Choosing a Chakra Nature

Madara sat leisurely on a stone stool, his right hand gently cradling a steaming cup of tea, his gaze resting calmly on Qile, who was swinging his blade with great effort not far ahead.

Qile gripped the hilt with both hands, each swing seemingly draining every ounce of his strength; sweat streamed down his forehead, soaking through his clothes.

When Qile finally finished his two-hundredth swing with great difficulty, Madara gave a slight nod and spoke: "That is enough. Two hundred swings a day will suffice from now on. Rest for a moment, then we shall practice hand seals. Also, remember: train before you eat."

Hearing Madara's words, Qile let out a long breath, then collapsed onto the ground like a deflated ball. He didn't try to act tough this time; he truly did not want to pass out again.

Ignoring his appearance, he raised his hand to quickly wipe the beads of sweat from his forehead, gasping for air.

Just then, a figure moved like a gentle breeze to Qile's side. It was Yeling, holding a towel, which she handed to him.

Qile gave Yeling a grateful look before taking the towel to wipe the sweat from his face and neck. Once he was dry, Yeling reached into her robes and pulled out a piece of paper.

"This is Chakra Induction Paper; it can be used to detect your chakra nature. You need only channel your chakra into it," Madara explained.

Qile curiously took the seemingly ordinary paper and examined it closely. However, no matter how he turned it, he could find nothing special about it.

Thus, Qile hesitated no longer. He took a deep breath, focused his mind, and slowly channeled his chakra into the seemingly plain test paper.

In the very next instant, the paper he held in his hand suddenly split down the center without warning.

The crack was thin at first, but in the blink of an eye, it expanded rapidly, as if torn apart by an invisible force.

Following that, the entire paper began to wrinkle significantly; the once smooth surface became uneven and distorted, as if subjected to intense pressure.

Finally, the paper burst into flames!

Seeing this, Madara gently set down his teacup and spoke slowly: "It appears you possess three different chakra natures: Lightning, Fire, and Wind." He paused slightly, seemingly surprised and taken aback by the result.

One must understand that within their Uchiha clan, if a tribesman successfully cultivates chakra, the nature is most likely to be Fire, followed by the possibility of Lightning. A relatively rare nature like Wind is indeed quite uncommon.

"Beyond that, I must remind you that in addition to the chakra natures you are born with, you can also comprehend and master other natures through later cultivation. However, acquired natures are never as compatible as those you are born with..."

Madara paused for a moment, his gaze sweeping over Qile, who remained in a daze, staring blankly at the burning paper, before continuing:

"These are matters for the future. For now, the most critical and important thing for you is to establish a path of cultivation. My suggestion is to choose either Fire or Lightning as your primary focus. What say you?"

Coming back to his senses, Qile quickly shifted his gaze from the ashes of the burnt paper to Madara. After hesitating for a while, he cautiously asked, "Um... could I focus on both Fire and Lightning?"

"You can, but doing so will require you to spend twice, perhaps even several times, the amount of time on your training compared to others." Madara nodded slightly, signaling his agreement, but did not forget to offer a warning.

Hearing this, Qile simply nodded without a word.

In truth, he was thinking that since he had Madara, a master of Fire Style, right here, learning Fire Style was a necessity.

However, he found it difficult to let go of Chidori and its related series of ninjutsu, so he decided it would be better to cultivate both.

"Very well, begin practicing hand seals. You must know that hand seals are different from standing meditation or swinging a blade; they must strictly follow the standard forms," Madara said. With that, he took the long, thin whip from the side and placed it gently on the table before him.

Seeing this, Qile's eyes widened. His gaze fell first on the whip, then shifted to Madara, who was leisurely sipping tea. After a long while, he stammered, "Um... could you give me a standard example? To be honest, my knowledge of hand seal gestures is not comprehensive..."

Faced with Qile's request, Madara seemed to have anticipated it. The corners of his mouth curled up slightly as he turned to look at Yeling, who stood quietly to the side, and said aloud, "Yeling!"

"Ah? Yeling, you actually know how to perform hand seals? Does that mean you are a ninja?" Qile shouted in astonishment, his voice filled with disbelief.

He stared at Yeling with wide, incredulous eyes.

A ninja acting as a maid? He couldn't quite grasp it...

This massive contrast was hard for him to accept; he had always assumed Yeling was just an ordinary girl.

At this moment, facing Qile's shock, Yeling merely smiled slightly. After a small bow, she stood quietly by his side and began to demonstrate the hand seal gestures.

Qile took a deep breath, steadied himself, and began to mimic Yeling's hand seals.

However, for a beginner, copying the movements wasn't the hard part; the difficulty lay in the fact that after only a few tries, his hands would cramp, and his form would become sloppy.

Whenever that happened, a whip like a black snake would flash through the air, followed by a stinging pain in his back—he had been whipped again.

Although the sudden punishment made Qile wince, he knew well that this was a necessary part of the learning process.

Furthermore, it was fortunate that Qile possessed a rather good memory.

After enduring Madara's strict "whip education," it didn't take long for him to clearly memorize all the standard hand seal gestures.

What remained was to practice tirelessly day after day until the movements became fluid and natural.

Watching from the side, Madara saw that Qile had mastered the standard seals and nodded with satisfaction.

He slowly set down his teacup, stood up, and said indifferently: "That is all for today. Take him to soak in the medicinal bath." Before the words had even faded, Madara turned to leave, leaving only Qile and Yeling behind.

"Hey, hey, hey! Lord Madara, wait... ah! Don't hit me, don't hit me, I was wrong, I was wrong! Clan Leader!!!" Seeing Madara about to leave, Qile panicked and let his tongue slip again.

Yet, this shout earned him two ruthless lashes across his poor backside.

Qile winced in pain, clutching his rear tightly with both hands, hopping about while grimacing; it was clearly quite painful.

However, Madara, who had turned back, remained expressionless, staring quietly at Qile to see what he would do next.

Seeing this, Qile ignored the stinging pain in his backside. He wore a fawning smile, bowing and scraping as he said, "Hehehe, Clan Leader, could you spare a little bit of pocket money? Not much, just a tiny bit will do..." As he spoke, he held up his right thumb and index finger, showing a tiny gap to indicate how little he needed.