Awakening Nen

At Naruto's private training ground.

Today... only Naruto and Kurapika were there.

"Nen is the ability to freely manipulate the life energy within your body."

"All living creatures have life energy, so I believe people in this world can learn Nen too!"

Although Naruto already knew a little about Nen... he still listened carefully to Kurapika's explanation.

"There are currently two ways to awaken Nen."

"The first is to train on your own and sense the life energy within your body."

"The second is to use an outside force to release your life energy, then control it with your own will."

"Compared to the first method, the second is much more dangerous. If you fail to control it properly, you could die from losing too much life energy!"

Having watched Hunter x Hunter, Naruto naturally knew the dangers of forcibly awakening Nen, but he still wanted to choose the second method.

The main reason was... if he tried to awaken it through training alone, who knew how long it would take?

"I choose the second method!"

"I figured you would! Actually, the second method won't do you much harm. After all, you have Kurama, a mass of chakra, inside you."

"That enormous supply of chakra can replenish your life energy too!"

Hearing Kurapika say that made Naruto even more confident!

Kurama, who was busy hauling bricks, was less than pleased.

"Hmph! What do you take me for? A power bank?"

Ignoring Kurama, Kurapika sent his Nen into Naruto's body.

At the same time, a Nine-Tails cloak appeared around Naruto.

Despite the cloak's appearance, Naruto didn't feel Kurama's savage aura eating away at his mind.

"Hey... Kurama... you..."

"Tch... I'm just afraid that if you die, I'll suffer too! Don't get the wrong idea!"

Hearing Kurama's words, Naruto knew he was being a tsundere again!

Still, with Kurama's chakra supporting him, Naruto began confidently controlling the life energy on the surface of his body-or rather, his Nen.

Meanwhile.

At Konoha's Barrier Team headquarters.

"Captain... we've got a problem... we seem to have detected the Nine-Tails' chakra inside the village!"

The Barrier Team captain immediately panicked.

He had been there during the Nine-Tails' attack and had experienced firsthand just how terrifying the beast was.

"Has the Nine-Tails' seal been broken?"

Seeing his captain so alarmed, the team member who had spoken earlier said uncertainly, "Um... judging by the amount of chakra being released, it doesn't seem like the Nine-Tails has broken through the seal."

Although only a small amount of Nine-Tails chakra had leaked out... the Barrier Team captain still went to see the Third Hokage.

Upon learning of the chakra leak, the Third Hokage's expression turned grave.

He immediately abandoned his efforts to raise Naruto's affection toward him and picked up his crystal ball to check on Naruto.

Back with Naruto.

By then, Naruto had gained perfect control over the life energy that had been continuously flowing out of him.

The life energy gradually settled over his body's surface. Naruto knew that his current state was "Ten," one of Nen's four major principles.

Once Naruto had brought his life energy under control, Kurama withdrew his chakra.

The Third Hokage happened to catch that exact moment.

He frowned at the sight, but his brow soon relaxed.

"Is Naruto learning to control the Nine-Tails' chakra on his own?"

"He really is Minato's son. To think he could teach himself to control the Nine-Tails' chakra!"

"In a few years, perhaps Konoha will have a perfect jinchuriki of its own!"

After murmuring to himself, the Third Hokage turned to the Barrier Team captain. "I'm aware of the situation now. You can go back! Tell your subordinates not to breathe a word of what happened today."

The Barrier Team captain acknowledged his orders and left the Hokage's Office.

After the captain left, the Third Hokage returned his gaze to the crystal ball.

Before long, Kurapika, standing in front of Naruto, caught his attention.

"Hmm? This must be another of Naruto's shadow clones! Yet another new appearance..."

"It seems Naruto's personality has split again!"

As he spoke, the Third Hokage took a puff of his pipe, feeling rather troubled.

"Could it be... that you have to be mentally ill to become a perfect jinchuriki?"

At that moment, he thought of Killer B, Kumogakure's perfect jinchuriki. According to the reports, Killer B seemed to suffer from mental illness.

Killer B's singing was awful, but... he loved singing for other people. Calling him crazy might not be quite accurate, but... he certainly wasn't normal!

The instant the Third Hokage began observing Kurapika, Kurapika sensed it.

At the same time, Kurama warned Naruto, "Someone's watching you. Probably that old man who likes snooping again!"

Before Naruto could speak, Kurapika said, "Let's end today's lesson here! You've already learned Hatsu and Ten. That should give you enough to practice for a while."

Kurapika was different from Zeff. Zeff only taught taijutsu.

Taijutsu wasn't entirely unappealing to ninja, but its appeal was limited.

What Kurapika taught, however, was a completely different power system from chakra. Nen was a power that could drive the entire Shinobi World into a frenzy, so they had to be careful.

They absolutely couldn't display this power while someone was watching.

Naruto understood what Kurapika was thinking and smiled. "Let's go! Let's head home and see how Teacher Zeff and Wolffy are doing!"

On the way home, Naruto didn't dispel his shadow clone, because he wanted Kurapika to get a good look at this new world.

Before returning home, the two made a special detour to a busy shopping street.

The shadow clone Naruto had assigned to collect junk was on that street.

When Naruto arrived, he froze.

His clone... was surrounded by elderly men and women, as well as ninja.

They were all holding a bewildering assortment of things!

"Whoa! Business is that good?"

Naruto approached his clone as he spoke and asked, "Holy shit! How'd you get so much business?"

His clone shrugged. "You'll have to ask Teacher Zeff about that... he closed a thirty-million deal!"

"Now that we've got money, I raised the prices we pay for junk a little, and this is what happened!"

After hearing his clone's explanation, Naruto immediately understood.

"Holy shit! Teacher Zeff's that amazing? He made thirty million selling videos?!"

"Looks like Teacher Zeff really has a talent for selling videos. Maybe... we should have him open a shop dedicated to selling discs..."