Satori Hyūga glanced sideways and saw a boy wearing traditional Hyūga attire, his pale eyes fixed on him with intense hostility.
"Well, if it isn't Chonghuo Hyūga," Satori said, a teasing smile playing across his face.
"Aren't you supposed to protect the Main House, like all Branch members do?"
"What's the point of training hard? It wouldn't change anything anyway. Focus on your own training—maybe you can be my personal guard someday."
With that, he laid his head on the desk again, feigning rest.
"How dare you! You're so shameless! You're disgracing the entire Hyūga clan!"
"I'll never become your guard—you can forget about it!"
Chonghuo's eyes burned with rage, clearly ready to charge forward and beat him up.
A classmate from the Hyūga branch family standing beside him quickly stepped forward to hold him back.
"Calm down, Chonghuo. He's from the main house—be careful or the clan will punish you."
Yet the more others tried to calm him, the angrier Chonghuo became.
Why was such a useless person chosen as the main house heir, ruling over someone like himself?
He trained so hard just to protect this unambitious waste of space.
Still young, he hadn't yet experienced the torment of the Caged Bird Seal, which left him with more energy than the adult branch members.
And because Satori was a main house member without an intimidating presence, Chonghuo didn't fear him much.
Ding ling ling…
The school dismissal bell rang.
"Great! School's out!"
Satori suddenly lifted his head, stood up swiftly, and dashed outside in a flash.
He looked full of energy—as if he hadn't been lying there all day.
In truth, Satori hadn't actually been sleeping at all.
His lounging around was mostly an excuse to cultivate a certain ninjutsu.
Though he appeared idle and indifferent on the outside, he had been toiling away in secret.
While many thought he was a falling star, even that decline had been carefully orchestrated.
There were two main reasons for this.
First, the Second Great Ninja War had just ended, and small-scale skirmishes, probes, and assassinations continued along Fire Country's borders.
Being too outstanding would only draw unwanted attention. Staying low was the better choice.
After all, laziness within Konoha wasn't unheard of. As a member of the Hyūga main house, it wasn't exactly unforgivable.
Secondly, the jutsu he had created required massive amounts of chakra.
Constantly cycling and consuming massive amounts of chakra made his reserves seem alarmingly low.
Compared to other children from major clans, they were pitifully scarce—even lower than some civilian-born students.
The technique he created was called the [Feeding-Back Jutsu].
The Feeding-Back Jutsu, as its name suggests, could scatter extracted chakra and reabsorb it into the body's cells, enhancing physical growth and regeneration.
Satori conceived the technique after realizing how short ninja lifespans typically were.
On average, most ninja died around age thirty.
Of course, war and conflict played a significant role in this, but even excluding those dangers, few lived past forty or fifty.
This was incredibly short compared to the average civilian's lifespan from his past world.
It wasn't even half the length of an average civilian's lifespan from his previous life.
Satori often wondered why this was the case.
In this primitive time, harsh living conditions naturally led to shorter lifespans.
Ninjas go through countless battles and often suffer hidden wounds, making it seem normal for them to die young.
However, Satori Hyūga's investigation revealed that even those without serious illnesses or concealed injuries experienced a drastic deterioration in physical health after retirement if they stopped training and maintaining their bodies—some even dying prematurely.
This raised Satori Hyūga's suspicion.
Ninjas can harness chakra to perform jutsu far beyond what ordinary people are capable of.
Yet their lifespans are shorter than those of regular civilians.
Did that make any sense? Of course not.
The moment Satori Hyūga successfully cultivated the Hyūga Clan's Chakra Extraction Technique and managed to condense a single thread of chakra...
It finally clicked for him.
He had uncovered the reason behind ninjas' short lifespans.
It was the chakra itself.
Chakra is formed by merging the energy of every cell in the body with spiritual energy.
This mysterious force provides the energy ninjas need to perform jutsu.
Seemingly esoteric, it is in essence merely a type of biological energy found in the human body.
The Chakra Extraction Technique is a method of drawing out and exhausting one's latent potential and physical energy.
But the technique itself isn't necessarily what shortens lifespan.
Children typically begin training as early as four or five years old.
Since their bodies aren't fully developed yet, extracting too much chakra too soon will shorten both their potential and lifespan.
Satori discovered that once extracted and stored inside the body, chakra slowly fades away if not used.
Moreover, after being extracted, chakra exists within the body's meridians but offers little to no nourishment to the body itself.
Its primary purpose is merely to serve as energy for performing jutsu.
When he realized this, Satori was stunned.
To verify his findings, he sought out his grandfather, Hyūga Sounmei, for confirmation.
Hyūga Sounmei looked at the questions Satori posed, then said with a conflicted expression, "That's more or less how it is. But we cannot abandon chakra usage or the path of the ninja."
"Abandoning chakra means removing our own teeth and claws, leaving ourselves vulnerable to slaughter."
With a mature mindset, extensive knowledge, and deep insight, Satori immediately grasped the meaning.
The ninja world is not peaceful.
If you don't cultivate chakra and become a strong ninja to protect yourself and your clan, others will come after you.
It's a vicious cycle—one from which there is no escape.
To prevent chakra from consuming the body's potential and shortening lives, Satori developed the [Replenishing Jutsu].
In his younger days, when his cells produced only small amounts of chakra, he had never considered aggressive extraction.
He first extracted chakra, then experimented with various methods to break it down before reintegrating it back into his physical body.
The chakra returned to its source, restoring cellular energy.
Back and forth.
He cultivated chakra while simultaneously keeping his body stable and saturated.
His cells wouldn't be drained beyond their limits, thus preserving the lifespan of his cells.
After nearly a year of practice, the results were astonishing.
Though he appeared to be the dead last in class, he looked more like an eight- or nine-year-old despite being only five.
His face was rosy, his eyes bright and full of vitality—he radiated health.
And his physical coordination and strength were no weaker than those of others either.
His ability to extract and control chakra had nearly reached a state of perfection.
After studying the clan's Gentle Fist techniques, he had already mastered them up to the thirty-sixth strike.
If he removed his limits, even a regular Genin wouldn't last ten moves against him.
On his way back, pedestrians all looked rushed and worried. Stores lining both sides of the street were struggling, with little foot traffic and few signs of life.
When he returned to the Hyūga Clan compound,
Satori Hyūga ignored the stares and went straight to a secluded house deep within the Main House compound.
This was where he lived, and also where he studied and trained.
"Satori, you're back!"
Hyuga Sounmei looked at him with a warm and kind expression, saying cheerfully.
"The secret medicine for today is already ready. Come in quickly and drink it."
Satori nodded and entered with practiced ease.
On the wooden table sat a large bowl, steaming hot and emitting white mist—the secret medicine.
This so-called secret medicine was a special tonic provided by major clans to their descendants, meant to strengthen their foundations and unlock hidden potential.
As for its effects...
Satori had only ever taken the Hyūga version, so without comparison to other clans, he couldn't say exactly how effective it was.
He picked up the bowl and downed it in one go. The medicine slid smoothly down his throat.
In an instant, warmth spread throughout his body, as if he had stepped into a cozy furnace.
"Phew, feels good."
Each time, a comforting warmth spread through his body as if he were soaking in a hot spring.
He didn't know exactly how effective it was, but the feeling of comfort afterward was undeniably real.
Afterward, Satori entered the room to begin his training.
Well, 'training' wasn't exactly the right word—he was trying to upgrade the [Feeding-Back Jutsu].
Previously, the [Feeding-Back Jutsu] had greatly aided his physical development.
But now, it had reached its limit. Pushing it any further would just be... inappropriate.
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