The next morning, Uchiha Mika took Uchiha Cheng to a mountainous area on the outskirts of the village.
The air was fresh, birds sang, and flowers bloomed. The sun had just risen, and the lingering chill of the night made it impossible not to feel invigorated.
Naturally, Uchiha Mika wholeheartedly supported her child's wish to learn ninjutsu. Though she had hoped to let him rest for a while longer, Uchiha Cheng pleaded so insistently that she reluctantly agreed. Still, she had never intended for her child to protect her.
She had already made up her mind about that beast.
To help Uchiha Cheng, she had specifically chosen this place. Its peaceful, beautiful scenery would help calm his mind and make it an ideal spot for training.
Fortunately, she had taken a long leave from the hospital to care for her child, which meant she had extra time to guide him in his training.
"The scenery here really is nice..."
Uchiha Cheng stretched. He had gotten up early, and he was still sleepy.
Thanks to the regenerative abilities of the Senju Bloodline, though he had been hovering between life and death just yesterday, today he had already made a full recovery.
"Mom, why aren't we going to the Uchiha Clan's Training Ground? Why come all the way out here instead?"
Uchiha Mika found a relatively flat rock, spread out a mat, and explained.
"The first step in learning ninjutsu is learning how to refine chakra. When refining chakra, a calm mind is crucial.
"The Uchiha Clan's Training Ground is often busy with people coming and going. It's suitable for learning ninjutsu, but for someone like you, who's learning to refine chakra, a quieter environment will be more effective."
When she finished, she beckoned Uchiha Cheng over and had him sit cross-legged on the mat. Then she began explaining the various key points of chakra refinement.
To help him understand, Uchiha Mika had prepared everything in great detail.
As his mother explained, Uchiha Cheng learned more about chakra refinement.
First of all, chakra wasn't like the inner energy in the martial arts novels he knew, which was stored in the dantian and drawn from there during a fight.
Chakra couldn't be stored without a special secret technique. If refined chakra wasn't used, it would gradually dissipate over time, even if it was in the chakra pathways.
Under normal circumstances, chakra was refined as needed and used immediately.
Of course, a ninja could also create a large amount of chakra before a battle, allowing them to use it directly during the fight without having to split their attention to refine more.
However, that would also waste chakra, since no one could predict when a battle would begin. A short wait was fine, but if too much time passed, the chakra would dissipate.
For this reason, the ability to refine a large amount of chakra in an instant was also one of the standards by which a ninja's skill was measured.
Jonin like Kakashi Hatake in the original story could fight fiercely against their enemies while generating large amounts of chakra and using all kinds of ninjutsu.
In contrast, there was Naruto Uzumaki when he first met Uchiha Itachi. He stood there for ages, struggling to produce enough chakra, only for Kisame Hoshigaki to swallow it all up with a single slash.
Second, chakra was the product of mixing spiritual energy and physical energy in equal amounts. A calm mind helped with chakra training.
Simply put, chakra was refined by mixing spiritual energy and physical energy inside the body in a spiral motion.
Uchiha Mika explained a great deal, going through every little trick in detail. She was afraid she might forget something and hinder Uchiha Cheng's training.