Chakra Training

"Riyue? Riyue, where are you? Come on over; dinner's ready," a girl called from outside the courtyard gate.

"Big Sister Mizuki, I'm here. I'll be right there!" Hearing her voice, Riyue turned and walked out through the courtyard gate, heading to the house next door.

"Come on, hurry up. We're just waiting for you," a girl of about fourteen or fifteen called, standing at the entrance and looking around. When she saw Riyue, she smiled, waved him over, and urged him to hurry.

The girl was named Hyuga Mizuki, and she was also a member of the Hyuga Branch Family. A Chunin, she was Riyue's cousin. Her black hair was tied in a ponytail, with two locks hanging down beside her face. Her lovely features reminded Riyue of the schoolgirls from his middle school days. In the original Riyue's memories, after his father passed away, Mizuki's family had taken care of him. Mizuki had always treated him well, and the original Riyue had spent most of his time eating and living at her house. When he was injured, Mizuki had stayed by his side the whole time. She had also been the first person Riyue saw after waking up. He felt close to Mizuki, who had treated him kindly, and without realizing it, he had come to see her as his cousin—or rather, as his older sister.

The two of them went to the dining table, where Mizuki's parents were already waiting. They were ordinary civilians, not ninjas.

"Riyue's here? Go wash your hands and come eat," Riyue's uncle said. He had been sitting at the table reading the newspaper, but set it down when Riyue arrived and warmly gestured for him to sit.

"Hello, Uncle and Auntie!" Riyue hurriedly greeted them.

"Come on, let's eat," his aunt said, coming out of the kitchen with a plate.

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

"Mm! Let's eat!" Riyue rubbed his hands together and eagerly picked up his chopsticks.

That evening, after dinner, Hyuga Riyue returned to his room. The house was quiet and seemed terribly empty. Riyue began planning for the future, reflecting on and organizing the useful information he had gathered as he mapped out his path ahead:

He already knew Japanese, and with the original Riyue's memories as well, he had no trouble communicating in this world.

Hyuga Riyue was four years old, an ordinary member of the Branch Family. He suspected that he had enemies among certain members of the Main Family, and that they might have secretly tried to eliminate him. He was close to the other members of the Branch Family; several aunts and uncles often looked after him. It seemed his father had held a respected position in the Hyuga Branch Family, which was the key reason he had survived this long. No—he had actually already died once. There was no telling if he would be doomed next time. Who knew how many ways the Main Family had to get rid of a thorn in their side like him?

The Naruto world was probably in the middle of the Second Shinobi World War. He had no idea how far the fighting had progressed, or whether the famous battle between the Konoha Sannin and Hanzo the Salamander had already happened. To protect himself in this time of chaos, he had to grow stronger. Improving his abilities was the only way.

The first step toward becoming stronger was to mold chakra. It was a prerequisite for becoming a ninja. After that, he would attend the Ninja Academy and graduate as a Genin. Then Konoha and the Hyuga Clan would take him seriously and wouldn't let him die for no reason. Next, he needed to build a solid foundation as a ninja, strengthen his body, practice throwing weapons, and learn Taijutsu, as well as how to use the Byakugan and Gentle Fist. Those were the most important things. After that, he would use his medical expertise to become a medical ninja. His knowledge of medicine was his trump card, and he hoped it would greatly boost his strength. During wartime, an excellent medical ninja was worth more than an entire squad of ordinary ninjas. That way, even the Hyuga Main Family wouldn't be able to dispose of him casually. It would be best if he could become Tsunade's disciple. As for minor figures like Hyuga Nisshin, he would avoid them whenever possible until he was strong enough.

"Then I should see what I have at home that could help me become a ninja." With that thought, Riyue began searching through the house for anything related to ninja training.

It took Riyue more than two hours, but he eventually found some money, enough to last him half a year. His father had probably left it at home for emergencies. The village also sent him some living expenses each month; Riyue knew it was the relief money the village provided for orphans like him.

Riyue also found two kunai, a dozen wooden practice shuriken, and four scrolls. One scroll contained the most basic chakra training method, the twelve Hand Seals, the Three Basic Techniques—Substitution Technique, Clone Technique, and Transformation Technique—and several ways to use chakra. Another described basic Gentle Fist moves and contained notes on the art. A third explained the basic use of ninja tools and concealed weapons. The last scroll was sealed with a large collection of medical books left behind by Riyue's mother. He planned to read them all in time.

"Too bad there's no scroll about the Byakugan. The Hyuga Clan must have gone to great lengths to protect its secrets. There isn't a single bit of information about the Byakugan," Riyue thought with a shake of his head.

"Then I'll start training my chakra," Riyue decided.

Riyue sat cross-legged on his bed and began training his chakra according to the scroll's instructions. Chakra was a form of energy produced by combining spiritual and physical energy, and it was the foundation of a ninja's abilities. Riyue thought it was much like the true energy of Chinese internal martial arts. Magic, ki, spiritual pressure, and the like all seemed more or less the same...

