CHAPTER 28

To figure out how much the black substance actually weighs, and to get into the habit of determining the amount by eye - he once asked to go to his parents' workplace and experimented with the weight on a scale.

Yuske became aware of the presence of a primitive weighing device in the store from his parents' conversation about the supply of ore they wanted to give to local artisans for processing.

After weighing it, he got to know that the round ball of black substance the size of a baseball weighed about 250 grams (0.11 lb). This particular object became interesting because that was the approximate daily production of black matter at the moment, maybe a little more, but just a little more.

This amount of black substance was enough to cover an entire arm of a child with a fairly solid layer of substance, save for one annoying nuance - you had to hide the matter afterward, and covering the arm itself was pointless for a number of reasons.

Yuske couldn't return the matter back to its strange space inside his body after materialization in the physical world.

Another, equally important discovery for him was that in order to be able to change the shape of the black substance, he needed to constantly supply it with his chakra, so to speak, to keep a constant link.

The reason why the entire arm should not be covered with the black substance was precisely its special feature of transitioning from liquid to solid state. As soon as he stopped supplying it with chakra, it would harden, and thus the arm would lose its flexibility, even though it remained fully protected inside the black matter, but for Yuske there was no use for a hand that could not be controlled.

And if one does not break the connection with it, it remains in liquid form, which means that there can be no talk of any protection.

You may ask, "How did he keep himself from conducting experiments with black substance for so long?" but that's not so complicated either.

At first, Yuske himself was afraid that he wouldn't be able to hold back and would start wasting unique matter of his ability on various experiments as soon as he had even a pound to spare. But the problems that arose over time quickly cooled his ardor.

The small items made of black substance he had accumulated after his initial experiments had posed a problem for him in the form of the need to hide his creations from everyone, and it stood to reason that the more he experimented without a hiding place, the easier it would be to give away his secrets.

Getting kunai and other ninja gear was no big deal for someone born into a family of shinobi store owners. Strangely enough, he hadn't heard a word about the need to avoid wastefulness in the use of the tools he received. Perhaps it was the perk of being the son of an overprotective mother, or perhaps it was his four years of mature attitude towards things that were very well preserved that convinced them he would be careful with ninja weapons.

Some of the things Yuske received from his parents had never been touched. Such things include toy ships and boats. He had originally planned to make the boats himself as a cover, improvising from underhand means, but then again what parent wouldn't want to get another point in by presenting a toy made by skilled craftsmen.

Sure thing, he had been warned repeatedly that kunai were something very dangerous, requiring special care in their use and storage, but it didn't go any further than that.

Recognizing that their family's situation could not be compared to clans, much less clans as wealthy as the Uchiha or Hyuga, made Yuske reluctant to purchase an excessive amount of ninja tools. His parents were quite surprised when he voiced his dislike of shuriken, and that he would not be acquiring them at all.

Until he could start earning for his own needs, Yuske decided to refrain from spending too much and that it would be enough for him to carry six kunai.

Naturally, they also deteriorate or simply lose their sharpness. The latter is manageable, but to engage in extravagance, buying dozens of kunai will only show him in a bad way.

Yuske also reasoned that it was impossible for a child to carry more than six kunai, because even they pose the inconvenience of having to carry around a ninja bag for tools.

* These little balls of black substance are already starting to be a nuisance. - Yuske needed to find a place to dispose of them, or try to find some other use for them besides secondary chakra injection.

It got to the point where he hid some of them in the least visible parts of the pond or between rocks in the backyard. It was impossible to keep them in his room for the simple reason that Yoshida Hana might start asking questions when she tidied it. If it was just one piece, he could easily refer to the fact that he found it. But it is another thing, if there are several such objects of black substance.

As stated earlier, Yuske could not reabsorb the object created from the black substance. The first solidified object made Yuske wonder whether it was possible to reconnect with the black substance by returning it to its liquid form or absorbing it back into himself.

As it turned out, it was possible to reconnect with the black substance by re-injecting his own chakra into it, but that required more chakra than if he created something new out of the substance and kept in touch with it, while being able to change its forms with just a mere thought.

Also, the process was not instantaneous, which was unacceptable during combat, adding this aspect to the cons.

As a conclusion - for simple needs in a quiet environment to resume control over the substance is not a bad solution, but the slow pace of the process itself, and the increased costs of the spent chakra limited the constant use of this method. It certainly couldn't be compared to pumping a new portion of chakra into the black substance, but it still made one waste his own energy.