Chapter 41: On the Tightrope

I got carried away writing and ended up with four extra chapters; I’ll just post this one today.

I wanted to take the opportunity and ask what you think about me creating a Patreon. In that case, I would write ten advanced chapters, and put them there. Anyone who wants to pay can read it in advance. But I’m going to continue with one chapter a day the same way I’ve been doing it, regardless.

Info dump strikes again.

“Yujin, I observed this from your previous remarks, but is it common for people in your past world to sense Qi?”

Yujin had already conducted this test, demonstrating his breath in front of Tsunade earlier, and now he did it again in front of Duy. Both times, he seemed to expect them to feel the natural Qi, but neither of them did. This raised concerns that maybe they couldn’t learn to train Qi.

“No, normal people don’t feel Qi. I only tested you two because you have a different type of energy within you, Chakra, and I wanted to see if that would enable you to feel natural Qi. Unfortunately, Tsunade, you can only sense natural intention, not Qi, which is quite unusual.”

“If you’re talking about the energy Jiraya uses to enter Sage Mode, I’ve trained for Sage Mode before. I managed to get to the point of feeling natural energy, but I could never pull it into my body or merge it with my Chakra.”

Yujin nodded slightly and explained.

“As I mentioned before, and it’s not relevant here, there’s a difference between energy and intention. What Jiraya uses for Sage Mode is intention, and I’ve told you this before; it’s like being born and instantly learning to run instead of walk. At least, from my perspective. Normally, you familiarize yourself with Qi during training and meditation, perceive the intention behind Qi, open the Fourth Extraordinary Meridian, and only then feel the intention.”

Yujin looked at Might Duy, who seemed confused by the conversation, and explained.

“Jiraya can enter a state called ‘Sage Mode,’ where he merges natural energy with Chakra. His strength then multiplies several times, which is quite interesting. But in Qi practice, the natural energy Jiraya uses and the natural Qi that Qi practitioners use are different. Natural Qi is the energy that makes the world turn and function. It makes fire burn, water flow, earth nourish, and wind be everywhere. The “intention” or “law” of the world uses this energy to make these things happen. Theoretically, natural Qi has no intention of its own. When you understand this concept during your Martial Arts training and open your Fourth Extraordinary Meridian, you can feel this intention and understand how the world works around you much more easily.”

Might Duy nodded constantly, as if he were understanding, but in reality, he wasn’t. It’s not that he was dumb; he could logically understand the words, but it seemed so abstract that it was just information in his head, and he didn’t grasp the essence of what Yujin was saying.

“Let’s move away from this topic; it’s not relevant here. Now I’ll explain some general things about Martial Arts. In addition to mastery levels, there are three types of Martial Arts. Every person who trains with Qi needs to decide which path to follow. External, Internal, Harmony. External Martial Arts involve using the Qi you accumulate to permanently strengthen your physical body. Internal Martial Arts use Qi to temporarily strengthen your body. Harmony is a mental state that only a few rare individuals can achieve, where it’s possible to use both types of Martial Arts.”

“There are advantages and disadvantages to all three types. External Martial Arts improve your physique permanently, strengthening your entire body, making it more resilient. The advantages are, for example, they are more challenging to defeat in surprise attacks since their body is always strengthened with Qi. Their skin is tough, and internal organs resistant to impact. They have Herculean strength. They are tough to defeat. A Grandmaster in External Martial Arts is practically a death god, hard to knock down, with high stamina and inhuman strenght. They can fight for days without getting tired.”

“Disadvantages would be that they are quite heavy, making them slower than usual. A Grandmaster can weigh tons. When Qi strengthens the body, it makes the person denser and therefore heavier. Their body’s regeneration is also slower, requiring more energy and time to heal. Training is also very challenging, requiring high pain tolerance and determination of steel. The training is also longer. Grandmasters in External Martial Arts are all at least over sixty years old. One thing that can also happen is the person going insane during training due to intense pain.”