Tsubasa felt as though his legs no longer belonged to him, but he gritted his teeth, mustered all his strength, and charged at Hashirama Senju like a frenzied tiger cub. He was so fast that the air tore with a hiss. He had only one thought: I don't believe it! I'm going to bite a chunk out of this old monster today!
The corners of Hashirama Senju's mouth rose slightly, and a barely perceptible glimmer of approval flashed in his eyes. This kid is interesting! As Tsubasa charged at him, he calmly threw an uppercut, striking Tsubasa's incoming foot with unerring accuracy. He had put ninety percent of his physical strength into that punch. He wanted to see just where the limits of this kid with the Perfect Sage Body lay.
"Bang!" A muffled impact rang out, as though a cannonball had exploded in the air. Tsubasa flew uncontrollably a thousand meters into the sky like a kite with its string cut. He felt as though every bone in his body was about to fall apart, and every inch of muscle screamed in pain. The momentum he had struggled to build was utterly shattered by that single punch.
It's over, it's over! I'm going to get beaten into a meat patty... Tsubasa was filled with despair as his body tumbled uncontrollably through the sky. Before long, though, he forced himself to calm down and began adjusting his breathing, bringing his body into close harmony with it until both moved in the same rhythm. Miraculously, as he maintained that wondrous rhythm, the excruciating pain slowly began to fade. The power of nature was like a pair of gentle hands, softly caressing his injured body and healing every wound. As he plummeted toward the ground, his body had already almost completely recovered, displaying the terrifying power of the Perfect Sage Body to the fullest.
"Bang!" Tsubasa slammed heavily into the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust. He struggled to his feet and checked his body, only to find that his injuries had completely healed, as though everything that had just happened had been nothing but a nightmare.
Hashirama Senju clapped his hands and laughed loudly. "The Perfect Sage Body certainly lives up to its reputation! An ordinary person would have been reduced to a puddle of meat by that punch. But you not only withstood it, you can heal quickly too. Good, good! From today onward, you're my best punching bag!" He paused, his smile growing even wider. "When it comes to Body Tempering, aside from the basic exercises, the best method is to take a beating. From now on, get ready for me to thrash you every day!"
Tsubasa was thoroughly dejected when he heard that, and his face fell at once. What kind of master is this? Why does he think about beating me up every day? But there was nothing he could do about it. After all, the man was a big shot. He gritted his teeth and charged again. This time, he fought with exceptional focus, putting all his strength into every punch and kick. He wanted to learn how to build momentum in his attacks and how to become stronger.
The battle in the training ground grew fiercer. Hashirama Senju sent Tsubasa flying again and again, and each time, Tsubasa stubbornly charged back. Their fight was no less intense than a life-and-death battle between two Jonin. The entire training ground was left pitted with craters, and more than a dozen large trees fell victim as well, lying scattered across the ground. Fortunately, Hashirama Senju had deliberately avoided the buildings, or the entire training ground might have been razed to the ground.
Every time, Tsubasa attacked with all his might, only to be mercilessly knocked back. His body was covered in wounds, and he grimaced in pain, but fortunately, the sage's healing effect kept his injuries from worsening. They fought from morning until night, when his stamina finally reached its limit. His vision went dark, and he fell unconscious.
Looking at the unconscious Tsubasa, Hashirama Senju couldn't help bursting into laughter. "That physique of his really is extraordinarily strong! He can take a beating! He can even keep breaking through his limits while being beaten. What great talent!" He turned to Biwako. "Biwako, carry your junior brother to a medicinal bath and change his clothes, then bring him out for dinner."
Biwako's eyes were red, and her heart ached for him. On the verge of tears, she reproached him. "Father, weren't you too rough on him? Junior Brother is still so little. Any one of your punches or kicks could kill a Jonin!"
Hashirama Senju scratched his head awkwardly and explained, "I can't help it. If I want to train him to become the next God of Shinobi within three years, I have to use the strictest methods. Besides, this kid isn't an ordinary person. A single one of my attacks would cripple an ordinary Jonin, but look at him. I kicked him around all day, and now he's still sleeping soundly, isn't he? He has the Perfect Sage Body. His defense and self-healing abilities alone are monstrously strong. Ordinary Taijutsu training is no use to him at all."
Biwako wiped away her tears and muttered, "Then I won't watch you train anymore. It's too heartbreaking. No wonder Mother dotes on Little Tsubasa so much and never comes to watch him train."
Hashirama Senju smiled helplessly. "Injuries like those would be fatal to an ordinary person, but for Tsubasa, they're just a severe beating. This child's willpower is astonishingly strong. He refused to stop until he worked himself unconscious."
Biwako paid no more attention to her father's "excuses." She simply couldn't bear to see the junior brother she had met only a day ago beaten so badly. She gently picked up Little Tsubasa and carried him toward the bathing room.
When they reached the bathing room, Mito Uzumaki and Mei'er were already waiting with a medicinal bath prepared. The three women carefully undressed Little Tsubasa and placed him in the tub. Stimulated by the medicinal liquid, Tsubasa groggily woke up. When he opened his eyes and found himself surrounded by three women, his face immediately turned bright red with embarrassment. "M-Mistress, Sister Mei'er, I... I can wash myself," he stammered. But the moment he raised a hand, he sucked in a sharp breath of pain. His arm was so sore that he couldn't muster any strength in it. It seemed he really had reached his limit today.
