Asta was utterly exhausted as he trudged down the mountain path, returning from another one of his grueling workout sessions.
Every muscle in his body burned, and his lungs gasped for air.
Suddenly, a violent, blinding pain struck the inside of his skull—it felt as if someone had slammed a heavy steel hammer directly into his head!
“Argh!”
Asta gasped, his legs buckling beneath him as he collapsed onto his knees in the dirt.
He clutched his head with both hands, his body trembling violently as a flood of suppressed memories burst open like a broken dam.
Pictures, lives, and knowledge flooded his consciousness all at once:
First came the memories of his first life—an ordinary Earth otaku who spent countless hours reading anime, manga, and light novels, fully versed in every trope and storyline imaginable.
Then came his second life, where he had transmigrated into the Naruto universe as Rock Lee.
He remembered the brutal physical conditioning under Might Guy, the spirit of youth, and the heartbreaking realization that a physical defect prevented him from properly molding chakra to cast ninjutsu or genjutsu.
And finally, his current third life as Asta—the magicless orphan raised in Hage Village, mocked for fifteen years by the locals, yet desperately pushing his body past its human limits while drinking bitter Moguro juice just to chase his dream of becoming the Wizard King.
“Hah…
hah…”
Hao Fan—now fully awakened as Asta—knelt in the dirt, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead as three distinct lifetimes merged seamlessly into a single mind.
“So that’s how it is…” he muttered, leaning back on his heels as he processed his past lives.
“Otaku…
Rock Lee…
and now Asta.”
As he carefully examined the memories of his three lives, he suddenly froze.
Deep inside his lower abdomen—his dantian—he felt a faint, gentle warmth radiating through his core.
Wait…
what is this warmth?
For a split second, Asta wondered if this warm sensation was the elusive “magic power” he had spent fifteen years praying for.
But as a former Rock Lee, he recognized the unique energetic frequency almost immediately.
No…
this isn’t mana or magic power.
This is CHAKRA!
Asta’s eyes widened in sheer disbelief.
The physical energy from his daily grueling workouts, combined with the spiritual energy of his newly awakened three-lifetime soul, had naturally fused together inside his body!
Chakra actually existed in the Black Clover world!
However, excitement quickly gave way to a sharp realization.
Because his soul had been Rock Lee in his previous life, he carried over the exact same structural limitation: he possessed chakra, but he lacked the delicate control required to mold and convert it into ninjutsu or hand-seal techniques.
“Unbelievable…” Asta looked down at his trembling palms and let out a dry, raspy laugh.
“I have chakra in a world ruled by magic, but I still can’t mold it for ninjutsu!
How ironic!”
Yet, his eyes didn’t fill with despair—they burned with a fiery, youthful determination inherited directly from Might Guy and Rock Lee.
“So what if I can’t mold chakra for ninjutsu?
In my last life as Rock Lee, I mastered the ultimate form of physical combat!” Asta clenched his fist, his knuckles cracking loudly.
“Taijutsu!
The Eight Inner Gates!
As long as I have chakra nourishing my body and muscles, I can break past human limits once again!”
A small grin spread across his face as he felt the subtle flow of chakra circulating within him, steadily soothing his overworked muscles and mending his exhausted body.
“First thing’s first: I need to rest up and let this newly formed chakra heal my battered body so I can start training the Eight Gates properly!”
With a newfound purpose and three lifetimes of wisdom guiding him, Asta stood up from the dirt, brushed off his pants, and set his sights on the journey ahead.