Surviving Family

If, in actual combat, he had to go to great lengths to create an opportunity to synthesize Sage Chakra...

Only to exit the mode shortly after the fight began, then the cost-effectiveness really was not high.

Of course, that was also related to the fact that he was only using an area the size of his palm to synthesize it.

After all, there were not many places on the palm capable of storing chakra, only a few chakra meridians.

If he became proficient later and expanded the area to synthesize more chakra, the duration would increase significantly.

But being able to freely squander Sage Jutsu like Hokage was impossible for the time being.

After all, he did not have nearly as much chakra as Hokage.

He could only use it to strengthen his taijutsu and conserve it carefully.

Overall, Sage Mode currently provided limited improvement to his combat ability.

It was more of an exploratory stage, though it was still a viable path for development.

So his next focus would remain physical training, while also developing Sage Mode.

After all, using acupuncture points to control the variables and enter Sage Mode was somewhat like taking an unorthodox path.

Although he tried his best not to damage his chakra meridians or acupuncture points when sealing them.

He only applied enough sealing force to slightly impede the flow of chakra.

Still, he could not repeatedly seal and unseal them in a short period of time. Too many repetitions would definitely harm both.

Therefore, for the full-body development of Sage Mode, he planned to set aside a little time each day to slowly experiment and familiarize himself with it.

For now, improving his physical condition would help his strength more.

His plan in that regard was to first use his innately powerful spiritual energy to monitor his body and ensure he did not overtrain.

Then he would use Sage Chakra to speed up the recovery process after excessive training, gradually increasing his total chakra reserves and physical fitness overall.

Sage Chakra was different from ordinary chakra.

Using Sage Chakra would not make his body increasingly fatigued like ordinary chakra did.

On the contrary, it would make his body feel increasingly relaxed.

That proved Sage Chakra had a certain restorative effect on the body.

His experiments had indeed confirmed it.

After the Sage Chakra had just disappeared, the weakness in his body was only an illusion caused by the contrast of leaving that heightened state.

But in reality, he could feel that as Sage Chakra circulated through his body...

It restored the fatigue in the cells caused by repeatedly extracting chakra, as well as the chakra points repeatedly sealed and unsealed.

If he could use Sage Chakra in physical training...

Then the number of times his cells had to divide and create new cells to repair bodily damage would be greatly reduced.

It could substantially improve his cellular efficiency and extend his lifespan.

Grrr!

Hyuga Qingchuan's stomach rumbled.

He had extracted so much chakra and puttered around for so long early in the morning that his stomach was already protesting.

He looked out the window. The sun was high in the sky, and it was nearly noon.

He got up, took a shower, changed clothes, and prepared to see what delicious food his grandmother had cooked for lunch.

The moment he stepped out of his room, he saw a tall, well-built man in his thirties with regular features organizing a ninja tool pouch in the living room.

"Dad, you're back!"

The man was Hyuga Qingchuan's father.

Hyuga Kaze!

One of the few surviving family members among countless transmigrators.

He had been a Chunin when he was young, but his right leg had been injured in an explosion during a mission.

By the time he made it back to the village, he had already missed the best window for treatment, and his right leg had lost all mobility.

That was the daily reality of ordinary ninja squads. After all, medical ninjas were limited.

Not every ninja squad could have a medical ninja assigned to it like Team 7. That was an upgraded perk reserved for Hokage's direct line.

After losing the use of his right leg, coupled with his limited talent...

Even with chakra enhancement, his speed on one leg was not much faster than that of an ordinary person.

A ninja's most important ability during missions—mobility—was gone.

As a result, once fighting began, Hyuga Kaze could do nothing if the enemy simply fled far away.

And he also had to spend much more time traveling to and from missions.

Therefore, even for simple missions, other Chunin were rarely willing to team up with him.

The Caged Bird engraved on the forehead of the branch family had also cut off the path of becoming a Ninja Academy teacher.

From then on, he could only make a living by taking on simple C-rank and D-rank missions, which paid little.

That was also why the original owner had risked taking missions before graduating.

Aside from gaining practical experience, it was because missions allowed him to earn a small share of the reward.

Hyuga Kaze did not turn around. "What have you been tinkering with in your room all morning?"

"Nothing much. I was trying out a new move."

Hyuga Qingchuan answered, then looked curiously at the ninja tool pouch Hyuga Kaze was organizing.

"Dad, why are you organizing a ninja tool pouch?"

Hyuga Kaze only carried out D-rank missions now, which did not require a ninja tool pouch at all.

"The clan notified us that the survivor's pension for the next six months will be cut in half."

Hyuga Kaze turned around. "For the next six months, the income from simple missions alone won't be enough to cover our expenses."

"Military ration pills, medicine, and ninja tools have all gone up quite a bit in price."

"So I want to finish that mission to wipe out the mountain bandits. The deadline is coming up soon."

"If I abandon the mission without cause, I'll be barred from accepting missions for half a year. Then we'll really be living on nothing but air."

"But doesn't that mission require wiping out every bandit in the stronghold? With your leg..."

Hyuga Qingchuan frowned in concern. "How about we forget it? I'll take missions and support the family from now on."

"You brat, what do you mean, you'll support the family? Looking down on your old man, are you?"

"You start school in a couple of days. Hurry up and learn the Three Body Technique first. Talk about it after you graduate."