Chapter 26: It's Time to Master Chakra!

Izaya stood behind Akeno, hands placed on his back. It was time for Akeno to master Chakra.

Activating his Byakugan, all of Akeno's meridians could be seen. The flow of Qi in his body passing through twelve meridians, the dantian, and the few tears at certain locations that seemed, to Izaya, to be the various locations of a tenketsu circulation network, the circulation for Chakra.

Kaede, who could perfectly sense a person's Chakra, also focused on Akeno as best she could. Only Chikara remained in the background, unsure of what to do to help.

Without the Sharingan, he couldn't really assist in any way.

Izaya had to take care of transferring Chakra into Akeno's body, checking and assisting its circulation in the various tenketsu. His Byakugan was the centerpiece of this operation.

"Ready?" Izaya asked.

With a nod from Akeno, Izaya began gently transferring Chakra into his body.

As Chakra gradually entered his body, Akeno didn't focus on the Chakra this time but on the sensation in his body.

Last time, he had to be rushed to the infirmary due to tears and a disturbance with his Qi.

This time, he had to understand what had caused his issues.

Focusing on the sensation in his body, he could feel an itch in his Qi circulation. As if something was disturbing his Qi.

The meridians in his body were like gates, passages, only allowing a certain limit of Qi to pass.

But at this moment, the Qi, which was circulating perfectly in his body, began to receive pressure from an unknown energy trying to pass through the meridians.

"Izaya," Akeno called.

"I'm on it!" Izaya responded with determination.

Sweat on his forehead, Izaya's white eyes were focused on the various tenketsu points that Chakra had to take. Now, a weak and constant transfer of Chakra into Akeno's body, Izaya tried to force the Chakra to follow a new circulation pattern.

Without forcing the direction of the Chakra into Akeno's body, most of the Chakra entered the Qi circulation, creating disturbances in the body that could be fatal if not controlled. But a small part of the Chakra was heading in another direction, gradually changing Akeno's body. This was the path Izaya was striving to follow.

Qi and Chakra couldn't mix.

Following this thought, Akeno controlled his Qi to create a barrier to Chakra, preventing it from entering his meridians.

And with no way to pass through the meridians, the Chakra had to take another path, following the path Izaya was trying to take.

While Akeno controlled his Qi and protected his meridians, Izaya could perceive that Akeno's tenketsu points were becoming more and more visible.

The Chakra, although remaining distinct from Qi, gradually followed a parallel path in Akeno's body. A subtle but coordinated dance between the two energies began to emerge.

The pressure in Akeno's meridians was gradually easing, a sign that the Chakra was finding its own path without disturbing the Qi flow. Kaede, attentive to every energy detail, felt the nascent synchronization between Chakra and Qi in Akeno's body.

With Akeno's breath returning to normal, he could feel the pressures in his body stabilizing.

A few drops of blood dripped from his lips, but nothing seemed serious. His body, which had been modified to have a Chakra circulatory system, felt even better than before.

While Akeno focused on his body, Izaya, who had consumed all his Chakra and concentration, collapsed onto the bed behind him and immediately fell asleep.

It was surely the most challenging thing he had ever done in his life. It should be noted that the Chakra circulation systems in ninja bodies were all different, following just the same design.

His Byakugan allowed him to target vital points of the enemy, to see the tenketsu and the Chakra circulation. But having to control Chakra in a foreign body to make it follow a nonexistent path, just by instinct, the knowledge of Chakra circulations he had been taught, and by the direction that Chakra naturally took in Akeno's body, was on a whole other level.

Fortunately for Akeno and Izaya, Chakra seemed to naturally flow and follow a path in Akeno's body. Although it still required some help to guide Chakra along this path, in the end, a Chakra circulation system appeared.

Akeno's body was injured, but the 361 tenketsu points had appeared, and all that was needed now was time and Chakra.

Although excited by the idea of finally producing his own Chakra, Akeno preferred to wait, rest, heal the various wounds that might have appeared, and wait for Izaya to wake up to check that everything was fine in his body.

"How much time has passed?" Akeno asked.

