Glancing at the book in his hands, Shinra knew that it wasn't going to be long before they were removed; after all, the village wouldn't want to spread the good deeds of their missing-nin to the younger generations.
'Foundations of Ninjutsu'
Shinra opened the first page and started reading. Although the book stressed the importance of training the three basic chakra control techniques, there was a section that caught Shinra's attention.
'Oh, these are the twelve basic hand seals—each one named after an animal of the Chinese zodiac. I should start training my hands early. If I have to wait too long to launch a single jutsu, what's stopping my enemy from just attacking me?'
The book was very thorough and even contained information about unique hand seals, such as the Yamanaka Mind Transfer seal, though it was definitely not what Shinra expected out of Orochimaru.
'I guess, due to how the show portrayed him, I hoped the book would have some secret technique that could make me progress faster.'
Shinra closed the book and returned it to its original place before exiting the library and leaving the academy.
"Oh, Shinra! Today was your first day at the academy, right? How was it?" an elderly man asked eagerly.
Looking at the man, Shinra smiled lightly and said, "Good evening, Mr. Akikawa. It was very exciting—Lord Third even came himself to give a speech."
On his way home, he was greeted by many elderly people. These were individuals Shinra had been interacting with for the past year.
'At first, I started interacting with them so it would be harder for me to silently disappear.'
From the moment Shinra met that ANBU in the hospital, he knew that if he were to ever disappear, no one would even notice. Because of that, he made a conscious effort to ensure such an incident was less likely to happen.
Every day after training, he headed to the center of the village to help the elderly and introduce himself. He even managed to mooch off a few meals, which helped him save a bit of money.
Shinra stopped in front of his door. Aside from his bedroom, the fridge, and the toilet, the house was completely empty. While the village had rebuilt the structure, that didn't include any furniture or interior work. With the money he had inherited, he could barely redecorate the place, but he decided against it until he became self-sufficient.
After resting for a while, he started doing push-ups, sit-ups, and squats until he couldn't continue anymore.
He plopped down onto the floor and stared at the ceiling with clear eyes.
'Even though I train my body every day, I almost lost today to that Hyūga girl. While it was mainly because I don't have anyone to spar with, it doesn't change the fact that I need to find a sparring partner.'
…
The next day, Shinra was the last one to arrive. He entered exactly as class began.
He sat in his usual spot—the last bench on the left.
Soon after, Reigen entered the classroom, causing all chatter to die down. After all, he was a very intimidating teacher to most students.
"Today I will be teaching you about chakra and how to refine it."
When Shinra heard this, his full attention locked onto Reigen. He didn't want to miss a single detail.
'Finally. I waited an entire year for this. Let's hope it's as simple as it was in the manga.'
The lecture began with Reigen explaining how chakra is created, along with the concept of chakra reserves, for nearly an hour.
"Each person's chakra is different and gives off a unique signature, which sensor-type ninja can detect. Now that we're done with theory, you may begin."
Shinra closed his eyes and formed a Tiger hand seal. He started sensing both his physical and mental energies within his body.
'Extracting both energies in perfect balance, using raw chakra to bind physical energy in the body and mental energy in the mind. The key to this technique is visualization.'
After a few seconds, he felt it—his first bit of refined chakra. A surge of happiness quickly rose within Shinra; however, it vanished just as fast.
'It dissipated?'
He felt a brief sting of bitterness but quickly recovered, as he already knew how chakra control could be improved.
A few more seconds passed, and more students began wearing happy expressions. Most clan members, notably, already knew about chakra refinement, so they didn't appear as excited as the civilian children.
"Good job. For the rest of this lecture, continue refining your chakra and try to conserve it as long as possible. Remember, maintaining chakra consumes mental energy. If you feel mentally exhausted or dizzy, take a break."
The remainder of the day was spent on history, the Will of Fire, and sacrifices—nothing worth mentioning.
Needless to say, Shinra returned home and immediately began practicing chakra refinement well into the night.
The next afternoon, Shinra woke up feeling mentally drained. "I actually got lost in training and stayed up until sunrise. Worse still, I have a headache."
He got up, had breakfast, dressed himself, and headed out. He made his way to Training Ground Sixty-Seven and began running laps around the field. This time, he attempted to refine chakra while running, which proved extremely difficult due to decreasing physical energy and the lack of focus.
Although he made no major improvements that day, he knew progress would come as long as he continued training. In essence, the grind could not stop.
Seeing that he had spent the entire afternoon running, Shinra noticed he wasn't as tired as before.
"Is this the effect of chakra, or is it just constant training?"
Although he didn't know the answer, he felt it might be time to buy some weights. 'I wonder how much the weights Rock Lee wore would be worth. Well, there's only one way to find out.'
With his mind made up, he headed to a tool shop and asked about training weights. Needless to say, he almost fainted on the spot.
'Twenty thousand! Why the hell is it so expensive? I receive around a thousand ryō a month for basic expenses. To buy this, I'd need more than a year and a half without spending a single ryō.'
He could afford it using his inheritance, but that would mean living frugally for the next few months.
After thinking it over, Shinra made up his mind. 'Forget it. Money exists to be spent, right? This is an investment… yeah, an investment.'
"Hey there, uncle. I'd like to buy these weights." Shinra pointed toward the pair resting behind the counter.
The shop owner glanced down at him, then at the weights, his brows lifting slightly. "Those? You sure, kid? They're not normal weights."
That caught Shinra's attention. He waited silently.
The man reached under the counter and pulled one out, turning it so the faint sealing script etched along the inner rim was visible. "They're seal-based. You feed chakra into them, and they adjust accordingly. The more chakra you send, the heavier they get. They have a base weight of ten kilograms."
Shinra leaned closer.
"There's a cap," the shop owner continued casually. "Fifty kilograms. Any more than that, and the seal won't respond. Safety measure."
'Seals… of course.' Shinra absorbed the information quickly. 'So the weight isn't fixed. It scales with control, not strength.'
"That's why they're expensive," the man added. "They're meant for shinobi who know what they're doing. Most genin don't bother—it's too much effort."
Shinra nodded, already understanding the implication. These weights would help with both physical training and chakra control; sloppy control wouldn't work with them. Exactly what he needed.
He stepped out of the shop with a small weighted box in his hands.
Surprisingly, he felt happier than before. 'I actually thought this was the price of normal weights. I'll stick to the base weight until my body adapts.'
"…third one this month," someone murmured.
Shinra slowed his steps.
"—not from a clan," another voice replied. "That's why it didn't make the board."
He passed two women standing near a vegetable stall, their voices low.
"What are the police force doing? Isn't it their duty to protect us?"
"Hmph. I wouldn't be surprised if those stuck-up guys were behind it."
The conversation died the moment a pair of Uchiha passed by.
Surprisingly, they didn't react angrily. One looked downcast and pulled his younger brother closer, while the other wore a small frown.
Shinra turned into a narrower street, the village noise fading behind him. 'So it's still happening,' he thought.
By the time he reached his house, the sun was already sinking low. He slid the door shut behind him and gently set the weights down.
'If I want to survive in this world comfortably, then at the very least I need strength on the level of an S-rank ninja—even if that goal still feels far away.'
——
A/N: Thanks for reading the chapter constructive criticism is welcomed.