The future of chakra

Since the founding of Konoha Ninja Village, Kazemori Masaki and the others had never left it. The land granted to the village by the Land of Fire Ruler was vast and rich in resources, so there was no need to leave to buy daily necessities. After unification, the country had also been peaceful, with no need for them to carry out missions on its behalf. They had spent all their time living, playing, and training within the village. This was, in fact, their first trip outside.

Although it was their first time leaving the village, none of them felt lost. As ninja, they had already learned all sorts of skills and were more than capable of handling themselves. As Hashirama had said, this mission was very simple, far easier than the missions of the Warring States period, so he had not assigned an older ninja to lead them.

Hashirama and Tobirama had high hopes for their seven students. If they could not handle even such an easy mission on their own, it would hardly do justice to the training they had received.

Ninja moved with extraordinary speed. With Chakra flowing through their bodies, the seven leaped effortlessly into the trees, their bodies impossibly light as they darted through the forest.

Kazemori Masaki had never thought there was anything unusual about Chakra before, but his experience of living in another world had made him realize just how miraculous this energy was. The ways it manifested defied many of that world's theories, making it seem like nothing short of a divine miracle.

Still, Kazemori Masaki did not believe Chakra was truly unscientific. More precisely, it did not obey the known scientific theories of the other world.

Science, by definition, consisted of theories that accurately reflected the nature and laws of the world. The world was unimaginably vast, and even in that other world, no one could guarantee that the theories they had discovered encompassed everything. In fact, countless mysteries remained beyond the ability of its scientists to explain.

Those mysteries, however, surely followed some kind of law. The scientists of the other world simply had yet to discover it. That was perfectly normal, since they had never found a single theory that applied to every field. Mysteries like those, or chakra itself, most likely belonged to domains where their existing theories did not apply.

A century earlier in that world, for example, theories considered classical had been unable to explain what happened in a particular domain. A century later, newly developed theories could explain those phenomena. That was precisely because the theories of that world held true only under certain conditions. A theory that could truly apply to every situation had yet to emerge.

Kazemori Masaki believed chakra surely had a theoretical framework of its own. But in the Shinobi World, where scientific thinking had yet to emerge, everyone focused on practical applications rather than studying chakra's fundamental nature. Most people could not even explain why their own release techniques took the forms they did.

Hashirama had created the secret techniques of Wood Release through his own talent, yet he could not teach them to anyone else. The reason was that he could not organize Wood Release into a systematic body of knowledge and still relied primarily on personal experience. The difficulty involved far exceeded that of learning ordinary release techniques. Without the same aptitude as Hashirama, perhaps no one could master the secret techniques of Wood Release independently.

Only after realizing this did Kazemori Masaki understand why each Kekkei Genkai clan in the Shinobi World stood as a lone lineage, with no unrelated Kekkei Genkai possessing the same secret techniques ever appearing. Geniuses capable of creating secret techniques were already rare. What could ensure that another genius would think the same way and follow the same path? Given such a process of selection and elimination, the circumstances of those Kekkei Genkai clans became understandable.

Without theoretical support, anyone else seeking the power of a Kekkei Genkai could only approach it through bloodlines. Even Orochimaru, whom readers in the other world had called a scientist, had been unable to escape that framework. Despite enormous sacrifices, only one of his test subjects had successfully mastered the secret techniques of Wood Release.

Drawing on the historical experience of the other world, Kazemori Masaki believed that establishing a theoretical framework for chakra was essential if the Shinobi World was to enter a new stage. But the process would inevitably be long. Even someone like Orochimaru had failed to establish a clear framework, and Kazemori Masaki could not be certain he would see one emerge in his lifetime.

Even so, every framework had to begin somewhere. Kazemori Masaki did not consider himself to have a scientist's aptitude or mindset, but he could encourage others to try to establish a rudimentary framework. Then future generations, with people smarter and more capable than either him or Orochimaru, could refine and expand it until a scientific theory of Chakra took shape.

Kazemori Masaki could imagine that, when that day came, not only ninja but even ordinary civilians would be able to wield chakra. This world would truly usher in a new era, becoming something entirely beyond even Hashirama and Tobirama's imagination.

By then, the seven were gradually approaching the village Ichiro had mentioned. It was tiny, and its people lived quiet lives. After Hashirama helped the ruler of the Land of Fire unify the fractured country, stability had followed great upheaval, just as the saying went. The country had settled into peace, and the wars of the past had not returned. During the Warring States period, a village this small would long since have perished in the chaos.

Yet unrest could also quietly take root in times of peace, and this village had been unlucky enough to run into trouble. The seven did not act immediately. Gathering intelligence was a fundamental principle for ninja, so they carefully observed the village. When the armed "bandits" appeared, they were surprised to discover that the men were actually ronin.

During the Warring States period, samurai had enjoyed exalted status and great honor, beyond anything the ninja living in the shadows could claim. But after Hashirama led the ninja in helping the ruler of the Land of Fire achieve unification, the ruler formally adopted them as the country's military force, and the samurai gradually declined—

Samurai unwilling to associate with ninja left the country to live elsewhere. Others attached themselves to lords or the ruler, becoming their private troops. There were also low-ranking samurai whom no one would take in, leaving them to live in poverty. Such samurai were called ronin.

Although the men before them looked very much like bandits, Kazemori Masaki and the others were not ignorant of samurai. They could be certain these men were indeed samurai, or more precisely, ronin. Judging by their appearance, they had probably turned to banditry because they could no longer make ends meet.

"A bunch of bastards. They really disgrace the name of samurai," Utatane Koharu cursed, disgust written across her face.

Utatane Koharu's and Mitokado Homura's clans had not been powerful, and very few of their members had possessed the ability to become ninja. Before Hashirama took them in, neither had even learned the basics of being a ninja. During the Warring States period, their clans had been destroyed by wandering samurai who had lost their masters in the country's conflicts. Those men had looked just like a pack of bandits.

Utatane Koharu had little fondness for genuine samurai, but she could still acknowledge them, since their character was indeed admirable. For this bunch of bastards, however, she felt nothing but loathing. She had originally come only because of the mission, but now she felt some sympathy for the village, as though she could see a shadow of her own clan in it.

"Their identity may be a little unusual, but it doesn't make much difference," Hiruzen Sarutobi said. "If they've decided to do this, they're no different from bandits. Let's drive them away, just as Mr. Ichiro asked."

"Are we just going to drive them away?" Kazemori Masaki suddenly asked. "They're samurai, yet they've sunk to this. I've heard that while ronin do exist, there aren't many of them. If they couldn't find even one master to serve, that suggests there's something seriously wrong with them. They may not seem to have gone too far yet, but who knows what they'll do in the future?"

"Zhenghui, what are you saying?" Hiruzen Sarutobi paused in surprise.

"Let's just kill them all." Kazemori Masaki's gaze turned cold. His experience of living in another world had made him despise people who robbed and pillaged. Although the samurai class was declining within the country, they were not entirely without options. Even if no one here would take them in, they could go to the Land of Iron, now known as a refuge for samurai. Samurai were warmly welcomed there, and he had never heard of any being turned away. Yet these men had chosen to become bandits anyway. Their intentions were clearly crooked, and letting them go would only allow them to prey on people elsewhere.

"Uh..." Hiruzen Sarutobi hesitated at those words. He had no fondness for these ronin either, and Lord Hashirama had said they could act at their discretion. After a moment's thought, he asked the others, "What do you think?"

Utatane Koharu was the first to support the suggestion, and the others had no objections either. Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded and said, "All right. That's what we'll do."

(End of chapter)