📖 Chapter 8 – The Weight of Talent
The midday sun beat down on the training field closest to Konoha's commercial district. Rei, dressed in a short gray tunic and light sandals, sweated silently as he stood facing a slightly older boy with black hair and a defiant attitude. The light breeze did nothing to ease the tension in the air.
"Come on, if you're as weird as they say, prove it," the other boy growled, circling Rei with aggressive steps.
Shuri watched from a distance, arms crossed. She didn't usually interfere in children's games, but something in the atmosphere kept her on alert.
Rei said nothing. He felt a buzzing in his chest, as if something inside him was trying to break free. It was his chakra—and it was denser than the books described.
The other boy lunged with a low kick. Rei dodged it easily—too easily. Instinct more than technique. He answered with an awkward slap, but one charged with chakra, sending the boy stumbling back as if struck by an invisible force.
The other children—who had been watching curiously—began to murmur."Did you see that? How did he do it?""He didn't use any seals! It was just a slap!"
The boy got up with blood on his mouth and fury in his eyes."Cheater! What kind of monster are you?"
Rei froze. The word monster cut deeper than he expected. They were looking at him with fear—not admiration, not respect. Fear.
He tried to explain, but his throat closed up. The chakra inside him swirled out of control, fed by shame, frustration, and fear. His legs felt weak—not from the blow, but from doubt. Was he destined to be that? A monster?
Shuri appeared in a flash, just as the boy charged again with fists raised. She stopped him with one hand—firm, but without violence.
"That's enough," she said sharply, without raising her voice. "Don't attack someone for being different."
The children dispersed—some with their heads down, others casting twisted glances. Rei stayed on the ground, not from physical pain, but from the invisible weight of a new emotion: alienation.
Shuri knelt beside him, gently touching his shoulder."Are you alright?""No… I didn't do it on purpose," he whispered. "I was just defending myself.""And that was enough for them to fear you. That doesn't speak badly of you, Rei—it speaks of what they don't understand yet."
He looked at her, eyes trembling with contained emotion."And what if they never understand?"
Shuri didn't answer immediately. She looked at the sky. Then she spoke."Then you'll have to decide whether you live for them to understand you… or for you to understand yourself."
That night, Rei locked himself in his room without eating. He sat before the scroll he had started days ago—the one where he drew symbols he didn't fully understand. His chakra still vibrated, more intensely than ever.
He took the brush, closed his eyes, and let his hand move on its own. When he opened them, the paper showed a double spiral surrounded by impossible runes. Part of him recognized the symbol. Another part… feared it.
He remembered his mother's words: "There are secrets the world isn't ready to understand. Sometimes, neither will you."
That night, Rei dreamed. In his inner world, one of the far-off doors trembled faintly—As if it had felt him.