"Is the energy system in this world different from Appetite Energy?" Slime asked, a little interested.
Setsuna began to explain: "The energy system in this world is called Chakra. It's created by mixing Physical Energy and Spiritual Energy at a one-to-one ratio..."
"Wait a minute," Slime interrupted. "If that's the case, how can I refine Chakra when I don't even have a physical body?"
"That's a fair point," Setsuna mused. "In this world, there are creatures called Tailed Beasts. They can still refine Chakra even after losing their physical forms. While that might be because they are essentially aggregated masses of Chakra themselves, they certainly undergo the process of refining it."
He couldn't vouch for all Tailed Beasts, but the Nine-Tails (Kurama) definitely could. In the future, during the fight between Naruto and Sasuke, Kurama helped Naruto refine Chakra.
After a moment's thought, Setsuna proposed, "Here's what we'll do: Tomorrow, I'm inviting some friends over for a feast. One of them has a Tailed Beast named Kurama sealed inside her. You can observe it then and see if you can figure out how it refines Chakra."
Setsuna then added, "You can observe the Sealing Chamber inside the person without affecting them, right?"
Slime was clearly annoyed at the question, immediately shouting, "Who do you think I am? I am the Cosmic Emperor! How could such a small thing be difficult for me?"
"That's good," Setsuna nodded.
Slime belatedly asked, "But why do you want me to learn Chakra? That power you have called Ki seems to have far greater potential than Chakra, doesn't it?"
Setsuna sighed, "That brings us to the Genjutsu (Illusionary Techniques) of this world. Basic Genjutsu can be broken by disrupting your Chakra flow, but if it's a Genjutsu cast using a Dōjutsu (Eye Technique), it requires someone else to disrupt the Chakra flow inside your body for you."
"I see, but that's entirely because your soul is too weak," Slime judged. "If your soul were strong enough, no kind of Genjutsu could control you."
"You're not wrong," Setsuna agreed, but practicing Ki doesn't boost the soul much. Even the Demon Realm King Dabura, who was strong enough to rival a Super Saiyan 2, still had his mind controlled by magic.
While Dabura's inner evil certainly played a role, if the spiritual gap wasn't massive, the mighty Demon Realm King wouldn't have been controlled by a mere sorcerer.
Of course, one could cultivate the heart while practicing Ki, but it wasn't a specialized method. He would just have to see if there were any universes specializing in soul cultivation later on.
The next day, Setsuna invited everyone over for dinner.
Besides his own squad, Setsuna also invited Minato's squad and the squad led by Asuma and Kurenai.
The main body of Setsuna's house wasn't big, but the backyard was quite spacious.
After all, his place was on the edge of Konoha, which was relatively sparsely populated.
The main house cost money to build, so it was small, but the attached courtyard was free reign. Just throw up a fence, and everything enclosed was his property.
The group followed Setsuna to the backyard, feeling a bit confused. The setting was nice, but aside from the tables and chairs, they couldn't see any of the utensils or dishes needed for a banquet.
Minato didn't ask, just smiled warmly, "Why don't we all pitch in to help?"
As everyone was about to get to work, Setsuna quickly soothed them, "Hold on, everyone. Just wait a moment. I'll bring out the prepared food soon."
Setsuna went back inside the house, and the others looked around the surroundings idly.
Suddenly, an extremely rich aroma drifted out from the house.
Obito closed his eyes, his mouth watering profusely. "What is that smell? It's incredible!"
Asuma was stunned. "This aroma is countless times better than the feast our family chef makes!"
Everyone present kept looking toward the source of the scent, their appetites completely captivated.
Fortunately, Setsuna soon emerged carrying a tray piled high with hamburgers. He placed them on the dining table and smiled, "Please start eating. I'll go get the rest of the dishes."
Kushina exclaimed, "There's more gourmet food?"
"Of course," Setsuna replied, subsequently bringing out the Curry dish, the Shining Rice Bowl, and various other dishes made from the Four Beasts' meat by high-level chefs.
Thanks to the complete isolation of Titan's internal space, not even the smallest bacteria could get in, so there was no worry about the food spoiling.
While reheating them slightly affected the texture, for people who had never tasted such gourmet food before, this minor flaw was completely negligible.
Seeing that everyone insisted on waiting until he sat down to start, Setsuna had no choice but to lead by example. He sat down, picked up a serving of the Shining Rice Bowl, and said, "Alright, everyone, start eating."
Obito cheered, eagerly grabbed the hamburger closest to him, and instantly burst into tears, wildly shouting, "This is the taste of happiness!"
Is he being a bit dramatic? those who hadn't started yet wondered. But the moment they took a bite of the food, they instantly felt that Obito might have actually been holding back. This kind of indescribable deliciousness could truly only be expressed through exaggerated body language.
As Setsuna ate his Shining Rice Bowl, he asked in his consciousness space, "How is it? Can you sense the Nine-Tails?"
"Don't worry, I can already see that little fox you were talking about. Huh..."
"Hmm? What is it?"
Slime replied, "It looks like the seal you mentioned is about to be broken through by that little fox."
"Oh? Trying to break out?" Setsuna asked. "Can you teach it a lesson?"
"No problem. Normally, I can't leave the Gourmet Cells for too long, but since you fed this woman gourmet food, I can absorb some Appetite Energy from inside her body." Slime gave a sinister chuckle.
Inside Kushina's sealing chamber, a giant orange fox was boredly counting its tails, muttering to itself, "Hmph. That Kushina has been sloppy lately. She actually dared to come near the edge of the Konoha Barrier. If she goes any deeper, I can try to completely rip the seal apart. But I can't rush it right now. I can't let Kushina notice."
Just then, a plump, gelatinous black creature appeared in front of the prison gate.
Kurama naturally noticed the strange creature. "What is that thing?"
"My name is Leader Slime, and I'm here to research you," Leader Slime said with perfect honesty.
"Research me?" Kurama couldn't help but start to snarl. The word felt offensive, bringing back some unpleasant memories.
"You're asking to die!" Kurama lunged a forepaw through the bars of the cage and grabbed hold of Slime.
But the next moment, Kurama was horrified to find his forepaw was gone. The black monster was smacking its mouth, looking at Kurama with a chilling glint in its eye: "A top-tier ingredient! Too bad there isn't a top-tier chef to prepare it."