Chapter 716 - 716: Chakra and Stuff

Sakura closed her eyes and sat down cross-legged on the moon's surface. It would take another few minutes for the chakra cannon's beam to reach her, but she had a gut feeling that things would not end with something as simple as intercepting the shot. She reached out with her senses, trying to get a feel for the moon's ambient nature energy, but as expected, the nature energy here was so thin as to be almost non-existent.

Plants and animals did exist within the artificial environment created on the moon's inner surface, and while living beings did generate minute amounts of nature energy, there was more to it than that. Nature energy represented the sum of a planet's capacity to sustain life; in essence, life itself was but a side effect of a celestial body breathing; just as chakra was nature energy distilled, stripped of everything the Ōtsutsuki deemed unnecessary.

"Looks like I'll have to dip into my reserves if something happens…"

Two years after the Fourth Shinobi World War's end, Sakura had successfully managed to add two additional petals to the modified Yin Seal on her forehead, bringing the total up to seven, for a combined chakra storage capacity of 840 KK, which accounted for about four percent of her theoretical chakra output, given her 20 000 KK stamina reserves.

Since Sakura had learned how to properly mould senjutsu chakra without fear of turning into a slug, she no longer needed the seal to do it for her, so instead of wasting three petals to respectively accumulate physical, spiritual and nature energy, she had dedicated these three slots to storing the senjutsu chakra she made herself, greatly increasing her effective storage capacity.

Although Sakura still hadn't reached the Six Paths level yet, she had assimilated almost every elemental Kekkei Genkai in existence in order to reach that goal. Her quest to perfectly master fire, wind, lightning, earth, water and yin-yang style had vastly improved her ability to perform nature transformation, allowing her to mould multiple different natures at once, either in tandem or separately, freeing the other two slots she had been using to store wind and lightning attribute chakra.

As such, all seven petals on Sakura's forehead now stored senjutsu chakra.

Hopefully, those 840 KK would be enough to defeat Toneri, because in her experience, the only thing that could defeat a Six Paths-level existence was someone who stood on the same level as them.

…

It's the return of the sexy and mature kunoichi Sakura's ninja corner!

If there are two things one needs to know about chakra, it's that chakra is both incredibly volatile and extremely durable, and while those two concepts might sound like complete opposites, both are absolutely true when it comes to chakra.

Every ninja knows that chakra is derived from the combination of physical and spiritual energies, but that is not how the Ōtsutsuki view it. Chakra is the purified form of nature energy; a Ten-Tails' job is to suck a star's nature energy dry, thus making themselves one with nature itself, and then process that energy into a form palatable to the Ōtsutsuki: Six Paths chakra, which is to say, Ōtsutsuki chakra.

Only by fusing with the Ten-Tails itself can Six Paths Senjutsu chakra be obtained, as this means becoming synonymous with nature itself… that is why Kaguya was so much stronger than her compatriots, despite being a low-class clan member. Ōtsutsuki clan members only possess Six Paths chakra!

Unlike stable nature energy, chakra is highly unstable due to its dense energy content; once it leaves its caster's body and accomplishes whatever task it has been made for, it breaks down and returns to nature, becoming an unusable substance for most life forms.

Being a transcendental form of energy, chakra is also completely invulnerable to all mundane substances; being made of both physical energy AND spiritual energy, it is naturally a step above things like wooden sticks or metal swords or stone clubs, things purely of the Physical Plane.

It's much the same as how true Six Paths-level existences cannot be harmed by ordinary chakra: their Six Paths chakra contains all natures and thus exists realms above it. In other words, just as chakra is needed to damage something made of chakra, one needs to be Six Paths-level oneself, or at the very least an Honoured Sage, to defeat a Six Paths-level being, since Six Paths chakra and senjutsu chakra are roughly on the same level.

Of course, even Six Paths-level monsters such as those in the upper ranks of the Ōtsutsuki clan exist on the same Physical Plane as everyone else. They possess physical bodies, after all, and those bodies can be hurt by punching them very, very hard… hence their vulnerability to taijutsu.

