Chapter 37: Two Master-Level Abilities
The deepest part of the cave was filled with the sharp, damp scent of wet earth. Water dripped slowly from the tips of the stalactites above.
The soft, endless tap, tap echoed through the silent cavern, forming shallow puddles on the ground that reflected the faint light seeping in from cracks in the stone walls.
Izumo sat with his back against the cold rock, the burn wound on his left arm still throbbing with lingering pain.
It was a remnant of Roshi's Lava Release chakra attack. Even though the surface of the wound had already dried, the muscle fibers beneath his skin still twitched uncontrollably, as if thousands of fiery needles were stabbing into him over and over again.
He lowered his head and stared at his palm. A pale-blue system panel floated before his eyes, its transparent glow lighting up the tense line of his jaw.
The brutal battle against the Jinchūriki earlier had nearly drained all of his chakra. Right now, he had only managed to recover about ten percent of it.
Two basic skills on the panel stood out sharply:
[Chakra Extraction Technique: Expert (998/1000)]
[Chakra Control: Expert (996/1000)]
"Sensor-type ninja from Iwagakure are probably already on their way," Izumo frowned deeply, his fingers unconsciously brushing against the rough texture of the stone wall.
"Ordinary chakra concealment techniques won't fool a sensory ninja. What should I do?"
He closed his eyes, forcing himself to calm down. Images of the moment he broke through to the master level in Taijutsu and the Body Flicker Technique flashed through his mind.
Every leap in skill level wasn't just about piling up proficiency—it was a fundamental transformation of the technique itself.
As the very foundation of a ninja, the master-level forms of chakra extraction and control had to hold some kind of core secret—something that could overturn common logic.
Izumo adjusted his posture and sat upright, cross-legged. He began using his secret breathing method—inhale for four seconds, hold for two, exhale for six—to steady his uneven breathing. His hands quickly formed the basic seals for the chakra extraction technique.
Inside his body, physical energy and spiritual energy slowly flowed within the tanden in his lower abdomen, like two clearly separated rivers.
Before, when he extracted chakra, the two would simply intertwine. Even though the efficiency was already many times higher than a beginner's, there were always subtle gaps he couldn't quite perceive.
"Expert means 'skilled use'… then master should mean 'perfect synchronization,'" a sudden thought crossed Izumo's mind.
His spiritual energy surged to its limit, carefully sensing every fluctuation and vibration at the molecular level between the two energies.
He tried to make the flow of physical energy move in complete harmony with spiritual energy, like two horses running side by side without the slightest difference in their stride.
At first, the two energies clashed like water and fire, completely incompatible, colliding again and again within his tanden.
A needle-like pain spread through every part of his body, and cold sweat soaked his forehead. But the proficiency numbers on the panel didn't budge.
Even so, Izumo had no intention of giving up.
With a will of steel forged through master-level Taijutsu and an incredibly tight mental focus, he used his perception to catch the patterns in the energy collisions. Little by little, he adjusted the flow speed, density, and vibration frequency of the energies.
He had no idea how much time passed.
But at the exact moment the wave frequencies of physical and spiritual energy overlapped perfectly, a warm current he had never felt before burst out from the core of his dantian and instantly swept through his entire body along his meridians.
The proficiency of the Chakra Extraction Technique on the panel finally moved.
999/1000.
A low, resonant hum filled the air.
The pale-blue light began to flicker.
[Chakra Extraction Technique: Expert → Master (1000/10000)]
Izumo could clearly feel the massive change inside his body.
The physical energy that had once been scattered throughout his limbs now seemed to be pulled by a powerful magnet, rushing toward the center of his tanden at a speed far beyond before. His spiritual energy transformed into a precise navigation system, guiding the orderly fusion of physical energy.
The efficiency of chakra extraction increased by more than threefold. Chakra that used to take an entire hour to fully replenish now only needed about twenty minutes to return to its peak state.
More importantly, the master-level chakra extraction technique gained the ability to filter impurities on its own.
Before, the extracted chakra always carried traces of metabolic residue—gray, ashy remnants that prevented it from being perfectly pure.
Now, all of those impurities were automatically separated and expelled from his body. The chakra that formed was crystal-clear, radiating a clean, icy-blue glow.
"This still isn't enough."
Izumo didn't let himself get swept away by excitement. His gaze immediately shifted to the next skill—chakra control.
He slowly extended his right hand, and a lump of chakra gathered in his palm. At the expert level, this mass was stable, but its edges still leaked extremely thin strands of energy—like heat vapor rising from red-hot iron.
That was exactly what sensory-type ninja could detect most easily.
Izumo took a deep breath, his mental power focusing once more.
He began compressing the chakra to its absolute limit.
He controlled it to spin at a specific spiral frequency at high speed, forming an incredibly dense energy core in the center of his palm.
The proficiency of chakra control on the panel began to rise.
997/1000.
998/1000.
[Chakra Control: Expert → Master (1000/10000)]
The moment it succeeded, a cool current of energy washed through his entire body.
Izumo felt as if he had built a deep, intimate connection with the chakra within him—something woven directly into his blood and flesh.
He could control the flow path of every single strand of chakra with pinpoint precision, even changing the frequency of its waves at will. Chakra was no longer just a tool—it had become an extension of his own hands and feet.
The benefits of master-level chakra control went far beyond that.
Energy loss was suppressed to the absolute minimum. Micro-control reached its peak. And all fluctuations in energy were perfectly concealed.
Izumo slowly stood up and stretched his stiff muscles. Nourished by the pure chakra, the pain from the burn on his left arm had already eased significantly.
But at that exact moment, a sharp, stabbing pain suddenly surged from deep within the cells of his entire body.
It felt like thousands of fine needles piercing every cell at once, forcing a suppressed groan from his throat.
His expression shifted slightly.
This was cellular backlash from pushing his chakra beyond its limits.
Earlier, in order to break through the skill barrier, he had forcibly squeezed out his body's hidden potential. Even though he successfully stepped into the realm of master-level techniques, his cells had been subjected to an energy impact far beyond what they were meant to bear.
This side effect was all too familiar.
It appeared every time after excessive chakra use—meaning the lifespan of his cells was quietly being shortened.
This was a fate no ninja could escape.
The fiercer the battles, the greater the strain on chakra, the shorter one's lifespan became, and the faster aging would arrive.
And yet—
The master-level chakra purification technique seemed to have allowed Izumo to glimpse a piece of information that might just shatter that very destiny.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Join my Patreon here:
🔗 patreon.com/FaaanzKun
✅ Enjoy 25+ chapters ahead of WebNovel
✅ 2 new chapters every day (Monday–Saturday), exclusive on Patreon
Join now and dive deeper into the story—weeks ahead of public release!
Thank you for your amazing support 💖
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —