about 25,000 Kaka, thanks to your Uzumaki Clan bloodline."
Kushina's eyes lit up.
"Nawaki, you have about 18,500 Kaka, already above the Chunin level."
Nawaki grinned. He and Kushina both looked toward Hiroki, eager to see how much he had.
Orochimaru's gaze also settled on Hiroki.
Hiroki, on the other hand, had relatively little chakra.
"Hiroki, your total is the lowest, at about 3,200 Kaka. This determines your endurance and how many jutsu you can use. Take Lightning Style: False Darkness, for example. Casting it takes around 3,000 Kaka."
Hiroki nodded.
Orochimaru's estimate was almost exactly right. If Hiroki had Lightning Release Chakra, one use of Lightning Style: False Darkness would just about deplete his reserves.
"Second, maximum extraction rate. This determines the upper limit of the power of the jutsu you can use. It's like the diameter of a pipe, which determines how much water can flow through it at once."
"Even if your total reserves are the same, you won't be able to use a large-scale jutsu if you can't extract chakra fast enough."
"Third, control precision, which is the 'standard deviation' Hiroki proposed." Orochimaru summed up. "This determines the efficiency of your chakra use and whether you can perform precise operations."
He looked at the three of them and gave them his trademark, inscrutable smile.
"Total reserves, extraction rate, and control precision—these three measurements together determine a shinobi's ability to use chakra. From today onward, your training will focus on improving these three measures."
"Teacher Orochimaru."
Kushina suddenly raised her hand, her eyes shining with excitement.
"According to Hiroki's theory, does that mean we can make training plans tailored to each person?"
"Exactly." Orochimaru gave her an approving look. "For example, Kushina, you have plenty of chakra but poor control, so you should focus on practicing precise operations. Hiroki, on the other hand, has less chakra, so he'll need to improve his extraction efficiency and raise his maximum reserves."
"That's the point of quantification."
"So chakra control can be trained like this..." Nawaki murmured.
He suddenly looked up, a fierce determination blazing in his eyes.
"Hiroki! I'll get my standard deviation lower than yours! I'll surpass you!"
"Me too!" Kushina added, unwilling to be outdone. "It's ±2.9 Kaka right now, but I'll train until it's below ±0.1 Kaka!"
Watching their fighting spirit, Orochimaru discreetly curled the corners of his mouth into a smile. Then he gave Hiroki a long look.
Compared with the more mature and composed Hiroki, Orochimaru preferred cheerful, innocent children like Kushina and Nawaki.
After all—
Orochimaru shot Hiroki a glance.
Who knew how many secrets this child was still hiding?
At that thought, Orochimaru suddenly spoke.
"Hiroki, I'll organize your theory into a complete teaching system and submit it to the Third. If it can be implemented throughout Konoha, it will bring a revolutionary improvement to the strength of the entire village."
He paused and spoke earnestly.
"This theory should be named after you—the Hiroki Theory."
Hiroki was taken aback.
He'd only wanted to use his Golden Finger to write a corresponding program. He'd standardized chakra measurements simply to make coding easier, but he hadn't expected it to make such a splash.
Orochimaru's words left Hiroki unsure how to respond.
He glanced around and found an excuse to change the subject. "Let's get back to the mission first!"
As he spoke, Hiroki hurried over and grabbed the cat they'd been assigned to find, Tora.
Just then, an Anbu suddenly appeared.
"Reporting in! Lord Orochimaru, the Third has requested that you bring the members of Team 7 to the Hokage's office immediately."
Huh?
Why now?
Before you continue