…

In Sakura's experience, there are two, maybe three, distinct levels of manifesting chakra, setting aside fūinjutsu, juinjutsu, jujutsu, senjutsu, shinjutsu and other fringe cases, in which external factors stabilise and fixate chakra rather than relying on pure control to sustain it once it has been moulded.

After all, chakra is highly volatile: even before it is used in a technique, it is prone to dissipating and returning to nature! That is why chakra control is so important; for humans, anything that is not used goes to waste.

The first realm is the ordinary use of chakra for everyday tasks:

Ninjutsu, taijutsu and genjutsu; by drawing chakra from specific organs and circulating it through the body in certain patterns, one can apply nature or shape transformation to perform supernatural feats, empower strikes or influence other minds. Naturally, any chakra used in this fashion immediately returns to nature upon completion of the jutsu.

The second realm is entering a chakra mode:

That is to say, flooding the meridians with chakra until every nook and cranny of the body is saturated, and maintaining a continuous cycle within the pathways to prevent chakra from escaping through the tenketsu and prematurely returning to nature.

Of course, this is easier said than done.

After all, humans aren't Ōtsutsuki; they lack organs that allow them to naturally store chakra. Once it has been moulded, chakra naturally wants to leave a ninja's body and return to a lower or more stable state of energy; in essence, that is the second law of thermodynamics. Chakra is not meant to reside indefinitely in one's pathways, but with sufficient skill, it can be retained within the body for longer than usual.

But why go to such lengths, one might ask?

Naturally, it's to borrow chakra's indestructible properties to reinforce the body beyond human limits, far beyond the limits of mere nintaijutsu; like filling a party balloon with steel ball bearings instead of air. Suffused with chakra in this fashion, the user becomes supernaturally resilient to attacks and is infused with the power of the type of chakra used, depending on its nature.

The third realm is the formation of a chakra cloak as a byproduct of entering chakra mode:

Most modes include a chakra cloak; given the staggering stamina requirements of entering a chakra mode, invariably, the very few who can perform the technique already have far more than they actually need. When there is more chakra than the body can contain, the excess can be cycled over one's skin, sealing the tenketsu to prevent any further loss while simultaneously providing an additional layer of defence across the body.

Sage Mode is one of the few exceptions to the chakra cloak rule; the user does not need to cover their tenketsu to avoid leaks, because senjutsu chakra is far more stable than ordinary chakra, as it incorporates the natural energy that is already all around them. As a result, senjutsu chakra has incredible staying power; even something as wildly unstable as Naruto's Rasenshuriken can be thrown and expected to maintain its shape long after it has left his hand.

The upper stages of the Eight Inner Gates and the Seven Heavens Breathing Method represent the other notable exception, except that the entire notion of chakra control is completely cast aside. Once the gates are opened, all the incredible energy stored within the practitioner's body is released uncontrollably, flooding their pathways with rioting chakra that immediately leaks out into the atmosphere through the tenketsu; yet such is the intensity of the output that fresh chakra continually rushes in to fill the void, sustaining the mode.

All that to say…

Without Sage Mode and a chakra cloak of her own, Sakura didn't have a chance in hell of defeating Six Paths-level monsters who could also use chakra modes and wear chakra cloaks, like Hinata and Toneri.

If her senjutsu chakra ran out, she was dead, and if she allowed a Truth-Seeking Orb to touch her even slightly, she was extra dead!

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Name: Manyū Sakura, Sixth Hokage of the Hidden Leaf

Species: Perfect Ōtsutsuki-Human Hybrid

Age: 19

Breast: 36-620-Z (17.29 m)

Waist: 64 cm

Hips: 121 cm

Height: 178 cm (from head to toe)

Weight: 7568.4 kg

System: Let's Aim to Become the Best Kunoichi, Kyuun~♥ Breast Flow System

Manyuu Chifusa Template progress: 50% (locked)

Bloodline Limit (Kekkei Genkai): Breast Flow, Psychosomatic Illusions, Mangekyō Sharingan, Ōtsutsuki Byakugan, Wood Style, Death Perception Dōjutsu, Plasma Style, Crystal Style, Scorch Style, Explosion Style, Ice Style, Perfect Cell Control, Shikotsumyaku, Lava Style, Rinnegan, Vapour Style