According to the scroll, Riyue had to use his will to draw energy from his body's cells and guide it into his chakra pathways. From there, it would pass through various pressure points and gather in his lower abdomen, somewhere around the dantian, he supposed. The energy could then be drawn upon and used. Spiritual energy was extracted from the brain and combined with the physical energy to form chakra. Fortunately, Riyue's spiritual energy was powerful. After all, he had once been a twenty-nine-year-old surgeon who could perform operations for over ten hours straight, remaining intensely focused every moment. How could his spiritual energy not be strong? That was one small perk of being reincarnated.

A few hours later, Riyue had mastered the method. He had formed a high-quality chakra within his body and slowly gathered it in his abdomen. There was only a tiny amount, but he could clearly feel it flowing through his chakra pathways before gradually pooling in his lower abdomen. Riyue slowly opened his eyes and let out a long breath.

If anyone had seen Riyue form chakra in just a few hours, their jaw would have dropped. Even the most talented people needed at least three days to form chakra; after all, most people never had any chakra in their entire lives. Riyue, however, wasn't particularly surprised that he had managed it in a few hours. He was simply satisfied.

"It looks like, as I get more experienced at training chakra, my body will start extracting it naturally, and both the speed and quality will improve. The more I train, the more chakra I'll have." Riyue nodded as he felt the chakra within him.

Riyue tried moving around and felt fine. Then he tried moving his chakra to different parts of his body, but that proved more difficult. He knew he hadn't learned how to use chakra yet. Since it was getting late, he planned out the next day's training and then went to bed.

Early the next morning, Riyue began exercising. A strong physique would let him produce more chakra, and exercising would also improve his Taijutsu. He went to a nearby grove and started with a run. He hadn't run often in his previous life, so now he was making up for all that missed exercise. His body was too frail, so he could only build it up gradually. He alternated his pace, jogging to build endurance and sprinting to improve his explosive power. He soon grew so tired he was gasping for breath, but Riyue gritted his teeth and kept going. After he was completely exhausted, he rested for a while before moving on to push-ups, sit-ups, and frog jumps. When he couldn't manage a full set, he split it into two.

Of course, he was only four years old, so Riyue tried not to overdo it and injure his joints. There was no point in rushing things and doing more harm than good. Having been given another life, he took his health seriously and had no desire to die of overwork again. Riyue found that the environment in the Naruto world really was pleasant: thick woods, fresh air, and clean water. The people here were also much fitter than modern people. After strenuous exercise, he recovered much faster, too.

Next, he trained his chakra. Riyue found that the more he practiced, the more chakra he accumulated. During his breaks, he also practiced Hand Seals. They might not be very useful to Hyuga ninjas, since Gentle Fist and Eight Trigrams Palms didn't require Hand Seals, but Riyue didn't agree. Hand Seals were fundamental, and fundamentals had to be solid. Gentle Fist might not need them, but perhaps he would learn Sealing Jutsu someday, and that would surely require Hand Seals. Summoning Jutsu would need them, too. Riyue wanted to become a medical ninja, and he would need Hand Seals for the Strength of a Hundred Technique as well. Rather than cramming at the last minute when he needed them, he would build a solid foundation now.

After finishing his morning workout, Riyue went to the market and bought many daily necessities. He also stopped by an apothecary. The medicinal herbs in this world were somewhat different from those in his previous life. There were many he had never heard of, and some familiar ones had different names. After carefully identifying them, he bought several herbs. When he got home, he soaked in a large wooden tub filled with medicinal herbs. The bath didn't have any miraculous "marrow cleansing and bone reforging" effects like the ones in novels. It could soothe fatigue, repair strain, promote metabolism, and improve circulation, helping prevent Riyue from overworking and harming his body. Medicinal baths were part of thousands of years of Chinese medical tradition, and Riyue knew a little about them. Since he wanted to get his body into shape quickly, he naturally made use of their benefits. The bath proved far more effective than soaking in a hot spring.

After his medicinal bath, Riyue went to Mizuki's house and told her he was going to train, so he wouldn't be coming over for meals for the next few days. Mizuki was curious about what sort of "training" Riyue planned to do and worried he was too young to look after himself. But he seemed so confident, and she had missions of her own to handle. Thinking it would be good for him to learn some independence, she didn't say anything.

"Riyue, I have to take a B-Rank Mission that'll send me far from home, and I might be gone for months. Take care of yourself, and come have dinner at your uncle's whenever you can," Mizuki said earnestly.

"Okay! Be careful, Sis. I might have a surprise for you by the time you get back." Riyue smiled calmly, brimming with confidence.

"Oh? Then I'll look forward to it," Mizuki said with a smile, ruffling her little brother's hair.