'At least control over one's own body is increasing.'
'Otherwise, staying here forever would be hopeless, unable to even utilize the Devour talent.'
Takumi immediately saw the essence of this simulation.
Not Human turned him into a thin bolt of lightning in the simulation.
This thing has no mouth, yet he could use the Devour talent, which meant devouring lightning to strengthen himself.
Thinking carefully, this was very reasonable.
From this, it could be extended that water flow, flames, etc., might also be manipulated in the same way.
[Your attempts meet obstacles. Your penetration ability is very weak, perhaps because your control over yourself is still not skillful enough.]
[You try again and again. Underground, with no light at all, you can only perceive your current situation through touch.]
[You struggle to twist your body, searching for a way out underground.]
[With your efforts, the soil is pushed aside bit by bit, and your penetration ability gradually increases.]
[You see hope and start striving even harder.]
[Finally, after an unknown amount of time, you can move within the soil.]
'With movement ability, the next step is to find devourable lightning.'
Takumi nodded. 'Natural lightning is too powerful, definitely not suitable now.'
'Luckily, this is the Shinobi World. As long as you can find Shinobi who use Lightning Release, you should be able to sneak a bite when they perform their Ninjutsu.'
'Just don't know where the location is now.'
'If it were in Kumogakure, where Lightning Release is more common, that would be great, it could eat freely.'
[After passing through the soil, you soon encountered other obstacles.]
[Dead bones buried in the soil, rocks, etc., blocked your path.]
[You can't feel gravity, can't discern direction, so you don't know if you're going up or down.]
[All you can do is move forward. Any obstacle before you will be overcome by you.]
[You persistently delve every day, and with unyielding spirit, you eventually pierce through the rocks.]
[Finally, underground, you have unimpeded movement.]
'Speed has increased quite a bit, but not being able to discern direction is indeed a problem.'
'If you accidentally burrow into the Earth's core, you might disappear instantly, right? I wonder what's actually there.'
Takumi suddenly felt a spark of curiosity. 'If you really reached the Earth's core, dying immediately wouldn't be so bad, would it? After all, it's the mysterious Earth's core.'
'Forget it, I'll leave the Earth's core to the scientists to study. I'd better focus on my abilities.'
Takumi quickly dismissed his curiosity.
[After an unknown amount of time, you suddenly feel that the way ahead is extremely clear.]
[Overjoyed, you quickly look around, but it's still pitch black.]
[Drip, drip, drip... you hear the sound of flowing water. Combined with the surrounding darkness, you immediately judge this is an underground river.]
[You are not discouraged. Although you haven't reached the surface yet, you have now found the right direction.]
[Now you just need to follow the upstream of the underground river, and you will surely reach the surface.]
'At least there's a way out...'
Takumi breathed a sigh of relief.
Underground, he can't feel the passage of time.
The more he watched, the more he worried about actually going deeper.
Luckily, he found such an underground river.
At least through the river, he could confirm the direction upward.
But he couldn't let his guard down now.
After all, thinking you're moving forward doesn't always mean you are.
Especially when moving with your eyes closed. Even if you think you're going straight, when you look back, you might find you've walked a few inexplicable arcs.
Takumi thought his sense of direction was good.
But he worried about the sense of direction of himself as lightning.
[Another long time passed.]
[Finally, you see light again.]
[And then, you see four very famous statues.]
["This is Konoha!" You immediately recognize your location and understand which world you've traveled to.]
["Tsunade, Yuhi Kurenai, Terumi Mei!" You excitedly think of various blood-pumping bodies, but you soon become dejected.]
[Because you are just a bolt of lightning, unable to have any deep connection with them as humans.]
'This is truly regrettable.'
Takumi shook his head, but his face was full of a teasing smile.
The him in the simulation couldn't do it, but the him in reality could.
Moreover, of these three women, two had already been 'eaten' by him.
Although he hadn't actually encountered the other one yet, he was confident he could win her over too.
[You know you are still very weak now, so you quietly lurk underground and arrive at the place most likely to collect lightning: the training ground.]
[Your decision is undoubtedly very correct. People often come here to practice Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, etc., but Konoha Shinobi who use Lightning Release are too rare.]
[You wait a full two days before encountering a Chunin using Lightning Release, and even he only uses basic Lightning Release.]
[Seeing long-awaited food, you are immediately overcome by hunger. You emerge from the ground, devour the lightning converted from Chakra in the Chunin's hand, and then burrow underground again.]
[The whole process happens in an instant. The Chunin doesn't notice your presence and thinks his Ninjutsu failed.]
[So he obediently forms hand signs and tries the Ninjutsu again, and you, without hesitation, eat this dessert again.]
[You have no stomach to digest; after the lightning is swallowed, with the help of an invisible force, it immediately strengthens your body.]
[However, the increase is limited. You don't notice it and just wait for the lightning feeder on the ground to continue feeding you lightning.]
[But the Chunin thinks he hasn't mastered the basics of the Ninjutsu yet, shakes his head, and leaves the training ground.]
[So you understand, you can't gobble everything up; you need a planned diet, otherwise, the food will slip away.]
'Indeed, failing a Ninjutsu twice in a row would definitely make someone think about the problem.'
Takumi nodded silently. 'The first thing they'd think is that they understand something wrong, then go back to reference the Ninjutsu's practice method to find their mistake.'
'If you encounter someone stubborn, you might be able to eat one or two more times, but the gain wouldn't be worth the loss.'
'It's better to let them succeed once, fail once. That way, they'll think their Ninjutsu isn't skillful enough.'
'Once you give the practitioner this illusion, they'll keep practicing the Ninjutsu until they can use it every time.'