Chapter Four: The Art of Spiritual Transformation

The next morning, Kato Mikaze was awakened right on time by his internal clock.

Because he was in his own home in the Leaf Village, and had indulged in a bit of sake the previous night, enjoying a relaxing hot bath, his mind was completely at ease and he slept exceptionally well. The exhaustion and weariness accumulated over several months of missions outside had wholly dissipated.

Rising early, Kato Mikaze felt invigorated. After a brief wash, he dressed in a white training suit and went out to the small ninjutsu training ground on his clan’s property. There, he practiced basic taijutsu to warm up his body. He then went through his usual water-walking and tree-climbing exercises to hone his chakra control, followed by some drills with his favored Wind Release and Earth Release techniques.

Once thoroughly warmed up, he took further time to familiarize himself with the new attributes he’d gained after allocating points in the ninja system the day before.

His stamina and strength had increased noticeably. Stamina, which had been at 59, now rose to 61, breaking through the significant threshold between chunin and jonin. Physically, this translated into greater endurance, and his overall chakra reserves had increased by nearly half compared to before.

Due to his transmigration and years spent cultivating the Spirit Separation Technique, Mikaze’s spiritual power had always been high. Now, with his stamina—previously a shortcoming—greatly improved, he had finally crossed into the jonin class, with chakra reserves to match. Judging by his morning training, Mikaze estimated that, among newly promoted jonin, his chakra reserves would not be considered low.

Of course, this excluded peculiar clans like the Senju and Uzumaki, whose innate chakra levels were abnormally high due to their Sage blood. To truly gauge his standing, he would need to spar with other ninja in the village.

Fortunately, most of the ninjutsu Mikaze specialized in, aside from Earth Wall—a purely defensive technique—did not consume much chakra. It seemed he wouldn’t be running low on energy in any battles in the near future.

After his morning training, Mikaze showered, and, making do with whatever ingredients remained in his kitchen, prepared himself a hearty breakfast to reward his stomach.

He changed into a loose, light-blue everyday outfit and headed out. First, he stopped by the barbershop to tidy up his short, messy hair, then made his way to the Hokage’s Residence.

At the mission processing office, Mikaze sought out his acquaintance, Jin Otani, to inquire about which of his classmates and friends were currently in the village. He intended to reconnect with them if possible. More importantly, he wanted to find out about his older cousin, Dan Kato—when his mission would end and when he might return.

Fortunately, Dan Kato’s mission wasn’t confidential, just a routine assignment. According to Jin Otani’s estimation, Dan would be back in the village in about two days.

This suited Mikaze perfectly—he could use the first two days of his short three-day break to further adapt to the changes in his body brought by the system’s new attribute points and refine his chakra control.

Once his cousin Dan returned, Mikaze intended to earnestly seek his guidance on the key points of cultivating the Spirit Separation Technique, especially on the critical aspect of soul projection.

The hand seals required for the Spirit Separation Technique were quite simple—just a single “hare” seal to trigger the jutsu. More crucial, however, was the intricate pattern of chakra flow throughout the body’s meridians, as well as the even more complex transformation of chakra’s yin and yang properties.

Within the entire Kato clan, among the dozen or so eligible ninja, only Dan Kato had truly mastered the Spirit Separation Technique. Two years prior, Dan had essentially perfected it, capable of separating his soul from his body to kill enemies beyond his physical sight. Relying on this very technique, he was promoted to jonin in the Leaf and had earned a certain renown across the ninja world for his invisible assassinations.

Mikaze himself had begun studying the Spirit Separation Technique after advancing to chunin, and several years had passed since. He was currently stuck at the soul projection stage; although his training in the technique was smooth—his spiritual power clearly growing, with his range and precision of soul perception steadily increasing—he could not complete the out-of-body step.

Added to this, having lived two lifetimes due to his transmigration, the combined strength of his soul was, in terms of raw spiritual power, even greater than Dan’s. When comparing their soul perception abilities, Mikaze could already surpass his cousin. Yet his progress with the Spirit Separation Technique remained stuck at the point of soul projection. Even with a stronger soul, he simply couldn’t achieve separation.

This was why, when allocating his points, he spent fifty attribute points on stamina, pushing it past sixty and breaking through the barrier between chunin and jonin. Stamina was associated with yang energy, directly tied to the life force of the body.

Mikaze believed there were three possible reasons for his inability to succeed with the Spirit Separation Technique, despite his powerful soul and perception.

The first reason: In his ninja system, his chakra’s yin and yang attributes were both quite high, but these two fields were grayed out and unavailable for direct improvement. They could only be influenced indirectly through stamina and spiritual power, indicating that although his body possessed both attributes, he had not yet mastered the transformation of chakra’s yin and yang properties. Aside from the Spirit Separation Technique, Mikaze rarely practiced any jutsu involving these transformations—yet mastery of them was key to success.

The second reason: His soul was already strong enough—at least, his perception told him he surpassed Dan in this regard, so yin chakra was sufficient. Perhaps, however, his physical body was not strong enough. If his body couldn’t maintain basic vitality after his soul left, he might suffer rapid death, causing the jutsu to fail and his soul to perish as well.

The third reason: It could be related to his soul having transmigrated into the ninja world. Though his body was native to this world—his soul having crossed over while still in the womb—there remained the possibility that, as a soul from another universe, there was some fundamental incompatibility. His body and soul had long since merged seamlessly, and his soul resided within his body without issue in daily life. But when attempting to separate his main soul to roam the world or possess and kill others from afar, perhaps the deep bond between his soul and body, as well as the presence of the ninja system within his soul, prevented complete separation—for self-preservation, or to safeguard the secrecy of the system itself.

Of these three, the first—mastering chakra’s yin and yang transformations—couldn’t be solved quickly. The third, relating to the nature of his transmigrated soul, was insurmountable; if that was the root cause, Mikaze could abandon hope of ever truly mastering the Spirit Separation Technique, at least as far as soul projection was concerned. Separation might endanger his life.

Thus, the second reason was the only one he could address. By raising his stamina from 59 to 61, he had crossed the threshold from chunin to jonin in terms of life force and physical resilience. With this issue resolved, all Mikaze could do was keep himself in peak condition, wait for his cousin Dan to return, seek his advice, and then attempt the technique once more.

The next two days passed swiftly as Mikaze focused on adjusting his state and becoming fully attuned to his enhanced body.

On the morning of the third day, he finally met his cousin Dan, who had just returned to the village after completing his mission.