Chapter 162: Now Testing My ‘Body Is a Weapon’ Hypothesis

Chapter 162 - Now Testing My ‘Body Is a Weapon’ Hypothesis Ren shifted focus again and traced a small current of mixed Earth-Yang chakra toward the underside of his forearm, specifically to the subdermal layer. It was more sensitive there so any mistake would cause chakra backlash, or worse, numbness. But with his current control and boosted intelligence, he was confident enough to test it. The chakra passed into the membrane layer beneath the skin. Instantly, the sensation changed. It was like applying pressure between a tight glove and the hand wearing it. His skin didn't react at first, but after a second, he began to feel a slight firmness like an undercurrent just beneath the surface. He flexed his fingers and the skin stretched with the movement, but felt tougher, more rigid. That was good. Very good. Still, it wasn't stable yet as after about ten seconds, the chakra started to disperse. His skin lost that firmness and returned to normal. 'Not continuous,' he noted. 'It needs a loop or seal.' He wasn't wrong. Full body jutsu like The Raikage's Lightning Cloak, Tsunade's Strength Enhancement, and even the Sand Shield of the Kazekage, they all relied on stable chakra loop systems to remain active under motion and stress. He glanced at the timer. [01:29] There was enough time. He started thinking about how to create a loop, a chakra pattern not formed using hand seals but formed using tenketsu connection points and constant low-frequency chakra pulses which should be just enough to keep the Earth-Yang mixture circulating without disrupting the body's own natural chakra flow. The pieces were coming together, but creating the loop would be much more trickier. Ren knew that building a chakra loop system inside the body wasn't something most shinobi did casually. Usually, seals were external, written onto surfaces, activated by hand signs or infused with chakra beforehand. But this was different. This wasn't a scroll or a trap, it was something that needed to remain stable inside his moving body while he fought. That meant no Fuinjutsu scripts can be used like he did with the eight gates. With the eight gates, he only needed to subtly move the chakra, but this required extremely precise chakra control which meant it couldn't be done by Fuinjutsu, atleast not at his current level. The structure had to be created directly using chakra and his tenketsu points. A living feedback system. It wasn't exactly a new concept, after all, The Raikage with his Lightning Cloak used similar ideas, but Ren didn't have a reference, only a hypothesis. He took a breath, then sat back slightly and let his chakra circulate naturally. He needed to feel out the points along his arm, elbow, shoulder and wrist, where the chakra naturally pulsed with stronger flow. Not quite tenketsu gates in the traditional sense, but the major circulation nodes. Once identified, those would serve as the chakra loop anchors. 'Three points per limb should be enough,' he noted, tapping his bicep, forearm, and wrist. He began to shape the mixed Earth-Yang chakra into a looping stream between those three anchor points. He didn't push it too fast, letting the chakra flow steadily like a warm pulse. A slow ring that moved under his skin, spreading back and forth, reinforcing the hardened layer he'd just experimented with. Immediately, he noticed a change. The earlier problem of chakra dispersing from the subdermal layer no longer happened. The layer now held its density longer, and it even felt more responsive. He flicked a finger against his arm. The knock produced a solid tap which was dull and deep. Not normal skin, definitely not rock, but something between, something like an inbuilt armor. And more importantly, it stayed active while he moved which means the loop system worked. He repeated the process with his other arm, carefully forming the three-point circuit and feeding the Earth-Yang stream through it. It was faster this time, since he had done it before and that was enough to create a muscle memory for him. Once it stabilized, he stood up and did a quick test, ten short punches with each arm, alternating like shadowboxing. The sensation was different. The weight behind the strikes had changed. It wasn't just about strength, it was more about the impact of the delivery. It felt like hitting with something denser than fists. There was strain, though. He could feel his chakra being used up slowly. Not rapidly, not dangerously, but enough to note that the hardened state had a drain. He could keep it active for a while, but not indefinitely. However, there wasn't much problem in that regard, he couldn't say he had too much chakra but he still had a lot of it, and his main combat system didn't use huge amount of chakra which means he could use this Hardening at almost all times.Once he created a whole loop and kept it active at all times, it would slowly become a normal thing for him and he would even be able to use it without even actively thinking about it, Then came the next step of increasing the coverage. So far, he'd only worked on his arms. But if he wanted this technique to be usable in real fights, it needed to cover more than that. At least the upper torso, chest, shoulders, maybe parts of the neck. He sat back down and closed his eyes, focusing on his breathing again. He let his chakra settle and expand evenly across the upper body. With the boost still active, his control and clarity were high and each flow was visible in his mind like strands of light spreading from his core. First, he extended the existing loop system upward, from shoulders to collarbone, then down toward the chest. He adjusted the flow slightly, forming a hexagonal ring of chakra points around his upper torso. This would serve as the main reinforcement loop. Six points feeding into each other, all circulating the same Earth-Yang blend. It took a bit more time to stabilize. The chest area had more movement, and controlling chakra between the lungs and the outer skin was more delicate. He had to avoid pressing too much Earth chakra toward the center to keep his breathing smooth. But eventually, it held. Once it locked into place, he tried movement again. He pushed off the ground and moved into basic Taijutsu footwork like slips, weaves, and bursts forward. They were not fast or aggressive but were just enough to test balance, resistance, and flexibility. There was stiffness in the first few steps, but it eased quickly. The Earth chakra did add resistance, but the Yang chakra offset that with internal flexibility. The result was manageable. His movements didn't feel natural exactly, but they weren't restricted either. The armor moved with him. Then he checked the chakra drain again. It was barely even drained, which meant just normal use like this wouldn't drain much chakra and that's when something clicked in his mind. 