Chapter 2: Becoming Ninjas Together
This wasn't easy. Feeling the wisp of chakra he had finally refined after hundreds of failures, Yamamoto Ryusei nearly wept with joy.
'Still, what can I even do with this little bit of chakra?'
Ryusei contemplated the tiny amount of energy. 'I have no ninjutsu or genjutsu scrolls, so I can't practice those. I don't have enough chakra for tree climbing or water walking either. Right now, the only thing I can do is use it to nourish my body. Through training, my cells can absorb the chakra, becoming tougher and more vibrant. Only by cultivating my body can I refine more chakra, and more chakra can in turn nourish my body better. Hmm... perfect! But I can't just nourish it. Chakra is formed from a one-to-one fusion of spiritual and physical energy. Using chakra to nourish the body is essentially using spiritual energy to supplement physical energy. Doing it too many times will place a huge burden on the mind. When my spirit feels fatigued, I have to stop refining chakra.'
Yamamoto Ryusei slowly circulated the refined chakra to nourish his body. It was absorbed in just a few minutes. He then refined another batch and repeated the process. After several cycles, he began to feel a bit dizzy.
'My body is still too young. It'll be better when I'm older.'
Ryusei tidied up his room and then ran to the forest on the edge of the village to begin his physical training: kicking tree stumps, running with weights, and practicing a rough version of Bajiquan.
"Ryusei-kun, you're out early again today," a small, brown-haired boy said, running over with his hands clasped behind his back in a ninja-like posture.
Yamamoto Ryusei looked with surprise at the boy, who was a head shorter than him. "Yamashita So, you don't have to help your mom with work today?"
"Today, my parents went to sell cloth, so they don't need me. Ryusei-kun, you can just call me So-chan, no need to be so formal," Yamashita So said with a displeased look.
Yamamoto Ryusei looked at him, the corner of his eye twitching.
Damn it, I can't bring myself to say it. "So-chan" means "little So" in Japanese, but it has a completely different meaning when you bring it into Chinese. He had no idea what So's father was thinking when he named him. Did he just blurt out how he was feeling at that moment?
Ryusei smoothly changed the subject. "You're still calling me Ryusei-kun. Didn't I tell you just 'Ryusei' is fine?"
"How could I do that?" Yamashita So retorted excitedly. "You're the lifesaver who pulled me out of that abyss and rescued me!"
Ryusei looked at him, speechless.
The so-called "life-saving" event was just him helping So out when he was being bullied by a few brats. But So was a bit of a chuunibyou and had immediately started calling Yamamoto Ryusei his "big brother."
Feeling a bit weary, Ryusei said, "You're exaggerating. What abyss? Wasn't it just a fight over who got to be the groom while playing house? You make it sound like you were being bullied constantly."
"That's right. Fighting over a role in a game of house, how childish." A six-year-old loli with blonde pigtails, wearing a blue dress and carrying a basket, walked over slowly, her eyes filled with undisguised contempt for Yamashita So.
So's face flushed red as he yelled, "You ugly hag, you have no right to talk! If you weren't the only girl around, who would let you be the bride?"
The blonde loli turned her head away haughtily. "Me? Ugly? If I were ugly, would you all fight over me?"
Yamashita So looked Komiya Yuki up and down, from head to toe. "You think you're pretty? Are you as pretty as the curvy older sisters next to my house with their big chests and long legs? Every time we play, Tani and the others always get to be the dad. Why do I always have to be the son? And for you? You're really full of yourself."
Yamashita So's family ran a cloth shop. To get better business, they had opened it right next to the red-light district. Because of this, So's aesthetic sense leaned more towards mature women rather than a loli like Komiya Yuki, who was used to being the center of attention.
Komiya Yuki's face turned red with anger. She dropped her basket, kicked out, and roared, "Yamashita So, how dare you compare me to those women! Prepare to die!"
Watching the chaotic scene unfold, Yamamoto Ryusei couldn't help but recall that day. The first time Ryusei met So was in an open area in the village. Three brats were beating up So, who was lying on the ground. Komiya Yuki was desperately trying to stop them to no avail; she was just a little girl, what could she do against several boys her age?
Having been influenced by the ideals of the "Red Empire" in his past life, Ryusei couldn't stand by. He ran over to stop them. The brats, banking on their numbers, tried to beat up Ryusei as well. But they were no match for him. After each took a few punches, they ran away crying. From then on, Yamashita So recognized Yamamoto Ryusei as his big brother, and Komiya Yuki, finding the other boys too rough, started hanging around Ryusei instead.
"Ah! It hurts! Let go, let go!" Snapping back to the present, Ryusei saw that Komiya Yuki was twisting Yamashita So's arm, asking, "Do you yield?"
So gritted his teeth through the pain. "I don't! So what? You're ugly and I'm not allowed to say it?"
Seeing Yuki's face darken, Ryusei stepped in. "Alright, that's enough playing around. We should go get something to eat."
Komiya Yuki let go of So. "I'll let you off this time. If you call me ugly again, see if I don't beat you to death. Ryusei-nii, what are we eating today?"
