Chakra Training

"Nichigetsu? Nichigetsu, where are you? Come over here, dinner is ready." A girl's voice called out from outside the courtyard gate.

"Sister Mizuki, I'm here. Coming right away!" Hearing the voice, Nichigetsu turned and walked out of the courtyard, heading toward the house next door.

"Hurry, hurry, we're just waiting for you." A girl of about fourteen or fifteen was standing at the gate, peering out. Seeing Nichigetsu, she smiled and waved for him to come over.

This girl was Hyuga Mizuki, also a member of the Hyuga branch family. She was a Chunin and Nichigetsu's cousin. With her black ponytail, bangs framing her face, and a lovely appearance, she reminded Nichigetsu of the female students from his middle school days. In the memories of the original Nichigetsu, after his father passed away, Mizuki's family had taken responsibility for looking after him. Mizuki had always been very kind to him; the original Nichigetsu had basically lived and eaten at her house. When Nichigetsu was injured, Mizuki had stayed by his side the whole time, and she was the first person he saw after waking up. Feeling a deep sense of warmth toward the girl who treated him so well, Nichigetsu subconsciously began to view her not just as a cousin, but as his own older sister.

The two arrived at the dining table, where Mizuki's parents were already seated. They were ordinary people, not ninjas.

"Nichigetsu is here? Go wash your hands and come eat." Nichigetsu's uncle, who had been reading the newspaper at the table, set it aside and gestured kindly for Nichigetsu to sit down.

"Yes! Uncle, Aunt." Nichigetsu greeted them hurriedly.

"Come on, let's eat." His aunt walked out of the kitchen carrying a platter.

The four of them sat around the table, which was filled with delicious dishes.

"Right! Then, I'll start!" Nichigetsu rubbed his hands together and picked up his chopsticks, unable to wait any longer.

In the evening, after dinner, Hyuga Nichigetsu returned to his room. The house was quiet and felt very empty. Nichigetsu began to plan his future, pondering and summarizing the useful information he had gathered to map out his path ahead.

He already knew Japanese, and combined with the memories of the original Nichigetsu, he had no trouble communicating in this world.

Hyuga Nichigetsu, four years old, a member of the ordinary branch family. It was inferred that he had a grudge with someone in the Hyuga main family and was likely targeted for secret elimination. His relationships with other branch family members were close; several aunts and uncles often took care of him, which suggested his father's status within the branch family hadn't been low—this was the key to his survival so far. No, in truth, he had already died once; who knew if the next time would be his end? Heaven knows how many ways those people in the main family had to get rid of a thorn in their side like him!

The ninja world was currently in the era of the Second Shinobi World War. He didn't know how far it had progressed, or if the legendary battle between the Legendary Sannin and Hanzo the Salamander had already passed. In these chaotic times, if he wanted to protect himself, he had to become stronger. Improving his strength was the only way.

The first step to becoming stronger was to condense chakra, the prerequisite for becoming a ninja, then attend the Ninja Academy and graduate as a Genin. Only then would the village and the Hyuga clan value him and prevent him from dying an obscure death. Next was to build a solid foundation as a ninja: train his body, practice throwing hidden weapons, and study taijutsu, as well as the use of the Byakugan and Gentle Fist—these were of the utmost importance. Following that, he would use his medical knowledge to become a medical ninja. His mastery of medicine was his trump card, and he hoped the knowledge he possessed would greatly enhance his strength. In wartime, the value of an excellent medical ninja surpassed that of an entire squadron of ordinary ninjas. This way, even the Hyuga main family couldn't move against him easily. It would be best if he could become a student of Tsunade. As for small-time characters like Hyuga Nisshin, he would avoid them until he had the strength to deal with them.

"Then, let's see what the house has that might help me become a ninja." With that thought, Nichigetsu began rummaging through the house, searching for items related to ninja cultivation.

After spending over two hours, Nichigetsu finally found a stash of money, enough to last him half a year; he estimated it was left behind by his father for emergencies. The village also sent a monthly living allowance, which Nichigetsu knew was a pension for him as an orphan.

Nichigetsu also found two kunai, a dozen wooden shuriken for practice, and four scrolls. One scroll contained the most basic methods for chakra cultivation, the twelve hand seals, the Three Body Technique (Substitution, Clone, and Transformation), and some ways to use chakra. Another scroll held many basic Gentle Fist moves and insights. A third scroll recorded the basic usage of ninja tools and hidden weapons. The last scroll was sealed with a large number of medical books left behind by his mother, which Nichigetsu planned to read through slowly in the future.

"It's a pity there's no scroll regarding the Byakugan. It seems the Hyuga clan has gone to great lengths to protect the secrets of the Byakugan; there isn't a single piece of information on it," Nichigetsu shook his head and thought to himself.

"Then, I'll start by cultivating chakra." Nichigetsu made up his mind.

