In the evening, after dinner, Li Chuan returned to his room and began his first Chakra extraction.
After taking Chiriku as his master, Li Chuan had Kinoe and the others return to the Prince's Residence first. He came to the Fire Temple to cultivate, not to enjoy life, and did not need servants attending to him.
Li Chuan's actions also made Chiriku secretly nod in approval.
Although he knew that starting Chakra cultivation at Li Chuan's age might mean he would only ever be a Genin, since he was nominally his disciple, he still hoped his disciple would put in some effort.
Of course, as a noble Prince, Li Chuan's treatment was still different from that of ordinary disciples; at least he lived in a private room and did not have to sleep in a communal dormitory like the other monks.
"Huh, it's quite simple!"
When Li Chuan first attempted to extract Sage Art Chakra, it was not as difficult as Chiriku had said, which implied it might take one or two weeks to get started.
Instead, he very smoothly blended the three energies of body, spirit, and nature in the correct proportions, transforming them into Sage Art Chakra.
However, he thought about it and felt it was reasonable.
What are the difficulties in extracting Chakra? What is the speed of Chakra cultivation related to? All of these were explained in detail in Chiriku's lecture today.
There are mainly three difficulties in normal Chakra extraction: body, spirit, and control ability.
Sage Art adds a bit of natural energy, but since the amount required is extremely small, it can be ignored.
The stronger the body and the stronger the spirit, the easier they are to perceive, and then energy can be extracted. The stronger the control, the more smoothly the three energies can be integrated and converted into Chakra.
These might be more difficult for a normal seven or eight-year-old child.
But for Li Chuan, it was very simple.
First, the body: the most important thing in martial arts is the body. Standing stance, breathing techniques, Tiger-Leopard Thunder Sound, and so on, are all for strengthening the internal organs and the physical body.
Even without Chakra and Ninjutsu to strengthen his body, Li Chuan's current pure physical strength is probably much stronger than that of an average Genin, and perhaps even comparable to some Chunin.
One must know that his body was already close to being developed to the human limit, and after coming to this World, the number of his cells suddenly doubled or more.
As for spirit, how could someone who had cultivated martial arts to his level and often engaged in life-and-death boxing be weak in spirit and will? Coupled with the superposition of his spirit from two lifetimes, he was even stronger.
A clear manifestation of this is that his memory in this life is extremely strong; if he concentrates, he can achieve the level of photographic memory.
Finally, control: this is even more his strong suit. As a martial artist, being able to basically control every muscle in the body is the most basic requirement.
Therefore, when Li Chuan began to extract Sage Art according to Chiriku's method, it went so smoothly.
Moreover, with Li Chuan's physical fitness, his Chakra extraction speed is also far beyond ordinary people, because the speed of Chakra extraction is mainly related to the body.
People with stronger vitality and stronger physical energy can extract Chakra faster, a typical example being Naruto's Uzumaki Clan.
Of course, having a large amount of Chakra does not necessarily mean one is strong. The strength of a Ninja can only be judged by considering Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, experience, skills, and so on.
When Naruto was a Genin, his Chakra reserves far exceeded those of the Jonin Kakashi, but Kakashi could defeat Naruto with one hand.
However, having a large amount of Chakra is definitely a good thing, because it means that under equal strength, the one with more Chakra will definitely win in the end, and many super Ninjutsu also require a large amount of Chakra to be released.
The next day, still in the same training room.
"Chuan, the extraction of Sage Art itself is more difficult than normal Chakra extraction, so you need to be patient. After trying last night, if there are any parts you don't understand, you can ask, and I, your master, will answer them for you.
Our goal for these two weeks is to first extract Chakra; only by possessing Chakra can we proceed with further learning."
Chiriku knew that when first extracting Chakra, many problems would definitely be encountered. He was afraid the Prince's disciple would be discouraged, so he first comforted him as soon as he sat down.
"Master, I have already extracted Chakra!"
Li Chuan smiled slightly.
Regarding his strength and talent, he felt there was no need to hide it from Chiriku. He felt he should show off more. Only by making Chiriku feel that this disciple of his was not here to fool around, but truly had hope of becoming a strong person, would Chiriku pass on all Ninjutsu to him.
"What? You have already extracted Chakra? That's impossible! Regarding Chakra extraction, I think you don't need to feel pressured; extracting Chakra in a few months is considered normal."
Chiriku did not believe at all that Li Chuan had already extracted Chakra. His first reaction was that this Prince's disciple of his was too concerned with saving face.
This was also normal; having served as a Daimyo's guard, Chiriku knew very well that nobles were very concerned about face.
Li Chuan did not explain, but directly concentrated the Sage Art Chakra in his hand, letting it emit a faint golden light.
Currently, he could not form hand seals or use Ninjutsu, so he could only use this method to prove that he could successfully extract Sage Art Chakra.
When Chiriku saw the iconic golden light of Sage Art in Li Chuan's hand, he immediately seemed to be under a Shizune spell, his eyes wide and mouth agape, ceasing all sound.
He was very certain that Li Chuan's body had not contained a single trace of Chakra yesterday. He was also very certain that what was emanating from Li Chuan's hand now was the Sage Art Chakra unique to the Fire Temple.
Therefore, Li Chuan, this twenty-year-old Prince, truly succeeded in extracting Sage Art Chakra in just one night.
At the same time, he felt a pang of regret. With such good Ninja talent, if he had become a Ninja when he was young, then in the future, he might have become a powerful Jonin.
Actually, he didn't know that Li Chuan hadn't taken an entire night, but only a dozen seconds, to successfully extract Sage Art Chakra, which is even slower than normal Chakra.
"Very good, you are very talented, and I, your master, am very pleased. Since you can successfully extract Chakra, then today we will learn the most basic hand seals for Ninjutsu.
Basically, most Ninjutsu are released through hand seals, and we have a total of twelve seals. Each seal has a unique hand gesture, some of which are quite difficult.
Now, follow me and learn them one by one. Remember, they must be precise, otherwise the Ninjutsu will not be successfully released.
First one: Rat!"
"Rat!"
Li Chuan glanced at Chiriku's hand gesture and immediately replicated an identical one.
For a martial arts master, the control over muscles, coupled with his photographic memory, made these hand seal gestures no difficulty for him at all.
And Chiriku carefully looked at Li Chuan's hand gesture, originally wanting to correct any errors, but found that there were no errors to correct at all.
"Very good, the Rat seal is relatively simple. Next, we will learn the Ox seal."