But in this extraordinary world, power was exceptionally straightforward.
The strongest, the invincible—that was what Nara Dan aspired to be.
At the Konoha Training Ground.
Nara Dan sat cross-legged, with the trio training hard beside him.
After immersing himself for several days, he had fully grasped the realm of Taijutsu Expert.
In this realm, he could function like a machine: his body was the machinery, and his brain was the AI.
Under his perception, every bodily process—the contraction of his muscles, the bending of his joints, the movement of his organs, even the division of labor among his cells—
was as clear as lines on his palm. Each detail was reflected in his mind, then brought under his control.
Before, he could only use Chakra indirectly to speed up his blood flow, stimulating adrenaline secretion and entering a state of "release."
Now, though, every hormone in his body was under his control with a mere thought: testosterone, growth hormone, adrenaline, and more.
If he wanted, he could regrow his hair, trigger a second growth spurt, or even change from a man into a woman—all with a single thought.
Under the influence of his will, the different parts of his body had gone from operating in isolation to working together seamlessly.
Not a single fraction of his strength or energy went to waste.
"Even foreign contaminants can't get in."
Nara Dan thought to himself.
"If I breathe in polluted air, the dust and harmful substances in it are kept out."
"If I drink poisoned water, my stomach can digest only the water and leave the poison behind."
"Even if I accidentally absorb some of it..."
"my whole body responds at once."
"With metabolism tailored to neutralize it, even poison that would kill an ordinary person on contact..."
"is no more than a little sweat for me."
Nara Dan wasn't just talking. He had even used the Nara Clan's carefully guarded poisonous herbs for experiments.
It was true: if he chose not to absorb a poison, it could remain in his stomach indefinitely, or pass through him unchanged.
Even if he deliberately absorbed it, his body could go all out, leaving him dizzy for a few seconds and making him sweat a little before eliminating the poison completely.
His body would even immediately produce a targeted antitoxin, so the same poison would have no effect if he took it again.
"And my control over strength and energy has undergone a qualitative change, too."
Just like the boulder he had pulverized earlier, Nara Dan's strength had evolved from brute force into something almost fantastical: Dark Jin, like the internal martial arts of his previous life.
His power had shifted from causing visible destruction on the outside to wreaking havoc from within.
"If I punch someone again, it won't be like what happened on the street."
"I won't send them flying and smash through a wall, only to leave them with external injuries."
"I can completely destroy someone's internal organs without harming their skin or the surrounding buildings."
"I could even send someone flying straight into a wall, embedding them in it without injuring them at all."
Nara Dan picked up a fragment of stone and casually brushed it with one hand. It crumbled into dust.
"That's what they meant in my previous life by 'hitting someone like hanging a painting.'"
"Dark Jin damages the bones without harming the body."
"No, it's not just my fists. I can attack with any part of my body and produce the same effect."
"Jin Force flows through the entire body; not even a feather can land."
Nara Dan carefully felt the Jin Force circulating inside him. Jin Force was simply the name he had given to the new power within his body.
It wasn't merely force produced by physical exertion. You couldn't see it with the naked eye, but it objectively existed. When it acted on the body or the outside world, that was Jin Force.
"And besides the qualitative change in my raw physical strength, my control over Chakra and its quality have changed as well."
With a thought, the blue Chakra inside him took on a tangible form before his eyes.
As easily as moving his own limbs, he shaped it into vivid three-dimensional forms of all kinds: animals, plants, and people.
Any ordinary ninja who saw this would be dumbstruck. It was practically beyond the limits of what a human could do.
Even if an ordinary person could give Chakra a tangible form, they couldn't control it so precisely—not even someone with as much Chakra as the First.
"That's what it means for Essence, Energy, and Spirit to become one."
"Chakra itself is the product of physical and spiritual energy."
"Now that my body and spirit are in perfect harmony, Chakra has naturally undergone a qualitative change."
"Controlling Chakra used to be like driving a car. Now, I've become the car."
"But that doesn't mean I have more Chakra than the First."
"It just means my control over Chakra far surpasses that of any other ninja."
Nara Dan came to his conclusion calmly. Jin Force plus Chakra was enough to bring about a qualitative change in his strength.
When it came to the Kage level, unless you were piloting a giant mech, Nara Dan feared no one.
"Or perhaps I could take a step back and start over, working out how Jin Force is formed."
"Maybe I could create a fantastical National Martial Arts system in the Ninja World and spread it."
"Bright Power strikes with a bang; Dark Jin pierces like a needle."
"Transforming Power lets no feather land; Elixir Power brings God-Seeing Indestructibility."
Nara Dan smiled, finding the idea interesting.
But then he shook his head. It wasn't realistic.
Otherwise, why hadn't he taught National Martial Arts to the Nara Clan? Why had he instead used the Immortal-Eating Technique to support the ninja system?
Because compared to ninjutsu, National Martial Arts might have an advantage when it came to cultivation, and it could certainly help people live longer.
But when it came to combat and training, it had no advantage whatsoever.
Ninjas could go to war at six years old. With Chakra boosting them, they could kill an ordinary adult as easily as a chicken.
But National Martial Arts—
At six, a child's body hadn't even finished developing. Their spine was still soft, let alone their ability to use Bright Power or Dark Jin.
What's more, Chakra could produce all kinds of transformations that National Martial Arts couldn't. In terms of sheer destructive power, it far surpassed martial arts.
When Ōnoki went all out with Dust Release, even at eighty years old, he could shave the top off a mountain if given enough time to prepare.
An eighty-year-old practitioner of God-Seeing Indestructibility might be in better shape than most, but they would still be nowhere near capable of that kind of destruction.
Even if it was hard to say who would win in a real fight, National Martial Arts was ultimately far inferior when it came to attacks over a wide area.
So in the Ninja World, National Martial Arts might end up in the same position as Taijutsu: below the Kage level, it would offer no advantage and might even be a disadvantage.
At the Kage or God-Seeing Indestructibility level, it might offer some advantage in a one-on-one fight, but not much.
It wasn't as if they could settle things by seeing who lived longer.
"Only a system combining National Martial Arts and Chakra is the way forward."
"Cultivation, training, and combat all support one another."
"Maybe then every ninja in the Ninja World could become a Human Immortal!"
Nara Dan couldn't help joking. In truth, that was already the path he himself was following.
But there was another problem: not everyone had a Cheat System like Nara Dan.
A person could spend their entire life studying one system and still only manage to scratch the surface—let alone two equally vast and profound systems of power.
Please, don't sit on this! Please, don't sit on it! You can even read up to the last page, listen for a bit, and then stop!
That makes three updates today!
Before you continue