The Power of One-Tail

Hatake Sakumo felt his student's sincerity, moved in his heart yet filled with a sense of melancholy.

This time, he did not offer thanks, but instead stood up: "Let's go, I will accompany you both in your training."

Genma's heart finally settled.

Immediately after, he glanced at the Setting Collection, and his expression nearly crumbled.

Hiss!

I'm rich!

During the subsequent training, Genma was clearly distracted, and it wasn't until he took a beating from Kakashi that he reined in his focus and began to train in earnest.

After lunch, Genma and Kakashi were shooed off to the academy by Hatake Sakumo.

However, attending class was out of the question.

Using a Shadow Clone to stand in for them, Genma and Kakashi snuck off to train on their own.

It was the same old spot.

Slipping into the woods, Genma immediately turned his attention to the Setting Collection.

He had previously possessed 1 point of Setting Value, but now it was... 10!

In other words, changing the fate of his teacher, Hatake Sakumo, had granted him 9 points of Setting Value in one go.

It was simply terrifying.

However, after checking the logs, he understood.

Changing the death of his teacher, Hatake Sakumo, had simultaneously changed Kakashi.

For Kakashi, his father's suicide was the first major upheaval and turning point in his life.

Adding the two together, was 9 points of Setting Value really that much?

Genma didn't think it was much at all.

However, now that he was suddenly so wealthy, he had to carefully consider how to make the best use of it.

"First, I still need to solve the issue of chakra volume; it is the most fundamental and the most critical."

"Take the present, for example: if I had more chakra, I could use Shadow Clones to grind experience, and the progress of the Wood Release Chakra Mode would also accelerate."

At the moment, the Wood Release Chakra Mode was not suitable for actual combat, but Genma clearly felt the changes in his body and had high expectations for the future, making it worth the time investment.

Returning to the issue of chakra volume, with more Setting Value available, the options for how to proceed had expanded.

For instance, there was the option he hadn't chosen as a first priority before: directly modifying the chakra volume setting.

Another was the long-term approach: further modifying the Chakra Refinement Technique.

Yet another was adding new setting items, such as stamina or physique.

Previously, with little Setting Value, Genma had to choose cautiously.

But now... he wanted it all!

"Impulse is the devil; I can't act recklessly."

Genma struggled to restrain himself.

He thought carefully and realized that increasing physique or stamina settings wasn't a good choice, or rather, compared to directly increasing chakra volume, the cost-effectiveness wasn't as high, and it would be redundant.

Because an increase in chakra volume would inevitably bring about an increase in stamina and even mental energy.

If he increased stamina or physique, he might eventually have to add a setting for mental energy as well.

By directly and continuously modifying the chakra volume setting, he could basically increase stamina and mental energy at the same time.

Physique and stamina were crossed off!

"Of course I must consider the long term, but I must also consider the urgent needs of the present."

Genma already had ideas regarding the subsequent modifications to the Chakra Refinement Technique.

He could currently refine the power of plant and animal cells into chakra, and the next step would be natural energy.

However, it was foreseeable that even if he could absorb natural energy to refine it into chakra, he would still need to gradually transform his body step by step.

A simple Sage Mode, without a sufficient chakra base, would not be much more practical than his current Wood Release Chakra Mode.

"For the present and the future, I want both!"

With 10 points of Setting Value in hand, Genma felt very confident.

He first cast his gaze upon the chakra column.

Chakra: 1 Kakashi (Setting modifiable)

In terms of stamina, Genma was already on par with Kakashi.

And he was gradually surpassing him; this was the result of the 1.0 version of the Chakra Refinement Technique, or rather, the Wood Release Chakra Mode.

So, how much should he modify it to?

Or perhaps, should he find a benchmark?

Take someone like Jiraiya, the pinnacle of civilian ninjas, whose Setting Value for stamina is 10; he is essentially a mini-tailed beast.

Similar cases include Hidan and the "tailless tailed beast," Kisame.

