Month Flow

"Don't worry about that. It has something to do with mental energy, anyway."

Tsunade bickered with Shangguan Yue all the way home. When he refused to tell her, she grabbed him and pinched and tugged at his cheeks.

At last, once they were home, Shangguan Yue made a face at Tsunade, locked himself in his room, and ignored her.

"Phew, I finally got away from that woman. Hmph, just wait until I get stronger—you'll be sorry!!!

"But this fusion of chakra and mental energy is no joke. Even just a tiny bit of chakra can cause that much damage.

"What level is the God-Slaying Art Dad left me? Its power is seriously incredible.

"The most important thing is that using ninjutsu has become so much easier. It's like my words become reality, and chakra moves at my command.

"This is basically a simplified version of Senjutsu. If I could draw in chakra from nature, I'd be unstoppable.

"Too bad natural chakra is so volatile. Without a way to absorb it, I can only admire it from afar."

Tsunade stamped her foot in anger. "You brat! What a temper. Whatever. I'll take a cold shower and cool off."

Shangguan Yue sat cross-legged on the bed and let his consciousness sink inward. "Chuuni, open the Cultivation Room."

"Understood."

"'Cleared the beginner instance, Enrollment Prestige. Rating: Average. Earned 60 challenge attempts.'"

Shangguan Yue looked at the panel and found it more irritating the longer he stared. "Chuuni!"

"I'm here. Why are you shouting?"

"Change the number of challenge attempts. You clearly use different amounts depending on the ninja's rank."

"Uh, all right. Challenge attempts are equivalent to this world's Luck Points. They were fixed and plundered by the Balance, and if you lose, they'll be deducted too.

"I've changed it. Take a look."

Shangguan Yue saw the panel now read "Luck Points: 60" and nodded in satisfaction. "Not bad, Chuuni. You're a quick learner."

Shangguan Yue immediately tapped the Cultivation Room's light screen. "'Notice: Spend Luck Points to cultivate? Exchange rate: one point per hour.'"

"Yes."

Shangguan Yue reappeared in the vast white Cultivation Room and sat cross-legged, fusing chakra with mental energy.

At the same time, the chakra in Shangguan Yue's body began to circulate slowly. Before long, a white jade-like glow surrounded him.

Under the Cultivation Room's effect, the progress bar—which had barely moved before—shot forward, and the fusion was soon complete.

"This Cultivation Room is insane. I wonder if it's working so fast because I'm still weak."

Once the chakra had combined with the special mental energy from Shangguan Yue's God-Slaying Art, it underwent a qualitative leap.

His mental energy had previously been latent. Now it was manifest.

Before, it had been difficult to push his mental energy outside his body, and even harder to control. Now he could send it out freely and do whatever he wanted with it.

And thanks to its fusion with chakra, his mental energy could now transform chakra's nature, letting him create the five elemental ninjutsu out of thin air.

After Shangguan Yue awakened Wood Release, Tsunade had given him Chakra Paper. The results had confirmed that he had an affinity for all elements.

Awakening Wood Release and the Sage Body meant he definitely had Yang Release. And with the Uchiha Bloodline, he was bound to have Yin Release too.

"I never expected to be able to sense chakra of all five elements once the fusion was complete.

"I'm only a Genin, and now I'm supposed to learn Chakra Nature Transformation? Isn't this a bit too ridiculous?

"But this means I can refine the Void Step Taijutsu techniques from before. They don't have to be so crude anymore.

"That means I can stop extracting chakra and focus on ninjutsu and Taijutsu training.

"Anyway, I have a huge amount of chakra. I've already reached the level of an upper-tier ninja in quantity; it's just the quality that hasn't caught up. Otherwise, I'd break through in no time.

"I'll keep my ninja rank low. That way, I can use a Genin's rank to reap even greater rewards. Wahaha, this ability is ridiculous.

"When I need it in the future, both my mental energy and my physical strength will have changed beyond recognition.

"I'll be able to extract a ton of chakra in one go. Still, I need to figure out how to learn Senjutsu. Better to draw from nature than deplete my own reserves and seize the power of creation."

"'Notice: Energy depleted. Renew your session?'"

Shangguan Yue came back to himself. "I've got to hurry. Renew it."

Shangguan Yue tried Void Step again, this time only channeling chakra into his feet. One step, then another—he even pushed off one foot with the other and soared into the air.

"Whoa! Is Void Step basically my natural ability now? It's so easy, and the drain seems pretty low. I could probably keep running for a whole day and night."

Shangguan Yue slowly drew back his chakra and drifted to the ground like a feather. "Explosive Flash!"

Chakra clung to his back like a thruster. This time, Shangguan Yue launched forward like a rocket and shot a long way before he could control his speed. His face scraped along the ground, and at last he came to a stop.

Luckily, the Cultivation Room couldn't injure him. Shangguan Yue got to his feet and rubbed his sore cheeks.

"I used to have this much chakra? How come I can suddenly take off like that now?"

Void Step was mainly for dodging and rising into the air, while Explosive Flash gave him a sudden burst of speed but made it difficult to change direction.

"Now I can finally say this is my own style. It was so crude before that I'd have been embarrassed to show anyone.

"Haha, I've decided. From now on, it'll be Yue Style: Void Step, Yue Style: Explosive Flash, and Yue Style: Draw-Sword Strike.

"I'll keep experimenting. My actual strength should be at Chunin level now, and my potential is sky-high.

"Let's try the power of directly attacking with my psychic telekinesis. If it really works, then doesn't that mean I can... fly!?"