Chakra Control

After an hour of history lessons, it was time for another subject. This topic was 'Chakra Control and Chakra Nature Transformation'. Today teacher Akira was going to discuss about the theory and after lunch they were going to do practical lessons along with taijutsu class. As per new curriculum, the whole afternoon part was reserved for practical lessons. Everybody had to practice their taijutsu, shuriken jutsu, kunai throwing or chakra building exercises along with chakra control.

New curriculum had reduced any free time in the academy. Till 5 pm students had to follow their teachers and do various exercises. Within a week this had shown various results. Many civilian born students had shown talents in various fields. This was previously gone unnoticed. If one was not very talented and hard working, he might not had a chance to become someone truly powerful.

Many genin had died in their first mission when they were unlucky enough to come across enemy shinobi. During the first shinobi war, genin were mainly used to fill the numbers. They didn't have much chances of surviving the war. In fact those who managed to survive were cream of the crop. They went on to gain a name. But such genin were extremely low in numbers.

This was one of the reasons for the current changes. With the correct tools they could survive and become much more with the experience gained.

Soon teacher Akira started teaching them about various exercises to increase ones chakra control and why it was important.

"Because chakra takes time and a great deal of training to gradually build up, the key to its use is not actually having large amounts of chakra but instead being able to sufficiently control and conserve it. This is called chakra control. In order to have good chakra control, a ninja should only mould as much chakra as they need to perform a given ability. If they mold more chakra than is needed, the excess chakra is wasted and they will tire out faster from its loss. If they don't mould enough chakra, a technique will not be performed effectively, if at all, likely creating problems in a combat situation. Because chakra consists in part of spiritual energy, the user is more easily able to mould the correct amount of chakra by remaining calm and focused."

"Let me give an example where you can understand the true purpose of chakra control. There are two ninja A and B are fighting. They have same amount of chakra. Lets say they are both genin and have chakra to perform 3 Fire Style: Fireball jutsu continuously. Ninja A has not done any chakra control exercises so he tends to use excess amount of chakra while performing the katon jutsu but ninja B has already completed his chakra control exercises. The two begin fighting. They started with taijutsu and after some time they decided to use ninjutsu.

Ninja A and B both performed the hand signs and started moulding their chakra. But ninja A wasted chakra when moulding and ninja B doesn't waste his chakra. Continuously they performed two times the same ninjutsu. But ninja A was already feeling low on chakra. When he performed the required hand signs and mould his chakra, his jutsu isn't successful and suddenly he felt week due to chakra exhaustion. Taking this chance, ninja B successfully performed the jutsu as he didn't have to worry about chakra exhaustion. The fireball fell on the ninja and his life ended there. Ninja B comes out as the victor.

Now all of you can guess if you face such situation what will be the result. Even if you manage to survive, your mission may fail. So now you can understand how important is chakra control. All of you are from clans. So you may posses much chakra compared to civilian born. But don't become lazy because you have more chakra. If you compare yourself to Uzumaki clansmen, you don't have enough chakra.

Take the case of Arashi and Kushina they have more chakra than me almost reaching special jonin level. But that doesn't meant they can waste around their chakra. A seasoned chunin can easily defeat them and have chakra to spare."

When such information was revealed, everyone stared at Arashi and Kushina. They were hearing such information for the first time. If they knew both of them were currently using seals to restrain their chakra they might faint. Some of the students didn't have genin level chakra much less jonin level. All of the classmates were feeling envious of the duo.

What they didn't know was that this quite common for Uzumaki children. Many Uzumaki adults had chakra reserves that rivalled tailed beast. With their huge chakra reserve and their prowess in fuinjutsu, they were feared by every villages. Even when clans like Uchiha, Senju, Hyuga had to join together to protect their village; it took joint effort of three villages to wipe them out. Senju had Hashirama and Uchiha had Madara but Uzumaki had their own ninja rivaling the two. But they were peace loving clan. They mostly spent their time researching new seals.

"Now everyone listen carefully. I am going to demonstrate some steps using them you can increase your chakra control. First is the leaf exercise. This training method is done by placing a leaf over your forehead and directing all your chakra onto the leaf, using it as a focal point. This exercise can be used to control your chakra more effectively. However, the true purpose of the exercise is actually to hone the one's concentration and to keep your mind from becoming distracted.

