Chapter 16: Chapter 16: Training Plan
Natsuro began to contemplate his training strategy.
Firstly, there's the issue of fine control over chakra. "But I'm not sure how to continue improving," he thought. He had already mastered tree-walking and water-walking exercises with relative ease. From the start, his control over chakra had surpassed the requirements of these exercises.
Now, he needed to make his control so intuitive that it became second nature. "This will require a lot of practice," he realized. He understood that he needed to take it step by step, but for now, he was unsure how to advance his control further. Therefore, he decided to temporarily set this aspect aside.
Next up was chakra shape transformation. Natsuro was still in the phase of linking his perception with chakra control. Without the guidance of hand signs, forming and controlling chakra outside his body was quite challenging.
Fortunately, his chakra volume was still small, and the amount he needed to extract wasn't much, which somewhat eased the difficulty. He had begun to sense some connections and could manage basic control. However, he was still far from mastering the ability to shape the chakra completely.
Even though both aspects involve chakra control, managing chakra within the body felt like handling a well-behaved child that followed every command, while controlling chakra outside felt like dealing with a rebellious child. Although Natsuro had regained some control, making the chakra outside his body as obedient as it was inside remained a significant challenge.
Currently, he also needed to focus on another critical aspect: the prerequisites for senjutsu.
He wasn't exactly sure how to absorb natural energy, but he knew the requirements from Naruto's training in the original series.
Firstly, achieving mental and physical stillness was necessary to sense natural energy. Even if he managed to sense it, he wouldn't dare absorb it without the guidance of a toad sage, as improperly handling it could be disastrous.
For Natsuro, achieving this stillness was extremely difficult. He could manage physical stillness to some extent, despite feeling like ants were crawling on him. Mentally, however, achieving stillness was nearly impossible. His mind was always active, and even when he tried to clear his thoughts, they continued to intrude.
The state of stillness needed for senjutsu would probably only be achievable if he were in a deep, dreamless sleep. However, this type of stillness was not the same as sleeping.
Thus, he struggled with meeting the prerequisites for senjutsu. Nevertheless, mastering Sage Mode was essential, as ordinary techniques wouldn't be sufficient against the formidable opponents he would face.
Although physical training was an alternative, he felt he could never match Guy's level of physical prowess. Physical training required consistent effort, and he didn't have the time for it. Even Guy, despite his powerful kicks, had suffered a leg injury—how could he, with his inferior physical skills, hope to surpass that?
Therefore, mastering Sage Mode became crucial for him. Despite his extensive efforts, he had yet to achieve mental stillness. However, over time, he had found some methods that showed some promise.
One approach, though far from perfect, was to exhaust himself physically so that his mind became too tired to wander. This method had shown some results, although it also had the side effect of heightened mental activity despite physical fatigue.
He was making progress, albeit slowly. He felt he was still missing something and hadn't fully achieved mental stillness. After extracurricular activities and some free time, he continued his attempts to reach this state.
To others, it might seem as though he was simply sleeping at his desk. Although he hadn't achieved complete stillness, his heightened perception allowed him to sense anyone approaching and respond accordingly, which deterred others from bothering him.
Natsuro's efforts might have been misinterpreted as laziness. After several days, Iruka, noticing his apparent inactivity, confronted him.
"Natsuro, you can't be so lazy. With your talent, you should be putting in more effort and not wasting it!" Iruka said with concern.
Iruka's words left him puzzled. How could he be lazy when he didn't even realize he was slacking off? At his age, he felt he was working harder than 99.9% of his peers!
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone