After returning home from the group meal, Higashino Makoto, as usual, persisted in chakra extraction training, and then, before going to sleep, practiced hand seal speed for a while.
In the end, he deliberately did not extract chakra. Only after confirming that the chakra within his meridians had completely dissipated did he begin to fall asleep.
With his mind emptied, his thoughts gathered in, and his body entering a sleeping state, Higashino Makoto discovered that he indeed still retained conscious awareness, but he could feel that it was controllable.
At this moment, he could choose to let his consciousness fall asleep together with his body, or, like last night, detach from his body.
Ensuring that there was no chakra remaining in his meridians before sleeping was something he did intentionally, because he wanted to see whether the matter of consciousness leaving the body was related to whether there was undissipated chakra left in his body before sleep.
The facts proved that even with no chakra in the meridians, it was still the same as last night.
That is to say, the first instance of chakra extraction was a trigger that opened the state of his consciousness leaving his body after falling asleep; after that, such conditions were no longer required.
With a movement of thought, Higashino Makoto's consciousness body once again drifted above his physical body. Under the all-encompassing, blind-spot-free observation of the consciousness body, he discovered that he was located at a position about 20 centimeters above his body.
He tried to move the consciousness body, but the result was still as if it were fixed in that position—completely unable to achieve flying freely through the heavens and the earth or killing invisibly like the Spirit Transformation Technique.
It seemed that this was completely not the same thing as the Spirit Transformation Technique; this was more like a special state of his own.
After thinking it over again and again, he could only temporarily assume that it might be related to the fact that he had been reborn and possessed a soul that did not belong to this world.
After all, according to the information he understood, the souls of people in the ninja world were basically all chakra-ized. After death, they had no chance to reincarnate; they would only go to the Pure Land and become collection items of the old man of the Six Paths.
Just like a piece of merchandise stamped with its owner's mark.
If his own soul was essentially different from that of the people of the ninja world, then it truly would be something that only he alone could accomplish.
This was a state that belonged exclusively to him—one in which he could communicate with natural energy from the very beginning—and unlike Jūgo, he would not lose control and start killing at the slightest provocation.
If this was not a cheat, then what was?
The scene within the space was the same as last night. Under the observation of his consciousness, those multicolored wisps of thin mist flowed freely between heaven and earth.
They were not clearly separated from one another; instead, they rubbed against and pressed upon each other, and at the boundaries, one could even see mutual encroachment and transformation.
The red mist was savage and domineering, overwhelming all the other colors with its absolute mass—like a middle school student barging into a kindergarten classroom.
The other colors were still able to hold their ground. Only the white was the most miserable— even in the kindergarten class it was the weakest one, reduced to that single dot in the daily routine of eating, sleeping, and playing games.
Higashino Makoto completely dared not touch the other colors. After all, one should pick on the soft ones, right?
Ah—no, that was wrong. It was about upholding justice and speaking up for that poor little dot.
Come quickly, into uncle's arms—this place is safe.
As usual, Higashino Makoto lured the white mist, treating his consciousness body as a filter, guiding the mist—its canceling and disintegrating force already neutralized—into his body.
During this process, his consciousness body closely monitored the changes in his physical body. The moment he detected any abnormality, he would immediately turn into a scumbag and cut off all contact with the mist.
...
Higashino Jirō's leave lasted about half a month. After all, stationing at the border was a hard and dangerous assignment, and it was impossible to deny ninjas time to rest and relax.
Otherwise, mental problems would arise. Ninjas as a group were prone to psychological issues, and the problem was that they wielded extraordinary power. Once someone fell, for ordinary people of the ninja world, it would be nothing short of a disaster.
If an elite chūnin went all out, it would be very easy to turn a prosperous small town into a land of death in a short time.
In the days that followed, Higashino Jirō spent most of his time in the village, resting while training when he could. At any time, strength was always the best weapon one could rely on.
However, when he trained, he would go to a larger training ground. The one near the Higashino residence was too small and was meant for children who had not yet officially become ninjas.
Higashino Makoto continued to maintain the training plan he had set for himself, though from time to time he also sought guidance from his father.
There was not much he could ask. After all, he had already set foot on a path completely different from his father's—or from that of ordinary ninjas.
Natural energy was powerful. Through the nightly nourishment, he discovered that this stuff not only made his body gradually become stronger, but also made his progress in controlling chakra gratifying.
