56. Gift of The Hermit Group

Presence, you just are... beyond body, mind, and Spirit. When you reach this state of enlightenment, you exist beyond life and death.

This is how Gods are born. Is there any divinity in this? Perhaps not, you're not Divine, you're not perfect. You're simply your own God.

Existence in this state lasts into infinity. Without emotions, without consequences, in a peace that cannot be described.

...

Forty-eight hours had passed since Naruto entered the closed chamber. The Trial of Will had just ended, lasting a total of two days.

The Elder Monk opened the door to the dungeon and slowly entered. His eyes scanned the room and fell upon the figure of the Training Monk sitting in the lotus position, clad in dirty and tattered robes.

He was meditating. His expression was calm, and the air was drawn into his body through his skin.

The Elder Monk approached him intrigued and knelt beside his figure.

"This kid... why do I feel such strange pressure from him?" — the Elder Monk asked himself in astonishment.

He reached out to shake Naruto, wanting to wake him, but just a few centimeters from touching his body, Naruto's hand moved on its own and crushed the Elder Monk's wrist. The sound of bones breaking could be heard as Naruto's fingers crushed his wrist with superhuman strength.

The Elder Monk's eyes widened unnaturally as he instinctively recoiled in danger. Without a word, he looked at his wrist, then at Naruto. He continued to meditate.

...

Naruto emerged into the fresh air after two long days. The sunlight gently warmed his body, allowing him to relax. He felt refreshed like never before after spending several hours in meditation.

Actually, besides that, he didn't feel much change in himself, maybe he'd notice it later. The Elder Monk with the broken wrist examined his mental state, but everything was fine, there were no abnormalities.

Looking at the sun, he noticed it was breakfast time. Naruto hadn't eaten or drunk anything for two days, so he immediately headed to the cafeteria. Even if the food here was disgusting, he took a triple portion today and eagerly consumed it. Even the taste didn't bother him much while eating.

"I feel somehow light..." — Naruto noticed at one point. His weight was the same, he didn't become stronger, but he felt a strange lightness in himself, even smiled a bit, which wasn't normal for him.

"Either my greatest enemy, whom I haven't met yet, has now suffered a loss, or the Trial of Will has affected me differently than it should, although it shouldn't have affected me at all... I think it's the first one."

Naruto involuntarily smiled at his thoughts, and a few girls nearby blushed slightly.

Although about three-quarters of the Monks are men, there are many female Monks here, and even at Naruto's age, there are a few who have tried to get closer to him. Well, Naruto was a bit handsome, he couldn't deny that.

...

Naruto's days returned to a routine he even liked. Although his body wasn't getting stronger, it adapted to significant effort, so he didn't suffer any injuries and could regenerate well during sleep.

For almost three weeks, he continued training under Shoka-sen's guidance until he heard some news in the cafeteria.

One of the Training Monks finishing his last year of training had obtained the Gift of the Hermit Group. He boasted about it to his friends, who congratulated him warmly on his effort.

Naruto paused for a moment with a wooden spoon raised in the air, with which he ate herbal broth. It was the most common dish in the cafeteria. For a moment, he felt the urge to take a risk, but quickly dismissed it. He could only examine the body of the Monk who gained the new Energy with his sensory sense.

Sending his sensory sense towards him, the Monk flinched for a moment and instinctively looked around, surprised.

"Something happened...?" — his friend asked.

"Oh, nothing... I felt strange shivers down my spine" — he awkwardly scratched his neck with a slight chuckle.

Naruto seemingly continued eating, but inside he was truly surprised. The Gift of the Hermit Group increases sensitivity to the sensory sense. Although he hadn't sent his sensory sense to this Monk before, he was almost certain now. That's because few can penetrate Naruto's sensory sense.

Naruto felt the urge to take a risk again, but he knew he shouldn't do foolish and risky things because the consequences could be huge.

Finishing his meal, Naruto took the empty bowl and left the cafeteria.

About seven minutes and twenty seconds later, Naruto caught the corner of the Monk's building, who had just boasted about his Gift of the Hermit Group.

He took a risk. Naruto decided to be the external force that would destroy unlucky seedlings. This seedling may have had a good foundation, but it lacked luck.

In an instant, Naruto pressed several seemingly random places on the Monk's body, and he quickly fell to the ground weakly.

"W-what are you doing...?!" — the Monk growled at Naruto, barely holding himself up on his straight legs.

"...I understand. Apparently, the Gift of the Hermit Group negates weak points in the body, or it's also due to years of training" — Naruto thought aloud with fascination.

"You just obtained it..." — Naruto sent the Monk a gentle smile.

"What do you want?!"

"Just one thing... tell me what the entire process of obtaining the Gift of the Hermit Group looks like, I want your experience" — Naruto said, closely examining the Energy in his body. It was truly fascinating and he still didn't fully understand it. It was definitely different from Chakra and was more difficult to control, but largely worked instinctively.

"Y-you... I can't, I'm forbidden" — the Monk said firmly. Training Monks were supposed to find a way to obtain the Gift of the Hermit Group on their own, without the help of others, it was part of the training process. Elder Monks were forbidden to talk about it, and even the Master had no right to reveal it to his disciple.

Learning didn't involve giving everything to your disciple from the start, but showing him and leading him in the right direction. That was the role of the Master.

Naruto clenched his fist and without hesitation struck the Monk in the groin.

"GAAACHH!!" — the Monk's eyes rolled back as he endured terrible pain and a sense of loss. Such a strong blow definitely damaged his valuable...

"I'll do it again if you don't tell me" — Naruto declared after a moment, when the Monk regained consciousness.

"Don't do this...! Y-you... AAARGHHH!!" — Naruto struck the Monk's weakness a second time without hesitation.

"Aren't you a m-man...?!" — the Monk yelled in outrage. The corners of his eyes were moist with tears and he could burst into tears at any moment.

Naruto aimed for another attack, but the Monk called out "Wait...!!"

"Will you tell me now?" — Naruto asked more gently than before.

"I-I... I can't, it's an oath...!" — the Monk defended himself.

Oath? Is he just trying to keep his word... or perhaps Monks face serious consequences for breaking it? That would make sense.

"Is there something stopping you from speaking? If you tell me, what are the consequences?" — Naruto asked the Monk.

The Monk involuntarily turned his gaze aside and whispered, "I'll be mutilated..."

"Tch...!" — Naruto couldn't help but let out a loud snort and curse in his head.

It was all in vain, destroying that man's genitals. For a moment, he regretted the decision to strike him in that delicate area; he could have chosen differently.

...

"Have you done something wrong lately, my student?" — Shoka-sen asked Naruto one day.

Is he referring to that incident? Surely that Monk complained to someone higher up, and now Naruto awaits the consequences.

"Wrong? I haven't done anything wrong. Unless someone is trying to judge my actions from a moral standpoint" — Naruto shrugged apathetically. He noticed a loophole or clue in the Master's words and cleverly exploited it.

"Oh, so that's how it is" — Shoka-sen replied.

"However, destroying his...? He can no longer have children" — Shoka-sen lamented his Fate.

"Oh, can't the Gift of the Hermit Group heal that...?" — Naruto asked slightly surprised.

"Perhaps, but he's not at that level yet..."

"...oh... This... will motivate him to train harder...? Yes, he'll be grateful for it in the future" — Naruto nodded in acknowledgment of his assistance.

Just as a mango tree abandons its offspring for their own good, Naruto set a goal for that Monk to achieve.

"..." — Shoka-sen looked blankly at his student. He didn't expect Naruto to use his lessons in such a way.

"Let's assume that this incident never happened, but don't repeat it... and now let's start training" — Shoka-sen sighed.

"Yes, Sensei" — Naruto smiled contentedly, forgetting about the man he deprived of the ability to have children.

...

Naruto had the first opportunity to thoroughly examine the Gift of the Hermit Group, and he made good use of it. He examined that Monk in detail, which allowed him to better understand what the Gift of the Hermit Group was.

However, he still didn't know the process of its production. How can such a different Energy from Chakra be produced in the human body? Naruto analyzed all the Energies that the human body possesses, even the worthless ones that couldn't be used in any way, hoping to come across something. After all, you have to analyze all the details in order to discover something. However, no Energy in the body was related to the Gift of the Hermit Group.

The most similar Energies were the basic ones for mixing Chakra, namely Physical and Spiritual Energy. They had the most similar properties to the Gift of the Hermit Group.

Maybe it's about mixing all the Energies in the human body into one? Probably not, that idea is out of the question from the start.

One could assume that Physical and Spiritual Energy are the components of the Gift of the Hermit Group, but something is still missing.

Maybe Naruto actually has to abandon his own Chakra in order to discover the method of producing this Energy? After all, the Gift of the Hermit Group is the Energy of Humanity, while Chakra comes from the Heavens. These two conflicting Energies probably shouldn't coexist, it would disrupt the harmony of the body.

Naruto couldn't sleep at night, so he went outside. He used the Sleeping Turtle technique to avoid accidentally waking up Kakashi and slipped out of the house. Whenever Naruto has even a little free time, he unconsciously analyzes everything he needs or strives for, and once he starts, he often can't stop, so he usually can't sleep at night.

This is probably the biggest problem for people with powerful minds.

Stepping out into the fresh air, Naruto took a few deep breaths to calm his thoughts. Although it was airy in their apartment, the dark sky with a row of stars above you is something else. He liked this atmosphere, and the cold temperature at night worked well on his skin, making him feel relaxed.

A few times, he was lucky to go for a walk like this or something similar and he managed to come up with something brilliant, which contributed to his discoveries. However, he doubts that even a walk, which clears his mind, would help him find answers to his current questions.

Naruto headed to the place where his Master had grown a small mango tree seedling some time ago. It was half a meter tall and doing well; the Master probably watered it a few times. Looking up, Naruto could no longer find mango fruits on the tall mango tree, apparently they were eaten by other Monks or collected for the kitchen.

After a moment spent in this place and remembering the Master's lesson there, Naruto wandered along some paths.

At one point, Naruto entered the Inner Part of the Fire Temple, where the Monks with higher ranks lived and trained.

In the Fire Temple, the Monks had several ranks.

Training Monk > Junior Monk > Senior Monk > Head of the Fire Temple

Junior and Senior Monks could become Leading Monks, who dedicated themselves to training Training Monks. Some Monks had tasks assigned to them from above or managed certain parts of the Temple, such as Tori for example.

Although the rank of Senior Monk was very general, each Senior Monk had their own social status and merits by which they were judged. For example, between Shoka-sen and Tori, there were two or three levels of difference, despite both being Senior Monks, there was a huge gap.

Some new Senior Monks could be disciples of other Senior Monks who had been living in the Fire Temple for over a dozen years.

There were also Servants in the Fire Temple who were responsible for cleaning or cooking. The young boy who came to call Naruto for training on the same day Naruto and Kakashi arrived at the Temple, came at night to call Naruto for training, was one of the servants.