41 On the tightrope

I got carried away writing and ended up with four extra chapters; I'll just post this one today.

I wanted to take the opportunity and ask what you think about me creating a Patreon. In this case, I would write ten advanced chapters, and put them there. Anyone who wants to pay can read it in advance. But I'm going to continue with one chapter a day the same way I've been doing it, regardless.

Also, for some reason, the reach of the fanfic was cut to 1/3 from before. For more than a month, the novel was getting 30 thousand views daily. Suddenly it went to 10 thousand, very strange. Well, not that it matters much, I find WN's views strange. The fanfic has 4,200 collections, and 1 million views, I find these numbers strange.

Info dump strikes again.

***

"Yujin, I observed this from your previous remarks, but is it common for people in your past world to sense Qi?"

Yujin had already conducted this test, demonstrating his breath in front of Tsunade earlier, and now he did it again in front of Duy. Both times, he seemed to expect them to feel the natural Qi, but neither of them did. This raised concerns that maybe they couldn't learn to train Qi.

"No, normal people don't feel Qi. I only tested you two because you have a different type of energy within you, Chakra, and I wanted to see if that would enable you to feel natural Qi. Unfortunately, Tsunade, you can only sense natural intention, not Qi, which is quite unusual."

"If you're talking about the energy Jiraya uses to enter Sage Mode, I've trained for Sage Mode before. I managed to get to the point of feeling natural energy, but I could never pull it into my body or merge it with my Chakra."

Yujin nodded slightly and explained.

"As I mentioned before, and it's not relevant here, there's a difference between energy and intention. What Jiraya uses for Sage Mode is intention, and I've told you this before; it's like being born and instantly learning to run instead of walk. At least, from my perspective. Normally, you familiarize yourself with Qi during training and meditation, perceive the intention behind Qi, open the Fourth Extraordinary Meridian, and only then feel the intention."

Yujin looked at Might Duy, who seemed confused by the conversation, and explained.

"Jiraya can enter a state called 'Sage Mode,' where he merges natural energy with Chakra. His strength then multiplies several times, which is quite interesting. But in Qi practice, the natural energy Jiraya uses and the natural Qi that Qi practitioners use are different. Natural Qi is the energy that makes the world turn and function. It makes fire burn, water flow, earth nourish, and wind be everywhere. The "intention" or "law" of the world uses this energy to make these things happen. Theoretically, natural Qi has no intention of its own. When you understand this concept during your Martial Arts training and open your Fourth Extraordinary Meridian, you can feel this intention and understand how the world works around you much more easily."

Might Duy nodded constantly, as if he were understanding, but in reality, he wasn't. It's not that he was dumb; he could logically understand the words, but it seemed so abstract that it was just information in his head, and he didn't grasp the essence of what Yujin was saying.

"Let's move away from this topic; it's not relevant here. Now I'll explain some general things about Martial Arts. In addition to mastery levels, there are three types of Martial Arts. Every person who trains with Qi needs to decide which path to follow. External, Internal, Harmony. External Martial Arts involve using the Qi you accumulate to permanently strengthen your physical body. Internal Martial Arts use Qi to temporarily strengthen your body. Harmony is a mental state that only a few rare individuals can achieve, where it's possible to use both types of Martial Arts."

"There are advantages and disadvantages to all three types. External Martial Arts improve your physique permanently, strengthening your entire body, making it more resilient. The advantages are, for example, they are more challenging to defeat in surprise attacks since their body is always strengthened with Qi. Their skin is tough, and internal organs resistant to impact. They have Herculean strength. They are tough to defeat. A Grandmaster in External Martial Arts is practically a death god, hard to knock down, with high stamina and inhuman strenght. They can fight for days without getting tired."

"Disadvantages would be that they are quite heavy, making them slower than usual. A Grandmaster can weigh tons. When Qi strengthens the body, it makes the person denser and therefore heavier. Their body's regeneration is also slower, requiring more energy and time to heal. Training is also very challenging, requiring high pain tolerance and determination of steel. The training is also longer. Grandmasters in External Martial Arts are all at least over sixty years old. One thing that can also happen is the person going insane during training due to intense pain."

Even Tsunade was paying close attention. Many of the things Yujin was telling them hadn't come up in their previous conversation, so she was memorizing as much as possible to write about later.

"Internal Martial Arts are the most commonly practiced. The advantages are that training is faster and painless. You will also be much faster than any external martial artist. Your strength will be less, but it's often compensated with weapons, so most internal martial artists are experts in weapons like swords, staffs, etc."

"The disadvantages are that when your Qi runs out, you're just a normal person. You also need to constantly control your Qi so that you're not sneakily attacked. Good Qi control is required for training, so some people with little control can only choose external martial arts. Lack of control also wastes a lot of Qi."

"Of the two types, the safer one is definitely internal martial arts, and that's what I'll be teaching you."

Duy saw no problem with that; he found the disadvantages of external martial arts too significant. As long as he had aptitude, he preferred to train in internal martial arts. Tsunade felt the same, but her main reason was more superficial; she simply didn't want to weigh hundreds of kilograms.

"I won't teach Harmony to anyone, only to my successor. And you two don't have what it takes to achieve Harmony. So, I'll explain it just for your understanding."

Yujin saw that neither of them seemed to care, and he continued.

"Harmony is a state of mental duality. It's not possible to train both External and Internal Martial Arts at the same time because they are two different types, like Yin and Yang. When someone tries to train in both types, there's a risk of entering Qi Deviation, a state where the person's Qi loses control and starts destroying the body internally. When someone enters such a state, the chances of survival are low."

"Some people, however, manage to enter a mental state called Harmony. Some call it Duality, others call it Harmonization with Heaven and Earth... It has various names. But basically, it's a mental state where you can divide your mind into two. Not everyone can do this, only a few very rare individuals. With this mental division, you can practice both things at the same time without them colliding internally."

"The advantages are obvious; you can train both types, gaining the advantages of both and losing many of the disadvantages. With training, it's also possible to have perfect control of the physical body, and you become emotionally balanced, able to make reasonable decisions without being affected by emotions. There are several other advantages, but I won't go into detail."

"The disadvantage is not obvious, but I would say it's the biggest of all. Harmony is a mental state that you need to maintain constantly. Only two things can make you exit this mental state: your will or a very intense emotion. If you exit the Harmony mental state willingly, you will enter Qi deviation, with high chances of death."

"If you exit this state due to an intense emotion, you enter a state called Breakdown, where your mind is taken over by the emotion that shook you. Most emotions can't shake Harmony, only one: anger. So, if I undergo a very intense emotional shock and become very angry, I will go through a Breakdown, and anger will take over my body. When this happens, I lose all reason and become an unstoppable death god driven only by death."

Tsunade and Duy were left speechless by this revelation. It's as if Yujin is constantly walking on a tightrope. A violent swing, and he will fall to his death. Seeing the solemn expression on both of them, and realizing that they understood the grave implications, he sighed and continued.

"I've been through a Breakdown before. Because of my deep state of Harmony, I managed to regain control in time..."

For a moment, that scene flashed in Yujin's mind, causing him to stutter at the end of his words. Taking a deep breath, he controlled his emotions and finished what he was saying.

"If it happens again, however, either I die, or I kill; there is no other choice. When I'm consumed by anger, I don't differentiate friend from foe; I just kill and destroy everything in my path."

The two could only remain silent; there was nothing they could say. This is a reality about Yujin that Tsunade didn't know, and it profoundly shook her.