Chapter 5 — Chakra and Rock Lee
After dinner, Natsuri headed back to her room, grabbed a book about chakra extraction, and started reading. Honestly, she'd never studied this hard in her previous life.
She already knew quite a bit about chakra from memory, though she still had no idea how to actually extract it. At first, she thought about asking her mom, Sinai, to teach her. But Sinai admitted she barely remembered the theory anymore. She could still use chakra, but all that textbook knowledge had been handed back to her teacher ages ago.
Plus, Sinai didn't recommend extracting chakra before age six. According to her, it could mess with the body's development.
Natsuri had her own thoughts about that.
Chakra came from combining physical and spiritual energy. To extract it, there had to be some kind of toll on the body. Spiritual energy affected how much chakra you could draw at once, while physical energy determined your total reserve. Only by merging the two could you get usable chakra.
In Natsuri's opinion, physical energy depended on both your body and your bloodline. You could train your body, sure—but bloodline? That was set from birth.
People with ordinary bloodlines had lower "blood coefficients," so they needed a much stronger body just to hold enough chakra. But clans like the Uzumaki had insanely high coefficients, giving them massive chakra reserves even if their physical condition wasn't anything special.
Bloodline also affected recovery speed, but honestly, Natsuri didn't think that mattered much. In a real battle, things were usually decided in the first few moves. A slightly faster recovery wouldn't help much there.
She did wonder if there were materials in this world that could raise someone's blood coefficient. But when she thought about it, nothing really came to mind. Hashirama's cells? No thanks—she had zero interest in turning into a half-zetsu science project. If it came down to that, she'd rather try for a Tailed Beast instead. But neither option really fit her path.
What she wanted was to grow strong as a human—with a human body and identity. Sure, other forms might offer more power, but she didn't want to lose herself just to reach the top. If that meant passing on things like organ transplants or becoming a Jinchuriki, so be it.
And honestly, if she ever had to rely on stuff like that, she might as well just stick close to the main characters. As long as she was strong enough to not be cannon fodder, she'd be fine.
She was pretty relaxed about the whole thing. If she got stronger, great. If not? Well, life wasn't a race.
In the end, she sighed. Unlike cultivation worlds full of magical herbs and spirit stones, Naruto's world was mostly about genetics and hard work. Maybe the Dragon Vein was an exception, but who knew when that would even show up? And besides, it probably didn't suit her path anyway.
Still, if someone offered her a power boost right now, she'd be tempted. Principles were nice, but reality always took priority—especially when you were still weak.
But that only applied while she was still at the bottom. If she ever reached a certain level, she wouldn't compromise anymore.
The question was… could she get strong enough before that point?
After a long reading session and once her food had settled, Natsuri closed the book and got up.
"Mama, I'm heading out for a bit."
"Don't stay out too late, okay? Be careful."
Sinai was already used to this routine. At first, she'd assumed Natsuri would take it easy after her first day of school. But no—she still went out like usual.
Not to play, of course. Natsuri knew that chakra reserves were built on physical strength, so she had no intention of slacking off. She didn't want to be someone who could only cast two jutsu before collapsing.
Based on her own rough estimate, her body was probably about as strong as the average second-year student at the Academy. But lately, she'd started noticing real improvements, even though her training intensity hadn't changed. Maybe her age was finally starting to work in her favor.
She figured it was time to increase her training volume a little.
Still, she knew better than to push herself recklessly. She was only six. Her body needed energy to grow. It wasn't worth risking her future for short-term gains.
But… pushing her limit once or twice wouldn't hurt, right?
She made her way to a secluded training spot—and just like she expected, someone was already there.
A familiar face.
Rock Lee.
That guy was always here. No matter how early or late she showed up, he was already training. Even when she left, he was still going.
Yup. The genius of hard work himself.
Honestly, Natsuri thought his body was kind of a cheat code. As far as training theory went, she believed her approach actually had more potential long-term. But that only worked if you had unlimited time to grow—and humans didn't. The growth window was limited, and she probably wouldn't have enough time to hit her theoretical peak.
Theory was great and all, but reality didn't always cooperate.
At least for now, she didn't see a path to physically outdo Rock Lee. Not that she needed to. She'd seen firsthand how hard he trained, and she respected that.
"Oh! Natsuri! You're half an hour late today, so you're getting extra sets!" Rock Lee called out with a grin as soon as he saw her.
Natsuri just nodded. "Alright."
That surprised him. Usually, she'd shoot him down when he got like this. But this time…
"Oh~~! You actually agreed?! That's the spirit! The flames of youth are burning bright today! As a reward, I'll add even more sets to my own training!"
Natsuri sighed and rubbed her temples. No matter how many times she saw it, Rock Lee's energy was exhausting.
Well, whatever. Time to start training.
They stood on opposite sides of the field, but their methods were totally different. Since her body was still developing, Natsuri avoided heavy stress. She focused on low-intensity, long-duration exercises to slowly build up volume.
Minutes passed. Even though her training wasn't high-intensity, Natsuri was already breathing heavily. But she hadn't hit her limit yet. Her body was close, but her mind was still sharp. She could keep going.
Rock Lee, watching from the side, nearly cried.
She was glowing. Not literally—but to him, her movements looked sharper, smoother. He recognized that moment—it was when someone hit their stride and pushed past their own limits.
The spirit of youth! It was beautiful!
Real tears ran down his face.
"Haaah… finally made it."
Natsuri exhaled as she finished her final set. Her body had held up better than she expected. She hadn't reached her true peak, but she'd definitely pushed her current limit.
She cooled down a bit, waved goodbye to Rock Lee, and walked home on tired legs. Her body was exhausted, but her mind still felt awake. Maybe she'd squeeze in a little more reading before bed.
Her goal was simple: extract chakra as soon as possible.
The next day, she felt fine. Energized, even. Had her body adapted already? Curious, she pushed herself again.
Then came day three.
She crashed.
Her whole body was sore, her energy drained. She could barely manage basic training.
Welp. So much for stacking breakthroughs.
Clearly, her body could handle limit-breaking training—but not back-to-back. Rest days were just as important as workout days. Lesson learned.
Natsuri let out a long sigh.
Physical training, chakra extraction… this road was going to be long and brutal.
But she wasn't backing down.
Not now.
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