Lightning Body Tempering

By the riverbank.

Fang Xu stared at the rock where the Thunder Bird had blasted a black crater, his chest still heaving.

Strong.

Truly strong.

Even if it was only a weakened Thunder Bird, even if his body simply could not withstand Enel's level of power, it had still unleashed destructive force far beyond that of his peers.

But the problem was equally obvious.

The physical exertion was too great.

He had only tried elementalization, a lightning assault, and Thunder Bird a few times, yet he already felt weak in his limbs.

If he truly fought an enemy and failed to finish them within the first few moves, he might be the one who collapsed.

"Devil Fruit abilities consume stamina."

Fang Xu raised his hand. Tiny arcs of electricity still danced at his fingertips.

"But ninja combat revolves around chakra."

A thought suddenly surfaced in his mind.

What if chakra could replace part of the stamina consumption?

The Rumble-Rumble Fruit belonged to an entirely different system.

Chakra was the foundation of power in the Naruto world.

Both now existed within his body, and they did not conflict with each other.

Since they did not clash, was it possible for them to be converted into one another?

Or rather, could chakra support his Devil Fruit abilities and reduce the burden on his body?

The moment that thought appeared, Fang Xu's breathing grew heavier.

"If it works, then it won't be as simple as gaining a Rumble-Rumble Fruit."

"Lightning Release combined with lightning."

"Chakra combined with a Logia."

"If these two systems of power can truly be connected, my upper limit will rise by a massive amount."

But Fang Xu quickly calmed down.

It was a good idea.

But he had yet to confirm even the most basic issue.

His original chakra natures were water and earth.

He had no lightning nature.

That was why he had never been able to truly cultivate the C-rank Lightning Release: Lightning Ball Technique his parents had left behind.

It was not that someone without a lightning nature absolutely could not learn Lightning Release.

It was simply far more difficult, consumed more chakra, and produced weaker results.

For a civilian student with relatively low chakra reserves, forcing himself to practice a ninjutsu unsuited to him was a waste of time.

But things were different now.

The Rumble-Rumble Fruit had already fused with his body.

His entire body could transform into lightning.

Would his chakra nature be affected as well?

"I'll know if I test it."

Fang Xu did not remain by the river any longer.

Though this place was remote, the commotion he had caused was not small.

If he stayed and a patrolling ninja discovered the scorched marks, explaining them would be troublesome.

He withdrew the electric arcs and dragged his exhausted body home.

After entering, Fang Xu first drew the curtains, then checked the courtyard and outside the house once more.

Only after confirming that no one was paying attention did he take a small wooden box from the very bottom of a cabinet.

Several sheets of chakra test paper lay inside the box.

They were the sort used to test chakra natures at the ninja academy. The previous owner of this body had later bought two himself, intending to test again once his chakra improved.

But the results had still been water and earth, so he had left them untouched ever since.

Fang Xu picked up one sheet of test paper and drew a deep breath.

"Don't disappoint me."

He slowly infused chakra into it.

The paper quickly reacted.

The corner on the left first became damp, as though soaked in water.

Then the corner on the right grew heavy. The surface became rough, and tiny cracks appeared along its edges.

Water nature.

Earth nature.

Just as before.

Fang Xu had only just frowned when, in the next instant, the change erupted.

Crackle!

An extremely faint electric sound came from within the test paper.

The paper, which had merely been half-damp and half-cracked, seemed to be pierced through from within by an invisible force of lightning.

The entire sheet suddenly trembled. Fine wrinkles surfaced across it, then with a sharp pop, it shattered into a mass of paper scraps.

Fang Xu's fingers stiffened.

It had shattered.

The whole sheet had shattered.

This was not simple earth-nature pulverization along the edges.

It had first reacted to water and earth, then been directly pierced through by an even more overbearing lightning-nature chakra.

He looked down at the scraps in his palm, his heartbeat accelerating faster and faster.

"Lightning nature..."

Fang Xu could not stop himself from laughing.

"I really awakened a lightning nature!"

His original dual water and earth natures had become three natures: water, earth, and lightning.

Moreover, this lightning nature was clearly not an ordinary awakening.

It came from the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.

From the supreme power of a Logia.

Fang Xu could even sense that when he infused chakra, part of the lightning power within his body was stirred as well.

What did that mean?

It meant there truly was a point where chakra and the Rumble-Rumble Fruit intersected.

They were not two paths destined to remain parallel forever.

"I can learn Lightning Release: Lightning Ball Technique now."

Fang Xu immediately thought of the scroll among his parents' belongings.

Before, he could only stare at it longingly.

Now, things were different.

With a lightning nature in hand, this C-rank Lightning Release technique could finally display its true power.

More importantly, Lightning Release ninjutsu itself could help him understand chakra's shape transformation and nature transformation.

The Rumble-Rumble Fruit gave him the instinct for lightning and Enel's development experience.

Lightning Release gave him the method of circulating chakra within the ninja system.

By comparing the two, he might truly find a way for them to convert into one another and replace each other's consumption.

Fang Xu put away the shattered test paper, his eyes growing brighter.

"Insufficient stamina is my greatest weakness right now."

"But chakra can be cultivated, and my physique can be trained as well."

"If I can make chakra support my Devil Fruit abilities, then use lightning to temper my body in return..."

He paused and suppressed the excitement in his heart.

Meals had to be eaten one bite at a time.

The road had to be walked one step at a time.

No matter how grand his ideas were, he had to begin with what he could do now.

Lightning Body Tempering.

Enel's experience did not lack something similar.

Lightning could stimulate the body, sharpen reactions, and increase muscular explosiveness.

But it was also genuinely dangerous.

If the intensity was too low, it would have no effect.

If it was too high, he would electrocute himself into uselessness first.

Especially his internal organs and brain. Fang Xu did not dare touch those at all yet.

He sat cross-legged and raised his right index finger.

"Start with one finger."

A current thinner than a strand of hair emerged from within his body and coiled around his index finger.

Numbness.

Itching.

Then came pain like needle pricks.

Fang Xu clenched his teeth and forcibly controlled the current, preventing it from running wild.

The skin at his fingertip reddened slightly, while the flesh beneath felt as if countless tiny insects were gnawing at it.

He did not rush to increase the intensity. Instead, he slowly felt out the limit of what his body could endure.

Ten seconds.

Twenty seconds.

Half a minute.

Only after his index finger adapted did he spread the current across his entire hand.

His palm, the back of his hand, his wrist, and his forearm.

Every inch he advanced, Fang Xu stopped to adapt.

The pain was real.

But the effects were equally obvious.

The areas stimulated by the current felt as though their muscles had been awakened, sore and swollen yet filled with warmth.

Fang Xu clenched his fist and could feel that his arm's response was slightly sharper than before.

Only slightly.

But that was enough.

"It works."

He let out a breath and continued expanding the range.

Skin.

Muscles.

Bones.

The current was like a tiny hammer, repeatedly striking the outer layers of his body.

Fang Xu strictly held to one rule.

Do not touch the internal organs.

Do not touch the brain.

He avoided his heart, lungs, abdominal cavity, and the area near his spinal cord.

He wanted to temper his body, not kill himself.

Half an hour later, Fang Xu finally stopped.

The instant the electric arcs dispersed, his entire body nearly toppled sideways onto the floor.

It was not pain.

It was hunger.

An overwhelming hunger.

His stomach felt hollowed out, and every part of his body screamed for food.