"Scouter?!"
Everyone was curious upon hearing this and crowded around Asuma.
They saw that the scouter had a simple structure, with a small machine extending out to a green lens.
However, it felt out of place in the world of ninjas.
Asuma, feeling nervous under everyone's intense scrutiny, fumbled with the device before figuring out how to wear it.
As soon as he put it on, everyone took a few steps back, looking at him with strange expressions.
"What's wrong? Am I wearing it incorrectly?"
Everyone hesitated, unsure how to politely say, "Asuma, you look like a villain with that thing on."
Natsuhiko stood by expressionless but secretly held back laughter.
Even Goku, with his thick eyebrows and large eyes, didn't look like a good guy when he wore this thing.
Naturally, Asuma couldn't pull it off either.
Next, Natsuhiko gave Asuma a few pointers, telling him to inject chakra into the scouter to activate it.
Following Natsuhiko's instructions, Asuma saw some startup information flash across the green lens in front of his left eye.
He then saw a significant number, "5", appear above Obito's head, who was in the lens's field of view.
Intrigued, Asuma looked closer and was shocked to see chakra pathways appearing within Obito's body.
Excitedly, he shouted, "Wow, teacher, this thing has X-ray vision!"
Everyone: "???"
Rin and Kurenai quickly realised what he meant, panicked, and hid behind Kushina, who wasn't wearing tight clothes.
Natsuhiko, with a dark line across his face, quickly corrected, "You can't just say things like that. You're only seeing their chakra pathways through the lens!"
If it really had X-ray vision, I'd keep it for myself.
Asuma scratched his head and laughed awkwardly, realising his words were misleading.
Just as he was about to brush it off, he saw Kurenai and Rin glaring at him.
"Asuma, you're the worst!" Kurenai growled, turning away from him.
Asuma felt like his life had lost all meaning as his world turned grey...
But human joy and sorrow are not connected.
Seizing the opportunity, Obito grabbed the scouter and put it on, looking at Asuma.
"Wow! You can really see the chakra system!" Obito exclaimed in awe. "This is amazing!"
However, as he looked on, his cheerful smile slowly faded.
He had the feeling he'd heard of such a function before.
Coming from a clan known for its eye techniques, he quickly realised: "Isn't this just like the Byakugan?"
Obito had always worried that he hadn't unlocked his Sharingan yet, and now Natsuhiko-sensei had developed a technique mimicking the Byakugan.
If the Byakugan had been replicated, could the Sharingan be far behind?
The Uchiha clan is in danger!
Thinking this, Obito felt like his life had lost all meaning...
As Asuma and Obito sighed and licked their wounds in a corner, everyone else eagerly took turns trying out the device.
They all found that the scouter's view was indeed similar to the rumoured Byakugan's abilities.
It was as if a Byakugan had been transplanted into their left eye socket!
Everyone felt their worldview was refreshed, gaining a deeper appreciation for the wonders of sealing techniques.
The four new members of the research group, especially, felt increasingly grateful for choosing this path and looked at Natsuhiko-sensei with admiration.
However, Natsuhiko had to dampen their excitement, explaining:
"It's not as amazing as you think."
"After all, the Hyuga clan's Byakugan can see not only chakra pathways but also through objects, see far distances, have enhanced perception, and a 360-degree view—capabilities that my little invention can't match."
"Not to mention, this device works only with the training suit."
"We can't exactly have our opponents wear a training suit before fighting."
"So, this device can, at best, assist in training but can't compare to the Byakugan."
Hearing this, everyone calmed down, realising the significant differences between the two.
Natsuhiko sighed in relief, not wanting to deal with the ancient Hyuga elders just yet.
"But, teacher, what you've achieved is already incredible," Rin said earnestly, looking up at Natsuhiko.
"After all, the Byakugan is a natural ability of the Hyuga clan, while anyone can use your scouter!"
Ebisu adjusted his sunglasses, adding, "Indeed, no matter how powerful the Byakugan is, it's unrelated to us, but this scouter, even if inferior, provides tangible help."
Kurenai confidently said, "And with our support, teacher, you will definitely create sealing tools that rival the Byakugan and Sharingan one day."
Asuma stepped forward to agree, "Me too!"
Might Duy, with tears streaming down his face, said, "Guy, did you see that? This is youth!"
"Yes, Father, I can feel the youth surging within everyone!" Guy responded.
