While I worked with Shizuru on refining and stabilizing my lightning chakra polarization exercises around sunset, the earlier hours were reserved entirely for personal training with Shisui. He stood across from me in the open field as he spoke with his usual calm focus.
"Well, you do not need any special preparation for the chunin exams except genjutsu countering," he said. "I will handle that part later, just before the exams begin. For now, we focus on your personal technique. It strengthens your body's natural performance, so improving it will help both your control and endurance. We will treat this as body optimization through chakra flow training."
He paused, studying me for a long moment. "Do you have a name for it yet?"
I nodded once. "Stormdrive."
"An apt name if I ever heard one," he said, the faintest trace of amusement tugging at his mouth. His Sharingan spun to life. "Activate it for a moment. Flicker once or twice, fire two jutsu, then shut it down. Do not let it run long enough to drain you."
I inhaled slowly and felt my heartbeat settle. The air around me thickened as chakra began to circulate through every pathway in my body. My skin prickled. Sparks crawled up my arms like veins of light. With one exhale, I triggered the flow.
A deep hum filled my ears as lightning flooded my system, following the pulse of my heart. The smell of ozone snapped into the air. My body grew lighter, sharper, the world around me stretching into frames of motion. Grass bent away from me under the sudden surge of static.
Then I moved.
The flicker wasn't just speed anymore. It was a surge, a living current. The world blurred, and a line of light burned through the training field as I reappeared twenty meters to the left. My hand rose instinctively, chakra condensing at my fingertips in a tight, electric pulse. I released it, and the bolts tore forward with a shriek of energy, slamming through two tree trunks. Splinters and glowing wood fragments scattered through the air.
Before the echoes faded, I vanished again, reappearing in front of Shisui with a sharp stop that kicked dust into the air. My heart pounded like a war drum in my chest as I forced the circulation to slow, releasing the excess charge. The light faded from my skin, and the faint hum of electricity died down until only the quiet wind remained.
Shisui stood unmoving, eyes still glowing red. I saw my reflection in them, my hair wild, faint arcs of leftover electricity rising from my hands, and a grin I had not even realized I was wearing.
Shisui exhaled slowly, clearly impressed. "I won't lie," he said with a quiet chuckle. "That was truly incredible."
I grinned, still breathing hard. "Now you know why I'm smiling."
He nodded in understanding before shifting into teacher mode again. "From what I observed, there's a small issue with the chakra flow itself. Your lightning chakra is concentrated mostly in your legs and arms, which makes sense since you need both for movement, jutsu casting, and taijutsu. But the flow isn't completely balanced. The chakra points in your abdomen and head have noticeably weaker circulation."
I tilted my head. "Is that a problem?"
"Not exactly," he said, walking slowly around me while analyzing the fading traces of lightning on my skin. "You use extra chakra for multiple things. Movement, jutsu, cell stimulation, and that static shell around your body. That's a complex division of flow. However, a small but consistent portion of your chakra escapes into the air as waste instead of being utilized. If you can minimize that loss, you'll extend how long you can stay in Stormdrive and reduce the post-activation fatigue."
I scratched my chin, thinking it over. "Sounds good in theory. The problem is that the surge of lightning chakra is overwhelming. I can control it to a point, but it feels like trying to hold back a raging river with bare hands."
Shisui hummed, clearly intrigued. "If you activate Stormdrive while sitting still, would it consume as much chakra?"
I thought for a moment before answering. "It would last longer since I wouldn't be using chakra for movement or jutsu. But I'd still lose it gradually through my skin. Lightning doesn't like to stay contained."
"Can't you disable the static shell to reduce that loss?" he asked.
The thought made me grimace. "At this point, it's almost instinctual. Trying to suppress it would probably waste more chakra than it saves. It's like telling my body to stop breathing while I'm running."
Shisui nodded slowly. "It's a defensive reflex, then. Makes sense not to break that instinct. We can work around it." He reached into his pouch and pulled out a small pill, holding it out between his fingers. "Consume this soldier pill. You'll need it for what comes next."