Unfortunately, for the time being, he had no way to teach it to his family.
He had asked around indirectly. His parents could not sense any special energy at all—they had no such concept, and they also lacked that special method of observation through a consciousness body.
Higashino Makoto estimated that even if they learned the Spirit Transformation Technique, it would be useless.
If the Spirit Transformation Technique could also allow one, like him, to observe natural energy of various colors, then Katō Dan would surely have learned to make use of it long ago and become even stronger; he would not have been killed by the enemy while using the Spirit Transformation Technique.
Chakra divided people into two kinds of existences, and natural energy likewise divided ninjas into two kinds of existences. At present, among those in the ninja world who could use Sage Mode—aside from summoned beasts—there might be only half a person, that super-perverted lecher named Jiraiya.
If Katō Dan could use Sage Mode, he definitely would not have died so easily.
Was the dream of becoming Hokage no longer appealing, or was Tsunade's big buns no longer juicy?
Higashino Makoto still had no method to pour natural energy into his parents.
Even if he did, he would not dare use it, because if he messed it up, he would personally create the buff of "sacrificing one's parents to the heavens, boundless magical power."
For details, please see the piles upon piles of stone statues on Mount Myōboku that had turned into toad shapes—those had all once been humans who tried to control natural energy and failed.
...
In a flash, more than ten days passed.
Early in the morning, Higashino Makoto, as usual, came to the training ground to work out. However, just as he was preparing to begin, he discovered that he faintly had the feeling of being watched.
Could it be the Third Hokage's crystal ball?
He was just the child of a civilian ninja family. Although his parents felt he was a genius, in the eyes of someone at Kage level, he was only so-so—nothing worth paying attention to.
Besides, did the Hokage go to work that early? Who did he think he was—the Seventh Hokage?
Higashino Makoto's heart stirred, and he quickly completed chakra extraction. His body immediately filled with strength.
With more than ten days having passed, he had already reached the goal he had previously set—training the extraction technique into his body's instinct.
It could only be said that natural energy was truly miraculous.
Not only that—because his body had been continuously absorbing white natural energy, the chakra he extracted was now able to resonate with the outside world.
However, limited by his current chakra reserves and the short time he had spent training in natural energy, the range of this resonance was not very large. Still, it was enough to cover this small training ground.
With just a simple sweep of this perception, Higashino Makoto discovered the hidden target.
He raised his head and called out toward a large tree not far away, "Father, what are you doing hiding there?"
"Eh?" Higashino Jirō let out a puzzled sound, then leapt down in two or three steps to land in front of his son. He asked curiously, "How did you know I was there?"
"I sensed it."
"Sensed it? You mean perception? Since when can you use perception? That's not something you can learn just because you want to—without talent, it's impossible."
"I never learned it. I just suddenly could do it these past few days."
"A natural awakening? Could it be a bloodline ability? Does our Higashino family even have this kind of bloodline inheritance?" Higashino Jirō was confused.
Being naturally precocious was nothing special—there were plenty of such children in the ninja world. Succeeding at chakra extraction in under a minute the first time, with a decent chakra amount, was not outrageous either; among civilians, that counted as a genius.
The Uchiha clan and the Hyūga clan, who were born ninjas, also had plenty of smart children who could do the same.
But a naturally awakened perception ability was not something that genius alone could explain. Higashino Makoto not only sensed that someone was there—he could even tell whose chakra it was.
'Could it be… this child isn't mine? Was I cuckolded?'
But after marrying Megumi, we were together the entire time up until the pregnancy. Konoha even has marriage leave, after all.
"Mr. Higashino, I feel like you're thinking about something bad. Do we need to go back together and ask Mom to confirm it?"
"No, no—absolutely not. I'd be killed," Higashino Jirō immediately stopped him, cursing himself internally for losing his head.
He knew what his wife was like—she would absolutely never do anything that betrayed him. That simply was not her character. The two of them had known each other since childhood, understood each other thoroughly, and had a deep foundation of feelings.
The ninja world was full of strange things to begin with; some people even awakened kekkei genkai for no apparent reason.
His own son merely being able to sense things did not seem like such a big deal.
Thinking it over this way, Higashino Jirō suddenly relaxed again.
His son truly was a genius.