Chapter 16: Chapter 15: Use Flesh to Carve Stone
Shaking off my stupor, I looked around before snatching up the silently floating orb and ran to my father and grabbed him by the arm, practically dragging my father out the doorway.
"Let's go! Let's go! What are you waiting for old man?!" My excitement had completely shot through the roof
"Wait, Hang on, what's the Rush?!" Hakor exclaimed as his arm was nearly torn off as I ran with him in tow down the stairway and out the door
"Nothing much! I just want to get started training!" I dismissed with an excited smile on my face
Sage!
Sage!!
I'm a fuckin Sage!
I was already excited about refining Chakra, Now that I know that I'm also a sage, there is little to nothing that's going to stop me from finding out every little thing I can about the power!
And the way [Hati] described it got my blood boiling even more! Thinking back to when I used to watch Naruto and Boruto, practically all Sage practitioners have reached the Top tier of power in this world, and pathetically few people have the aptitude and even fewer the opportunity in the canon.
Now that I know I can practice it, and don't even need to scour the world for Sage Lands and secure their favor. All I can think about now is training!
The sooner I complete my training and comprehend Sage mode, the better!
Suddenly, I stopped in my tracks and nearly fell as my father's body unexpectedly halted in place, not moving an inch and transforming into an immovable object.
"Woah!" I gasped as I temporarily left the ground from running and hanging onto his arm, when my feet placed back onto the ground I turned to look at him, my eyebrow raised inquisitively as I looked back at my father who was smiling mischievously
"Kekkai, we aren't leaving till noon, first we need to gather supplies!" Hakor smiled as he admonished me lightly, "Unless, you want to go without food or water for a few days to our destination? Hmm?"
"Umm, no. I can't go a few hours without eating much less a few days!" I immediately surrendered and decided to walk silently at my father's side as he laughed lightly like a good little boy.
One thing that I will always prioritize is Grains, then gains! The body needs nutrients to be effective after all!
"Ok, ok, but speaking about food, you have at least bought enough food for the trip, right?" I waved my hand and dismissed the accusation before looking at him with anticipation.
"No! Not only didn't I buy any yet, we still have to restock the pantry from the market to compensate the rest of the lodge because of you!" Hakor's forehead pulsed a bit when I mentioned food, well, considering my almost sinful appetite, I couldn't blame him.
Especially since I managed to clean out the entire shed when my cravings hit after my last training session, which earned me a severely red backside from the punishment.
Making our way out of the lodge, we crossed the clan land and the surrounding forest, soon we made it to a small town outside the clan grounds.
As we walked around gathering supplies, we greeted the small merchants and Clan members as they ran to and fro across the land.
The Mēkā clan land is a pretty large and open space, the entire land is established at the base of one of the largest mountain ranges in the world, with large plains and tall forests that popped up here and there across the landscape. These lands Provide plenty of wild game besides the local farms, and because we are sandwiched at the very border of the Land of Stone and the Land of Sand, there is a small trading town that the clan runs a quarter of a mile away that passing merchants use.
Tax deducted, of course, the Mēkā know how to set their priorities if I didn't know that our main profession lies in the Ninja clan oriented, I thought this place is where we get our main source of income.
Thinking back to the Staggering amounts of money my Grandfather placed on building a single cave complex and the large library, Money is probably one of the least of the clan's problems.
Watching my father politely ask for the prepared camping supplies from another clan member, I could only sit on a bench swinging my legs in silent boredom.
"So, what are we doing? A trip up the mountains shouldn't need so many supplies." I asked lightly as my father handed me a large knapsack which I lightly swung onto my back
"We're not just going on a small hike up the third mountain," My father grunts while hoisting up another travel pack, "our destination lies more to the center of the mountain range, it will take us a week or two to get there on foot."
"Ok, but what about training? We're not just going to hike all the way there while doing nothing, right?!" I asked while tugging at his shirt lightly
"Well, that depends." He said while giving me a slight side eye
"On what?" I asked
"On what you learned about Chakra from the clan school, if you had at least the basics down we could start already. But since you somehow managed to convince your mother that you didn't need to learn from the clan school and could self-study along with your cousins, I'll give you a little test first."
