["Hahahaha~"]
[Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn't help laughing out loud.]
[Looking at the gratitude and excitement in little Naruto's eyes,]
[Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn't help thinking—]
['Minato, Kushina… your child is far too outstanding.']
[Hm. Minato's 'insight,' plus the Uzumaki clan's jinchūriki-grade physique.]
[A stable and obedient Nine-Tails jinchūriki—how rare.]
[He glanced at the Chakra Refinement Technique.]
[No matter how excellent little Naruto's constitution was, a seal was still a seal.]
[If Naruto were kept from refining chakra for too long, the seal would still loosen slightly over time, allowing the Nine-Tails' chakra to leak out.]
["Then let me congratulate you in advance on becoming a qualified Konoha ninja~!" Sarutobi Hiruzen said with a light chuckle.]
["Mm~!"]
["Thank you, Hokage Grandpa! I'll definitely work hard to gain everyone's recognition, then become Hokage—and a great hero just like you, Hokage Grandpa!"]
["Very good. Then you'd better work hard~" Sarutobi Hiruzen smiled, then added, "If there's anything you don't understand, you can come ask me."]
["Okay~!" Little Naruto nodded repeatedly.]
[After that, Sarutobi Hiruzen brought little Naruto into the Hokage Tower.]
[Inside the Hokage's office, Sarutobi Hiruzen brewed himself a cup of tea, then leaned back by the window, letting the cold wind blow as he lit his pipe.]
[From time to time, he glanced at little Naruto.]
[The smile at the corner of his mouth refused to fade.]
[Meanwhile, little Naruto couldn't wait to start flipping through the Chakra Refinement Technique scroll.]
['Shikamaru suggested that most of the time, I should learn to hide my edge.']
[So little Naruto took the scroll to Sarutobi Hiruzen, pointed at several unfamiliar characters, and asked what they meant.]
[This made Sarutobi Hiruzen extremely happy—he got to experience the feeling of being a teacher once again.]
[Before long, little Naruto finished reading the key points of the Chakra Refinement Technique.]
[In general, chakra is the product of combining spiritual energy and physical (cellular) energy.]
[Most of the time, these two energies do not interact. Only through deliberate control can they be combined and refined.]
[Without learning the Chakra Refinement Technique, one cannot use controllable chakra.]
[Little Naruto frowned slightly.]
['Spiritual energy? Physical energy?']
['So chakra is essentially obtained by consuming one's own energy?']
['Wouldn't that cause serious harm to the body?']
['The book says that at my age, I'm still growing… Shikamaru and the others are learning too.']
['That means people this age can endure the consumption—but if it's excessive, it'll definitely damage the body's foundation.']
['…']
Little Naruto continued thinking deeply.
Meanwhile, the people of the ninja world wore expressions of shock.
Uchiha Izuna: This kid's comprehension really is high!
Uchiha Izuna: Little Ino, take him down! Help your adoptive father revive the new Uchiha clan!
Yamanaka Ino: "..."
Senju Tobirama nodded in approval.
Senju Tobirama: Ninjas are, in essence, beings who exchange lifespan for power.
Senju Tobirama: Learning chakra too early—if not restrained—will definitely damage one's foundation.
Senju Tobirama: In our era, ninjas didn't live long. Because of constant war, almost every ninja learned chakra refinement as their very first lesson.
Senju Hashirama: Which is why one of the purposes of founding villages was to protect the new generation.
Senju Hashirama: Madara and I once shared that ideal.
Uchiha Madara: You're already dead—stop rambling.
Shimura Danzō: "And yet you don't know that Hiruzen sent large numbers of children to the battlefield!"
Senju Hashirama: Monkey! Is what Danzō says true?!
Senju Hashirama: You actually let children go to war?!
Tsunade: "Nawaki died on the battlefield."
—Boom—
This news struck Senju Hashirama and Senju Tobirama like a bolt from the blue.
No wonder Nawaki had never spoken until now.
Nawaki…
Orochimaru's snake-like pupils narrowed slightly.
["Hokage Grandpa, chakra can't be stored… so when ninjas need it, they have to refine it first?" little Naruto asked.]
[Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded slightly. "That's right—even during battle."]
["Learning chakra refinement itself may not be hard. What's difficult is turning it into instinct."]