Kushina watched the small group gathered around Natsuhiko, a smile playing on her lips, feeling her work was meaningful.
Only Obito stood aside, speechless.
He understood everything.
But listening to everyone discuss how to copy the functions of the Byakugan and Sharingan, he couldn't share their joy.
Moreover, with a member of the Uchiha clan right here...
Is it okay to conspire so loudly?
Seeing everyone's enthusiasm, Natsuhiko could only smile wryly and gesture for silence.
"You all make good points."
"Turning the impossible into possible is indeed the most interesting aspect of sealing techniques..."
"Perhaps one day, we will achieve what you said."
"But we must take things one step at a time. No matter how grand our dreams are, they require steady, persistent effort."
"Yes—"
And so, the testing resumed.
Natsuhiko asked, "When you used the scouter just now, you should have seen a number on the person, right?"
Everyone nodded.
"Teacher, what does that number mean?" Kurenai asked.
"Since it's called a scouter, that number represents 'battle power,'" Natsuhiko explained with a smile.
"Rin, tell us how we usually evaluate a ninja's strength."
Rin thought for a moment and replied, "In class, the teacher said it's evaluated based on eight attributes: ninjutsu, taijutsu, genjutsu, intelligence, strength, speed, stamina, and hand seals."
Natsuhiko nodded, "Correct. At the end of each term, the school assesses you based on these eight attributes."
He discreetly glanced at someone whose intelligence score was only two.
"The 'battle power' I'm referring to is similar; it's a dimension to evaluate a person's strength."
"Explaining what battle power is in detail would be complex."
"As you know, chakra, once refined, temporarily resides in the body's chakra network."
At this stage, you can broadly consider battle power as the amount of chakra in a person's meridian system.
Everyone looked a bit puzzled, feeling that this definition didn't quite match the term "battle power."
Natsuhiko wasn't surprised and continued to explain:
"You all should know that our physical bodies as ninjas aren't much stronger than ordinary people."
"The reason we can leap across rooftops and have great strength is because the chakra in our bodies activates them."
"This is also why, despite your young age, you can easily defeat ordinary adults."
Everyone nodded in understanding.
Natsuhiko continued:
"Within a certain range, we can simply think that the more chakra in the meridian system, the more activated the body will be. Strength, speed, stamina, and even recovery ability will all improve accordingly."
"Additionally, having a large amount of chakra also means that the power of 'ninjutsu,' 'taijutsu,' and 'genjutsu' will significantly increase."
"Furthermore, in battles, Genin and even Chunin often can't refine chakra as efficiently as they consume it."
"So at these levels of combat, the amount of chakra stored in the meridians is the most critical factor influencing victory, rather than the 'essence' which represents chakra refinement potential."
"And this is why I refer to it as battle power."
The students pondered Natsuhiko-sensei's explanation.
Comparing this theory to their own experiences, they found it indeed matched what Natsuhiko-sensei described.
Especially since they, as ninja school students, were even less capable than Genin and generally couldn't refine chakra during combat.
Therefore, in their classroom sparring, they would refine chakra beforehand and then fight, like two deflated balloons colliding.
So, the amount of chakra in the meridians was indeed the key to deciding victory.
Calling it "battle power" seemed quite fitting.
At this point, Natsuhiko continued:
"Of course, when it comes to Jonin or Kage-level battles, battle power alone can't determine the outcome."
"At that level, the importance of 'wisdom,' representing knowledge and intelligence, becomes increasingly prominent."
"Since Jonin can refine chakra very quickly, battle power no longer just refers to the amount of chakra in the meridians and becomes more aligned with 'essence.'"
"Also, 'hand seals,' representing chakra control, can be used to manipulate the chakra actively, compensating for a lower amount of chakra."
However, Natsuhiko didn't continue to say that at Kage-level and above, battles return to the basics, where chakra quantity becomes a crucial factor again.
Then Natsuhiko said:
"For ease of memory, you can think of the meridian system as a container for holding chakra."
"The size of the container determines how much chakra it can hold."
"So you can also refer to battle power as the 'container.'"
"At your current stage, chakra mainly serves to enhance physical activation."
"So it can be simply understood as the larger the container, the better the physical activation."
"Therefore, I call it... the law of a big container makes for better activation.'"
(End of chapter)
Advanced three chapters will ba added to Patreon soon.