Only those who have worked hard on their ability to concentrate can become excellent shinobi. For generations us Konoha ninja have practiced using this method in order to better our mental focus. In fact the leaf emblem on the Konoha forehead protector is said to originate from this training."

All students were paying more attention after hearing their teacher's words. They were all eager to start their own training. Nobody wanted to be left behind.

"If you have already completed this exercise, you can try to use more leaves and stick them to various body parts. Also you can practice this while walking, reading or doing other exercises. This way it will become a second nature to you. You don't have to think consciously to stick the leaves. Your body will automatically respond. This will become an instinct."

"Second exercise is a difficult one compared to the first one. I recommend you to try after you have increased your chakra. Don't worry doing the first exercise continuously and having a healthy diet with properly training your body will surely increase your chakra reserves.

This exercise is known as Tree Climbing exercise. This training involves focusing a fixed amount of chakra to the bottom of your feet, and using that to climb a tree without using your hands. If the stream of chakra is too weak, you will lose your footing on the tree and fall off. If it is too strong, you will be pushed away from the tree, causing the tree to break around the point of contact and you will fall."

"In fact you can practice this against a wall. Look at me carefully." Teacher Akira started to walk towards a wall and started to walk horizontally. Everyone had their mouth wide opened. Excitement was filled in their body. They couldn't wait to train accordingly. This was what a true ninja could do. This was way cooler than listening to boring history lesson. They would finally be starting to train to be a ninja.

After walking till he was standing upside down on the ceiling, Akira sensei maintained the position for a while. Students gathered around him and were talking excitedly. After a while he jumped down.

"Ok now go to your seats." said Akira Soon students went to their own seat and waited for their sensei to talk.

"Now like the first exercise you can find different ways to increase the difficulty if have already completed it. Like using your hands or your back to stick to the tree or wall. This way it will work as both physical and chakra control training. In fact if you want to increase the difficulty level again, you can practice leaf exercise while doing tree climbing exercise. Like a I said in the first exercise, you should practice it till it become your instinct. You can do it while on the run. This is actually more commonly used during missions. You don't know from where you to attack or where you have to hide. It is a good idea to learn this before going to any missions."

"Now for some of you it may be easier or difficult. But try to practice it. Who knows when it will be useful." advised Akira. He really wanted the students to practice it. This was a useful technique. He was happy that this was being introduced this early. When he was a student, they had to learn it from their jonin sensei. By that time they had wasted much time. He knew many students would try to learn this first. Children mentally try to learn cool things quickly than boring ones. He could already see it in their eyes. They were all eager to start.

"Ok now for the third and final training, Water Walking exercise." As soon as the students heard the name of the training, they already started forming many ideas in their head.

"To do this, you have to be emitting a constant stream of chakra from the bottom of the your feet and using the repellent force to walk across the water's surface. This technique is more difficult to master than the Tree Climbing Practice, because the amount of chakra that needs to be emitted changes constantly."

"The more one trains this technique the more you reach a state where you can stand on water without even noticing it or basically even trying. Furthermore, this technique allows you to walk on sticky surfaces without being affected."

"It doesn't have to just be at the feet. Under water, you can focus chakra on your hands or any other body part that makes contact with the surface of the water. If you are submerged, you can climb atop the water as if you are climbing out of a pool."

"To increase the difficulty, you can use leaf exercise while doing this. I have to remind you though, this exercise consumes a lot of chakra. So if you don't have enough continue doing the other two with various difficulty level. Continuously doing these exercises will help you to increase your chakra quantity."

"Also you can practice performing hand seals and ninjutsu while doing these trainings. This way you will be better prepared for any unexpected mission. Also you can try training your taijutsu. In future you are most probably going to rely on taijutsu for major periods. It helps to save your chakra for emergency situations. Only using ninjutsu will surely deplete your chakra reserves quickly. If you want to know more reasons you can ask your taijutsu teacher. He will tell you more clearly about this."

"Train until it all becomes an instinct. I know this will take a lot of time. But this time you spend will someday make you a strong shinobi." By the time he had completed his explanation, it was time for lunch.

"Ok class that's it for today. Next class I will check everyone's progress. So you better train when you get time. If you manage to reach an acceptable standard in these trainings, I will tell you about chakra nature transformation. Till then we will use this class to better your chakra control. If you have any doubt regarding this, you can come to me and ask. Don't hesitate. If you want you can check the library for more reference. See you in next class." said Akira.

