The instant the Big Ball Rasengan met Miki Yūya's fist, it gave off a teeth-grating crunch.
It wasn't an explosion. The entire chakra sphere was being compressed, even changing the Rasengan's visible form. That wasn't normal.
"The chakra underwent a nature transformation... and its connection to Naruto was forcibly severed?"
Shock surged through Kakashi. His Sharingan could see it clearly: the change in the Rasengan's chakra wasn't a normal Chakra Nature Transformation. It had changed into some other form.
"That's impossible!"
The others cried out in disbelief too. Everyone stared fixedly at the flattened Rasengan, their eyes nearly popping out of their heads.
"Chakra is energy! How can energy be 'pressed' back? It's not a Sealing Jutsu!"
"No. It isn't a Sealing Jutsu, but it isn't all that different from one."
A voice so calm it was almost cold cut in.
At some point, Shikamaru had straightened up, his gaze piercing the dust at the center of the Training Ground.
"Yūya's 'will' affected the mental energy."
Shikamaru wasn't loud, but his words instantly silenced the restless crowd around him.
"Yūya's power has nothing to do with chakra. It's purely mental power and life energy. Even before this, Yūya could affect the flow of chakra inside other people's bodies with his presence alone."
"And now, Yūya has grown stronger. He can directly affect ninjutsu released through chakra."
Shikamaru took a deep breath, seemingly choosing his words to give the others, who knew nothing about it, a reasonable explanation for this world's "bug."
"Chakra is a combination of mental energy and physical energy."
Shikamaru paused there, his expression growing complicated.
"So the essence of chakra actually remains unchanged."
"Unchanged?"
Sakura repeated the word instinctively, while Hinata looked at Urashiki beside her.
Urashiki nodded to Hinata. He hadn't expected Shikamaru to figure out