I looked at it with mild suspicion. "What if we suddenly get a mission and the pill's backlash hits?"
Shisui smirked. "Already handled. I arranged with the Hokage that our team won't receive any missions for a while. The official reason is 'exam preparation.' In truth, I just want time to train you properly."
I popped the pill into my mouth, summoned some water from my seal, and drank it down. "Alright, I'm ready."
"Good," he said, stepping back and folding his arms. "Sit down in a meditation pose. Stabilize your breathing first. We're going to focus on controlling the lightning flow across all your chakra points. The goal is to balance the circulation throughout your body without losing output strength."
I nodded and sank to the ground, sitting cross-legged. Years of meditation while pretending to be a monk to earn generous ryo donations from the well-meaning but easily misled people of Konoha made the posture feel natural. My back straightened, shoulders relaxed, and my breathing slowed until it matched the rhythm of my heartbeat.
Shisui's voice came again, calm and measured. "Now, activate Stormdrive slowly. Increase the lightning chakra flow gradually until you reach the threshold. This time, don't push all at once. Build it layer by layer."
I smiled to myself, thinking, "That will be a new experience since I always just go pedal to the metal when activating Stormdrive."
I closed my eyes and started to gather chakra at my center, letting it swirl without forcing it outward. The familiar crackle of lightning began deep in my chest, faint and restrained. I guided it through my network slowly, letting it spread through my limbs like a slow current instead of the usual torrent. It almost felt like my regular lightning chakra circulation, except it kept increasing faster, getting harder to control with every passing second.
The ground beneath me vibrated softly. Tiny sparks escaped from my fingertips and hissed against the dirt as the current reached outward, but with a momentous effort I kept the output even, focusing on every pulse that passed through me. For once, the chakra wasn't raging, it was flowing.
My heartbeat quickened, syncing with the rhythm of the lightning as it filled my body. A low hum rose in the air, the faint buzz of energy building around me. Normally, this was the point where I lost control and everything turned into chaos. Instead, I forced myself to hold back, refusing to let it overflow. The effort was exhausting, my chakra control stretched thin.
A thought slipped in before I could stop it. "Great, now I'm blue-balling myself as training." The ridiculousness of it almost made me laugh, and for a split second the current wavered. I bit the inside of my cheek, trying not to break concentration, as I exerted my chakra control to its absolute limit.
I could feel Stormdrive building within my body, and the difference was immediate yet controlled. It was like experiencing the technique in slow motion, unfolding layer by layer instead of exploding all at once. The world around me became sharper and more vivid, every frame stretching into focus as if time itself were slowing down. The swaying of the grass turned into deliberate motion, each blade moving with exaggerated clarity. My chakra control pushed beyond its usual limit, and the lightning chakra began to feel pliant and easier to command.
"Good," Shisui said quietly. "Maintain that flow. Do not let it spike to maximum output."
I nodded, staying focused. The lightning chakra within me hummed in rhythm with my breathing, every pulse aligned. I could almost see it, lightning threading through my tenketsu and connecting each point like a living circuit. The static shell formed gradually around my skin as I kept refining the flow, forcing it to rise at a controlled pace instead of a violent surge.
Shisui watched me closely, his Sharingan glowing faintly. "Excellent. Now that you've felt what controlled activation truly is, focus on balancing the flow across every part of your body. Refine it until no chakra is wasted. When you can do that, we'll begin working on perfecting the smooth, full activation so it becomes second nature."
I opened my eyes and exhaled slowly, feeling the electric hum still lingering beneath my skin. A faint smile tugged at my lips as I looked at him, genuinely grateful. Training under someone as sharp, skilled in chakra control and application, and as renowned as Shisui was a privilege I truly appreciated.
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A/N: Comrades, the highest-ranking active Naruto novel sits at 4.7. Ours proudly stands at 4.64. The enemy may have more stars, but we have spirit. If you have not yet reviewed the story, then do your duty for the cause. Together, we shall seize the means of production… of rankings. Glory to the Stormbreaker collective <3