"Thank you sensei." all of the students said their goodbye and started to chat among themselves about what they had learned today.

Soon students started to go out of the class for lunch. Arashi and Kushina also started preparing for lunch. They had brought their own lunch box.

Kushina went ahead and offered Kana to come with them to eat lunch.

"Hey Kana! Do you mind if you come with us for lunch?" asked Kushina. During the class Kushina and Kana had become friends. Kana didn't talk much. She was a serious type. But Kushina being the cheerful one had managed to broke her shell and became friends with her.

"Ok" replied Kana "Lets go. I know a place where we can enjoy without anyone to disturb us. I will introduce you to my friend."

She and Kushina held each others hand and started walking towards the roof. The roof was generally not allowed for younger students. But they managed to sneak behind any teacher. During the lunch period, teachers generally left the students alone. So there was no one to scold them. Soon they reached the roof through stairs.

When they reached there, one girl was already their waiting. When she heard someone coming, she looked back and saw the trio. She immediately become excited and waved her hands.

Arashi was taken aback. She didn't recognize the girl. 'So she must be Kana's friend.' he thought.

"Hey Kana! What took you so long? I have been waiting here for ages. Looks like you have brought some company. Care to introduce them." said the girl in a lively voice.

'She and Kushina will definitely get along well.' thought Arashi. He could already guess she was a cheerful one. Upon reaching closer he had a better view of the girl. She was a fair-skinned girl with long, straight black hair with bangs hanging on either side of her face to roughly frame her cheeks and black eyes. She wore a simple dark purple blouse with a red-plum skirt and blue shinobi sandals. The trademark Uchiha fan symbol on her back gave away half of her identity.

'She must be an Uchiha. Interesting, an Uchiha and Hyuga being friends. This is going to be much more interesting if I could get their help for my plans. They are going to be useful.' he thought. From the day he was gifted with memories of the future events, he had been thinking about gaining Otsutsuki bloodline.

This bloodline was the progenitor of chakra in the continent. All other bloodline limit was a mutation of the chakra being spread through out humanity. Whether it was Mokuton or Sharingan or Byakugan, even the Rinnegan pales in comparison to the bloodline of Otsutsuki. Even if someone were to train till his death they couldn't reach their powers.

Hagoromo and Hamura were the best examples. Even with their achievements they still couldn't be compared to Kaguya in terms of true power. Another important fact was that their body was the only thing known to him that could handle the power of chakra fruit. Even Hagoromo died due to him being a jinchuriki of the Ten Tails. The vast amount of power it contained was untamable. If he had not divided its chakra to nine tailed beasts, Ten Tail could have helped Kaguya to break the seal earlier.

His idea of acquiring the bloodline strengthened when he had checked the effects of his gifts. With a soul reaching the limit of mortals, a body which was attuned to nature in an unprecedented level, if he could acquire the bloodline, the three could help him reach the level of Kaguya even without a chakra fruit.

Not like it was impossible. If Madara could use Hashirama's cells and gained Rinnegan, he thought he could combine the bloodlines of Senju, Uzumaki, Hyuga, Uchiha, Kaguya and Otsutsuki of the moon to create the true Otsutsuki bloodline. He had already Uzumaki blood running through his veins. For Senju bloodline, he knew he could get help from Tsunade. If he managed to rope Kana and this Uchiha girl, only two more bloodline would remain, the Kaguya and the Otsutsuki of the moon. For Kaguya clan he had plans to acquire a living member during the Second Shinobi War and for the Otsutsuki, he had to visit them when he gained enough power to face them. He was not in a hurry to visit them.

While he was busy in his thoughts, Kushina had already started chatting with the Uchiha girl.

"Hello Mikoto. Let me introduce you to my two new friends. This is Kushina Uzumaki and Arashi Uzumaki. They have joined my class today. And Kushina, Arashi this is my friend Mikoto Uchiha." said Kana.

"Hello Mikoto nice to meet you." said Kushina. She was somewhat excited to make another friend. "Hey Arashi, what are you thinking? Say hello to Mikoto. Don't be rude." She said breaking Arashi's thoughts. He smiled bitterly at her words.