He sat cross-legged on his bed and began to cultivate chakra according to the instructions in the scroll. Chakra was a form of energy produced by combining spiritual and physical energy, the foundation of a ninja. Nichigetsu felt it was similar to the qi in Chinese internal martial arts; anyway, these things like magic, cosmos energy, or spiritual pressure were all much the same.

According to the scroll, Nichigetsu had to use his intent to extract energy from his body's cells, flow it into his meridians, and then gather it through various acupuncture points into his lower abdomen—roughly the area of the dantian. To be extracted and used, spiritual energy also had to be drawn from the brain and fused with the physical energy, condensing both into chakra. Fortunately, Nichigetsu's spiritual energy was very strong; after all, he had been a 29-year-old surgeon who could perform surgeries for over a dozen hours at a time while maintaining high mental concentration. Could his spiritual energy be anything but strong? This could be considered a small perk of his transmigration.

A few hours later, Nichigetsu grasped the trick. High-quality chakra condensed within his body, and he slowly gathered it in his abdomen. Even though it was only a sliver, he could clearly feel the chakra flowing through his meridians and slowly pooling in his lower abdomen. Nichigetsu slowly opened his eyes and let out a long breath.

If anyone saw Nichigetsu cultivate chakra in just a few hours, their jaws would surely drop. Even for a genius, it would take at least three days to condense chakra; after all, most people never possessed chakra in their entire lives. Nichigetsu wasn't surprised by his speed, feeling only satisfied.

"It seems that as I become more proficient in cultivating chakra, my body will naturally refine it, and both the speed and quality will improve. With more practice, my chakra reserves will also grow," Nichigetsu nodded, feeling the chakra within his body.

He tried moving, feeling good, and then attempted to make the chakra circulate to various parts of his body, which proved more difficult. However, knowing he hadn't yet learned how to utilize chakra and seeing that it was getting late, Nichigetsu planned his training for the next day and went to rest.

Early the next morning, Nichigetsu began his physical training. A good physique could refine more chakra, and physical exercise could also enhance his taijutsu. He went to a nearby small forest and started with running. In his previous life, he didn't run often, but now he had to make up for the lack of exercise. His body was too weak, so he could only train gradually, running laps with varying speeds—jogging for endurance and sprinting for explosive power. He was panting after not running for long, but he gritted his teeth and persisted. After resting when exhausted, he continued with other exercises: push-ups, sit-ups, and frog jumps. If he couldn't finish a set, he would split it into two.

Of course, being only a four-year-old child, Nichigetsu tried to avoid overexertion that might damage his joints; pulling up seedlings to help them grow was not the way. Having lived another life, Nichigetsu paid great attention to his health and didn't want to die of overwork again. He found that the environment of the ninja world was indeed excellent, with dense trees, fresh air, and high-quality water sources. The people of this world had much better physiques than modern people. His stamina recovered quite quickly after intense exercise.

Next was refining chakra. Nichigetsu discovered that as he refined it, the amount of chakra increased bit by bit. During his breaks, he also practiced hand seals. Perhaps hand seals weren't of much use to a Hyuga ninja—after all, Gentle Fist and Eight Trigrams Palms didn't require them—but Nichigetsu didn't think so. Hand seals were the foundation, and foundations had to be solid. Gentle Fist might not need them, but what if he learned sealing techniques later? Sealing techniques required hand seals. Summoning techniques required hand seals. His goal was to become a medical ninja; surely the Strength of a Hundred Technique would require hand seals? Rather than waiting until he needed them to sharpen his spear, it was better to lay a solid foundation now.

After finishing his morning training, Nichigetsu went to the market to buy daily necessities. He also visited a pharmacy. The medicinal herbs in this world were somewhat different from his previous life; there were many things he had never heard of, and some herbs were the same but had different names. After careful identification, he bought some. Upon returning home, he soaked in a medicinal bath in a large wooden tub. The bath didn't have the heaven-defying "marrow-cleansing and bone-forging" effects found in novels, but it could soothe fatigue, repair strain, promote metabolism, and clear meridians, preventing him from overexerting his body. Medicinal baths were a part of thousands of years of Chinese medical heritage, and Nichigetsu knew a thing or two about them. He wanted to build his body as quickly as possible, so he naturally wanted to utilize their benefits. It seemed the effect of the medicinal bath was far better than a hot spring.

After the bath, Nichigetsu went to Mizuki's house to tell her he would be undergoing training and wouldn't be coming over for dinner for a few days. Mizuki was curious about what kind of "training" he was doing and worried that he was too young to take care of himself. However, seeing his confident expression and knowing she had her own missions to attend to, she thought it might be good for him to train independently and didn't say anything more.

"Nichigetsu, I have to go on a B-rank mission that requires a long journey. I might be gone for a few months. Take care of yourself, and come to your uncle's for dinner when you have time," Mizuki said earnestly.

"Yes! Sister, take care of yourself. Maybe when you come back, I'll have a surprise for you," Nichigetsu said with a faint, confident smile.

"Oh? Then I'll be looking forward to it," Mizuki said, smiling as she patted her younger brother's head.