Chapter #22: Successful Hypothesis

It had been a few weeks since Shin had practiced the new chakra control method. The rotation speed inside the water balloon had steadily improved to a level where it created enough strain that the water balloon burst a few times.

Shin was still not satisfied, even with a bursting rate of one burst per ten tries. So, he kept on repeating the exercise. His new regimen now focused on morning meditation with some time wasted on polishing his slipper striking skills. Then morning stretching, followed by improving his physical aspects in the Training ground. He had advanced to perform 25 reps of push-ups, pull-ups, lunges, sit-ups, and squats, with each exercise being repeated in six sets within a single session. The exercises ended with a long run in the training ground. His physique was improving at a decent rate, with visible signs of muscles appearing on his body.

Shin had been to the Medic Ninja shop two days ago. After creating consecutive disturbances in his sales, Shin was informed by the owner in a very "special way" that Chakra paper is not easily available anywhere. It is a special product that is unique to the Leaf Village. To the question, why is it only produced here? The shopkeeper had no definite answer and Shin was immediately thrown out of the shop soon after. 

He could still remember the beating that the owner gave him on his ass cheeks after he refused to leave. 'Still hurts', He thought while rubbing his bottom. Although the pain had ended after a few hours, the shame remained.

'So... until I get the chakra paper and discover my chakra nature affinity, I might as well prepare for all five natures. However, that is clearly not possible in a short interval of time. Hmm, I will focus on practicing wind and maybe earth nature'

He paused, scratching his head. "Come to think of it, I've only seen training for Wind Nature in the anime. How on earth do I practice lightning, fire, water, or earth?"

Shin was stumped, clueless about how to proceed. "Well, I can always learn about it in the academy once I join. They must have the information I need there."

'Putting aside the chakra natures, I still have two other chakra control exercises to go through.' He clapped his hands with a loud clap, and spoke out loud, "Okay, the next month will be spent practicing the tree walking exercise, and once I master that, I'll move on to water walking."

With a general plan in mind, Shin picked up a leaf from a nearby tree and enclosed it with both hands. He took a meditation posture and tried to focus his chakra.

'Now, finely and sharply, just like Asuma said,' he reminded himself, imagining and concentrating on his chakra.

After a few minutes of intense concentration, he attempted to move the chakra into the leaf. Moments later, he opened his hands to find the leaf in pristine condition. He repeated the exercise, determined to succeed. "Concentrate, imagine the chakra finely cutting and sharp, move towards the leaf and infuse it."

Another few minutes later, He opened his hand to find the leaf mocking him with its intact body.

"Again...."

"Again...."

"Again...., Fifth time`s the charm"

With each attempt, the result remained the same. Frustrated, he pondered, "What am I doing wrong? Is it the amount of chakra?" He shook his head, dismissing the idea. 

'No, that can't be right, If I can do rotation outside my body for two minutes then the quantity is not the problem. I must not be shaping the chakra inside my body correctly.'

'Okay, first I'll divide my chakra into two parts,' he decided after a few minutes of contemplation. 'Now, finely and sharply, grinding against each other.'

Keeping his focus, Shin moved one-half of his chakra while keeping the other half stationary. When the two halves collided, only a small amount transferred to the other side, then he moved both parts towards the leaf. However, as the chakra entered the leaf, dark burn spots appeared.

"Ouch... Ouch," he waved his hand as if it had touched fire. He examined the burned areas on the leaf and started thinking, "It's burning... hmm..., its Fire... why did it produce fire nature chakra? Do I have a prominent fire nature as my base element?"

Shaking his head, he dismissed the idea, "No, it can't be right. It must be because I manipulated the chakra incorrectly. The chakra inside collided with itself producing friction. Which in turn produced Fire instead of Wind, albeit a minuscule amount because most of it was lost due to my poor control."

'At least I know how to produce Fire chakra now. Now, I know why it is one of the more easier natures to practice.' Shin mused, feeling a bit better. He decided to try again after a round of meditation.

'Finely and sharply,' keeping it in mind Shin moved both halves at the same time, and just before the point of contact he tried to change the trajectory but couldn't which resulted in the chakra halves colliding again, producing Fire.

"Ooohhh!!, Fooo, foooo", Shin trying to quench the burn he got from the fire. "Man, I would need some Vaseline after this practice, or my skin won't remain when I start practicing jutsus."

He moved and changed his location as the repeated loud voices were starting to attract a few small animals and following that, maybe people would find out too. 

Looking at the burn marks on the leaf, he pondered, 'It's too fast to change the direction at the appropriate time. Maybe my primary element is Fire. Seeing as how I can produce it this quickly.'

After another meditation round, he was a bit exhausted to continue the chakra nature exercise. He put off the training for the next day and performed the leaf concentration for one hour. Entering into the peaceful state of clarity, he pondered over his previous attempts,' Colliding the chakra by just moving one-half, wastes a large amount of it. Whereas, when I shift the trajectory at the end, It causes friction between the two halves and produces more Fire nature chakra. Hmm, THAT`S it!!!'

He immediately ended the leaf concentration, infused his chakra once again, and divided it into two parts, he moved both of them closer to each other very slowly. Little by little, the chakra halves traveled close and separated from the other by just a hair. Shin`s brow was filled with sweat, due to the immense concentration needed to keep the chakra in place. He slowly willed the chakra such that both halves connected, barely touched, and started a shearing motion backward against one another.

'Finely and sharply'. He willed the shearing motion towards its hands and infused it into the leaf.

He could feel some air being produced inside the palm. He opened his eyes hurriedly and checked the leaf.

"There`s a cut… There`s a cut… finally", Shin started laughing out loud.

It was a shallow cut, considering the thickness of the leaf it didn't even manage to cut through it entirely, but still, he was happy.

He had thought of a hypothesis, experimented with it and the idea proved to be effective. Nodding to himself at having applied the scientific method, he thought, 'Now when should I start writing my Laws of the Chakra book written by Shin'

'Nah! Piracy is common here, in fact considering the Uchihas, Leaf Village itself is a big supporter of Piracy', He thought in amusement.

Author Note: 

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