Weaknesses

As more and more of Nagato's chakra flowed into him, Chiba increasingly felt that sense of being filled with power.

So this is what it feels like to have an enormous amount of chakra?

The sensation was so exhilarating that, for a moment, Chiba couldn't even begin to describe it.

It was just like someone who had never once eaten their fill finally getting a proper meal.

A moment later, Chiba tentatively tried using jutsu again. Before, he could only cast Earth Flow Spear ten times before exhausting all his chakra. Now he unleashed dozens in a row, and still had nearly half his chakra left.

Only then did Chiba truly grasp the enormous disparity between the two of them in terms of chakra reserves.

Still, at least he could now borrow this power.

With this much chakra, he no longer had to worry about Yahiko and the others leaving him far behind.

Just as Jiraiya had said earlier, he could greatly accelerate the development of his body's elemental affinities.

Ordinarily, there were no shortcuts to developing those affinities. He could only gradually acclimate his body through one jutsu after another.

But increasing his chakra now was undoubtedly speeding up the process by other means.

Perhaps it wouldn't be long before he developed a second affinity. A third wasn't out of the question, either.

This was undoubtedly a privilege exclusive to Jinchuriki.

Even if someone lacked talent, they could make up for their shortcomings in jutsu by training extensively, just like Naruto.

If he really had a chance to obtain Shadow Clone Jutsu, then although training with shadow clones couldn't change his body, he could use them to quickly master different chakra nature transformations and greatly increase the power of his jutsu.

Just thinking about it filled Chiba with excitement. For now, though, it was all just wishful thinking. He had no way to get Shadow Clone Jutsu, for starters. But once Jiraiya left, perhaps he could find a way to plan for it.

Seeing Chiba finally shake off the gloom of the past few days, Nagato's face brightened into a radiant smile.

The happiness of being needed and being able to help a friend was something no amount of jutsu development could compare to.

But as Chiba grew more and more excited, Jiraiya's expression gradually darkened, as if something had occurred to him.

Watching Chiba excitedly cast jutsu one after another, Jiraiya suddenly said, "I'm starting to regret teaching you this method."

"Huh?"

Chiba and Nagato both turned back in surprise, unsure why he would say that.

Jiraiya looked at Chiba seriously. "Although this method might help you develop your jutsu more quickly, it could also hold back your growth in other areas."

"You have to understand that when you trained using your own chakra, your progress was slow, but every time you performed a jutsu, you were also training your chakra and becoming more familiar with it. It might not have been obvious, but in reality, your chakra reserves and recovery rate were gradually improving."

"Besides, your control over your own chakra and your familiarity with it would have continued to improve throughout the process."

"But now..."

Jiraiya furrowed his brow.

"I don't know if I've done you a disservice. A ninja's foundation is their own chakra and physical abilities. No matter how powerful a jutsu is, it's still just an external tool. I've never heard of anyone becoming strong by relying on jutsu alone."

"If all you know is how to rely on Nagato, then I can already tell you that you'll never get past the rank of Chunin. You might be able to put up a fight when you're by Nagato's side, but I don't think you'll be of any help to him. I can say for certain that Nagato would be far more effective with the same amount of chakra than you would. You'd become completely worthless."

"Jiraiya-sensei!"

Nagato looked at Jiraiya anxiously, then turned to Chiba, his face full of panic.

He had only just seen Chiba smile again, and he didn't want Jiraiya to keep discouraging him and make him feel bad. He hurriedly tugged at Jiraiya's sleeve, his eyes full of pleading.

But Jiraiya ignored Nagato's imploring gaze and continued, looking firmly at Chiba. "I may sound harsh, but you have to understand that I'm saying this for your own good. If all you know is how to rely on Nagato, you'll become nothing more than his subordinate."

"Nagato will still be Nagato without you, but without Nagato, you'll be nothing. When that happens, the gap between you and the others will grow so wide that it'll be impossible to make up."

The mood fell silent for a moment. Chiba had only been thinking about the benefits of having a large amount of chakra; he hadn't considered that borrowing chakra this way might actually hinder the growth and recovery of his own.

But soon, Chiba pushed that concern aside.

There were many ways to increase one's chakra in the Naruto world. The most common was to become a Jinchuriki, though that came with certain risks.

Besides that, he could steal Kisame's Samehada. With the right plan, it wouldn't be a problem.

He could also develop Sealing Jutsu. And there were all those methods used by future bosses, involving supernatural beings, ley lines, and even transplanted kekkei genkai. He could make use of those, too.

Then there was natural chakra, practically a super cheat.

At worst, he could develop a Yin Seal like Tsunade's, storing chakra during ordinary days and releasing it in battle.

In an instant, Chiba thought of many things he could use.

Compared with the benefits of becoming stronger through jutsu, this small loss was nothing. Without enough power, he might not even be in a position to plan for any of those things.

Of course, he still needed a basic level of physical fitness, and he had to be careful not to overuse Nagato's chakra. He couldn't let himself become a man who was only good for three seconds, after all.

It really wouldn't do to be completely spent after just a few minutes.

After sorting out his thoughts, Chiba bowed respectfully to Jiraiya. "Thank you, Jiraiya-sensei. I'll remember what you've taught me."

"Mm."

Seeing that Chiba had taken his words to heart, Jiraiya's furrowed brow finally relaxed.

"Actually, I may have made the consequences sound worse than they are. I said all that to keep you on your guard, so you wouldn't become obsessed with outside sources of power and neglect your own chakra training."

"If you only make use of it in moderation, it's undoubtedly a good option. After all, you need both powerful jutsu and powerful chakra to become strong. Sacrificing a little of your chakra growth in exchange for stronger jutsu is a reasonable trade."

"Mm."

Chiba nodded seriously.

He understood that Jiraiya had been harsh for his own good. Someone else might not have thought things through as carefully as Jiraiya had.

But then Chiba suddenly thought of another question.