"First question, where does Chakra come from? How do we produce it, and what precautions do we take in refining it?" Firing off three questions in a row, He looked at me with a slight smile.
I matched his smile as I answered instantly without a single thought, "Chakra is the term for Discipline of the refinement of both Mental Concentration and Physical effort to Produce Stamina, an energy that reflects our Physical and Mental health and can be used to produce Mainly Ninjustu, Taijustu, and Genjustu. Exhaustion of either Physical or Mental energies from excessive Stamina refinement results in mental Fatigue, Brain Damage, Broken bones, Muscle tears, and Death!"
"Why does it have so many drawbacks?" He asked again
"Because Chakra as a whole uses whatever it can when it comes to energy supply for the techniques you use, and every technique has a minimum requirement to be cast properly. If it can't draw upon your stamina, it will take from the source, in a most painful if not crippling way as well. People who don't know how to pace themselves windup with crippled bodies or stunted lifespans as a result of this excessive refinement. To prevent this one must use hand seals to manipulate stamina and cut off the excess use of it if one doesn't know the exact method to manipulate it." I answer
Satisfied with my answer, my father nodded his head repeatedly, then he brought up both of his hands in front of him and asked "Good, very good, here's something a little more challenging, which hand is channeling -"
"Left," I said while interrupting him
"…." Hakor fell silent
"Right," I say
"…."
-I didn't even get to ask-Hakor complains
"Your head," I answer again bored
"How can you tell?" He asks dumbfoundedly
"Dad, I've been around Chakra users all my life, and I spar practically every day with Akane and Akiko, both of whom I beat without the use of Chakra, do you think I wouldn't be able to at least see when they use chakra or how they use it?" I explain to him with a curved brow, my mockery
Well, I really can tell the difference in where Chakra outflows from the body from a couple of days of training with the two sisters, but this time is different.
Before I relied on intuition, but this time I can tell from the grey smokey substance slowly pouring out from his hand.
I can see chakra now, even without the help of the Chakra Ointment that Grandma Chiho provided.
Awesome!
"Oh, right. I forgot your little monsters are geniuses. That's the first week of training scrapped. How about this?" My Father sighed depressingly as he said this, then, without another word he reached into his pack and brought out a small 3-inch thick stone tablet and tossed it to me
Catching it, I turned it over in my hands and rubbed at it with my thumb, feeling the grainy and rough surface of the rock I realized it was a large piece of Sandstone, I raised an eyebrow at my father.
"What am I doing with this?" I ask
"Carving it, Chakra can alter and distort the properties of energy and matter to a large degree, and it also has the effect of enhancing the body, allowing you to perform feats you usually won't be capable of doing by yourself."
"But I'm already strong enough to break the stone." I remind him
"That's why I said carve it, don't break it, since you have the aptitude to sense chakra, now we are going to apply it." He told me patientlySlowly draw from your Chakra concentrate it into your finger, and as you do, start to drag it across the surface and carve away at it. If you can figure out how to do that or inject your chakra into the rock and mold it using your Chakra on your own by the end of the day. I'll try to teach you a couple of tricks that will make our trip easier as well. It doesn't have to be perfect though, anything will do."
"Yes Father," I nodded and proceeded to start on my new project
Hakor calmly watched me begin slowly dragging my finger across the surface of the stone tablet before turning his attention away to continue gathering supplies.
Meanwhile, I followed after him slowly as I silently manipulated my chakra into my pointer finger and scratched away.
*Slip
*Slip
*Slip
*Crack
*Slip
Hearing the cracking as a small thin shard of rock fell off as I applied too much pressure caused my face to frown slightly before continuing.
The manifesting of Chakra, like last night was the easy part, it's the control over sudden surges of strength as I press into the stone that's not easy.
Chakra is a volatile product for me, never sticking to one place and constantly moving before slowly vanishing when unused.
I can't chip away at the stone, I need to slowly grind away at it, too soft won't do anything but let my finger glide across the surface, too hard and the increase in strength will just snap off chunks at a time.
