Tsunade was deeply shaken by Yujin's words. For some reason, she felt a profound fear when she understood the implications. The tremor in Yujin's voice and the brief glimpse she caught in his eyes, as if he had remembered something disturbing, left her very afraid.
Knowing that someone she cares about is practically walking on a tightrope every day was despairing. It's as if Yujin could die at any moment. This reality was hard to swallow, even for someone experienced with life-or-death situations like her.
Yujin noticed Tsunade's distress, and his heart squeezed. He deliberated for a long time whether he would tell her, but in the end, he decided to. After all, you never know what might happen in the future. He didn't want her to be caught off guard if he undergoes a Breakdown and ends up being killed by some ninja.
He needed to prepare her for the possibility.
When he started training Harmony, Yujin knew the risks, but he was never afraid. He always had complete confidence in himself. Unfortunately, that incident where he had his first Breakdown cast a shadow on his heart. Even though everyone he killed were enemies, one thing is killing people who were doing harm to others, you have a reason for that.
It's entirely different what he did, indiscriminate killing. Although he was fortunate to have only killed enemies, at that moment, he was willing to kill anyone, even people he loves.
It was a bad feeling, knowing that, with one mistake, he could become an uncontrollable killing god. That's why he isolated himself in the mountains and never left.
Taking a deep breath, Yujin composed himself. Tsunade still didn't seem to have calmed down, so he decided to continue with the lesson.
"As I mentioned, I will teach you Internal Martial Arts. To practice any type of martial arts, it's important to have a breathing technique. Please, sit in the position I am in."
Yujin sat in the lotus position, hands in front of his chest, forming a hand seal that Tsunade and Duy had never seen.
The two copied Yujin's position and began to breathe following his instructions.
The technique required perfection during its execution, so the two spent some minutes following Yujin's instructions, but it didn't take them long to learn.
When he saw that they could do it, Yujin stood up and continued guiding them, explaining more theoretical aspects of Qi and trying to explain the sensation of Qi entering the body so they could better perceive if they were succeeding.
He knew that, even if they seemed to be doing it correctly, they needed a perfection they had not yet achieved, so he also began correcting the small errors they were making without realizing.
Even after many minutes, however, they felt nothing. Although they had internal doubts, Yujin constantly explained to them that it's not a quick process.
"Most people take days to create their first Qi thread. You will get it quickly, I believe, because of your experience with Chakra. Keep trying."
Both nodded, and they continued. Over an hour later, the sun began to rise, and they finally felt a difference. When he saw their expressions improve, he explained.
"The first thirty minutes when the sun rises are the best for accumulating Qi. During this time, Qi is extremely pure, and therefore easier to absorb. Consequently, it is the perfect time for beginners to try to create their first Qi thread."
Vaguely, both began to feel something entering through their noses during breathing. It was a very vague feeling, but they knew it must be natural Qi, so they continued to breathe.
Minutes passed, and when he saw that they were succeeding, Yujin fell silent and just observed. Thirty minutes later, they lost the sensation they had before and became confused. Before they stopped breathing, Yujin began explaining again.
"The thirty minutes have passed; now it is much more difficult, but keep breathing even if you don't feel anything. Try to remember the feeling you had during those thirty minutes, and keep trying until you can do it without the help of the sunrise."
Both nodded again and continued, but even after an hour, they couldn't feel anything. Seeing this, Yujin approached them and spoke.
"Well, I wanted you to achieve it on your own, as it would improve your perception of Qi. With this improvement, in the future, you would have better results, but more than that, I think it's useless."
"What do you mean?"
Tsunade seemed worried that she might not be able to train Qi, but it was an unfounded concern. Yujin explained patiently.
"It's impossible for normal humans to feel natural Qi. Do you know why?"
It was a rhetorical question, so neither of them answered.
"Because there are eight interconnected meridians in the human body that connects us to natural Qi, and these meridians are closed. These eight meridians are called the Eight Extraordinary Meridians. Meridians are like the tenketsu you use to guide Chakra. I took a look at them before, and all of them are meridians that Qi can also pass. The difference is that the meridians through which Chakra can pass are few, while Qi can pass through them all."
"When I started my studies on Chakra and realized this, I was afraid that Chakra and Qi would clash, but my body is proof that they don't. The two energies do not mix, as if they were two rivers running side by side, just ignoring each other. Although it seems that the Chakra of other people ends up being restricted by your Qi, as was the case with Tsunade when she examined me using Chakra before."
Tsunade nodded slightly, remembering the experience she had earlier. She tried to examine Yujin, but his body's Qi seemed to act like an antibody, protecting him all the time.
"Back to the Eight Extraordinary Meridians. It's one meridian only, divided into eight different blocked points. To feel Qi perfectly, you need to make a Qi thread pass through the first of these eight points and reach the second point, completely opening the first meridian. Usually, it takes a master to help you in this process, but some very talented people can do it unconsciously."
Tsunade looked at Yujin with envy. She didn't even need to ask and already knew that Yujin is one of those rare cases of someone who managed to do it alone.
"So, I will be assisting you. By now, thanks to the thirty minutes of sunrise, you should have condensed a Qi thread. Please turn your backs to me and sit in the previous position I taught you."
Both did as he asked, and they began breathing again at the correct rhythm when he instructed. Yujin first approached Tsunade and placed his hand on the center of her back.
He used a bit of Qi to enter her body and investigate the situation.
He felt her Chakra, as well as the rest of the internal organs. Tsunade felt a bit uncomfortable with the Qi inside her, investigating, but she said nothing.
Finally, after searching for a long time, he found the Qi thread in the center of her chest, near the heart. With the help of Qi, he slowly drew this Qi thread to one of the nearby meridians, and from there it was easy, moving it to the head, where the first meridian was.
Tsunade was trying to feel what was happening, but she couldn't. She could only feel the uncomfortable sensation slowly rising to her head, and minutes later, she felt a small pressure.
The feeling of pressure lasted for a few minutes; Yujin said he was trying to open the first point and that it required patience. Minutes later, she felt as if a dam released the water all at once, and the feeling of pressure disappeared.
The first thing she felt after that was something around her. Opening her eyes, she realized she was surrounded by some kind of strange energy. She couldn't see it, but she could feel it.
"There, the Qi thread made its way to the second block point. If you want to open this second block point, you'll need a lot more Qi and very good control; I won't be able to help you with that next time."
Seeing that she was extremely surprised by the new sensation she was feeling, Yujin continued.
"You will become a Grandmaster in Martial Arts as long as you can release the fourth meridian. When that happens, you can feel the intentions of the world. Now you understand why I was surprised that you could feel natural energy, which is the union of that intention with natural Qi, since you don't even have the First Extraordinary Meridian open?"
With the knowledge she now had, Tsunade understood what Yujin was saying, but she didn't have much to respond. She doesn't even know how she can do that. She only trained a little in Sage Mode, and that was the only thing she could take from the training. Yujin then went to Duy and did the same.
But when Duy began to feel the slight pressure on his head, he spoke to Yujin with closed eyes, surprised.
"Is this discomfort I'm feeling in my head you trying to open one of those block points you mentioned earlier?"
Yujin realized he didn't explain it properly and confirmed with a "Yes."
"But this is the location of the First Gate, Gate of Opening."