At dawn, the eastern sky had just begun to pale, and the sun was slowly rising.
Naraku walked into the courtyard wearing a black training outfit, a scroll in his hand.
"So this is how you extract chakra," Naraku murmured.
Minato had taught him how to do it yesterday, along with some other information that he wouldn't be able to use just yet.
I should've come clean to him sooner, he thought to himself.
Then he turned his attention to the scroll.
It contained some information about chakra.
Chakra was a form of energy produced by combining the various types of energy within the body. It was the source of energy used to perform ninjutsu, genjutsu, and Taijutsu, as well as to create threadlike bindings to restrain opponents or cut through substances composed of chakra. Generally speaking, it was a product of mixing mental and physical energy in equal measure.
The physical energy generated by the 130 trillion cells in the body, combined with the mental energy everyone was born with, formed chakra.
After extracting chakra from within their bodies, ninjas formed Hand Seals to perform ninjutsu.
By that logic, everyone had mental and physical energy inside them. Some people simply couldn't combine the two, and they were destined to never become ninjas.
Naraku noticed that a diagram showing how chakra flowed through the human body was included at the end of the scroll.
He put the scroll away. By then, Naraku had a basic understanding of chakra. He closed his eyes and began carefully sensing the physical and mental energy within him.
As a member of the Uzumaki Clan, his naturally powerful chakra wasn't just a rumor. It took him only ten minutes to sense the physical energy hidden within his cells.
The mental energy was even easier for him to sense.
With his eyes closed, Naraku could clearly feel the two types of energy within him. Suddenly, his brow furrowed. He sensed that his mental energy was far stronger than his physical energy.
But he soon understood why. After all, he had been reincarnated. Though his body was only five years old, he possessed the soul of an adult.
Mental energy must be closely connected to the soul, Naraku thought.
Looks like I'm a genius after all.
Next, he had to combine the mental and physical energy.
"Phew!"
He let out a soft breath and focused even more intently. Following the special method of guidance, he first drew out a certain amount of physical energy, then called forth roughly the same amount of mental energy. Once the two were in similar proportions, he began to manipulate them, making them fuse together.
Soon, the fusion succeeded, and a brand-new, pale blue energy appeared in his hand.
At the sight of it, Naraku smiled. His eyes snapped open. "Looks like I did it."
But just as he was about to examine the blue energy in his hand, it quickly disappeared.
"Uh..."
Naraku gave an awkward smile. He knew it was because he had so little chakra. The physical energy he had just fused amounted to less than one percent, while the mental energy amounted to less than one-thousandth.
Naraku wasn't discouraged. He had already succeeded once. The rest was just a matter of steady effort and time.
Then he closed his eyes and continued extracting chakra.
Creak!
He didn't open his eyes until Minato pushed open the door and walked into the courtyard. Blue energy flickered across Naraku's body.
"You're... extracting chakra?" Though it had only lasted for an instant, Minato had noticed it.
A flicker of surprise crossed his face. But when he remembered that Naraku belonged to the Uzumaki Clan, known for their large chakra reserves, he understood.
He deliberately ignored the fact that Naraku had been reincarnated. There were too many things that couldn't be explained, and Minato didn't pursue them. In his eyes, Naraku was still their little brother.
Otherwise, the fact that a reincarnated person didn't know how to extract chakra or use ninjutsu would have been enough to warrant an investigation.
"Looks like our Naraku's a genius after all," Minato said with a smile.
"A genius, of course! He's my little brother," Kushina cut in before Naraku could reply.
The three of them enjoyed a hearty breakfast together. Then, as usual, Minato used the Body Flicker Technique to leave.
Kakashi appeared in the courtyard right on time as well. His mission was to protect Kushina whenever Minato was away.
"Hey, Kai's here." Naraku was in a good mood after successfully extracting chakra, so he teased Kakashi.
"Uh..." Kakashi rolled his eye helplessly.
He was genuinely baffled by the nickname "Kai." He didn't want to accept it, but Naraku had been calling him that for years, so he had gradually gotten used to it.
Perhaps because Kakashi often visited Minato's home, and Naraku had made a point of spending time with him, his personality was now much better than in the original story. He was still quiet most of the time, but occasionally he even changed his expression.
It might also have been because Minato and Kushina were still alive.
Elsewhere, Minato didn't head to the Hokage Office as usual. Instead, he appeared outside Konoha and closed his eyes, carefully sensing for something.
Now that he had learned those things from Naraku, he wasn't going to sit around and do nothing. To protect his family, he had to give it everything he had.
"As I thought, I still can't sense it." A hint of disappointment crossed Minato's face, but the next moment, a confident smile returned.
He formed Hand Seals. With a bang, a cloud of white smoke appeared, and his figure vanished from the spot.
It wasn't until the sky had darkened and the sun had completely set that he reappeared there.
"That should be about right." He smiled gently. Then space rippled, and he vanished again.
"Kai, you lost. Don't forget you promised to teach me that ninjutsu!" Naraku looked at Kakashi with a smile.
"That's right, Kakashi. You lost!" Kushina, standing nearby, smiled just as happily.
Only Kakashi stared at Naraku, whose body was covered in blue energy. Beneath his mask, he wore a stunned expression.
By then, Naraku wasn't just covered in chakra—he was also standing on a pool filled with water. That was right: he had already mastered Water Walking.
"Are all members of the Uzumaki Clan this ridiculous?" Kakashi couldn't help thinking.
He had been capable of doing the same at that age, but it had taken him several days of practice. This guy, on the other hand, had mastered both tree climbing and Water Walking in a single day.
Though he didn't want to admit it, Kakashi felt that Naraku might have even more talent for training than he did.
Then, true to his word after losing the bet, he handed Naraku a scroll.