Chapter 23: The Effects and Benefits of Lightning Release Shape Transformation

In the following days, the effects of Might Guy's guidance became prominent.

Firstly, in terms of controlling training intensity, Natsuwari, who was previously unsure of the intensity his body could handle, could now achieve his training goals in a shorter time.

Secondly, in terms of controlling training volume, even the increments Natsuwari should add were calculated, saving him a lot of time.

However, Might Guy wasn't there every day, of course. He only carefully observed during the initial guidance, and most of the time afterward, it was still Natsuwari and Rock Lee practicing together.

Natsuwari was quite convinced by Might Guy's understanding of taijutsu, after all, he was the man who almost kicked his way to the grand finale with pure taijutsu.

Finally, there was the state of stillness for Sage Mode. Since that day, Natsuwari hadn't been able to enter that state again for several days.

However, Natsuwari wasn't anxious because he had already climbed up there once, and he could clearly feel that he was constantly moving in the right direction.

Finally, after a few more days, Natsuwari successfully entered the state of stillness again without pushing his limits, and this time, the duration was much longer than the last time.

But even in this state, Natsuwari still couldn't sense the existence of natural energy. It was still a void.

In the following days, the threshold for entering this state was no longer an obstacle for Natsuwari. He could enter this state more easily, although it seemed useless after entering.

Natsuwari wasn't disappointed about this. After all, it was just a prerequisite state for Sage Mode. It was within his expectations that it wouldn't be useful. What he needed to do next was to continue lowering the threshold for entering until he could directly enter this state even in his perfect condition.

After all, in a battle, there was no time for him to train, let alone train to his limits. Even if he successfully entered the state, how much energy would he have left to fight?

So, he had to continue practicing.

But as the practice progressed, Natsuwari seemed to notice something was wrong. Because after entering that state, he seemed to be able to think simple thoughts again, and even seemed to be able to observe.

As for what to observe, Natsuwari wasn't sure. Maybe he would be able to observe natural energy later~

Until one day, when Rock Lee approached Natsuwari who was close to that state, Natsuwari suddenly opened his eyes and looked at Rock Lee with shock in his eyes.

Because he saw, or rather, this state sensed the flow of chakra within Rock Lee's body and the naturally dissipating chakra.

So, was this state similar to the Byakugan?

Then Natsuwari shook his head. It was completely different. He actually just sensed the flow of chakra and then simulated the appearance of the meridians in the other person's body. And how could the distance the Byakugan could see compare to this state of his?

However, this state should have more uses, but he just hadn't discovered them yet, Natsuwari thought.

As for Rock Lee's chakra, it wasn't anything strange. Rock Lee just couldn't use chakra, not that he didn't have any. If he had no chakra at all, then even the Eight Gates wouldn't be useful to him.

After all, Natsuwari remembered that opening the later gates of the Eight Gates released the violent chakra sealed within the body. If there was no chakra, what was there to release?

But since he had already exited that state, he might as well continue practicing chakra shape transformation. Thinking this, Natsuwari began to gather chakra in his palm and release it.

And this time, Natsuwari could clearly feel that even after releasing it outside his body, the connection seemed to have deepened a lot.

It was strange. It wasn't like this yesterday. Natsuwari looked at the spherical chakra he had successfully condensed in his hand for the first time. After thinking for a while, the chakra turned into a cube.

Natsuwari stared blankly at the cube in front of him, then after thinking for a bit, continued. This time, he indeed failed, and the chakra silently dissipated into the air.

Had he really improved that much in one day? Natsuwari, who had been practicing for so long, had a good idea of his own progress.

Was it that state just now that enhanced his perception, so even when chakra was released outside his body, he could clearly sense this part of the chakra and thus control it more easily, leading to such progress?

Natsuwari wasn't sure, but if that was the case, then the role of that state was even greater than he had imagined.

And this also strengthened Natsuwari's determination to learn Sage Mode. Now, he just had to ensure that this state could be maintained for a longer duration.

One day, while in the state of stillness, Natsuwari's perception further improved. At this rate, he definitely wouldn't be able to compare to the Byakugan, but it could cover most close-range combat situations.

With this perception, the state of the opponent's chakra was completely under Natsuwari's observation, and the timing of their ninjutsu usage would also be detected by him. This advantage was not insignificant.

It was a pity that currently, the range Natsuwari could perceive was only within close combat. Even if he sensed something at this distance, he might not be able to react in time. Moreover, at this distance, it was more likely to be taijutsu, so it wasn't very useful at the moment.

After a while, Natsuwari was still maintaining this state. He suddenly realized a problem, which was why he hadn't noticed this problem until now. He should have realized it when he discovered Might Guy before.

But he had been deceived by his own thoughts, which was that this state was used to sense natural energy. So naturally, he wouldn't think of using it to sense chakra. In reality, chakra was much easier to sense than natural energy, not only because there was more of it, but also because it was the energy he had been familiar with from the beginning.

So, had he missed something because of the limitations of his previous thoughts?

The perception in this state was very strong, but generally, he could only sense which direction had chakra. Only when he was very close could he sense the subtle flow of the opponent's chakra, and this range was too small.

Then, within this extremely small range, if he didn't ask Rock Lee for help, how could he try to observe?

The answer was already self-evident. It was himself. No matter how small the range, he was definitely within it!

Thinking this, Natsuwari turned his "gaze" inward for the first time, seeing the chakra flowing within his meridians.

Compared to needing to sense others' chakra to see it, Natsuwari didn't need to sense his own chakra. He could directly observe it at zero distance, much clearer than the perception he had imagined!

And this observation allowed Natsuwari to see something different. He saw wind and lightning within his chakra. These two attributes had always been within his chakra.

It was just that Natsuwari had never been able to sense or use them. He was clear about this. Originally, he planned to consider attribute-related shape transformation after his external chakra control reached a certain level. He didn't expect to clearly see them at this time.

He observed the wind and lightning attributes within his chakra, silently experiencing their flow and changes.

At this moment, Natsuwari seemed to understand something. If someone carefully observed his body, they would find tiny electric arcs jumping on it, and a breeze flowing around him.

For the first time, Natsuwari actively opened his eyes and left that state, coming to an open space. Recalling the power he had just seen, he formed the hand seals he had memorized but never used before.

Even though it was his first time using it, Natsuwari had enough confidence to successfully cast it, and not just cast it.

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

As the hand seals were completed, the ninjutsu was also successfully released. But the Great Breakthrough, which was supposed to have scattered wind and low power, now had a very small range and shot out in one direction like an air cannon, completely different from the traditional Great Breakthrough.

Natsuwari looked at the Great Breakthrough he had used, realization dawning in his eyes. If he had followed the instructions in the scroll, forming hand seals and controlling the flow of chakra step-by-step, he could definitely use the Great Breakthrough. But that would just be an ordinary Great Breakthrough, generally only effective against Mist techniques, with its killing power too dispersed, resulting in average power.

Even without understanding wind, he could create a strong wind, naturally because of the created hand seals and the guided chakra changes. But now, Natsuwari saw the wind within his chakra and understood a bit of its form, so he could compress the wind pressure formed by the Great Breakthrough, ultimately forming that air cannon.

But the compression Natsuwari currently exerted was obviously not enough. Although he had formed an air cannon, its power wasn't very high. But the experiment was a complete success!

Then, Natsuwari looked at his arm. Tiny electric arcs quickly jumped on it, and he couldn't help but smile.

Today, he had truly taken a big step forward on the path of shape transformation!

And that state definitely couldn't be called Sage Mode. Since it was just a state, he would