Initial Condensation of Immortal Technique Chakra

Time passed like a white horse galloping past a crack in the wall, fleeting in an instant.

In the blink of an eye, the moon had climbed to the center of the sky.

"Ah!"

Kimura Takuya had just dispelled his Shadow Clones, and the experience and memories of over a dozen people from half the night flooded into his mind.

The pain was so intense he cried out.

"This was only a dozen or so clones; how does that brat Naruto endure so many?"

Could it be because Naruto is simply thick-headed?

Or is it due to the nature of my own soul?

The higher a certain sensory ability is, the more it acts as both an advantage and, in truth, a potential disadvantage.

Much like a dog's sense of smell, which can detect incredibly subtle scents, the stimulation of a foul odor is also far more intense for the dog.

My own soul's nature grants me stronger soul perception, but it also makes me far more sensitive to the exhaustion of the soul.

Indeed, all things have their pros and cons.

"Hoo. Reception complete. Now, it is time to cultivate Sage Chakra once more."

Kimura Takuya let out a long breath and walked into the room within the base where he practiced.

The room was completely sealed, ensuring no one would disturb him.

Kimura Takuya sat cross-legged in the center; this room was located very close to the ground.

Above the ceiling lay the forest, and the surroundings were entirely enveloped by the developed root systems of the trees.

The reason he chose such a place was that Kimura Takuya had discovered that the massive trees in the forest could actually absorb natural energy.

And their roots were precisely the places where natural energy was most concentrated, making this the ideal spot to practice Sage Mode with half the effort.

In truth, Kimura Takuya could use the Reverse Summoning Jutsu to visit Shikkotsu Forest.

However, he feared that practicing the Sage Arts of Shikkotsu Forest would create cognitive bias, thereby increasing the difficulty of developing his own unique Sage Mode.

Therefore, Kimura Takuya decided to first refine Sage Chakra on his own before going to Shikkotsu Forest to seek guidance from the Slug Sage.

Kimura Takuya had already experimented with a one-third ratio, but the result was that the energies could not be balanced at all, let alone refined into chakra.

To achieve a three-way balance, the three energies had to be quantified uniformly, yet the nature of these three energies was completely different.

The previous one-third ratio was more like a cubic meter of iron and a cubic meter of water; they looked the same size, but their weight and density were entirely different.

Thus, there was no way to speak of a three-way balance.

He had to determine exactly how many units of physical energy and natural energy were equivalent to one unit of spiritual energy.

Only after establishing this could he truly achieve a three-way energy balance.

And this required a standard weight capable of accurately quantifying all three.

This standard weight had to possess four characteristics.

First, it must possess immutability—that is, inherent stability—allowing it to be quantified itself.

Second, it must satisfy experimental needs; it cannot be scarce, meaning it must be easy to obtain.

Third, it must be able to interact with all three—spiritual energy, physical energy, and natural energy—meaning it must be drivable by these three energies.

Fourth, it must be highly sensitive to energy to allow for precise quantification of various energies.

Synthesizing these points, Kimura Takuya found an extremely suitable object.

It was practically a natural standard energy weight.

Cells!

Any single cell can be driven by all three types of energy.

Furthermore, after a cell divides, the resulting cells are identical to the original.

They are also very easy to obtain.

It perfectly satisfied all the requirements for an energy weight!

Having selected the energy weight, Kimura Takuya chose the most stable cell with the highest energy sensitivity—the First Hokage Cell.

Hashirama's cells possessed extraordinary stability and energy sensitivity, and they proliferated extremely rapidly when cultured in a laboratory.

At the time, Kimura Takuya had only taken a tiny bit from Danzo's right arm, but after placing it in a petri dish, it was nearly overflowing within two days.

Afterward, Kimura Takuya used his various energies to stimulate the division of the First Hokage Cell separately.

The tests showed that one unit volume of his own soul energy could cause a single First Hokage Cell to divide into 1,987 cells.

One unit of physical energy, however, could only cause a single First Hokage Cell to divide into 15 cells.

And one unit of natural energy could cause a single First Hokage Cell to divide into 382 cells.

In other words, the three-part ratio he had attempted previously was not 1:1:1.

It was actually 1987:15:382.

With such absurd data, it was no wonder he couldn't maintain any balance at all.

Therefore, if the largest number is used as the standard of 1, the true three-part ratio should be.

1:132:5, meaning one unit of spiritual energy must correspond to 132 units of physical energy and 5 units of natural energy.

Furthermore, there are decimal points following the 132 and the 5; it simply cannot be divided evenly.

And these differences after the decimal point are likely the variables that determine the variations of Sage Mode across the various sacred lands.

Because no one can guarantee that their energy standards for each attribute follow the same ratio, except for the natural energy standard, which is fixed at 382 units.

Everyone else's data is different, which naturally means the ratios calculated after the decimal point are also different, leading to the discrepancies in precision between the various sacred lands.

For Kimura Takuya, one unit of soul energy is 1987 units, while physical energy is 15 units.

Other people's data is certainly different.

This is also why, even among the creatures of the three great sacred lands, not all of them can learn Sage Mode.

Having determined his own energy ratio, Kimura Takuya had been testing it for several consecutive days.

He was mainly testing the values after the decimal point, and so far, he had reached the sixth decimal place.

Tonight's test would reach the seventh decimal place.

With such energy precision, even with Kimura Takuya's control ability, he was starting to feel overwhelmed.

This is why, when ordinary people cultivate Sage Mode, even if they stumble upon success by sheer luck, it is a one-time occurrence; they can never hit the mark again, making it impossible to truly learn.

As for those with a talent for Sage Mode, they are likely individuals whose spiritual energy and physical energy are infinitely close to the 382 units of natural energy.

Thus, they only need to make slight adjustments to succeed.

People like Naruto and Kabuto are exactly these types of individuals.

Jiraiya might be slightly inferior, but he is still stronger than the average person.

And Hashirama is very likely a monster whose ratio is infinitely close to 382:382:382; only such a perfect ratio could allow Hashirama's Sage Mode to be completely unrestricted.

This is the secret behind Hashirama's ability to use Sage Mode at will.

Moreover, if Hashirama hadn't learned his Sage Mode from Shikkotsu Forest and had instead enlightened himself to it, he would have possessed the most perfect Sage Mode of all.

Kimura Takuya stopped overthinking and focused his attention, carefully mobilizing the three types of energy to combine them at his fingertip, controlling the ratio with total concentration.

He was also prepared to sever his finger at any moment to save himself.

In fact, from a moment ago until now, seven or eight fingers had already piled up on the ground, all of which had, without exception, turned into stone-like fossils.

Fortunately, they hadn't turned into anything else, which proved that Kimura Takuya's direction was correct; this was truly a perfect Sage Mode belonging to humans.

"Success! Hm? Sever!"

Having just successfully synthesized Sage Chakra, Kimura Takuya became slightly distracted by excitement, and the result was another failure.

The moment his finger turned to stone, Kimura Takuya cut it off.

Regenerating his finger in an instant, Kimura Takuya muttered to himself.

"I was careless, but this can already be called a success. Precision to the seventh decimal place is enough to succeed."

"But it's still not stable enough; once distracted, it becomes difficult to control. To achieve perfect control, I estimate it needs to be precise to the tenth decimal place to stabilize."

"Is this the limitation of an ordinary person?"

"Even if an ordinary person knew the method and the ratio, who could control it to this extent?"

Kimura Takuya sighed briefly, then immediately began experimenting again.