Although Ninja are powerful, and Ninja Villages are the most important military force of a country, in terms of status, most Ninja are far below the nobles of a country.
Therefore, nobles of ordinary countries do not spend time learning Ninjutsu, because if something happens, they can directly pay money to the Ninja Village to assign a task; enjoying life is what they are passionate about.
As the King of the Land of Fire, the head of the Five Great Nations, Li Chuan had no real power, but his status was noble. Chiriku really couldn't understand why he wanted to become his disciple to learn Ninjutsu.
"Chiriku Abbot, what King said is not a joke. King is genuinely interested in Ninjutsu and wishes to become your disciple."
Li Chuan nodded very seriously.
Seeing Li Chuan's serious expression, Chiriku's face showed a slightly troubled look.
As the abbot of Fire Temple, accepting a disciple was certainly not a small matter. Although the other party was the esteemed King of the Land of Fire, his age was simply too great.
If he remembered correctly, this King was already twenty years old this year. To start refining Chakra and learning Ninjutsu at twenty years old and expect to achieve anything was simply a pipe dream.
One must know that to become a qualified Ninja, talent, effort, resources, and time are all indispensable.
However, since Your Highness had directly spoken, if he refused, it would clearly be disrespectful, which would not be a good thing for the entire Fire Temple.
"Your Highness, learning Ninjutsu is a very arduous task."
"Chiriku Abbot, rest assured, King is not afraid of hardship. As long as Master accepts King as a disciple, King is willing to offer a small token of gratitude by donating five million ryo to Fire Temple as incense money."
Li Chuan smiled, adding another bargaining chip to the negotiation.
As a King, if he insisted on Chiriku accepting him as a disciple, Chiriku would certainly not refuse. But if he was unhappy and didn't teach seriously, King would be the one at a disadvantage.
So, in addition to his identity, he could also use money.
Anyway, as a King, with his wealth, taking out five million ryo was not a big deal.
"Since Your Highness is so sincere and determined, how can Chiriku refuse?"
When Chiriku heard five million ryo, his eyes lit up, and he immediately changed his mind and agreed, clasping his hands together.
In fact, according to his character, he would not have been so readily agreeable because of five million ryo. But the current situation of Fire Temple was somewhat unfavorable, and this donation of five million ryo could just solve the urgent need.
Although Fire Temple is a Ninja Temple, unlike Konoha, it does not receive various economic supports from the Land of Fire, nor can it accept missions to earn generous rewards. Its main income comes from the people of the Land of Fire who come to offer incense and worship Buddha.
The people of the Land of Fire are wealthy, and the Fire Temple's incense is flourishing, so it was not short of money originally.
However, a few years ago, the Chakra inside Sora went berserk, not only injuring many monks but also destroying the Fire Temple's strongest defensive Sealing Jutsu, the Iron Wall.
In recent years, to rebuild the Iron Wall and treat the injured monks, the temple's accumulated savings over many years were almost entirely depleted. As the abbot and the one who brought Sora back, he had an undeniable responsibility.
At this time, accepting Your Highness as a disciple and receiving a five-million donation would greatly alleviate the economic burden of Fire Temple.
"Good, then King will bring the donation tomorrow to officially become your disciple!"
Seeing Chiriku agree, Li Chuan wasted no time and immediately finalized the time.
This entry into the Small World was only for three months, so naturally, he couldn't waste time. The sooner he started cultivating, the faster he could master more Ninjutsu.
The next morning, Li Chuan brought five million ryo to Fire Temple, then held a simple disciple acceptance ceremony, and officially began his cultivation.
"Your Highness, now let's begin…"
Inside the training temple in the backyard of Fire Temple, Chiriku took out a scroll and unrolled it, preparing to start teaching, but Li Chuan raised his hand to interrupt:
"Master, since I've already become your disciple, please don't call me Your Highness anymore. Just call me Chuan."
Fire Temple has no special requirements for Dharma names, and it's even fine not to have one. For convenience, Li Chuan used the character "Chuan" as his Dharma name.
Chiriku smiled upon hearing this and no longer stood on ceremony:
"Alright, Chuan, then I'll first explain the principle of Chakra refinement to you, and then I'll tell you the difference between our Fire Temple's unique Immortal Clan Talent and ordinary Chakra."
"Thank you, Master!"
Li Chuan straightened his body, adopting an attentive posture.
Chiriku began to explain:
"Chakra is a prerequisite for us to use Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, and Genjutsu. It is a product of combining the energy of one hundred thirty trillion cells within the body with spiritual energy.
And our Immortal Clan Talent Chakra, on top of the original foundation, additionally incorporates a very small amount of external energy.
It is precisely because of this minimal external power that our Immortal Clan Talent has some additional effects compared to ordinary Chakra, which is that it can nourish the body, making the effects of Taijutsu training better.
Therefore, most of our Ninja Monks at Fire Temple are very proficient in Taijutsu."
After Chiriku's explanation, Li Chuan finally understood why Immortal Clan Talent had
Immortal
in its name. It turned out that this Chakra had a tiny bit of connection with Sage Mode.
It's just that Sage Mode involves absorbing a large amount of natural energy during use, which dramatically enhances the power of one's Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, and Genjutsu.
Immortal Clan Talent, on the other hand, involves absorbing a very small amount of natural energy during Chakra extraction to harmonize the body and spiritual energy, allowing it to slowly improve the user's physical attributes.
"Then does our Immortal Clan Talent have any drawbacks?"
Li Chuan was very clear that if Immortal Clan Talent truly had an advantage over ordinary Chakra, even if it only slightly improved physical attributes, then it would have long been coveted by various forces and would not have remained exclusively with Fire Temple.
So, there must be corresponding shortcomings.
Chiriku's voice paused upon hearing this, then he replied with a slight awkwardness:
"Indeed, compared to ordinary Chakra, there is a drawback that isn't really a drawback, which is that because external energy is mixed in, the speed of Chakra extraction will be somewhat reduced."
Li Chuan immediately guessed from Chiriku's expression that it wasn't just a little bit, otherwise, Fire Temple wouldn't have had only Chiriku as a Jonin all these years.
In the entire Ninja World, most Ninja primarily focus on Ninjutsu, with only a few specializing in Taijutsu.
Furthermore, the body can be improved through training and unique Ninjutsu. The trade-off of slightly enhanced physique for a slower extraction speed is likely something few Ninja would be willing to accept.
Only Ninja Monks at Fire Temple, who usually don't need to do missions or frequently engage in life-and-death battles, would consider Immortal Clan Talent better than ordinary Chakra.
However, Li Chuan thought about it and still decided to learn Fire Temple's Sage Art Chakra extraction method, rather than the ordinary Chakra extraction method.
Because he always felt that the Sage Art Chakra extraction method might have certain benefits for Sage Mode and for the Cursed Seal invented by Orochimaru.