Chapter 10: The Path of Training
The next morning, the sun was just beginning to rise. Tōka-bā-chan, an early riser, had already prepared breakfast: glistening white rice, a salt-grilled fish fried to a golden crisp, crescent-shaped pickled radish, and a steaming bowl of hot soup.
With no mission scheduled, Shūji did some light stretches in the woods by the estate before setting down to create a training plan.
He knew the "script" for this world. Akatsuki, Madara, the God Tree, the Ōtsutsuki... these names hung over his head like a sword. Even for someone who just wanted to live a comfortable life, he understood that in this world, getting stronger was the prerequisite for enjoying that life.
The path to a shinobi's strength was, at its core, clear.
Hone the body, wring out its potential, and polish taijutsu.
Refine skills, master shinobi tools, and adapt to any situation.
Study ninjutsu, expand one's arsenal, and master the environment.
Of these, ninjutsu showed the fastest results, but the foundation for everything was the physical body.
The process of training the body was the process of developing physical energy. Every agonizing moment of pushing past one's limits also tempered the will. Physical energy and spiritual energy (willpower) reinforced each other, jointly driving the growth of one's chakra until both reached the absolute peak of the body's natural potential.
Only after that could a shinobi truly pour their efforts into ninjutsu.
From this perspective, aside from the existence of chakra—and the astonishing potential granted by the 130 trillion cells humans in this world possessed, far exceeding those of his old world—the essential logic of getting stronger was no different.
As a Senju descendant, he naturally possessed more abundant chakra and a stronger physical foundation. Now that he had perfectly merged with the Hashirama Cells, his future ceiling was far higher than that of any ordinary shinobi.
But this was far from enough. Kage-level power was only enough to deal with the Akatsuki. For what came after, one had to surpass the Kage and reach the "Six Paths" (Rikudō) level to even be a participant, or merely to survive.
To reach that level, based on the original story, there were two paths to consider.
The Ōtsutsuki system and the Sage Jutsu (Senjutsu) system.
The Ōtsutsuki: the origin of chakra, a race that plundered life energy from across the stars, converting it to grow their own power.
Theoretically, the Senju, Uchiha, Uzumaki, and Hyūga all clearly originated from Ōtsutsuki blood. One path was to continuously "plunder" chakra to strengthen oneself, undergoing a "purification" or "regression to the origin."
In the original story, one of Madara's paths was to merge Hashirama Cells (gaining powerful Yang-attribute chakra) with his own Uchiha (Yin-attribute) chakra, awakening the Rinnegan. From there, he became the Jinchūriki of the Ten-Tails, ascended to a Kekkai Mōra, and transformed into an Ōtsutsuki.
As for a Senju... the original story never specified, but perhaps the path was similar: obtain a powerful Sharingan?
However, a key point was often overlooked. The Madara who awakened the Rinnegan this way was the chakra transmigrant of Indra, son of the Sage of Six Paths, Hagoromo. And Hashirama was the transmigrant of Hagoromo's other son, Asura. Both of them had inherited chakra qualities from Hagoromo, who was himself a Ten-Tails Jinchūriki. This meant the strict requirements for awakening the Rinnegan were likely not just a simple fusion of Yin and Yang, but also required inheriting some fundamental power originating from the Ten-Tails.
This path, for Shūji, was shrouded in mist. He'd set it aside for now.
Then, what about the Senjutsu system? The ceiling it displayed was higher than any normal shinobi, but lower than a complete Ōtsutsuki. The strongest known Senjutsu practitioner was Hagoromo himself, followed by Senju Hashirama—an existence who stood at the absolute peak, just beneath the Sage of Six Paths.
As a power system native to this world, Senjutsu's logic was closer to a traditional "cultivation" path than the standard shinobi chakra system. The first, and most difficult, step was to cultivate a "feel" for the energy—to perceive the existence of nature energy. Only then could one absorb, and finally merge, that nature energy with one's own physical and spiritual energy to form Sage Chakra.
For a normal shinobi, the "conceptual barrier" was a massive hurdle: one had to first know nature energy existed to even try to sense, absorb, and convert it. Shūji had no such problem. The next step, then, was perception itself.