["An excellent ninja can refine chakra quickly. Likewise, an excellent ninja knows how to calculate their chakra usage."]
["If chakra is overused, it can easily lead to death."]
[Little Naruto nodded quickly, saying he understood.]
[After asking several more questions, he finally sat cross-legged and began trying to refine chakra.]
[He wasn't in a hurry. He didn't immediately follow the method in the scroll.]
[Instead, he continuously adjusted his breathing and stabilized his condition.]
[Sarutobi Hiruzen watched with anticipation.]
[The Uzumaki and Senju physiques were truly enviable.]
[For others, it was chakra. For them, it was at least "chakura," and "chakuton" was common—]
[As for "chakara," one might appear only once in a century.]
"Chakara?"
Kakashi frowned slightly.
Why did that sound ominous?
Still, the narration hit close to home.
Having little chakra really was painful.
Of course, Kakashi himself didn't actually have little chakra—he was normal.
It was just that his Sharingan couldn't be turned off, constantly consuming chakra.
In other words, Kakashi was passively refining chakra at all times.
That was why he was called "Kakashi the Low-Chakra."
"One Kaka" as a unit of measurement referred to Kakashi's total chakra minus the Sharingan's constant consumption.
[As a professor of ninjutsu, Sarutobi Hiruzen knew many techniques—otherwise he wouldn't deserve his position.]
[However, those abilities were also piled up with massive resources.]
[With Sarutobi Hiruzen's 'assistance,' little Naruto succeeded in refining chakra after several attempts.]
[That feeling… was subtle.]
[Little Naruto immediately suppressed the craving in his heart and stopped refining chakra.]
[Knowing that excessive refinement could damage his foundation, he remained extremely restrained—]
[even though the sensation of having chakra was very comfortable.]
[Sarutobi Hiruzen was equally pleased.]
[Since little Naruto could refine chakra, there was no need to worry about the Nine-Tails' seal anymore—]
[at least, not for a very long time.]
[And little Naruto was already under his 'control.']
[There was no need to worry about Naruto borrowing chakra to attack villagers.]
["Hokage Grandpa… am I too stupid?"]
["You were definitely more impressive than me back then."]
[Little Naruto lowered his head, speaking somewhat dejectedly.]
[Hm?!]
[Sarutobi Hiruzen's eyelid twitched.]
[Based on little Naruto's description, Hiruzen estimated that—]
[if Naruto could use ninjutsu, the chakra he had just refined would be enough to cast a standard Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu once.]
[But… looking at little Naruto's disappointed yet expectant expression—]
[Sarutobi Hiruzen cleared his throat.]
[He placed a hand gently on Naruto's head.]
["Naruto, you've already done very well."]
["Although you're still a little worse than I was back then, you've already surpassed most people."]
["Really?!" Little Naruto's eyes lit up as he looked up eagerly.]
["Mm!" Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded firmly.]
["Alright. You still need to study the Will of Fire properly."]
["When you become a ninja in the future, Grandpa will prepare many more surprises for you~!"]
["Hahahaha~"]
[Even Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn't help laughing.]
Yamanaka Ino: "So shameless!"
Yamanaka Ino: "But Naruto's chakra really is a lot~"
Haruno Sakura: "Yeah! Give me a reward that boosts chakra a hundredfold too~!"
Yamanaka Ino: "Adoptive Dad, how does your chakra compare to the Uzumaki clan's?"
Uchiha Izuna: A ninja's strength isn't determined by chakra quantity, but by refinement.
Senju Tobirama: Hmph! Then what if my brother used Fire Style with his chakra reserves?
Uchiha Izuna: That's your brother—what does it have to do with you? Your chakra isn't much more than mine!
Uchiha Izuna: Little Ino, don't compare chakra with monsters like them. The Tailed Beasts have massive chakra too—so what? One glare and it's over.
Uchiha Izuna: Oh right, didn't you mention the Nine-Tails incident earlier? That little fox—I could make it behave with a single look.
Yamanaka Ino: "So amazing~!"
Uchiha Izuna felt smug.
Uchiha Izuna: Tobirama, what about you?!
Senju Tobirama: Souls beneath my blade.
Kurama: "That's bullshit!"
Uchiha Madara: "Hm?"
Kurama: "Damn you, Uchiha Madara!"
Senju Hashirama: Give me some face—everyone stop arguing.
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