A powerful bloodline meant an enormous amount of chakra. The best examples were the First Hokage, Naruto, and Sasuke.
Gong Yi rejected the first option before he'd even taken the first step.
He didn't have a bloodline.
What about a Tailed Beast?
As far as Gong Yi could remember, no one who had a Tailed Beast inside them and became a Jinchuriki had ever lacked chakra.
Even Gaara, the One-Tail Jinchuriki, could use advanced Ninjutsu repeatedly during the Chunin Ninja Exams. He'd even unleashed a large-scale technique capable of destroying an entire forest.
The amount of chakra he'd used in his fight against Kimimaro would have overwhelmed even an ordinary Jonin!
Gong Yi didn't dismiss this option outright.
"I'm too weak to capture a Tailed Beast right now, but that doesn't mean I won't be able to in the future. As for the negative effects of a Tailed Beast running wild..."
Gong Yi wasn't particularly afraid of them.
He believed that with enough mental strength and sufficient power, he could tame a Tailed Beast.
By the later stages, Jinchuriki from the One-Tail to the Nine-Tails had all managed to tame their Tailed Beasts.
Of course, the Tailed Beast option was for the future—perhaps the distant future. For now, Gong Yi had to set it aside.
He turned his attention to Sage Mode.
But after thinking it over, Gong Yi shook his head.
From beginning to end, there were only three places in the Naruto world where one could learn Sage Mode.
They were Mount Myōboku, Ryūchi Cave, and Shikkotsu Forest.
The three regions were home to three kinds of Summoning Beasts: toads, snakes, and slugs.
In other words, to learn Sage Mode, he first had to master the Summoning Technique and sign a Summoning Contract with one of those three clans.
And that was only the price of admission.
Sage Mode was notoriously difficult to learn.
Even Jiraiya's Sage Mode was incomplete. He still needed two Toad Sages to absorb chakra for him.
Gong Yi had no choice but to abandon that option too. At last, he focused on building an exceptionally strong body.
"Chakra is extracted by combining physical energy with spiritual energy. The stronger those two are, the more chakra you can extract, and the higher your limit!"
"In other words, if I train my body until it's strong enough and build up my mental strength, I'll have a chance to gain a massive amount of chakra."
Gong Yi hadn't reached this conclusion on a whim.
He knew that people like this really existed in the Naruto world.
Might Guy, for example, was in the same class as him!
Through day after day of relentless training, Guy had built a terrifying physique. He could even open all Eight Gates and nearly kick Six Paths Madara to death during the Fourth Shinobi World War.
Don't assume Guy was using only Taijutsu. Those final few kicks also contained a huge amount of chakra.
Just imagine how much chakra it took to nearly kick Six Paths Madara to death!
If that example seemed too extreme, the Akimichi Clan was another good model.
The clan members loved to eat and were all quite fat, but in battle, they could absorb physical energy and unleash tremendous power.
That was another way an exceptionally strong body could produce explosive chakra.
After all, Choji Akimichi had grown thinner and become much stronger during the later battles. There was no denying it.
After thinking it through, Gong Yi made his decision.
Rather than follow the Akimichi Clan's path, he chose Might Guy's.
An excessively bulky body would draw too much attention and make him less agile. And without the Akimichi Clan's secret techniques, quickly converting all that body fat into chakra would be a real problem.
Guy's path, on the other hand, was one Gong Yi could follow.
It was just training, after all!
Besides, he already had a system task waiting for him: Undying Xiaoqiang!
Gong Yi glanced at the Scholar System. The task was already halfway complete.
By his estimate, he'd finish it in a few months.
But that wasn't his goal.
"Since I have the Recovery Technique, I can increase my training load even more—as long as I can endure the pain!"
Even after making up his mind, Gong Yi still couldn't sleep easily.
Staring at the dark ceiling with his eyes wide open, he thought about how the future would unfold in this world.
"The Third Shinobi World War should break out soon. At my age, there's a good chance I'll end up taking part."
"Building an exceptionally strong body isn't something I can do in a few days. Before the war begins, I need to make myself stronger in other ways!"
"My limited chakra capacity is holding back my progress."
Unable to sleep, Gong Yi sat up.
"If I can't raise my limit quickly, why not try reducing the amount of chakra each Ninjutsu requires?"
The instant Gong Yi had this thought, a long-awaited "Ding!" rang out in his mind.
First Research Project: Reduce the chakra required for the C-rank Ninjutsu Earth Style Wall by half! Reward: Ten Scholar Points! (Scholar Points can be used to redeem Scholar Skills or upgrade Scholar Skills you already possess.)
Before you continue