After the conversation with Nine-Tailed ended, Naruto exited the Mental Space and opened his eyes.
He stood up and walked over to Fern.
Fern was standing in the middle of the grass, her staff propped on the ground, breathing slightly heavily.
The continuous practice of Flight Magic just now had consumed quite a bit of stamina.
“Sister Fern, let’s practice Defensive Magic,” Naruto said.
“The kind where we attack each other.”
Fern looked up and glanced at him.
“Okay.”
The two stood facing each other, about twenty paces apart.
“Do you want to attack first, or should I?”
Fern raised her staff.
“I’ll go first.”
Naruto nodded, focused his mind, and deployed Defensive Magic in front of him.
Pale blue hexagonal fragments appeared one by one, assembling into a translucent shield.
The tip of Fern’s staff lit up with a white glow.
“Here it comes.”
A beam of light shot out, slamming straight into Naruto’s barrier.
“Bang!”
The shield vibrated, but it didn’t shatter.
Naruto took a small half-step back and steadied himself.
“Again.”
Fern fired another shot, this time using more magic power.
The barrier vibrated more violently, but it held.
“My turn.” Naruto raised his staff.
Fern immediately deployed her own Defensive Magic.
Naruto’s beam struck, hitting Fern’s barrier.
Her barrier wavered for a moment but quickly stabilized.
The two continued to take turns attacking and defending like this.
The sounds of beams colliding with barriers echoed continuously at the edge of the woods.
Fern’s beam accuracy was very high; every shot hit the exact same spot on the barrier.
Naruto felt the pressure increasing.
Eventually, he had to increase his magic power output just to barely hold on.
“Sister Fern is so strong,” Naruto muttered.
In the Mental Space, Nine-Tailed snorted.
“After all, she is considered a ‘genius’ by that elf.”
“I know…”
After finishing their Defensive Magic practice, they switched to Flight Magic.
Naruto took off first, hovering in mid-air.
Fern followed suit, taking flight and hovering opposite him.
“Do we need to practice in the air too?” Naruto asked.
Fern nodded.
“If every Mage can fly, then real battles won’t just be fought on the ground.”
The two began their sparring in the air.
Naruto fired a beam, and Fern dodged in mid-air while simultaneously deploying her defense.
When Fern counterattacked, Naruto learned to dodge as well.
At first, both of them were wobbling; maintaining balance in the air was difficult enough, let alone performing other actions at the same time.
But they adapted quickly.
Beams crisscrossed in the sky, occasionally colliding and exploding into balls of white light.
“Bang!
Bang!
Bang!”
The two fought from one end to the other and back again.
Naruto’s magic power was still plentiful, but he also stopped and didn’t continue.
“Let’s take a break,” he said.
Fern nodded, and the two slowly descended back to the ground.
…
Deep in the woods.
Frieren leaned against a large tree, the surroundings very quiet.
She closed her eyes and attempted to refine Chakra, following the method Naruto had taught her.
Physical energy and spiritual energy…
Gathering them together…
A flow completely different from magic power…
There was nothing.
She opened her eyes and frowned.
She tried again.
Still nothing.
Frieren leaned against the tree, silent for a long time.
It was the same last night.
The method was clearly correct, and the steps were followed exactly as Naruto said.
But she just couldn’t perceive the existence of Chakra.
She recalled what Naruto had said.
The practice processes of magic and Chakra felt ‘homologous.’
If one could refine Chakra, practicing magic would also be twice as effective with half the effort.
The same was true in reverse.
But the situation now was…
She could use magic, yet she couldn’t refine Chakra.
“So…
is he the only one who can do it?”
Frieren whispered, her tone tinged with a bit of unwillingness.
She tried a few more times.
The result remained unchanged.
Finally, she gave up, leaning against the tree and gazing at the leaves above.
A sense of loss welled up in her heart; it wasn’t very strong, but it was certainly there.
Having lived for so long, this was the first time she had encountered such a thing.
Such a miraculous, brand-new ‘magic’ was right before her eyes, yet she couldn’t grasp it no matter what.
After a good while, she stood up and brushed the fallen leaves off her clothes.
“Forget it.”
Frieren walked slowly toward the outside of the woods.
…
When she walked out of the woods, Frieren looked up at the sky.
Two figures were flying back and forth in mid-air, with beams of light constantly crisscrossing.
Naruto was flying in front, and Fern was chasing from behind.
Fern fired a beam, and Naruto dodged violently to the side; the beam flew past, grazing the corner of his clothes.
Then Naruto turned around and returned a shot.
Fern deployed Defensive Magic and blocked it.
The two stood off in the air for a few seconds before moving simultaneously again.
Frieren stood by the tree, watching silently.
Their movements were still quite raw, and there were many openings.
To be able to reach this level in such a short time…
She nodded slightly.
After a while, the two landed back on the ground.
Naruto saw Frieren first and waved.
“Lady Frieren!”
Frieren walked over and looked at the two.
Both were a bit disheveled, their clothes covered in dust, and their hair messy.
But their spirits were high, and there was a light in their eyes.
“Let’s go back,” she said, her tone as flat as usual.
Naruto and Fern exchanged a look and followed behind her.
Although they were a bit tired, their eyes revealed excitement.
They had grown a lot again today.
…
When they returned home, the sun was almost setting.
Heiter’s room door was closed, and it was quiet.
Fern put down her staff, rolled up her sleeves, and started preparing dinner.
Naruto also wanted to follow her to the kitchen, but just as he took a step, he was called by Frieren.
“Naruto, I have something to tell you.”
Naruto stopped and turned around.
“What is it?
Does it have to be said now?”
Frieren pointed to the chair in the living room.
“Sit down and talk.”
Naruto walked over and sat down, feeling a bit strange.
Frieren sat down opposite him and was silent for a moment.
“People in this world might not be able to refine Chakra at all.”
Naruto was stunned for a moment.
“I tried many times in the woods just now,” Frieren said.
“Following the method you described, trying it over and over again.”
Naruto asked curiously, “And the result?”
“Nothing.” Frieren’s tone was calm, but there was a hint of disappointment in her eyes.
“I couldn’t perceive Chakra, nor could I refine it.”
She recounted the entire practice process from last night and today.
Every step, every detail.
In the end, there was only one conclusion.
“According to what you said, the practice processes of magic and Chakra feel ‘homologous,'” Frieren said.
“If one could refine Chakra, practicing magic would also be twice as effective with half the effort.”
“The same is true in reverse.”
“But I have practiced magic for over a thousand years, yet I cannot refine Chakra.”
She paused.
“People in this world, in all likelihood, cannot learn Ninjutsu.”
Naruto lowered his head.
“I see…”
He had actually vaguely felt this way for a long time.
Grandpa Heiter and the many Mages he invited had researched it, and Grandma Frieren had researched it too.
So many years had passed, and there had been no progress at all.
But hearing it explicitly stated now, he still felt a bit disappointed.
Frieren looked at him, reached out, and patted Naruto’s head.
“Don’t worry, what I promised you still stands.”
Her movements were very light, unlike her usual cold demeanor.
“It’s just…
it’s time for us to part ways.”
Naruto looked up at her.
Frieren didn’t say anything more, withdrew her hand, and stood up.
“I’m going to see Heiter.”