"We'll eat whatever we catch," Ryusei said as he walked towards the forest.
Ryusei had set a few traps at the edge of the forest, which often caught small animals like rabbits, weasels, and pheasants. The haul wasn't large, but it was a good way to supplement their meals.
He checked the traps and found they were all empty. "The traps didn't catch anything today. Looks like we're eating fish."
Arriving at the river, the three of them split up to check the fishing cages they had placed earlier. Ryusei pulled up his cage; inside were a few fish, along with several crabs and shrimp.
"Ryusei-nii, look! So many fish!" Komiya Yuki carried her basket over and showed it to Ryusei. Besides a few eels, her basket was filled with over twenty fish.
Ryusei looked at her basket and said, "Let's make stir-fried eel today."
"Ryusei-kun, look! My basket is full of crabs!" Yamashita So shouted, holding up his cage as he ran towards them, completely oblivious to the crab inside that was about to clamp down on his finger.
"Ahhh! Pain, pain, pain, pain!" So immediately threw the cage down, but the crab was too stubborn. It held on tight, even as its own claw was about to break off.
Ryusei looked at the teary-faced So, grabbed his hand, and crushed the crab's pincer with a single squeeze.
So stopped crying instantly. He rubbed his slightly swollen finger and looked at Ryusei with shining eyes. "Ryusei-kun, you're so strong! You can crush such a big pincer."
Ryusei picked up So's crab cage and said, "I tell you to train every day, but you never listen. Now you're suffering the consequences. Yuki, take the eels and some fish out of your cage. Let's go clean them by the river."
"Okay, Ryusei-nii!" Komiya Yuki reached directly into the cage and grabbed four or five fish and all the eels. Despite being a girl, she was a total tomboy and wasn't afraid of catching fish in the water or climbing trees to catch birds.
Ryusei looked at So, who still had tear stains on his face. "You go set up the pot and start a fire. Yuki and I will wash these, and we'll put the other cages back in the river. We can get them on our way back."
The three of them went about their tasks. Soon, Ryusei and Yuki returned with the cleaned river catch. Ryusei quickly made stir-fried eel slices and boiled the fish directly in water, placing a steamer on top with the tied-up crabs inside.
Before long, the food was ready. The three took out their clean bowls, filled them with fish soup, and ate the crabs. It was a comfortable life.
Komiya Yuki held her small bowl, looked at the snow-white fish soup inside, and took a gentle sip. Her eyes lit up as she looked at Ryusei. "Ryusei-nii, your cooking is delicious! Can you teach me?"
"Yeah, Ryusei-kun! Your food is so good, you'd make a fortune if you opened a restaurant!" Yamashita So said excitedly, his bowl filled with crab pincers, as if trying to exact revenge for the pain he had just endured.
Komiya Yuki shot So a sideways glance. "Why would Ryusei-nii open a restaurant? He's going to be a ninja."
After spending so many days together, So and Yuki knew that Ryusei's ambition was to become a ninja. To get on Teuchi's good side in the future, Ryusei had considered opening a restaurant, but he'd probably be long dead before Teuchi even appeared.
Yamashita So tossed two crab pincers into his mouth and mumbled, "A ninja, huh? I want to be one too, but I don't even know where to go to become one."
Yamamoto Ryusei looked at So and Yuki. "That's right. Right now, being a ninja is family-based. There's no way for outsiders to become one. But once the village stabilizes, they should open a Ninja Academy to teach ninjutsu. If you two want to be ninjas, you should start training your bodies with me now. Build a good foundation first."
So's face lit up with excitement. He forgot about the crab pincers and jumped to his feet. "That's great! I can become a ninja too!"
Komiya Yuki wasn't as excited. "Really? Did you hear this from someone in the Senju clan, Ryusei-nii?"
"Not exactly. It's just that right now, ninjas are all tied to their clans, so they can't truly integrate into the village. To promote integration and prevent any single clan from becoming too powerful, they will have to establish a Ninja Academy. And also..." Ryusei's expression turned serious as he looked at them. "They'll need cannon fodder to be consumed on the battlefield. Rather than sending the children of the clans to their deaths, it's better to train commoners to die. So, Yuki, you two need to think carefully. If you become ninjas, it's fine if there's no war. But the moment a war breaks out, we'll be the first to die."
Komiya Yuki and Yamashita So fell silent. After a moment, Yuki looked up and asked, "Ryusei-nii, why do you want to be a ninja?"
Ryusei looked up at the sky. "I don't want to be casually crushed to death when ninjas fight. I want to control my own destiny."
A smile spread across Komiya Yuki's face. "Then I want to be a ninja too. What about you, So?"
So jumped up, raising his fist high. "Of course I'm going to be a ninja too! Even if I die, I'll die on the path of a ninja!"
Yamamoto Ryusei extended his hand towards his two companions. "Then it's a promise. We'll become ninjas together."
"Alright!" Yamashita So and Komiya Yuki placed their hands on top of Ryusei's, sealing their promise.