Staring at the chakra in his hand, Uchiha Kiyo fell into deep thought.
"So, what's so special about Chakra?"
Compared to natural energy, chakra is considered a diluted version of it after refinement. The only difference is that chakra has undergone a process of "refinement," making it more accessible for shinobi to manipulate.
Natural energy, in its pure form, cannot be controlled directly. The current shinobi cultivation system lacks a method to directly manipulate natural energy for combat.
Since natural energy exists everywhere in the shinobi world, theoretically, it should be capable of transforming into elements such as water and fire.
"Perhaps all matter in the natural world originates from transformed natural energy," Kiyo speculated.
Such a concept was not entirely baseless, but proving it would require an understanding of fundamental laws that govern nature. These laws, which he referred to as "rules," were the unseen forces that dictated how the world functioned.
Just as gravity determines the motion of objects, there must be corresponding rules governing fire, water, and even life and death. After all, souls travel to the so-called "Pure Land" after death, which suggests that a guiding principle, or rule, enforces this process.
In order to achieve certain effects, shinobi must either operate within these rules—such as using physical forces to walk and run—or they must bypass them, as seen with certain ninjutsu techniques. For example, Ohnoki's Light-Weight and Heavy-Weight Rock Jutsu alters body density, enabling flight—a clear violation of natural law.
Under normal circumstances, natural energy takes an extended period to manifest into tangible elements. The transformation of raw energy into matter is not instantaneous. However, shinobi, through training, refine chakra and force it to undergo immediate transformation—this is the principle behind chakra shape manipulation.
Though brief in duration, the transformation is effective, allowing ninjas to wield elemental forces at will.
"So, chakra contains an additional element—spiritual energy. Can spiritual energy influence fundamental rules?"
Kiyo did not rush to a conclusion. Instead, he formulated a hypothesis:
Spiritual energy interacts with the world's rules.
To test this idea, he examined whether spiritual energy could explain various phenomena, particularly those related to chakra manipulation.
He turned his thoughts to nature transformation—the fundamental changes in chakra's elemental properties.
Through training and comprehension, shinobi could enhance their elemental ninjutsu, increasing their effectiveness. However, this improvement was not due to an influx of additional chakra.
For instance, when refining the high-temperature aspect of Fire Release, a ninja seemingly aligns their chakra with the rule governing temperature increase.
"Could nature transformation be a direct application of these fundamental rules?"
But then, how does this process work?
How does a ninja cultivate nature transformation?
"First, is it all the work of spiritual energy? If so, does that mean spiritual energy connects directly to the fundamental laws of the world?"
Kiyo reflected on his own training.
Nature transformation isn't something one can learn merely by being taught—it requires comprehension.
This comprehension isn't necessarily an intellectual understanding but rather an instinctive grasping of the concept. Once a ninja finds the correct approach, progress follows naturally.
Following comprehension, mastery of nature transformation relies on repetition—constant practice.
It was similar to copying text repeatedly. At first, the words felt unfamiliar, but over time, the motion became fluid. Eventually, a ninja's chakra would instinctively take on the elemental properties they had trained in.
The deeper the comprehension, the more refined the transformation became.
For Kiyo, the process of mastering nature transformation was like writing a book. The early stages were slow—perhaps producing only a single word per day. But with continued practice, the pace increased until entire paragraphs could be written effortlessly.
This analogy aligned with his own experiences.
Very few in the ninja world had undergone multiple profound nature transformations as he had.
The "word count" he used in his analogy was merely a way to quantify perception. He could feel the vast difference between primary and advanced high-temperature Fire Release.
So, what was actually happening during this process?
"Maybe… we are imprinting spiritual energy with knowledge? Recording our insights directly into our chakra?"
Whether the insights were embedded into spiritual energy or simply with it, the key takeaway was clear—spiritual energy acted as a recording medium for comprehension.
This aligned with one of the most distinct properties of spiritual energy—its conceptual nature.
Spiritual energy was inherently abstract, making it the perfect medium for storing techniques, experiences, and understanding.
Kiyo's mind raced with questions.
Where were these insights stored? The soul? The body? Or just within spiritual energy itself?
When a ninja completed nature transformation training, their chakra naturally took on the refined properties. This meant one of two things:
1. The information was stored in a part of the body responsible for chakra extraction. This would explain why newly formed chakra automatically possessed the desired properties.
2. The information was stored in the soul, allowing the ninja to consciously influence chakra production.
Chakra consists of both spiritual energy and physical energy, meaning the process must involve one or both components.
"If spiritual energy carries this knowledge, then there must be a repository for it. That repository could only be the soul."
Kiyo's eyes narrowed as he reached an unsettling realization.
"This means that our understanding of chakra transformation is fundamentally tied to the soul."
However, this led to a contradiction.
His clones could generate chakra, yet they could not utilize the nature transformations he had mastered.
Did this mean the knowledge was imprinted on the body rather than the soul?
"No… that doesn't make sense."
A shadow clone, despite sharing the same soul, lacked access to certain abilities. If perception was purely stored in the soul, clones should inherit it completely.
Yet, clones were unable to perform advanced nature transformations unless they had personally trained in them.
But wait—when a shadow clone trained a new nature transformation, the knowledge returned to the original body. That meant the soul was indeed the storage medium.
Orochimaru's Living Corpse Reincarnation technique further supported this theory. Even after transferring to a new body, he retained all previously mastered chakra transformations.
Yet… a contradiction remained.
If the soul stored perception, why couldn't his clones use nature transformations immediately?
Forcing himself to calm down, Kiyo reanalyzed the situation.
"Perhaps both the soul and body must reach a certain state for nature transformation to function."
Comprehension was stored in the soul, but the body needed to adapt as well.
This explained why shadow clones' training could transfer back to the original body seamlessly—the adaptation process was relatively minor.
However, a completely separate physical body, like a clone, lacked this adaptation. It was not an instant process to adjust to years of accumulated experience.
Orochimaru's reincarnation technique likely involved an extended adaptation period. His chakra eroded the new host before transfer, subtly aligning the new body with his previous chakra patterns.
Kiyo clenched his fist.
"It all makes sense now."
Comprehension existed in the soul, but practical application required the body to adapt!
His clones were benefiting from his past knowledge, but they were merely "consuming" it instead of expanding upon it.
"This won't do."
A new rule was set: Clones must cultivate entirely new knowledge instead of relying on my past insights.
Returning to his earlier hypothesis: Could spiritual energy be the key to interacting with the world's rules?
"Perhaps this is the true meaning of 'the path of a ninja.'"
Was spiritual energy the power of the Dao?
The formless essence of universal rules?
If so, then…
"Sigh…" Kiyo exhaled deeply.
"Chakra… truly is the art of reaching the sky."
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