Chapter 148: reishi and Breathing Technique.
"You're awake..."
A bright female voice reached Naruto's ears the moment he opened his eyes; the hazy scene before him seemed to be an interior room.
"Here, have some water."
The woman, appearing to be about twenty-five years old, moved very gently, supporting Naruto's neck and lifting his head with a slight force from her left hand.
Water in the Soul Society is composed of high-density reishi, serving as a Spirit Pill for newborn Souls. If one doesn't care about taste, drinking water alone can sustain a newborn Soul's survival needs.
But...
After the bowl of water was finished, the hunger in Naruto's stomach still hadn't disappeared, and the feeling of weakness continued to linger throughout his body.
The woman showed a look of difficulty. Water was a hot commodity in the Rukongai; she wouldn't even consume a bowl in a week, yet Naruto had drunk her week's worth in one go without showing any improvement.
"What is your name, Big Sister?"
With a bowl of water in his stomach, although Naruto was still incredibly hungry, he had regained a bit of strength.
"You're a newborn Soul, aren't you?" The woman smiled. "In the Soul Society—that is, the world after death—age isn't judged by one's appearance."
"Then..."
"Big Sister it is, then, though that fellow Shuzowon't let you off easy if he finds out!" The woman placed the porcelain bowl on the bedside table. "My name is Ketsumi."
"What about the big brother who saved me?"
"You mean Shūi..." Ketsumi sat to the side, resting her chin on one hand. "He and Shuzo went to report to the Academy. They performed a great service this time and accumulated some merit."
"Was it that monster?" Naruto continued to ask.
Due to the issue of age, after arriving in the Soul Society, Naruto looked to be about thirteen or fourteen years old. Clearly, this appearance was quite deceptive.
"That was a Hollow, a Hollow!" Ketsumiemphasized. "Ordinary lower-class Shinigamiwouldn't dare Face one alone."
"Hollow... is that the name of the monsters in this world?" Naruto calculated silently in his mind, quickly filtering through the scenes of the previous battle, making some new discoveries.
The white bone mask with the long nose was their greatest weakness!
Furthermore, when Kido Shūi purified the Hollow, Naruto clearly perceived that the Hollow's predecessor was also a human Soul, just a more powerful evolved form after devouring many Souls.
Now this was interesting!
Not only that, when Naruto gripped that katana, he also felt an inexplicable restlessness within his body.
It was as if a voice from the bottom of his heart was calling out to him; a strange yet familiar name that he simply couldn't recall no matter what.
"Gurgle..."
Just as Ketsumi and Naruto fell into silence, Naruto's stomach began to protest again due to hunger.
"Uh..."
Naruto's Face suddenly turned red, and he was also somewhat puzzled; only feeding a patient water seemed a bit stingy.
"Sister Ketsumi, is there anything to eat?!"
"Ah!!!" Ketsumi slammed her hand against the bed frame beneath Naruto. "You must have starved to death before you died!!! Do you have any idea how precious that bowl of water you drank was!"
"This..." Naruto was startled by Ketsumi's sudden outburst. "Isn't this just ordinary water?!"
"Ordinary, my foot!" Ketsumi knocked Naruto on the forehead in annoyance. "We are all Souls after death, maintaining our existence in the Soul Society by absorbing reishi."
"But the resources of the Soul Society are also limited. Among them, the Seireitei is where the Shinigami live, and everything there is the most fertile in the Soul Society."
And where you and I are now is the Rukongai, where the total resources only account for one-fifth or even less of the entire Soul Society.
The density of reishi is even scarcer. To dream of living by absorbing the free-floating reishi is undoubtedly a fantasy; after all, there are far too many ordinary Souls in the Rukongai..."
A trace of resentment appeared on Ketsumi's Face; the imbalance of resources was likely the most unfair aspect of the Soul Society.
"So, if we Souls want to survive, we have to eat, and water composed entirely of dense reishibecomes the first choice for us ordinary Souls."
"I see..." Naruto seemed to understand a bit, but he still had questions. "But why can't I get full?!"
"Your Soul is too strong. Neither the free-floating reishi outside nor the water composed of high-density reishi can satisfy your body, unless..."
"Unless what?!"
Naruto was urgent; he hated the feeling of an empty stomach. It always brought back memories of his painful past. Although Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura had met their ends, the wounds in Naruto's heart were still hard to heal.
"Go to the Seireitei! There doesn't seem to be any other way to solve your body's problem."
"Then what if I go get more water?!"
"You can't do that!" Now it was Ketsumi's turn to be anxious. "You're too powerful; the water you need is dozens of times that of an ordinary Soul. If you were to eat your fill, several Souls in the entire First District would starve to death!"
"I... sigh!"
Naruto sighed and swallowed the words he was about to say. After all, Ketsumi was one of his saviors.
"It seems I can only rely on the free-floating reishiaround me..."
Naruto thought it over and still felt this method was the most reliable. After all, how much free-floating reishi one could absorb depended entirely on one's own ability. Although it was essentially the same as the water resources, it shouldn't cause many Souls to starve to death.
After chatting a few more words with Ketsumi, Naruto used the excuse that he was hungry and needed to rest to send Ketsumi out of the room.
"The method of refining Chakra won't work anymore. reishi is free-floating in the outside world, while Chakra is extracted from body cells; the two are simply not compatible."
Though he denied it verbally, the unwilling Narutodecided to give it a try. The result, of course, was no surprise; the reishi floating around the Rukongaishowed no reaction.
"It seems I can only try the Breathing exercises of the National Martial Arts and the Breathing Technique taught to me by Hiko Seijuro."
The cultivation systems Naruto had encountered so far were only three: Chakra, National Martial Arts, and Swordsmanship.
The Chakra cultivation system couldn't be applied to this world, so Naruto decisively began testing the Breathing exercises of the National Martial Arts, but unfortunately, it still ended in failure.
"Master, for the sake of me sheathing my blade at that final strike, the Breathing Technique you passed on to me must be useful!"
Naruto muttered to himself. Since Hiko Seijuro's Breathing Technique required coordination with the long sword in hand, according to Hiko Seijuro, it could Cultivate the rapport between man and blade.
But with no weapon on him, Naruto could only imagine it out of thin air. When activating the Breathing Technique, he envisioned a long sword in his hand.
The Breathing Technique worked!
Naruto's heart trembled. He could clearly feel the free-floating reishi constantly pouring into his body through his breathing. Although the concentration couldn't compare to the water of the Soul Society, it made up for it with persistence.
And Naruto, immersed in the wonderful sensation of absorbing reishi with his eyes closed, didn't notice that the long sword he was imagining was gradually being constructed and shaped by the reishi...
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