Flawlessness

The first attempt was naturally difficult. Kanna tried to rely on his own control, imagining his body as a circle, then guiding his chakra to flow in a way unlike its usual pattern. But before long, he failed.

Failing was no big deal. Beginners practicing this kind of chakra circulation method didn't rely on their own strength. Instead, they used hand seals and body postures to help.

It was like how crouching lowered your center of gravity naturally, and starting with the Tiger Seal caused a Fire Style technique to take on a spherical shape. This method had its own assisting seals, too.

Kanna moved his body a little, then shaped his hands into a circle and formed the Tiger, Rat, Rabbit, and Monkey Seals in sequence. His chakra responded to the guidance, slowly climbing from his abdomen to his throat. It stirred restlessly, giving him the urge to expel something.

If Kanna transformed his chakra into water at that point using the standard Water Style conversion method, he would have the basics of a Water Style technique. Here, however, he was using the hand seals to stimulate the chakra and guide it to his throat.

Kanna then formed the Ox, Boar, Tiger, Rooster, and Boar Seals. His chakra flowed down from his throat, splitting into two streams that coiled around each other like twin dragons fighting over a pearl, then began circulating through his abdomen.

This was the splitting method of Water Style. Water Style techniques, which often relied on overwhelming their opponents with sheer volume, were unmatched in this regard among the five nature transformations. They didn't just split into two; many Water Style techniques could split into three, four, ten, or even a hundred streams.

Next, Kanna formed the rest of the hand seals one by one, guiding his chakra through his body. Since he wasn't converting it into a jutsu, there was no loss apart from the chakra naturally absorbed by his body. With his reserves, he could easily complete the process.

Of course, this was only the initial circulation. Kanna couldn't yet control the deeper aspects, such as bypassing the usual pathways and pressure points, avoiding his internal organs, and creating a new chakra node inside his body. Those things would take extensive practice.

After completing one circuit, Kanna formed the final Ram Seal. The chakra, now divided into six streams, began contracting toward his heart. Since he hadn't yet created a new circulation system, he still needed to return his chakra to his heart for the time being.

But as Kanna gathered his chakra into a ball and moved it toward the left side of his chest, he suddenly remembered something he had long forgotten!

His heart wasn't on the left! His heart was on the right, unlike most people's!

The pathways and pressure points weren't a problem; they were things the naked eye couldn't see. But the heart was a real, physical organ. Kanna's chakra had already gathered in the left side of his chest. Under normal circumstances, the final step would be to return it to its source, guide it around the Gate of Death, and return it to the heart, restoring it to the body and completing the cycle. But what was he supposed to do when his heart was on the right?

There were no direct pathways connecting the left and right sides of his chest for Kanna to move his chakra through. The Third Hokage's circulation method hadn't mentioned what to do if the heart was in the wrong place, either. With no other choice, Kanna released his control over the chakra and let it disperse through his body. The final step of the cycle had failed just like that.

Chakra circulation was delicate by nature. A single mistake could make a jutsu fail, and the method the Third Hokage had taught Kanna was especially intricate. It left no room for error. Somehow, Kanna could complete every step except that his heart was in the wrong place!

Of course, in theory, he could skip the practice and build a new system inside his body right from the start. But without a proper understanding of his body and enough chakra control, one mistake could make his body collapse. Trying to fly before learning to walk was impossible.

With a splitting headache and no other options, Kanna could only reconsider the circulation method and search for another way.

The method of practice was just as Kanna had done it. Next, he would gradually become familiar with his body and try to connect the chakra pathways to one another, opening up routes throughout his torso and limbs. Then he would completely bypass the system of internal organs and build a complex, precise new chakra network. Finally, he would reconnect the pathways and pressure points he had left out, joining together all the chakra junctions throughout his body and turning himself into a "circle."

It was clear that the method's idea of turning the body into a "circle" wasn't meant literally. It was a concept. "Circle" represented wholeness and flawlessness. Those who practiced this method would eventually make their bodies whole, with no flaws or leaks.

The method was right in front of Kanna. The Third Hokage had openly shared the specific assisting hand seals and chakra circulation method. The problem was that he couldn't get past the first step. What was he supposed to do?

The first thing Kanna thought of was surgery.

So what if my heart's on the right? I'll have it transplanted back into its proper place! Fine, you win!

"Ah, there are so many different ways to mold chakra. It stands to reason that some ninjas are gifted at certain jutsu but can never learn others because it depends on each person's constitution. Is that why Kakashi and Sasuke have bodies that can activate Lightning Release?"

That seemed likely. Just look at how frustrated Kanna was right now. If Kanna had been born with the pathways, pressure points, and internal organs suited to this special circulation method of the Mizukage, he wouldn't have needed to build a new system. He could have used it right away. If Naruto had been born with spiral-shaped pathways and pressure points in his hands, his chakra would naturally have coiled and condensed into a spinning sphere as it emerged. He wouldn't have needed to control it deliberately.

There were people in the Shinobi World who strengthened themselves by modifying their bodies. Hanzo of the Salamander, known as the "demigod," had implanted the venom sac of a black salamander in his body. As it gradually fused with him, he gained organs that produced and neutralized poison. As for Orochimaru, there was no need to say more. He had transformed himself into a "snake," becoming almost inhuman in body.

The ultimate purpose of the Third Hokage's chakra circulation method was to change the body's original system of pathways and pressure points and create a network best suited to chakra circulation.

But as Kanna thought about it, he seemed to catch a glimmer of an idea.

His body had a different system, too!

Highland! This bizarre thing could analyze jutsu and kekkei genkai. It should be able to analyze this circulation method as well!

Fortunately, the circulation method wasn't particularly profound. It was just that no one else had figured out some of its secrets. Kanna immediately pulled open his collar, quickly erased the Flying Thunder God Technique's formula, and inscribed this circulation method in its place. Then he poured all his chakra into Highland.

The feeling of using Highland's power was indeed different! Kanna felt his chakra completely abandon its usual routes. Instead, it wound around itself, joined together, and spread throughout his body, reaching his brain, torso, limbs, internal organs, blood vessels, and even every pore and cell. Everything connected. The junctions were like stars in the sky, evenly distributed throughout Kanna's body, and together they formed a vast, flawless network.

What an astonishing method of splitting and controlling chakra! Only after using it did Kanna realize that the method's ultimate achievement was to connect every "point" in the human body. It was like a martial artist opening up all eight extraordinary meridians and the Heaven and Earth Bridges. With Highland's help, Kanna had forcibly transformed his body into a flawless whole!

"Perfect! Looks like I won't be changing the jutsu on Highland for a while!" Kanna exclaimed, thrilled. "As long as I keep this up, the chakra will constantly wash over my body, and I'll grow stronger bit by bit. Eventually, my body will naturally memorize the routes the chakra takes and develop a reflex, creating a brand-new cycle inside me!"

Actually, as long as Kanna kept using Highland, the cycle could continue. But he still needed Highland for jutsu that he couldn't use on his own, didn't he? Like the Flying Thunder God Technique and Shinra Tensei, which he still couldn't fully analyze. So he needed to get his body accustomed to this circulation system as quickly as possible and free up Highland.

With a chakra network that spread throughout his body, he no longer had to worry about being unable to learn a jutsu! Aside from kekkei genkai techniques that defied all common sense, every jutsu's chakra pathways were already part of this network!

Five chakra natures! Kanna didn't even need to test it to know that if he checked now, the chakra paper would display all five signs. That was the secret of the human body!

A single leap to the top! This was what a true leap to the top looked like. Highland's power had once again surpassed Kanna's expectations, taking him to a level the Third Hokage, its creator, had never come close to reaching!

A perfect body might still be beyond him, but Kanna felt he absolutely deserved to call himself a Flawless True Body!

He raised his hand and guided his chakra into one of the network's pathways. With a gurgle, a palm-sized ball of water formed. At Kanna's will, it then shifted into one shape after another. Flattening it into a sheet or compressing it into a cube both came easily!

Kabuto flicked his hand, sending the water ball out the window. It spread across the wall of the apartment building into a thin, flat sheet. Kanna stepped forward, leaped high, and stuck to the water with his body parallel to the ground. The Water Style: Water Body Flicker, already engraved in his mind, activated at once!

Whoosh! The water sheet raced along the outside of the apartment building, darting up and down. Kanna closed his eyes, spread his arms, and laughed with delight.

On the apartment building, the ninjas walking along the walls all stopped and stared curiously at Kanna darting about on the shifting water. Suddenly, a middle-aged-looking ninja called out, "Amazing! What incredible Water Style! Come on, let's have a match!"

As he spoke, the middle-aged ninja dropped down from above and swung a punch at Kanna's head.

Kanna was immersed in a marvelous state. The moment the middle-aged ninja attacked, his body reacted instinctively. He stepped forward, bent at the waist, swept both hands inward, then lifted and thrust, stopping the punch in front of him. He followed up with a thrusting finger.

Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms! Pulse-Severing Style!

The finger jabbed at the middle-aged ninja's heart meridian, while also striking his collarbone, throat, and chin, then targeting all his internal organs below. If it landed, the man would be headed straight to the emergency room.

The middle-aged ninja wasn't startled. Instead, he formed hand seals, then thrust out his palm and grabbed. A ball of water enveloped Kanna. The Pulse-Severing Style finger jab dented its surface, but that was as far as it got.

Kirigakure's signature jutsu, Water Style: Water Prison Technique, was the perfect way to trap and restrain an opponent!

But just as the middle-aged ninja thought the fight was over and prepared to let go, Kanna opened his eyes. The next instant, the water beneath his feet surged out and pounced on the middle-aged ninja. It wrapped around him and closed in, forming another ball of water that trapped him inside.

"Water Prison Technique? No! You just controlled the water and shaped it into a hollow sphere?" The middle-aged ninja froze, then waved his hand. "I'm done, I'm done. Impressive! Very impressive! That level of chakra control, shaping water like that without hand seals or a jutsu—at your age, you're a prodigy!"

"Haha!" Kanna laughed easily. They both released their jutsu, then exchanged names.

"Kanna, Genin."

"Shiro Kamimizu, Jonin." Shiro Kamimizu looked at Kanna strangely. "You really are a monster. You're only a Genin, yet you're already this strong. A true prodigy—no worse than Zabuza."