"All right, class.
We're starting our first lesson of the day.
Last term we covered the history of the Hidden Leaf and the Third Hokage's Will of Fire. Kono, since you weren't here last term, please study that at ho on your own.
Today's topic is the Chakra Core and the three broad types of shinobi. Take out your pens. There are a lot of testable points, and there is one major misconception you must master."
The squeak of chalk on the board yanked Kono back to senior-year classrooms from a past life, and with it that old exam anxiety. The bold title on the board pulled her firmly into the present: Chakra Core.
"Chakra is ford by "
"Kono, did you eat breakfast?" Naruto's voice rode right over Iruka's lecture, and Kono's brows creased.
The ancient Taketori clan had kept a Warring States way of teaching. Refine chakra. Drill the Taketori war dance. Kill for real.
Her raw power had skyrocketed under that regi, but her formal shinobi knowledge lagged badly. Especially here, where this world shaded closer to reality than the comic she once knew. Things that had been glossed over or never ntioned there were basic literacy here.
She had skimd the textbooks last night after picking them up. First-year material was shallow, ducking everything she wanted to learn. And Guy, bless him, was a happy tail-ender. Right now the only place she could reliably pick up theory was this classroom.
"Naruto, you should listen carefully in class."
"Okay."
He agreed with his whole heart, then soon grew bored and started twirling his ballpoint pen. It skittered off his fingers every so often and clacked against the desk.
Kono sighed inwardly. Gains always co with a price. If she wanted that Nine Tails chakra, there would be costs. Fine. Call it prepaying for an all-you-can-eat buffet.
"Naruto-kun."
"Huh?"
He looked up, delighted.
"Can you help with sothing?" Kono tilted her head and spoke softly.
Morning light poured through the window, laying a sheer gold on her pale profile. The bridge of her nose cast a fine shadow that sharpened her features.
"S-sure."
He barely heard what she asked. He just watched those soft pink lips shape the words and nodded himself dizzy.
Squeak, squeak.
Chalk kept moving. Iruka had filled a quarter of the board.
"As you know, chakra is ford by spirit and physical energy, and what fuses those two is the key in the heart, the chakra core.
"So call it the chakra seed."
He paused to let that settle, then went on.
"During chakra refinent, the core continually devours both energies and grows, while feeding chakra back to the shinobi.
"It is like a seed we nurture to sprout, grow and mature.
"Because every person's soul and body are different, their spirit and physical energies differ, and the core that grows differs. In the end, everyone's chakra has subtle distinctions.
"All of a shinobi's power is housed in the chakra core…"
Kono listened, still and intent.
Sothing about his description rang familiar.
A pocket God Tree.
The Ōtsutsuki planted the God Tree in this world, which devoured natural energy to bear chakra fruit.
A shinobi's inner core devoured spirit and flesh to produce chakra.
So alike.
It also explained why Orochimaru could not mass-produce bloodline users by cloning. The mystery of bloodline limits lay in the abnormal chakra core. It was not genetic. A child inherited a core that was the fruit condensed from the parents' mature cores, not a copy of their DNA map.
Each person could produce only a limited number of fruits, so bloodline users could not be made in bulk. And ninja could choose whether to pass that fruit on. re genetic material would do nothing.
Her Byakugan flared.
Kono looked into her own heart, at the faintly luminous core there.
A deep blue halo pulsed around it.
It had not always been that color.
After she devoured a small shard of the Three-Tails' chakra, both her chakra and her core had mutated.
Iruka wrote the last line and set the chalk down.
"The chakra core can be altered by foreign chakra, and a changed core will in turn give rise to brand-new chakra."
He exhaled, then turned around.
Half the class had slumped over.
Iruka's mouth twitched. Pure theory was dry even for adults. For these restless kids, it was a sleep spell. His gaze drifted to the transfer student.
Kono sat with her eyes covered, motionless. He had slowed his speaking pace for her sake. He had no idea if she understood or had dozed off.
Then his eyes slid to Naruto beside her, and widened.
The class dunce was taking notes. Seriously.
What on earth.
"Cha… kra…"
Naruto scratched out lopsided characters in a clean notebook.
Kono was blind.
He had promised to write down the lesson for her so she could review at ho. Uzumaki Naruto kept his word, no matter how boring or hard.
Ugh.
His face scrunched as he copied and stuffed facts into his head. Still so boring.
Iruka swallowed his surprise, rapped the board and roused the sleepers.
"Focus up. Now for what matters on the test.
"The factors that affect total chakra and how they sort ninja into types. This is not in the textbook, so morize it. It will be on the final."
Kono pulled her sight back from her core.
Iruka's face had gone solemn. He straightened his thoughts and spoke slowly.
"Rember this.
"Your total chakra depends only on vitality. The stronger your life force, the more energy your body and soul produce, the faster your core grows, and the more chakra it yields.
"In other words, the amount of chakra a person will have is set the mont they are born.
"It cannot be changed."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Don't forget to add this story to your Library, drop a review, and leave a Power Stone if you enjoyed it!
Craving more chapters? Join my Patron to unlock advance releases and dive deeper into the story!
[email protected]/_theon
Change @ to "a"
User Comments
0 comments from readers