'The loop isn't just keeping it stable it was also creating a pressure buffer.' Because the chakra wasn't being pushed constantly into the hardened tissue. Instead, it circulated in a loop, passing through each anchor point, refreshing the layer but not flooding it. That meant the chakra cost wasn't based on maintaining the armor through brute force, but on keeping the loop going more efficiently and sustainably. That also explained why Earth Release techniques like Earth Spear weren't sustainable long-term, those were brute force transformations. This wasn't. This was internal and integrated reinforcement. Ren lowered himself slowly, stretching his legs out as he sat on the floor again. His focus shifted from his upper body to his legs. The Earth-Yang loop system had worked well so far, but extending it to the lower body wasn't just about replication as it involved a different chakra dynamic. Legs had more muscle mass, more kinetic output, and much more responsibility for movement and balance. If the chakra density was too high or misaligned, it could throw off his coordination completely. He tapped his right thigh lightly with two fingers, then began expanding his chakra sense again, using the boosted clarity while it still lasted. The pathways were slightly different here. More chakra passed through the hips and hamstrings compared to the arms. The movement in the legs was more explosive and not precise like the arms, so the chakra flow needed to account for bursts and recoil. He started with one leg, his dominant right. Just like before he decided to go with three anchor points. One at the upper thigh, one near the knee, and one around the ankle. With slow breaths, he threaded his chakra into these points and began forming the loop. Just like before, it wasn't about brute force. He allowed the loop to circulate at a calm, even pace, keeping his control steady. When the loop stabilized, he pushed Earth chakra into the muscle structure, carefully embedding it around the large muscle groups. It felt heavier than the arms immediately, and the chakra drain was slightly higher too, but it still wasn't a big problem. Then came the Yang chakra, threaded into the hardened muscle, woven carefully to keep flexibility and prevent locking. As he finished binding the outer membrane layer under the skin, he gently bent the knee, testing the tension. The result was promising, a hardened outer leg structure that moved with him. There was no resistance, no tearing and no chakra backlash. He repeated the process for his left leg and it barely took 5 seconds before he was done weaving chakra and doing another stabilization loop, for both legs for safety sake. He stood up, rolling his shoulders and testing his stance. With his arms, torso and legs done, his whole body was now covered in the hardening structure so he braced himself for a full mobility test. He took one step forward and the feedback was immediate. It wasn't like his normal strikes at all, it was a lot heavier heavy. It was similar to when he attacked while he training seal was still in effect, but even more heavier, since Earth Chakra was inherently heavier, and even with Yang offsetting some it still retained some properties, but that was the original plan so that means his idea worked. He moved again, this time adding more speed, sidestep, step-in, lean back. Then he added punches, low kicks, evasive slips, forward bursts. The hardened layers responded, it was a little stiff at first, but the moment he adjusted the chakra rhythm in the loops, it smoothed out. He continued adjusting the Earth-Yang balance in his lower body, focusing more on Yang chakra this time. Too much Earth would lead to rigidity, which he couldn't afford during footwork. Gradually, he found the correct ratio, roughly 65% Yang to 35% Earth for the legs. A higher Yang ratio allowed enough movement while maintaining defense. For arms and torso, the ratio was closer to 50-50, since mobility was less critical and durability more useful. He could always change the ratio depending on the need, like if he ever fell from a high place he would use higher Earth chakra to increase durability and so on. It was all trial and error, but with the enhanced mental clarity still active, the feedback loop was fast. He didn't need to guess for long. His body was quick to respond to each minor adjustment, and his chakra control let him feel every detail. Once satisfied, he shifted to combat drills. Five punches, three kicks, a shoulder ram, a leg sweep and even his favourite move, the ball breaker, everything worked. But each strike felt heavier than normal and way more impactful. But at the same time, it was also costlier. Every motion consumed a little more chakra than usual, not from the strikes themselves, but from maintaining the internal armor while moving at speed. Though it was still manageable, it meant that if he ever used higher forms of this, way more chakra would be consumed. He ran through the sequence twice more before stopping. Sweat was starting to form on his forehead. Not from physical fatigue, he was used to far worse, but from the intensity of chakra shaping. The whole loop required extremely high amount of concentration which was supported by his Perfected Hyperfocus, but at the same time, since this was his first test, he was a bit experimental which was pushing his chakra control to an even more extreme level. The timer on the system flashed again. [00:19] Less than twenty seconds left. Now came the part that mattered the most, storing this configuration. Keeping the muscle memory. It was important to lock the concept into his own practice so he could replicate it without the boost. He sat back down, straightened his spine, and cleared his thoughts. The configuration of chakra loops. The ratio of Yang to Earth. The depth of the hardened layer, dermal embedding just below the skin, not inside the muscle. The anchor points. All of it had to be memorized. He began noting each section in his mind, dividing them into patterns, left arm, right arm, chest, back, right leg, left leg. What worked, what didn't, and how much chakra each section consumed individually and as a whole. Slowly, the seconds passed and eventually, the timer turned to [00:00]. ~~~~~ {Finally, done with all the theory work. I am so tired of thinking everything that, I have now started hoping that I had the boost too, though I wonder if I'd have really used it on this if I had it.} {Anyway, that's all for the theory till now, even I feel tired writing all this so I can imagine how you guys would feel, but don't worry, we'll be back to action soon and that fight wouldn't be easy, so wait for it.} {If you want, you can support me on pat-reon} { h t t p s : / / w w w . p a t r e o n . c o m / Z e e n o n } {You know what else} {280 Stones = Extra Chapter} {STONES!!!!} {Break tomorrow :) }