"A little over two hours," Kaede replied. She had followed the operation from the beginning and was also exhausted from this long day.

Traveling to the Senju clan, fleeing the Senju clan, finding oneself in the midst of a life-and-death battle against the Uchiha clan, being transported to another world, and finally having to participate in a Chakra circuit implantation operation.

It was undeniably the busiest day she had ever experienced in her short life.

Only Chikara, who had been on the sidelines, was in good shape.

Now that the operation was over, it was important not to rush. Although the circuit for Chakra to circulate now existed in his body, it was still weak. And more importantly, Akeno still didn't know if he could create his own Chakra with this circuit.

While Kaede and Izaya rested quietly in the room, Akeno also decided to return to his room to sleep. For him too, the day had been long.

Leaving Chikara the only one awake in the room, Akeno was not as calm as he seemed.

Time was running out.

One year.

One year to find and recruit the last three members who would represent the last three clans he could recruit.

One year to master Chakra and different techniques.

One year to become more powerful.

"I have to recruit the last three members as quickly as possible."

Pushing open the door to his room, Akeno was assaulted by the image of the two Yang brothers arm wrestling, sweating profusely and pushed by Xu Jie's cheers.

"Come on! You're not going to let yourself lose!" Xu Jie shouted passionately.

"AHHHHHH!"

In this arm wrestling match between the two young brothers, Yang Jun and Yang Chengwu gave all their strength in this duel. It wasn't for money, not for a bet, it was just a matter of ego.

Facing this ego spectacle, Akeno preferred not to think about it and headed for his bed. Lying down comfortably, he circulated his Qi to heal the various injuries he might have had during the operation.

It was long and boring for some, but for Akeno, it was just magical. After fifteen years in this world, he had never tired of this sensation.

Making sure not to pay attention to the cries full of rage from his roommates, Akeno began to lose track of time and fully focused on his Qi.

...

As night fell gradually in a mansion adorned with gold-encrusted decorations and corridors displaying dozens of paintings, each more expensive than the other.

In a lavishly decorated room, an old man dressed in traditional clothes and a long white beard carefully observed a map spread out on a polished wooden table. His eyes, filled with wisdom and experience, scrutinized every detail. This was Liu Zhen, the head of the Liu clan, one of the most influential clans in Glory City.

By his side, a young girl, dressed in an elegant dress, also looked at the map. She was Liu Mei, Liu Zhen's granddaughter, one of the greatest talents of the clan. She had reached the peak of the body-forging stage, the level of Muscle Purification, at the age of 17.

She carried the hopes of the clan to become the youngest member of the clan to reach the stage of rebirth.

"Everything suggests that the tomb would be on the territory of the beastmen," the old man murmured.

Leaving a moment of silence, Liu Zhen thought about the different possibilities that lay before them. The territory of the beastmen was not a territory that his clan could easily penetrate.

The moment a human at the stage of rebirth crossed the border, it was certain that they would be discovered...

"We must not talk to the other clans about this. This tomb can become the means for our clan to rise above the others."

"Grandfather, you just have to send me there. If a small team at the body-forging stage crosses the border, the beastmen won't find out," Liu Mei said.

The tomb of a great cultivator could represent both danger and opportunity. To the knowledge of the Liu clan, this tomb must belong to a powerful cultivator who must have reached the stage of rebirth between the seventh and eighth level of cultivation, the Harmony of Qi and Body and the Destruction of the Body.

Faced with this opportunity, the Liu clan could not stand idly by and let this chance to obtain techniques, pills, or the inheritance of this powerful being pass.

Even though the Liu clan had several members in the stage of rebirth, none had reached the level of Body Destruction, and only Liu Zhen and four other elders had reached the Harmony of Qi and Body.

With this number of cultivators reaching this level, the Liu clan could only be considered powerful outside the capital of the Empire. It was too little.

"All right... You have to be careful. You will leave with a small team and head towards the city nearest to the tomb before entering the territory of the Chaos Empire," Liu Zhen said in a hoarse voice.

"What is it?" Liu Mei asked, directing her gaze to another more recent map.

"Hope City!"