Gathering all my power and unleashing it in a blow worked last night, but now there's delicate work to be done.
After ten more minutes of rubbing my fingers raw, I slowly got the handle of it.
Slowly I started to imitate and change the surface of the sandstone with my skin, causing little grains of sand to fall off the stone plate.
*Slip
*Scratch
*Slip
*Scratch
*Scratch
Watching the slowly smoking finger begin to grind away at the stone I spread that same coating to the rest of my hands and began carving the stone slowly.
The process of carving the rock was excruciatingly slow, but the constant and steady stream of Chakra I provided was negligible at most, and I was getting better at it with every minute.
First with long straight strokes, then small polishing groves motions, as more and more sand fell off I found my familiarity with the stone getting better and better.
I found that my chakra was slowly leaking into the stone, filling the dead object and making it more malleable to the touch.
Ten more minutes of grinding, and Voila, a Minotaur figurine lay in the palm of my hands.
"Dad I'm-" I present it forward to my father only I was interrupted as he suddenly snatched the small statue from my hands with an interested yet astonished face.
"…." examining the statue for a moment silently, he slowly clenched his fist and crumpled the statue into pieces
"…." I was speechless at his sudden destruction of my hard work
-Dad, are you sure you aren't Grandpa's son by blood and not by marriage? Why do both of you like to take my stuff and break it?- I complain in my heart while glaring at him
"Make it again," He commanded while grabbing my hand and forcing the broken statue pieces back into it.
"I'll need a new stone for that." I retort grumpily
"No, just use the one in your hand. Use your Chakra to mold it back together." He shook his head and explained, "As I said before, your Chakra can alter the Characteristics of matter, this includes shaping Stones such as this like a piece of clay. Just try it, let your Chakra fill the stone, and then imagine forcing it into another shape ."
"Ahh, I get it now!" Closing my fist, I focused my chakra into my hand, letting it seep deeper into the small rocks.
After a few moments, I locked onto the feeling of the inner materials of my hand and started to shift them.
Hakor watched on in participation as I concentrated.
Half a minute later, I opened my fist to show the Minotaur Statue good as new, better than new, because fine little crystals of brown sandstone sparkled on the smooth surface of the statue.
"Good, very good! You are truly a monstrous genius! Your aptitude for Chakra control is truly beyond me, to think you've only refined it just yesterday! If my own old man knew I could have a son like you he would jump for Joy!" Hakor immediately clapped his hands as he praised my accomplishment
"What's the purpose of this? It can't just be you wanted to see how I do in arts and crafts right?" I asked while examining my work
"Carving the Rock is one of the first and most important tests that one should go through when they refine chakra. You see, Chakra is a powerful boon to all who use it, but our bodies are not built to use above and beyond our normal strength. So to prevent someone from exploding their arm trying to use excess Chakra, they learn to slowly guide the Chakra as a form of protection first. Strengthen your Skin and flesh to endure punishment or to deal it out." My father explained
"Oh, so it's like a suit of armor, right?" I guess to liken
"Correct, just like armor this will be a suit of armor that you should never take off, ever, in your life. Because if you do, it means you are exposed and vulnerable, if you ever get into a fight, please remember that a casual slap from your opponent can break bones and turn you into a smear across the ground." He agreed solemnly
"Got it, Protection good, No protection bad. But how does it count in offense if everyone has this layer of protection on them?"
"Hehe, why don't you try it? Spread the same Chakra from your hands to the rest of your body." He offered with a chuckle
"Mhmm," I nodded, with his go-ahead I immediately started to try to alter the rest of my body's Chakra to imitate the one I used to carve away at the stone.
It worked, sort of, within a few breaths I could feel a burdened yet energetic feeling spread out from my chest. As if the muscles began to expand and bulk up, but the spread didn't get far.
"You can't spread it everywhere? So it has a limited surface?" I proposed what I thought was the problem to my father when I felt the spread slow to a crawl as it spread and come to a complete stop at my elbows and waist.