Physiques: Manyū-Munamori Hybrid, Kurama, Uchiha, Hyūga, Hashirama Cells, Awakened Spirit World, Akimichi, Inuzuka, Aburame, Uzumaki, Senju, Hagoromo, Kaguya, Ōtsutsuki

Chakra Capacity: 20 000 KK

Chakra Control: 7 S

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Fire: 200%: Great Fireball, Ash Pile Burning, Great Fire Annihilation

Wind: 200%: Great Breakthrough, Vacuum Blade, Gale Palms, Cherry Blossom Tempest

Lightning: 200%: Chidori, Lorentz Gun, Lightning Style Chakra Mode, Cherry Blossom Thunder

Earth: 200%: Startling Earth Escape, Rampart of Flowing Soil, Sandwich, Stone Fist

Water: 200%: Starch Syrup Capturing Field, Waterfall Basin, Water Trumpet

Yin: 108 %: Clone, Genjutsu Release, Bell Sound Clone, Tree Binding Death, Breast Illusion, Sleep, Temple of Nirvana, Demonic Illusion: False Surroundings Technique, Sharingan Genjutsu: Saimingan, Bringer-of-Darkness, Shadow Imitation, Shadow Stitching, Mind Body Switch, Mind Destruction

Yang: 108 %: Transformation, Transformation (Tsunade Ver.), Shadow Clone, Shuriken Shadow Clone, Mystical Palms, Kaeru Kaeru no Jutsu, Multi-Size Expansion

Wood: Cutting Sprigs, Foo Dog Heads, Nativity of a Sea of Trees, Wood Human, Wood Clone, Four-Pillar House

Plasma: Absolute Extreme Poles Electro-Plasma Thunderclap Railburst: Super Sakura-Flavoured Dango Caster Mk. IV with Gold Leaf Sprinkles on Top

Scorch: Extremely Steaming Murder, Great Steaming Explosive Blast

Crystal: Ruby Crystal Labyrinth, Jade Crystal Mirror, Jade Crystal Prison, Jade Crystal Clone, Sapphire Crystal Senbon, Sapphire Crystal Blade, Tearing Crystal Falling Dragon, Crystal Wheel, Diamond Crystal Armour, Senbonzakura: Emergence of a Thousand Cherry Trees

Explosion: Landmine Fist, Explosive Tag Creation, Cherry Blossom Torpedo

Ice: Ice Smashing Hammer, Chains of Earthen Ice, Coiling Ice Dragon

Lava: Quicklime, Rubber Sphere

Vapour: Skilled Mist, Steam Explosion

(Note: With the Sharingan's aid, the Host can instantly learn any bloodline-limited jutsu performed within her sight, provided she possesses the corresponding Kekkei Genkai or acquires it within minutes of witnessing the technique)

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Space-Time Ninjutsu: Summoning: Katsuyu, Summoning: Gedō Mazō, Summoning: Animal Path Puppets, Summoning: King of Hell,

Fūinjutsu: Yin Seal, Breast Seal, Celestial Sovereign Lotus Seal (seven petals), Phantom Dragons Nine Consuming Seals, Chibaku Tensei

Kinjutsu: Breast Diet, Rasenshuriken, Creation Rebirth: Mitotic Regeneration, Kotoamatsukami, Ame-no-Uzume, Izanagi, Susano'o, Yin-Yang Gender Reversal, Cyborg Transformation (permanent), Samsara of Heavenly Life Jutsu

Jujutsu: Thousand-Armed Deprivation Grudge Manifestation

Senjutsu: Organic Reincarnation Living Matter Manipulation, Sensing

Generic applications of chakra: Body Flicker, Substitution, Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven, Eight Trigrams Sixteen Palms, Chakra Enhanced Strength, Cherry Blossom Impact, Chakra Scalpel, Rasengan, Area Scanning, Body Revival, Mind's Eye of the Kagura, Chakra Suppression, Almighty Push, Universal Pull, Soul Reading, Blocking Technique Absorption Seal, Calamity Swallowing Pill Refining

Manyū Hikenchō techniques: Manyū kenjutsu, Munamori massage, Purifying Slash, Shikotsumyaku-style: Waltz of the Camellia

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