Nature energy was everywhere. Shūji even guessed that the giant creatures of this world, and the fact that humans here were so much more durable than their Earth counterparts, was due to long-term nourishment from this energy.
He had tried to sense it when he first familiarized himself with this body, and had felt nothing. Now, back from his mission, he re-examined his options.
There were two known Senjutsu legacies: Mount Myōboku's Toad Sage Arts and Ryūchi Cave's Snake Sage Arts.
The toad method was gradual: apply a secret toad oil to assist in sensing nature energy. Those who mastered it developed toad-like pupils and orange eyeshadow when in Sage Mode.
The snake method was brutal and direct: the White Snake Sage injects you with nature energy. If you survive, you've mastered it. If you can't handle it, you die.
The essence of both methods was to force the practitioner to directly contact and adapt to pure nature energy.
Were there other ways? Yes—the God Tree (Shinju).
To plunder a planet's energy, the Ōtsutsuki would plant a God Tree, which would convert all life essence into a Chakra Fruit. This world had been planted with one, and it had already borne fruit once. The God Tree must have the ability to absorb and digest nature energy.
Wood Style (Mokuton), the secret jutsu created by Hashirama, had the known property of absorbing chakra. Shūji theorized that this was Hashirama, using his own bloodline and Asura's chakra, subconsciously mimicking a trait of the God Tree. This was why it had a natural suppressive effect on the Tailed Beasts.
Therefore, what Shūji needed to do was not just practice Wood Style jutsu, but to dig deeper into the origin of the Kekkai Genkai itself.
"Wood Style: Activation Jutsu!"
With a low shout, the earth at Shūji's feet trembled. A green sapling burst from the soil, growing at a visible rate. Sunlight danced on its new bark, and its leaves rustled as they unfurled. When the tree was shoulder-height, he deliberately slowed his chakra output, maintaining only the faintest connection.
"Keep growing," he whispered, his gaze focused.
Shūji extended his perception, like invisible tendrils, and linked it tightly with the tree's "awareness." The sapling exhibited an unnatural keenness—its roots spread underground, searching for energy like a starving hunter. The ground swelled and churned.
Even more alarming was the change in its branches. The once-soft limbs twisted and hardened in the sun. They danced in the air, then suddenly froze, all of them pointing directly at Shūji!
He could clearly feel the primitive desire coming from the tree—an almost insane hunger for his chakra! A stinging sensation crawled up his skin. Sweat trickled down his temple.
"Calm..." he muttered, his fingers rapidly forming the Serpent seal. The menacing branches stopped an inch from his face, twisting in frustration. Shūji fought to guide the tree's perception, to turn it away from him and toward that omnipresent, elusive power.
He could feel the tree's "emotion" shift from rage to confusion. Then, it seemed to catch something—the very same ambient nature energy that Shūji himself had never been able to sense!
Just as Shūji thought he was about to have a breakthrough, everything went wrong.
The small tree suddenly shot up again, its trunk making an ominous creaking sound. But after growing only a few more inches, its form began to distort sharply. The branches bent and gnarled at unnatural angles, and strange, dark, flowing patterns appeared on its bark.
Shūji took an instinctive step back.
In that instant, a deathly gray color spread up from the tree's roots! Like an invisible hand of death brushing past, all life drained from where the grayness touched. In less than three seconds, the entire tree had become a lifelike stone statue. Even the smallest leaves were frozen in the very posture of trembling in the breeze, locked in time.
Shūji stood frozen, a fine layer of sweat on his brow.
A failure. And such a complete, dangerous failure. The tree created by his jutsu was not strong enough. It lacked the foundation to resist the corrosion of nature energy. Even with his chakra supporting it, the ninjutsu-construct was a sandcastle against the tide of nature energy, disintegrating instantly on impact.
But he was not left empty-handed. In that moment the Wood Style tried to absorb the nature energy, the surrounding air had wavered. It was like a tiny pebble dropped onto a calm lake, sending out a ripple so faint it was almost imperceptible.
It was this tiny change that allowed him, a person who had no sense for nature energy, to finally touch a faint, formless "breath."
In the forest, Shūji closed his eyes, focusing his mind, replaying that fleeting ripple over and over.