According to scientific records, the average adult male on Earth has about 36 trillion cells in his body, while the average adult female has around 28 trillion.
That was only a fraction of the number of cells in a human body in the Naruto world.
Earth humans had a full three-quarters fewer cells than they did.
And what did that mean?
It meant that for people from Earth, extracting chakra was practically impossible.
Because the cells in an Earth human body simply couldn't withstand that kind of strain.
After learning this, Tsunade bluntly told Rowan that if he tried to squeeze energy out of his cells to extract chakra, there would only be one result:
mass cell death, which would in turn damage his health.
The more he extracted, the faster he would die.
And because he had so few cells to begin with, Rowan would never, even at the moment of death, have as much chakra as an ordinary genin.
There were only two ways to change that.
The first was to eat a chakra fruit.
A chakra fruit contained enormous energy. Once consumed, it could transform Rowan's body and grant him immense power.
But there was one uncertain factor.
The chakra fruit's power was simply too overwhelming, while Rowan's body was far too fragile.
So after eating one, would he ascend to the heavens in a single leap—or just explode on the spot? Even Tsunade didn't know.
The second method was to inject Hashirama Senju's cells and alter his body that way.
After hearing Tsunade's explanation back then, Rowan's face had only one expression:
Do you hear the nonsense coming out of your own mouth?
The chakra fruit had only ever been briefly mentioned in the story. It had never actually appeared. Where the hell was he supposed to find one?
And as for injecting Hashirama's cells… was she afraid he wouldn't die fast enough?
So from that moment on, Rowan completely gave up on the idea of learning ninjutsu or refining chakra.
If he couldn't learn chakra or ninjutsu, then what attraction did the Naruto world still hold for him?
None.
Not even a little.
Well… no, that wasn't entirely true. There was still one thing.
Ichiraku Ramen.
That was also why Tsunade had brought Shizune and Rowan back to Konoha.
Back when she finished reading the Naruto manga, Tsunade had indeed been persuaded by Rowan and agreed to travel with him to other worlds, looking for a way to save the ninja world and oppose the Ōtsutsuki clan.
But she had never had any intention of returning to Konoha. She had been away for so many years that she genuinely had no desire to come back.
Unfortunately, Rowan was very interested in Ichiraku Ramen.
Even though his inability to learn ninjutsu had greatly reduced his interest in the Naruto world, Ichiraku Ramen had been hyped to absurd heights by countless transmigrators.
Since he had finally made it here, how could he not try it?
And so, in the end, Tsunade brought him and Shizune back to Konoha, and Rowan finally got to eat the Ichiraku Ramen he had been dreaming about.
How should he put it?
It was good. Definitely good.
But it wasn't so amazing that it left him utterly blown away.
If you asked Rowan to eat it every day, he wouldn't want to.
But if he went to have a bowl every now and then, he definitely wouldn't say no.
That was about how good it was.
After trying Ichiraku Ramen, Rowan was completely disillusioned with this world. If he could leave right now and head for a new world, he wouldn't hesitate for a second.
Unfortunately, his cheat ability just wasn't pulling its weight.
Even though Rowan already had the feeling that he'd soon be able to activate it and connect to a new world, he had no idea how soon "soon" actually was.
It was like a progress bar stuck at ninety-nine percent, tormenting him to death.
Seeing the helpless look on Rowan's face, Tsunade sighed.
Forget it. A few more days wouldn't make much difference anyway.
"Let's clean the house first."
She formed another Shadow Clone and had it start working.
"Ugh, we're both Tsunade, so why do you get to sit there while I have to work?"
Her clone grumbled the whole time, but still obediently got started cleaning.
Watching the busy Shadow Clone, a trace of envy flashed through Rowan's eyes.
To be honest, although he didn't really care that much about being unable to learn chakra and ninjutsu, there was still a tiny bit of regret.
He didn't have much interest in those advanced techniques.
The Rasengan, Dragon Flame Release Song Technique, Monster Strength, the Flying Thunder God Technique—if he couldn't learn them, then so be it.
But the Shadow Clone Technique really was absurdly practical.
Once he started exploring other worlds in the future, it would be incredibly useful.
Rowan really did want to learn it.
"So there's really no way for me to cultivate chakra? Or learn ninjutsu?"
After thinking it over, Rowan decided to ask one more time. Maybe he'd get an unexpected answer.
Seeing the hopeful look on his face, Tsunade pondered for a moment before saying, "It's not completely impossible."
Rowan immediately sat up straight. He hadn't expected there really to be an unexpected answer.
Tsunade said, "During this time, I've read quite a bit of medical information from your world, especially material on cloning. I've come to understand cloning a lot better."
"If Orochimaru and I joined forces right now, we might be able to use my grandfather's cells to clone a body, then place your soul into that cloned body."
"At that point, not only would you be able to cultivate chakra, you'd also be able to learn ninjutsu. You might even gain the Wood Release power my grandfather used to pacify the age of chaos."
"So? Want to think about it?"
Faced with that kind of temptation, Rowan shook his head without the slightest hesitation.
Original parts were better. He had no intention of swapping bodies.
What if he lost his ability to connect to other worlds in the process?
Rowan had no interest in making that kind of losing trade.
"I'll pass. I have no intention of becoming your grandpa."
"Get lost."
Tsunade shot him an annoyed glare.
She had kindly offered him an idea, and this bastard actually dared to take advantage of her with a joke like that.
If she didn't still need his help, she absolutely would have punched him with one of her monster-strength blows.
Did he really think taking advantage of her was free?
Even so, she still had no intention of letting him off that easily. She raised her hand and flicked a finger at him.
A crisp smack rang out. Her fingertip snapped through the air with a dull pop.
Rowan instantly felt as though his skull had been struck by some invisible force. With a thump, he fell flat onto his back on the tatami.
"That's an air bullet I came up with by adapting Finger Pistol from the Six Powers in One Piece using my super strength. So? Pretty nice, right? Just enough force to leave you dazed without scrambling your brain."
Tsunade looked at Rowan with a grin, teasing him.
Then, in the very next second, Rowan suddenly burst into laughter.
He laughed so hard it looked like he was about to join the ranks of the legendary Uchiha maniacs with their unhinged laughter.
Tsunade stared at him in complete confusion, then frowned.
What the hell?
Had she accidentally overdone it just now and hit him hard enough to knock him stupid?