Suddenly, a thought struck Genma: why not use tailed beasts as the unit of measurement for chakra volume?

From the One-Tail to the Nine-Tails, the chakra magnitude increases steadily.

Without tailed-beast-level chakra, how can one even claim to be cheating?

However, if he were to pull his chakra directly to the level of a tailed beast, even just the One-Tail Shukaku, he wasn't sure if a Setting Value of 10 would be enough.

After all, Genma currently possessed 1 "Kakashi" of chakra, but that unit was based only on 7-year-old Kakashi.

After some deliberation, Genma decided to test the waters first.

He started by benchmarking against Jiraiya—Jiraiya at his peak.

Huh? It only required 5 points of Setting Value.

What about the power of the One-Tail?

8 points!

A surge of heat swept through his entire body, and every cell seemed to be cheering.

There were no visible changes on the surface of his body, but as the settings were modified, a heaven-shaking transformation occurred within Genma.

His body was reshaped by an invisible force, and his physical strength climbed steadily.

When everything finally calmed down, Genma felt terrifyingly strong.

He immediately raised his hand to weave signs, and as smoke billowed, shadow clones appeared—nine in total.

Although he hadn't learned the Multi Shadow Clone Technique, he had mastered the basic Shadow Clone Technique, and with his astonishing control over chakra, performing the Multi Shadow Clone Technique was incredibly simple.

At Genma's command, the nine shadow clones set off to collect plant chakra.

After a moment of thought, Genma attempted to condense Yin Release chakra.

Previously, due to physical limitations, his Yin Release chakra ratio could only reach 7:3, but now, supported by a massive amount of physical stamina, he wanted to see what he was capable of.

7.5:2.5, no problem.

8:2, also no problem.

But Genma felt his mental energy approaching its limit.

Sure enough, pushing further to 8.2:1.8 was the absolute limit.

If he continued, even if his mental energy could hold up, he felt that once the refined chakra was exhausted, he would surely die from mental depletion.

"I wonder if this ratio is stronger, weaker, or on par with the Yin Release chakra of the Mangekyou Sharingan possessed by the Uchiha Clan?"

Genma was filled with anticipation, then dispersed all the Yin Release chakra he had just refined.

Next, he began to refine Yang Release chakra.

His previous limit had been 6:4.

Trying again now, Genma pushed the ratio directly to 7:3—meaning 7 parts physical strength to 3 parts mental energy. This required a much tougher mental will to fuse a small amount of mental energy with a large amount of physical stamina, all while maintaining control.

Furthermore, the required physical and mental energy would increase significantly.

For instance, while normal chakra refinement is 1:1, Genma could currently refine chakra using a hair-thin amount of mental energy and a hair-thin amount of physical strength.

But when converted to 7:3 Yang Release chakra, he couldn't simply use 7 hair-thin strands of physical strength and 3 hair-thin strands of mental energy to refine it.

It required more than ten thousand times that amount.

That was why Genma's physical stamina hadn't been enough last time.

Now that he had sufficient stamina, he accomplished it with ease.

However, Genma also discovered that he couldn't control this level of Yang Release chakra as smoothly.

"If I use this level of Yang Release chakra to heal myself, I will be just like Senju Hashirama—unable to control the healing with precision."

Feeling the powerful Yang Release chakra within him, Genma's expression turned solemn.

A lack of control meant that in this state, even the slightest injury would trigger Seal-less Healing through cell division.

It was just like Senju Hashirama, or rather, Tsunade's Yin Seal combined with the Strength of a Hundred Technique and Creation Rebirth.

This was over-healing!

"This requires super-strong control to flexibly adjust the intensity of the chakra's nature transformation, and in the heat of battle, one must also have enough mental focus to layer the healing... This is truly difficult, incredibly difficult."

Genma furrowed his brows. He had previously thought Senju Hashirama's passive Seal-less Healing and over-healing were due to an innate constitution that made precise control impossible, but it seemed that wasn't the whole story.