(P.S. I've got a reply now. I'll rename the restored chapter to 111, then have Qidian delete it. Time to hit the sack. Oh, no—upload it.)
Second, after waking up, Kanna stretched with satisfaction, got dressed and washed up, then yanked the curtains open.
Whoosh! Sunlight slanted into the room, filling Kanna with warmth. Countless specks of dust drifted faintly through the air. Standing by the window and gazing into the distance, he could even make out the blue coastline far away. A brilliant sun rose into view, hanging in the sky and scattering light.
A rare beautiful day, and a rare good mood.
With every breath, Kanna felt refreshed. A faint tang of the sea lingered in the air. The scene before him was truly enchanting.
He leaned out of the tower and looked down. A swath of green below helped ease his fear of heights. Then came the rapid thudding of footsteps. Curious, Kanna turned to look and saw a young man dressed as a ninja running toward him from behind, his body horizontal and parallel to the ground as he raced along the tower's side.
Tree Walking and Water Walking—two essential lessons! What he was seeing was Tree Walking!
"Good morning!"
In such a good mood, Kanna couldn't help calling out a greeting. Then he burst into laughter.
The ninja looked momentarily startled, then smiled politely in return without breaking stride. He ran along the cylindrical tower and away from Kanna, then leaped across a distance of more than ten meters and landed on a bridge, gradually disappearing from sight.
"What a wonderful world." Kanna stared after the departing ninja, then clenched his fists. "One day, I'll do the same—travel wherever I please, roam the mountains and rivers, and see the whole world!"
A towering building rose from the ground, and sharpening one's tools first never delayed the work. Kanna had grand ambitions, but he still needed to work harder.
Settling his mind, Kanna first straightened his clothes and greeted his mother. Then he took his time eating breakfast. Every word and gesture carried an air of composure, much to Morishita Mai's delight.
After that, Kanna did a few simple exercises to loosen up his muscles and bones. Then he sat cross-legged in his room and began his daily chakra-training routine.
In his previous life, Kanna had heard the saying, "Refine essence into energy, refine energy into spirit." But in this world, "essence" meant the body, "spirit" meant the mind, and "energy" meant chakra. So it should really be "train the body and spirit into energy." Chakra was formed by perfectly combining the physical energy in the body's 130 trillion cells with the spiritual energy cultivated through accumulated experience. It was what one needed to perform ninjutsu, Taijutsu, genjutsu, and the like.
For some reason, though, as Kanna trained his chakra today and let it continually nourish his body and mind, he felt that something wasn't quite right.
How long did it take to produce chakra? Even a ninja like Naruto Uzumaki, who possessed an enormous amount of chakra, didn't need long. The healthier one's body and the stronger one's mental energy, the faster one could extract chakra, and the more chakra one would have. The opposite was also true. In terms of percentages, everyone's progress should be about the same. In less than half an hour, Kanna felt full. He knew he'd extracted as much chakra as he could; he couldn't produce any more. (In the later stages, Naruto often extracted chakra right there in the middle of battle while his comrades covered him, which showed that it didn't take long.)
"Mm... This feels wrong. It just doesn't feel right." Kanna released his hand seal and muttered, "By rights, extracting chakra first thing in the morning, when the body and mind are at their peak, should be the most efficient. So why does this still feel so uncomfortable?"
Kanna stood up and paced around the room. As he did, he realized what the problem was.
"It's too small! How can anyone's mind expand in a space this cramped?"
Kirigakure's surroundings were far less open than Konoha's. The area was full of treacherous mountains and rushing rivers, leaving very little land for people to live and farm on. As a result, most buildings were tall, cylindrical towers. Kanna's family lived in one such building, so it was easy to imagine how little space each person had.
In Konoha, each family could be given a house like a Western-style villa. Here, though, it could only be called a "shoebox."
Though Kanna was more composed than his "peers," even in his previous life he'd only been a twenty-year-old young man. How could he stand the solitude and calmly extract chakra in such a cramped space?
Kanna made up his mind at once: he'd open up the balcony and train there!
He went to the window and released a bracket. A perforated steel platform swung down, forming a triangle against the tower's exterior. Secured with six chains, it made a crude balcony about two meters long and two meters wide.
These balconies were very popular in Kirigakure. They took up no space, and could be used as springboards. Just like the ninja Kanna had seen earlier, people could leap from them to the next tower on their way to work. Housewives also used them to hang laundry or keep plants and other things.
And now, Kanna was going to sit on this balcony and train!
He climbed out the window and had only just stepped onto the balcony when dizziness swept over him. After all, the tower was dozens of meters high. A fall would leave him smashed to pieces, dead beyond any doubt. Of course Kanna, who hadn't even learned Tree Walking yet, was afraid.
The sea breeze howled, and the chains swayed slightly. The balcony seemed to sway too, making Kanna frown.
"It's too dangerous! I really can't overcome my fear after all," Kanna thought to himself. "But a blade cuts the flesh, and a sword cuts the demons. If I can't even cut through the fear in my own heart, how can I stand at the center of the world and take my place in it? How can I slay others—or slay myself?"
"There's great terror between life and death. If I can't overcome this little challenge right in front of me, how will I ever face blades and swords?"
"Face difficulties head-on! Crush everything! Heh. If I want to surpass myself and go beyond where I am now, I have to get through this!"
With one step, Kanna climbed directly onto the balcony. He took no precautions and sat down without hesitation, resting his hands flat on his knees. He didn't even form a hand seal, instead slowly calming his mind.
The patter of a ninja running along the tower sounded nearby, but Kanna didn't react, as if he hadn't heard it.
The sea wind howled, and the balcony swayed slightly, but Kanna remained as still as a boulder, as steady as a mountain.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Someone in the distance was blasting apart a mountainside, but Kanna remained unmoved, his heart as still as water.
His mind was empty, and his thoughts naturally clear. Body and spirit united, and chakra surged forth.
He opened his eyes and looked down over all of Kirigakure. Kanna felt as though he were sitting above the heavens, nestled among the clouds. Not a trace of fear remained in his heart.
"Sure enough, when an ordinary person sits on solid ground, even a raging wind won't necessarily shake them. It's not the body that's moving—it's the heart."
In a single moment of enlightenment, Kanna had seen the truth. He had finally conquered his fear—and himself.
Focusing inward, he felt the powerful chakra flowing along his network of pathways, circling his entire body before returning to its hundreds of openings and his brain. It felt endless and wondrous.
This chakra-training session lasted far longer than any of his previous ones. Kanna felt his chakra swelling again and again, as if he were blowing up a balloon. It only stopped when his mind and body felt exhausted.
"Phew." Kanna ended his training and sent the chakra he'd extracted back into his body. Then he stood, feeling refreshed and invigorated.
He clenched his fist. His joints crackled, and he could feel the solid strength in his body. Laughing, Kanna leaped back into the room.
Chunin-level chakra was within reach!
Before you continue