"Hello Mikoto, it's nice to meet you. I am looking forward to be friends with you." said Arashi in a gentleman manner. He didn't want to leave a bad impression on his first meeting.

"Hello Kushina, Arashi. So you two must be from Uzumaki clan. I have heard about your tragic event. I am sorry for what happened. But don't worry we will help you to make the three village pay for what they did." said Mikoto in an apologetic voice. Being from one the founding clans, she knew more about the Uzumaki clan. She was deeply saddened when she heard of their destruction.

"Its OK. You don't have to worry about us." said Kushina. After a month she had somehow managed to deal with the event. She didn't forget it rather used it as a motivation to train and become strong so that in the future such an event would not repeat again.

"Ok let us leave the sad topics behind. What done is done. We cannot change the past but we should try harder to create a better future." said Kana breaking the topic.

"Yes what important is to live in the present and prepare for the future." said Mikoto.

"You are right. Lets go and find a place where we can enjoy our lunch together." said Kushina.

"OK" the trio replied. Soon they found a spot where there was a shade. They all sat there and began conversing about new topics while eating their lunch.

"So how was your class?" Mikoto asked. "It was exciting." replied Kana "History was as usual boring. Why Naori sensei has to teach us about history. She can teach us about other things than history."

"Well history is important. I mean it tell us about our ancestors who had fought for the current peace. You all know about the warring periods. That time was hell compared to this." said Arashi. He had read many books using his clones. So he knew about the warring periods.

"Yeah that time was hell. Look now we can talk freely and spend our childhood happily. Even if we are of different clans, we are spending our time together. Children of that time had fight against other clans for survival." said Mikoto in a sad tone.

"OK forget about history. Lets talk about our second class. It was about chakra control. Akira sensei told us some really cool ninja stuff. You know he told us how to climb walls and how to walk on water. He even showed us. He stood upside down from the ceiling. I am going train in this first. I want to stand on ceiling like him." said Kana in an energetic voice. Her usual stoic manner was no where to be found. It looked like when she was with her friends she showed her real personality.

"Well Akira sensei will be teaching it tomorrow. Then we can practice it together." said Mikoto.

"If you want to we can teach you. Arashi and I have already completed this at home." said Kushina in a mild voice. She didn't want to be felt like she was boasting. But after using Shadow Clones to practice, they had already learnt many chakra control exercises.

"What? You two already knew it. Its amazing. To think that you two are genius. Its looks like we will be learning from you." said Kana.

"Its actually no big deal for us. If you can use our method of learning, even you can complete it in a short time." said Arashi. He wanted to use this opportunity to gain their trust.

"Your methods? Can you tell us more? Its fine if it is a clan's secret technique." said Mikoto. She knew better to ask someone of their clan techniques. She knew it was rude.

"Its okay. It is not a clan technique. It is actually a advanced form of clone technique, the Shadow Clone jutsu. What it does is that it create one or more copies of themselves and divide the chakra evenly among them. So the more chakra you have, the more clones you can perform. The most important thing is that you get the memories of the clones when they are dispelled. So you can use your clones to read and you can get their memories. This way you can use half the time required by using one clone. The more the clones, the less it takes." explained Arashi.

"It so useful technique. Why we are not taught this at school? We can easily learn quickly." said Mikoto. She was somewhat sad that no one taught them this jutsu.

"Well actually this is a B-ranked jutsu. The chakra requirement if high and the feedback that you get from clones causes headache. So not many people use it for training." This time Kushina explained the drawbacks of the jutsu. Even after a month, she had hard time digesting all the information passed through clones. Normally she used three clones. Any more would knock her out.

"Its a shame that we cannot practice using this technique. It will have made life easier." said Kana in depressed tone.

"Its okay. We will help you learn chakra control. After gaining more chakra, we can teach you this technique." consoled Arashi.

"Yeah we will help you with your training. We can all train together this way and become sparring partners. Shadow clones are not helpful regarding taijutsu. They dispel after one hit. You can help us with taijutsu." said Kushina. She knew the Hyuga and the Uchiha had better taijutsu capability than others. With their help they could gain some valuable experience.

"Ok then. Its a promise. We will help each other and become stronger." said Kana with a fire burning in her eyes.

The four continued their lunch chatting with each other. This day marked the start of a legend of four shinobi who would subvert previous hailed believes and achieve greatness.