"Exactly, but not only this, Chakra is a powerful Divergent energy that we use for practically everything we do. But it is ultimately limited by the Physique, one Control and understanding, and The amount!" He explains to my raised eyebrow, "Most people refrain from using Chakra to keep a limited but sturdy physique and tend to rely on the more Agile and Strengthening aspects that it can provide. Tending not to use it defensively until the last moment with the help of hand seals. There is one more problem that can't be avoided-"
*BANG
Without a warning, I suddenly found my feet had lost their grip on the earth, my arms trailing as I flew backward, my father's Clenched fist in place of where my body once was.
Slamming into a tree, I was numb and stupefied as I lay there embedded into it. My pack fell to the ground some feet away from me but I couldn't care at this point.
-Did this bastard just Hit Me!-
This was the only thought I could put in place as I looked stupefied back at him, and here's the thing. I didn't even feel hurt, I know that I'm embedded into a tree right now, with multiple splinters covering my body, but I felt nothing but a dull impact like I was swatted at with a pillow.
Walking over to me, Hakor picked up the dropped bag and motioned the perplexed me down to the ground.
"You hit me." I accuse with an extremely wronged expression, not moving an inch from my planted position
"You are not hurt though, that's good, but I was just trying to prove my point. You see, just like now, Chakra allowed your body's defense to elevate beyond what's normally possible, but when it does so it's consumed until you refine it again."
He was right, the chakra covering my torso had diminished greatly from the blow, not all of it had disappeared but a good chunk of the Chakra I had invested into it, around 40%.
"So instead of getting hit and the enhanced strength, and wasting Chakra on protecting the body, people rather use speed to fight?"
"Exactly, but don't misunderstand, protecting your body always comes first! The duty of the Mēkā lies mostly in dealing with monsters like Yokai who prefer to use their powerful bodies and mysterious methods to attack rather than those Ninja who mainly strike from the shadows and Ninjutsu."
"And when will I learn how to fight both?" I asked
"Soon, in fact, this training is mainly to get you used to Chakra and how it affects the body, but it seems that at this rate we will be able to finish that early and get some more advanced training for you." He promised with a grin as he reached out a hand to help me out of the tree
"How strong?" I asked suddenly as I climbed out of the trunk and patted off the splinters and chunks of wood covering my backside
"What do you mean?" My Father looked back at me confused
"I mean how strong would the person have to be to deal the same blow you just dealt, be it human or monster, how strong will they have to be to move the way you moved?" I asked slowly with my head down
"Pretty strong, I didn't use more than a quarter of my strength but the speed-wise, I admit I caught you by surprise and went all out in speed. I'd say, an elite Ninja from a ninja clan could move the way I do, and a Spirit rank Yokai." Hakor considers for a moment before answering
"Is that common? Strength-wise?" I ask
"Very common! But that's only because of our profession, beings of that level don't just pop out of nowhere, they need specific conditions like a Clan or bloodline to reach this level of strength."
"Since we are a clan, what do we have?" I inquired with my head still down
"Our clan has our methods, from training grounds, outposts, and funding to the large Library of Techniques and Yokai knowledge at our disposal. This training is mainly to get you to the starting point, it'll take years of training and dedication to reach this level." Hakor looks at me in concern, seeing my downturn head, wondering if he gave a major blow to my confidence
"Oh, alright, thank you, Dad, let's get going. I have a lot of training to do," I mutter slowly before taking up the fallen pack and continuing on the trail path
"Don't worry, my child, I won't be so hard on you during training, and our clan won't need someone so young to join missions so soon. And not many missions really are about battle for the most part."
"But, wouldn't that be boring? I was actually looking forward to it." I stop and pout
"What do you mean?" He asked surprised
"So many strong people out there, so many strange techniques to understand, I can't wait! I want to go out! Otherwise, what's the meaning of me training so hard if I don't actually get to use it!" I declare, my downward eyes lifting up as flame practically spat out from them
Ever since I came to this world I already knew that no matter what, I would make my mark, set my own legend that could be talked about as a legend long after I'm dead and gone.
And now, it's time to take the first step!
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone