Chapter 12: I'm Bad with Nature

Chakra

The strange and overabundant Life-force that lies in all Life-bearing Planets for countless years has sent the Otsutsuki race scrambling across space devouring and scrapping with various races in their attempt to consume and subsume all Chakra across the galaxy to either resurrect or replace their Ancestral God.

The base Cheat code of life that can hold the DNA and potential of entire planets and manipulate it into freaking consumables that can just be popped into the mouth and chewed like candy for a basic power-up. It sounds like a snake oil scam no matter how I think about it, whatever the Chakra Fruit is, it goes against any laws of nature itself!

You can't just consume an entire planet's life force and come out with an OK-looking boost in power and abilities, from what I understand, the Otsutsuki is way too underpowered for their supposed Galactus-sized diets.

Despite their planet-busting ability in the higher ranks Like Isshiki, Kaguya, and Momoshiki. Their ability to retain or even build upon their abilities is severely lacking in both refinement and imagination. And I heavily doubt that Kaguya's situation or even this world's situation where they can repel or even kill the Otsutsuki hasn't happened before. So why do they lack so much in comparison with ninjas when they hit the stage? Or is it that Nature Energy is something new for them as well?

I pondered deeply about this as I held my hand out above me while laying down on the roof of our Apartment lodge, a faint blue haze shifting and leaking from my propped-out hand into the starry night sky.

Twisting my hand slowly above me, the color of the aura moved unstably between Sapphire, Ruby, and Amber. Shifting one after another like a periscope before dissipating into the sky above.

My parents, aunt, and grandfather still didn't return even after we arrived at my grandparent's house, so Grandma Cho had to take it upon herself to serve out the prepared boar as well as some life advice as a side dish.

Well, she did until I set the table on fire. It was totally by accident, but I was kicked out for it anyway.

I had accidentally become a black thumb when it comes to nature tonight, welp, there goes my chance to become a wood-style user!

Honestly, I know it didn't come out like that but it felt like it because I had 60% of my concentration centered on experimenting with the Charka field around my body at the time.

That's right, I said around my body, because as it turns out, chakra, or should I call it Ki, Magic, Aura, or Inner Natural energy, is indeed generated by physical and spiritual energy, but I didn't know how exactly or why it works that way until I felt it on my own.

It turns out that I'm a walking talking Magnetic Field generator, or at least, that's the closest thing that I can think best explains how I feel around my situation.

When I first refined my Chakra, it had changed the fine lines that swirled in and out of my body, Chakra Meridians, and pulled them inward while solidifying into infinitesimal fine hairs across every cell in my body, fixing themselves into a coiled framework throughout my body.

The past unnoticeable threads were no more, now I can feel them underneath every inch of my skin, not painful or unpleasant, just like a slight pressure, just enough to let me know that they were there.

What is very interesting to mention, is how it reacts when I move or exert strength, flex, or relax my body and breathing.

The whole way there, and even when I'm sitting down I can feel myself build up like a static charge, The meridians Reacting to something within my body and storing that reaction up in small deposits all around my body.

But, whenever I flex those areas I feel it disperse from my skin with A slight hum, a crackle from beneath the surface.

This HAD IRKED me to NO FUCKING END!

It was like being covered in poison ivy but instead of a feeling of relief when you scratch it, it disappears and reappears elsewhere! I think that I'm a calm and reasonable person, but the anxiety and frustration were getting to me a little when I took my plate and was trying to cut a slice of the delicious-looking boar sat before me with Akiko and Akane sitting at my sides the fucking knife wouldn't cut down on the damn leg joint!

-Fuck this!- I glowered before taking the knife and cleaved it down like a guillotine.

*Shlichk*

For this frustrating cut, the massive Boar leg stood no chance, but sadly neither did the wooden serving plate and what I assume is my grandmother's favorite Oak table.

*TONK*

The knife buried itself hilt deep into the table and deathly silence pervaded the air as Akiko and Akane both looked at me in shock, confusion, and a little bit of concern.

I was surprised at my actions as well, the Anxiety and Anger vanished completely as my eyes popped and my mouth hung open as I looked at the knife embedded into the table.

Creaking my head I slowly turned my head and looked at my silent grandma across from me.

"S-Sorry Grandma, I don't-" I stuttered a little as I tried to apologize for my sudden outburst.

Grandma Cho just waved her hand with a silent smile and reached over to pull the knife out with a light tug.

"It's fine my child, it's nothing a little stitching can't fix." She dismissed while gliding her other hand elegantly over the plate and table, after a few seconds her hand lifted and the damaged table was as good as new.

-I'm going to learn that- I decided immediately after seeing her action.

"Now Kekkai, what's irritated you so much that you decided to take it out on your food and my table?" She asked calmly

"I'm just having a little trouble adjusting to my body, it feels like I'm itching everywhere underneath my skin but when I move it disappears and reappears elsewhere. It's annoying." I admit sheepishly

"Oh? Let me see." Grandma Cho got up from her chair and walked over to take my hand, I felt an obvious pulse of Energy flow from her hand into my own as she began to inspect me.

After a few seconds, she blinked as if she found something interesting, then frowned, and finally, she looked deeply at me with a very strange look.

"Kekkai, continue eating with your cousins, I'm going to grab something real quickly." She said before turning around and leaving the room without another word.

Leaving us sitting there, in an awkward and confused silence. After a few moments, we all decided to just go ahead and started to eat.

I have to say, the food has diminished in variety, not every day you can get a balanced meal, but the seasoning and taste were still as good if not better than my last life.

And let's say that some table manners can be avoided, so the pig was free game and everyone sitting here are very hungry carnivores.

Utensils flew across the room and within minutes close to a third of the beautifully roasted boar vanished into our stomachs.

"Sooo, I guess we still aren't heading to the mountains to train for a while," Akiko muttered softly on the side breaking the quiet feast while taking small bites out of her food. Small and adorable but her hands were one of the fastest to fly across the table as she didn't look like she was chewing while sucking up the food.

"Why do you say that?" I asked with a raised eyebrow to her as I dug out some bone marrow with a spoon.

"Because either Uncle Hak-Or or Aunt Yoshiko is going to take you away for training tomorrow. Don't you remember? Everyone who refined Chakra needs to be taught Chakra Control techniques and introduced to survival training for a few weeks. I and Akiko have already done our training, most likely you will be sent off on yours." Akane reminds me with a pout, poking her pork frustrated.

"No need, I've done survival training over the winter already, and after Dad takes me to find out my Attributes I'll ask him if it's ok to just practice at home." I smile before holding the bone marrow up and sucking up the residual broth and juices.

"The training is mandatory. So I'm afraid you will have to go, it's not to test you on something like the school, but to allow you to become aware of the dangers that come from Chakra." Grandma says as she walks back into the carrying a small bottle filled with purple and blue ink.

"One of such dangers is not knowing how to Open and close Teketsu paths that allow the spread of Chakra. What's bothering you so much is the very fact that you subconsciously sealed off your Meridian paths within your body while also dispersing any Chakra you develop within your body. This is a pretty advanced stealth method that Shinobi use to avoid sensors and barriers." She explains with a troubled look while setting down the ink on the table.

"Doing so however causes Chakra Imbalance, resulting in physical discomfort and mood swings. The very fact you're able to do this subconsciously is impressive, but given your present physique, this will take a large toll on you, so I'm going to give you an early lesson on Chakra Flow and Release." Grandma Cho clarifies for me.

"Typically, a person's Chakra in its resting state is in a constant state of preservation and dissipation, gathering excess stamina and mental energy from our bodies into a substance that's stored in several energy centers inside our body, enhancing our strength, concentration, and most importantly the pool in which we draw power to use ninjutsu." Grandma Cho explained while cracking open the seal on the jar

"Oh? I thought Chakra needed to be refined through mediation from our stamina before release, not something that's already inside our bodies?" I asked while curiously watching her dip her fingers into the jar and mix the ink lightly.

"Silly boy! That depends on your Physique! Take those damn Uzumaki for example, their vitality is so strong they barely need to perform Meditation to replenish their reserve, a smart Uzumaki would be able to fight all Day and Night if they pace themselves. Not that there are many smart people in their tribe," Grandma Cho scolded under her breath before continuing to explain, "Normally Chakra is either expelled harmlessly or dissipates slowly around our bodies. You need the training to learn to catalyze and manipulate it, and even then most is wasted just to ignite a torch. That's why we learn through meditation to manifest and simulate the remaining chakra in our system and produce ninjutsu."

Taking her two fingers out of the jar, she started rubbing the mixture between her hands before lathering it on my exposed forehead, chest, and arms like a lotion, this solution was very pleasant, it tingled as it slowly sank into the skin and dispersed the ache underneath.

"What is this? It feels nice!" I pleasantly smiled as I felt the ache disappear slowly, replaced by a minty cool sensation.

"Chakra receptive ink, it is a little bit unpleasant experience at first but it only acts to draw out your chakra and won't harm you, so don't panic at first." Grandma Cho explained softly

"Unpleasant? Panic? Why would-" Just as I began to ask her what she meant, I felt it, the refreshing sensation disappeared and my skin began to sting and heat up as a faint purple gas came to the surface.

"Oh. So this is what you're talking about." I say passively while examining the faint smoke.

"Umm Kekkai, your smoking, are you sure you're ok?" Akane asked with slightly wide eyes

"Mhmm." I nodded, examining the substance floating from my skin. It was the same feeling as before in the cave, a slow expansion of sensations beyond my body, though not as intensely as before and not nearly as far.

"What are you worried about? Grandma won't hurt Kekkai and the person in question isn't worried about it either." Akiko mocked with a raised brow before turning her attention back to her food.

"Yeah, yeah," Akane grumbled before continuing to eat, but she kept a side eye, looking at me from time to time.

"Don't you worry sweetheart, Chakra Reactant Ink is just drawing out the latent Chakra from within his body, it will harmlessly open his Tenketsu and fade away on its own." Grandma Cho assured her while sitting back down and grabbing a dish for herself.

"How long will it last?" I asked curiously

"Half an hour. Since you're not used to Chakra Manipulation take your time and familiarize yourself with its Inner and Outer flow, the Ink is mainly there to act as a visual and sensual aid until you learn Sensory Techniques. Even if you don't get it right now, your father will continue on this tomorrow." Grandma smiled and started helping herself to what was left of the boar.

Nodding, I turned my full attention back inwards with closed eyes, after a minute and a half of introspection, I reopened my eyes with a smile.

"I Got it!" I announced joyously

"???" All three stopped eating at the same time and looked at me.

"Eh? What do you mean?" Akiko asked

"I mean that I've got it. Look, see?" I grinned and brought my hand up.

Lo and Behold, the haze that surrounded my hands had frozen in place before rapidly contorting and condensing and forming a misty layer on the surface of my skin.

"All it takes is a little intuition and visualization. It's like opening and closing a third illusionary hand." I explain while molding the chakra inside the mist into various shapes and sizes, a ball, a cube, a pyramid, and many more.

Chakra is usually formless, and colorless. Invisible to the naked eye unless used as a construct, has a Nature transformation, or is viewed either using Sensory techniques and Dojustu such as the Byakugan and Kaguras Eye.

None of which I have or know how to do for the most part, But one thing I can proudly say I can do is best is Visualization!

Taking my experience earlier from the Devil Mirror and the current sensation of the Chakra Ink, I was surprised to find it way easier than I thought it would be, I found out that my Chakra Coils acted like strings on an instrument, Body as an instrument, my heart as the score, my thoughts as the hands that strum and beat, and the Chakra field from inside out is the music.

The silence was enough to hear a pin drop around the table. The two girls and woman were so stupefied and pale as ash.

-…Monster. I had to spend a year actually - Grandma Cho was silently evaluated after a second watching me toy around with the mist.

"…. It took me two weeks to do that," Akiko muttered, before starting to chew again half-heartedly

"It took me over a month." Akane moaned with her face pressed into her hands

-Never mind, it's not just him, they're all monsters.- Grandma Cho changed her opinion immediately.

"What are you guys whining about? Even when I offered advice before when training, you guys just ignored me. Teasing me saying that I didn't know what I was talking about when even with Chakra You still couldn't beat me! Now that I have refined chakra, you guys won't catch up in a hundred years!" I gloated joyously while experimenting, giving a side eye and a smirk at the two, watching the gloomy looks and puffed-up cheeks in dissatisfaction they gave me.

"They didn't have the help of the Demon Mirror Yokai as an aid in their first refinement of chakra. Nor the raw Yin Release potential that you do, though I do admit your knack for Chakra Control is extraordinary. Your Chakra managed to make several constructs from your raw mind is proof of this." Grandma Cho decided to inter

-That reminds me, what is this thing?- Remembering what happened back inside the Cave, I reached into my breast pocket and pulled out that small metal ball from inside.

The Object was still dead as a rock and all my Tulpa still locked themselves inside as well. I've tried to call and reach out to them with my mind a few times, but not to mention my landscape is still somehow sealed up, nobody was answering as well.

-Weird.- I thought, rubbing my fingers along the ball's reflective surface, pinching it a little I tried to see if I could find a seem to pry it open.

*Click*

While trying to do so, I heard a click, one of the faces on the ball had slanted open and suddenly all the dissipating purple vapor rushed through and disappeared into the small opening, which sealed itself once again and began to glow a light blue.

-So it feeds on Chakra, Nice one [Morpheus], you could have told me that before! I thought I would have to draw blood for this damn thing to open!- I grumbled silently in my heart

*PZzzT*

"Ouch! Damn it!" I yelped in surprise

A sudden sharp shock came from the object making me drop it to the table. Bouncing once, twice, and then started hovering in the air, just above the table.

"Now that's strange, how does it float there like that? What exactly is that thing again?" Akane asked curiously before reaching over and poking it.

The object just wiggled a little in the air before stabilizing again.

"I don't exactly know, [Morpheus] said that it would act as a focus, but I feel nothing at all right now. But since it reacts to Chakra, maybe-" I examine it for a moment before holding my hands on both sides and attempting to manipulate it using my Chakra.

It worked, or well it sort of worked. Controlling my chakra to condense and pulse outwards from my hands and onto the object caused it to spin in place.

Slowly glowing, a reddish tint slowly expanded along the surface and it slowly opened, showing a liquid core of metallic fluid, curious I tried to pull apart the shell to get a better look.

But as I did, flashes of electricity began to flicker across the liquid core and it began to glow red hot!

"Uh oh." I felt a chill run down my back as I watched the glow.

Snatching my hands back, I cut off the chakra I was supplying to the thing in a hurry, causing the casing to snap shut and drop back to the table silently.

After a few seconds, I wiped the cold sweat from my forehead and smiled at my confused family members.

"Phew! Nothing happened and here I thought it was going to explore-" I start to say

*Click*

*BaBOOM*

In a glorious artwork of flames and sparks, my hopes were dashed and our meal was trashed as a basketball-sized pit with singed edges appeared on the table surrounding a floating ball.

Everyone stared, completely dazed at the smoking hole and back to the small ball then back to the hole.

"Umm, can you fix that too?" I ask hopefully my grandmother.

....

It turned out that she couldn't.

As I watched the veins begin to pop on Grandma Cho's increasingly dark face, My survival instinct kicked in, allowing me to silently slip through the door and away from that place of right and wrong.

The culprit of the disaster followed me as well, silently orbiting around my body like a pesky fly as I made my way home.

Let's just say a boy walking down a stone path wearing a training Gi with purple smoke and a trailing orb isn't exactly inconspicuous am I right?

Ignoring the strange gazes drawn from me, I still didn't waste any time. The Ink would soon fade, I want to wring it out for all of its worth!

-First, let's try physical enhancement, Strength!- I slyly look at a patch of trees on the side of the path.

Walking up to a waist-thick tree with excitement, I lined myself up and took a deep breath while tightening the chakra until it condensed into a layer of aura on my hand.

"HYAH!" I yelled out, shooting my fist into the tree.

*THUUNK*!!!!

A solid but hollow impact sounded and a few leaves fell to the ground but other than that, nothing happened.

"…..Owww." I softly hissed and whimpered while nursing my hand

First attempt, Failure!

"I guess there wasn't enough chakra. I forgot that she said it would just be just excess Chakra, a minor boost in speed, but the durability and actual strength enhancement is pitiful." I note while rubbing my grazed hand

Like an egg against a rock, the false aura shattered into tiny motes and vanished as soon as my fist hit the tree, I was expecting it to have a little resistance but my misjudgment cost me as I hit the tree wrong and more speed than I predicted.

"Just this little bit of chakra is enough for a minor enhancement, good enough, but I will need to train a little to adapt to it. Let's try Internal enhancement next," I mutter softly to myself

My meridian channels are open and Chakra is constantly and lazily flowing from it towards my skin and evaporating into the air thanks to the Chakra reactant ink. Just enough for me to experiment with but I guess not enough for me to work with exactly for now.

Taking a deep breath, I turned my focus to my Chakra inwards this time, I guided my Tenketsu to open and flow, filling out my body and into my arms at my side.

-When it fills out my Meridians it feels like I'm filling out the gaps with lead, it's heavy!- I note, dissatisfied

I had hoped that it would get lighter and allow more freedom of movement if I let my meridians fill out, but it turns out that it's the opposite!

My arms felt like they were buried in cement, the chakra that thrummed in my veins felt like such a burden that I hunched over slightly.

-This won't work, it takes effort just to try bending them, it feels like a damn metal spring, I can't fight like this.- I grunted and strained to pick up my hands. The entire arm had gone stiff as a board, muscles becoming heavily defined and mismatched with my body.

The thing looked as if I had been doing bicep curls 24/7 for weeks on end, and the chakra within thrummed heavily, and as I cocked my arm the frequency at which it moved became higher and higher as I curled my arm.

Taking a breath I looked back at the tree I lugged my fist at it to see how much my durability increased.

Well, it did increase, even more than I expected.

WAYYY more than I expected!

When released, like a coiled spring, my arm snapped out like a whip and struck hard! And all that chakra condensed lashes out as well, traveling along my arm and out of my clenched fist with a glorious surge of Amber light!

*CRACK*

*SNAP*

*THUD*

I stared, mouth gapped wide in disbelief as I watched the tree trunk snap and collapse in on itself under its weight because of the massive three-foot wide chunk of disintegrated Ashes where my fist landed.

....

After making another woodland spirit prey to my explosive experimentation, I decided to call it a day, it was getting dark, and it was time to finish my journey home.

Not because the noise was beginning to attract attention! Not because if I was found destroying a perfectly fine fruit tree before harvesting season I will get the wooden spoon and caning from my parents and grandparents each.

Slipping past a couple of my relatives and their mounted Chi-Tori, I avoided a scolding and after another half an hour, I arrived home.

Now here I am on the roof, pondering, still experimenting. Nothing as wild as before but this couldn't wait!

The test of Chakra Nature manipulation!

Another fun fact I found out from my last experiment! It turns out, there is more than one form of Chakra Nature in my body!

And no, I'm not talking about the common five elemental changes in chakra, I'll get back to that in a moment, I'm talking about the Nature of the forces in my body!

One is sky blue, when Chakra is expelled from the body it turns into a heavily malleable substance, a semi-transparent and reactant aura that activates with mental energy, what I believe to be the Basis of Ninjutsu and all of its derivatives.

The very interesting thing is that it acts like a set of building blocks of the Mind with a rubber holding it together, The band holding it together being your concentration and how much chakra you put into it that keeps the substance solid.

The second is a soft amber-yellow, tied to my Meridian network, it's nature is acoustic, tuned to my body, and permeates between my body and surroundings. Different from the blue it dissipates nearly instantly into my surroundings when it leaves my body, but it's reinforcement on the body is astounding, and it regenerates almost as fast as it's spent. The only downside being if my stamina and endurance when using it.

The third-

*Click*

The floating object that had been following me silently all this time suddenly collapsed in on itself and turned into seven metal plates, with minds of their own they scattered and landed in varying positions around the rooftop around me.

When they landed, space distorted around the small plates until they transformed into several people.

"Kekkai, we need to talk." [Morpheus] states gloomily, with his hands folded and his head tilted downwards towards me on the ground.

I blinked, propping myself up to my elbows I slowly turned and saw all my [Tulpa] had come out and present, except three of them had changed.

The two wolves and tree were gone, replaced by three familiar strangers. A tall dark man in ceremonial armor and a spear, a small girl dressed in pure white dress cross-legged with a bow in her lap, and a light-skinned woman in a heavy brown robe with a mischievous smile on her face as she peeked down through her hood.

I blinked again.

"I guess we do," I grunt, slightly dissatisfied.

I just can't seem to catch a break today.