Seeing him so bashful, Mei'er couldn't help laughing. "Oh my, so you know how to be shy now? I've been bathing you ever since you were little!"
Mito Uzumaki smiled too. "You're still young. You don't understand the difference between men and women. You can bathe yourself when you're a little older."
Biwako laughed so hard she rocked back and forth. She thought the little fellow was too amusing. He hadn't been afraid when her father beat him so badly, yet now he was embarrassed over a bath.
Tsubasa felt utterly helpless. There was no point resisting, so he decided to give up and thought, If I can't resist, I might as well enjoy it! He closed his eyes and let them massage his whole body, though he kept both hands firmly over his most private parts. This made Mito Uzumaki burst out laughing. She teased him, "Tsubasa is a little grown-up now. It's time to find him a little wife. Why don't we just marry Little Biwako to Little Tsubasa?"
Before long, Tsubasa finished his bath, dressed with Mei'er's help, and went to the dining hall to eat. After being beaten all day, he was already famished. The moment he saw the delicious food on the table, his eyes went wide. Without caring about his manners, he began devouring it. Mito Uzumaki kept serving him food, and watching Tsubasa eat gave the whole family such an appetite that everyone ate an extra bowl.
After dinner, Tsubasa followed Hashirama to a quiet room to extract Chakra. With yesterday's experience behind him, things went much more smoothly today. Before long, he had extracted 9,999 Chakra Fruits, officially reaching a Chunin's level of Chakra reserves.
The Chakra standard for a Genin was a thousand fruits' worth, a Chunin ten thousand, a Jonin a hundred thousand, Clan Head Level a million, Super Kage Level ten million, and the Six Paths level a terrifying hundred million. Tsubasa had raised his Chakra to the Chunin level in just two days. If Konoha's ninja clans found out, their jaws would drop. Hashirama looked at Tsubasa's results and was silent for a moment, then instructed him to keep extracting Chakra once every evening and store it in his dantian.
Through his own observations, Tsubasa found that training by extracting Chakra seemed to have two drawbacks. Somewhat puzzled, he asked his master, "Master, I noticed that extracting Chakra takes a huge toll on my body. Some of my cells have even shriveled up and lost their vitality. Why is that?"
Hashirama Senju patiently explained, "It's nothing serious. The human body can regulate itself. As long as you eat more, you can make up for the depletion. You don't need to worry too much."
Tsubasa went on to ask, "Master, why do we store Chakra in the dantian after extracting it, instead of letting it circulate through our meridians?"
Hashirama Senju smiled and said, "Someone once had the same idea as you. He let his Chakra circulate constantly through his meridians. Doing that did increase the power of certain Ninjutsu he used. But later, when he tried to develop other Ninjutsu, he encountered tremendous obstacles. In the end, his Chakra suddenly ran wild in his sleep, and his body exploded, killing him." He paused, then continued, "The meridians in our bodies are like broad roads, and Chakra is like the people traveling along them. There are many acupoints in the meridians, like forks in a road, full of uncertainties. If Chakra travels along a road often, that road will become suited only to transporting that kind of Chakra. Once Chakra takes a wrong turn at an acupoint and causes a blockage, it will explode. Moreover, many acupoints in different meridians intersect, making it easy for Chakra to come into conflict and ultimately cause an explosion. This has happened many times before."
Understanding dawned on Tsubasa, and he quickly said, "Thank you for your guidance, Master. I understand."
Hashirama Senju said earnestly, "Tsubasa, you're very talented. It's excellent that you thought of these questions right away. But if you run into a problem in the future, be sure to discuss it with me first. That way, you can stand on the shoulders of those who came before and continue forward. Our predecessors have already tried many wrong paths for us."
Tsubasa nodded seriously. "I understand."
Hashirama Senju smiled. "All right, you must be exhausted after a day of training. Go back and get some rest early. We'll continue tomorrow."
Tsubasa dragged his weary body back to his bedroom, recalling everything he had learned that day. He lay on the bed and entered a state of mental clarity, carefully examining his body. He discovered that the shriveled cells in his body had all been caused by extracting Chakra Fruits over the past two days. Some of the cells affected yesterday had even died. He tried directing the free-floating Natural Energy to nourish the cells that had not yet died. Something miraculous happened: the cells were like parched earth receiving a welcome rain, coming back to life.
Through this attempt, Tsubasa discovered that eating could only replenish the depletion of some cells, while the power of nature in the world could completely repair them. It seemed that from now on, after practicing the Chakra Extraction Technique each day, he would have to thoroughly repair the shriveled cells in his body.
Tsubasa then began guiding Chakra into his meridians to circulate. All of this Chakra bore his spiritual imprint and was reasonably obedient, but as soon as he relaxed his control, it raced around like wild horses freed from their reins. "How can I make it behave and follow the route I choose?" Tsubasa frowned and pondered the question. With no good solution for the time being, he could only guide his Chakra through the earth, water, and wood meridians once each day to familiarize himself with the principles of Chakra circulation first. After circulating his Chakra once, he ended his practice and gradually fell asleep in bed.