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XXXIV

Carefree

Tsunade was sitting cross-legged on the tatami, the soothing sounds of an artificial waterfall beyond open paper doors adding a subtle sense of tranquillity to the mood.

Mitsushi sat opposite her, imitating her posture perfectly -- a standard lotus position.

He had been dragged out while admitting to Shizune that he had yet to unlock his chakra. She did not say what they were doing yet, but neither Naruto nor Shizune seemed surprised when she moved. Naruto even proceeded to pull a bronze plate out of his pocket -- a mirror conjured for some reason yet unknown to Mitsushi.

He wrote something on its surface and then angled it to face the teacher-and-student duo in the middle of the room.

"Chakra is a form of life energy possessed by all living things. It is the fusion of physical and spiritual energies. Chakra is spun within your chakra core from these respective energies and can be moulded beyond your body to create miracles," Tsunade explained briefly.

"By chakra, you mean a wheel?" Mitsushi asked Naruto.

Naruto nodded. "It's easier to grasp its principles by understanding it as a free-spinning wheel. Hinduism beliefs refer to the tailbone, sacrum, stomach, heart, throat, forehead and crown as centres of one's chakra. These hold here -- those are keys to a human's chakra known as the Hachimon."

"That's seven," Mitsushi noted.

"On the crown are two temples. Each of those refers to a separate gate. These eight points on the body restrict the use of chakra by a human. They protect a human from overloading their system of chakra pathways. Three hundred and sixty-one similar points exist on the human body, and some of these correspond to pressure points while others are located around the organs. Technically, severe internal damage can be caused when these points are attacked. However, they are too small to be seen and accurately located by the naked eye," Naruto elaborated, stunning both women with the depth of his knowledge.

"That is correct. To use the chakra that naturally forms within your core, you'll have to sense it. It generally appears as a cluster of heat situated above the navel and can be found through meditation," Tsunade retook her role, undeterred. "It's easier to feel it when someone else circulates chakra through your system."

Mitsushi shook his head. "No, that would not be necessary. I think I've found it."

Shizune, who was watching silently, felt her jaw go slack.

"What kind of sorcery...?" she muttered in disbelief.

Naruto was inadvertently reminded of Kushina.

She, too, had been inclined to think of his talents as magic.

"What should I do now?" Mitsushi continued to probe when no one replied immediately.

"Imagine your chakra as a deep well and draw some out of it," said Tsunade.

Mitsushi's brows knitted together.

"I don't think that works," he remarked.

Fundamentally, this energy was too different from something as still as a well.

If she said to treat it as a stream, it might have been possible for him.

"It's a waterwheel," Naruto amended her words, "and you're building a network to let it flow through your body."

Mitsushi's eyes started glowing, and wisps of chakra began to escape his body.

Tsunade palmed her forehead.