Refining Chakra

Minato Namikaze felt happy seeing Ye Wuji's joy. After all, if they just left him be, he might die from war at any time. It wouldn't be in vain for them to have saved him if Ye Wuji could gain some ability to protect himself.

However, Minato immediately withdrew the smile from his face. Seeing Minato's stern expression, Ye Wuji also curbed his happy mood.

Minato nodded with satisfaction upon seeing Ye Wuji's reaction, thinking, "Good, he can quickly compose himself. That's good. It's very important for a ninja."

Then, Minato began to speak to Ye Wuji, "Since you want to be a ninja, I'll teach you something first. Do you know what a ninja is?"

"No," Ye Wuji replied. This was the truth. Ye Wuji really didn't know what a ninja was. In his heart, he merely thought of ninjas as a profession.

"A ninja is someone who can endure. This is the basic requirement for a ninja. To become an excellent ninja, one cannot do without good endurance, whether it's towards people or things."

"Mhm," Ye Wuji nodded in agreement.

Seeing Ye Wuji acting like a good boy, very obedient, Minato smiled, "Alright, I won't talk about the previous part. You'll understand when you grow up. I'll teach you about ninjas now. A ninja is a human who can skillfully use chakra energy. Chakra is the basic energy for ninjas to use various ninjutsu, and this energy is not something ordinary people possess. It requires special training methods for people to refine chakra. Do you understand all this?"

"I understand. It's about using a power called chakra, right?" Ye Wuji answered conventionally.

"Correct," Minato said, looking at him as if he were very smart. He continued, "Chakra is an energy that ninjas use when employing ninjutsu. This energy comes from two sources: first, the physical energy contained within every cell of the body. Second, the mental energy accumulated through training and experience. Chakra is composed of these two sources. Ninjutsu is activated by absorbing these two energies from within the body, then refining them into chakra, and finally performing hand seals."

Seeing Ye Wuji nodding as he listened, as if he understood everything, Minato felt a bit curious. He thought that if he hadn't grown up in such an environment, he wouldn't have understood so easily. This guy, hearing it for the first time, seemed to grasp it all.

"Did you understand everything?" Minato asked.

"Yes, it's very simple. But I don't seem to have that power called chakra. Yours seems to be the energy contained within the human body." Ye Wuji knew it wasn't the time to play dumb. In this situation, he'd at most be considered a genius. If he wasted more time trying to refine chakra, Minato might leave, and he wouldn't be able to learn anything else. He had to seize this opportunity to learn more.

"You truly understood? You're quite good," Minato praised. Then he thought, "To understand it like this on the first try, this guy might become a genius in the ninja world in the future."

"You don't feel chakra in your body now because you haven't gone through special methods to refine it. I'll teach you how to refine chakra now. Go sit over there first."

Following Minato's instructions, Ye Wuji sat in meditation. According to Minato, he had to imagine a flow of energy within his body. However, after half an hour, Ye Wuji felt nothing at all.

Ye Wuji then stopped his movements and looked at Minato expectantly, saying, "Why is there nothing? I don't feel anything."

Minato was not surprised at all. He said very seriously, "Refining chakra isn't that fast. You've never encountered anything like this before. You need to concentrate, wholeheartedly, and not relax. Do you think being a ninja is easy? Alright, since you want to be a ninja, and I'm teaching you, do as I say now. Concentrate your mind, pay attention to your body, and no slacking. Understand?"

Looking at Minato's serious face, Ye Wuji thought, "He's probably not lying to me. Given the Fourth Hokage's character, if he didn't want to teach me, he would have just said so directly instead of playing such a childish trick. So, I'll do as he says. I don't believe I can't refine chakra."

With that thought, Ye Wuji concentrated very hard, trying to find that trace of energy within his body. However, after many attempts, until his head spun, he still felt nothing.

There were several times Ye Wuji wanted to give up, but he thought that now he was in this ninja world. If he couldn't refine chakra, he would only become mediocre. Having such an opportunity to change himself, Ye Wuji couldn't bear to give up. In his previous life, in that environment, Ye Wuji had no chance to change his destiny.

This time, Ye Wuji decided to seize this opportunity no matter what, even if it meant dying. In a world like this, if he were to become a commoner, Ye Wuji would never be reconciled. It would be better to die than to regret it later.

Ye Wuji could only comfort himself. Once he became a ninja, wouldn't those people he envied in his previous life be able to dance on the same stage with him in this world? Whether they were friends or enemies, wouldn't that be an exciting thing? As time passed, Ye Wuji's face began to contort. After countless attempts, with still no reaction, Ye Wuji gradually became uneasy. Could it be that he had a constitution that couldn't refine chakra? Perhaps. After all, even in the five great ninja villages in the Naruto world, there were still large numbers of civilians. While some might have been afraid of the killing involved in being a ninja and didn't want to become one, with such a vast population, there must have been people who wanted to become ninjas but still couldn't. And this was in the five great ninja villages where ninjutsu was highly developed! Regardless of the world, the yearning for power is constant.

Could he be one of those people, becoming a civilian in the Naruto world? Although he now knew the Fourth Hokage, and if he worked hard, he might still live a good life as a civilian.

As the sky grew darker, after countless attempts, Ye Wuji felt his body was empty, sensing nothing. Ye Wuji's complexion grew uglier, even a bit distorted.

As Ye Wuji felt his strength gradually failing, he realized he had to face reality, just as he had in his previous life. Despite his best efforts, he could change nothing. He could not even fulfill the simple wish of building a better house for the old Dean.

"People should indeed recognize their current situation." Just as Ye Wuji was about to give up, he suddenly and clearly remembered Naruto Uzumaki's words, "My ninja way is to charge forward bravely. Complaining to others changes nothing. If you believe it's fate, then I will change this fate." This seemed to be from his first fight with Neji Hyuga, and the meaning was roughly like that.

When Ye Wuji watched Naruto, he sometimes thought that if Naruto wasn't the Fourth Hokage's son, he might have died long ago. Because Naruto always seemed too naive, and it was because of the Fourth Hokage's protection that he was able to grow.

But Naruto's growth did change many people. For one thing, the shy Hinata Hyuga was changed by him.

Ye Wuji scoffed inwardly, "At that time, I thought if I were in Naruto's place, the outcome would definitely not be the same. Now I realize how ridiculous that was. Someone like me, if I really became Naruto, would just be another Nagato or Gaara of the Sand."

At this moment, Ye Wuji inwardly mocked his past self, his previous life's self. If he could have acted like Naruto back then, perhaps the outcome would have been different. When others mocked him, instead of hiding to lick his wounds, he should have stood up and shouted. Perhaps everything would have been different.

Ye Wuji thought, "Later, the mischievous Naruto Uzumaki, the cool Sasuke Uchiha, and the very intelligent Shikamaru, as well as Itachi Uchiha's handsomeness. Most importantly, I haven't even met a beautiful woman from Naruto yet! Thinking of Hinata's shyness, Temari's boldness, and Konan's angelic appearance. Now, these are no longer just things I can look at from my previous life. I can be in the same world with them, breathing the same air. They are flesh-and-blood humans, no longer cartoon characters."

"Let alone these, the First Hokage, Obito Uchiha, Madara, the Sage of Six Paths, and the even more legendary Kaguya Otsutsuki. In a world with these existences, how could I possibly be content being an ordinary person?"

With a roar from Ye Wuji's heart, his entire body seemed to move without wind. A powerful aura emanated from Ye Wuji's body. At this moment, a white light suddenly appeared on the surface of Ye Wuji's body. Although it was only a fleeting flash, Ye Wuji finally felt that special sensation within his body.

"I finally sensed it!" Ye Wuji was ecstatic inwardly, and then he lost consciousness.

As an aura emanated from Ye Wuji's body, the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, who was resting and cultivating nearby, was startled by this aura. Minato then saw the white light emanating from Ye Wuji's body, and then he saw Ye Wuji suddenly stand up, only to fall backward.

Just as Ye Wuji's body was about to hit the ground, Minato had already appeared beside him, catching the young Ye Wuji's body.

"He actually refined chakra. Judging by the aura just now, it's not simple. Could he really become a remarkable ninja in the future? However, this situation seems to be severe overexertion. Really, he just recovered from his injuries not long ago and ended up like this again. But why push himself so hard? Refining chakra isn't something that can be done in one or two days. This is going to be a bit troublesome now." Minato picked up Ye Wuji and slowly walked towards the room.

If Ye Wuji could hear Minato Namikaze's words, he would definitely fight Minato to the death, regardless of the difference in combat power. He had been agonizing and terrified for half an hour, thinking he was finished if he couldn't refine chakra.

Although Minato Namikaze was outstanding, he was still only a twelve-year-old child. While children in Naruto were generally precocious, Minato was only diligent and hardworking when he cultivated. Unfortunately, he had never been a teacher. Although he knew about these things himself, the problem was that this was very common in Konoha. Unfortunately, Ye Wuji, a transmigrator, almost died because Minato didn't say a few more words.