Chapter 2: Discovery

The academy was a curious place, I decided. It had been a long day for my young body, but I had learned loads.

The Academy was a huge building in Konohagakure located directly at the base of the Hokage Mountain. It was where prospective ninja got trained and where genin without a team received their missions since it turned out that the Genin Corps were not only a fandom thing.

It had been founded by the Second Hokage out of military necessity. The Academy was quite large and was comprised of several buildings which were erected over time. There was an unmistakable tree in front of it which had a swing on it, and it was easy to recognize also thanks to the giant sign with the kanji for "fire" (火) on it. Classrooms in the Academy were large with high ceilings, based on a theory that larger classrooms lead to expansive education, expanding even to the blackboard itself. In my head that qualified as 'feng shui bullshit'. In front of the blackboard there was a podium, situated far from the students' desks and put in a position where the teacher could view everyone at once.

It was exactly like in Naruto.

My first self imposed job had been understanding exactly how much this world was similar to the narutoverse. I still had to observe a single difference.

A week after learning how to write my name, I had told the matron that I wished to become a ninja. Her smile had become somewhat fixed, surprising me. Her reaction, which had been a carefully disguised distaste, didn't match my vision of propaganda deeply rooted into the head of everyone.

But since then I had been allowed a single room, and I thought that the size of my riceballs had increased. It was a disgusting thought. Selling the life of the shinobi to the orphans through little privileges. I understood I could even relate with the Kages, but it was disgusting. I forced myself to listen to the stories the caretakers of the orphanage told us children before going to bed and I cursed my previous choice of ignoring them, I would have known where I was sooner. Everyone loved the Yondaime, and the Kyubi was a taboo topic. No references anywhere.

I learned how to write my name a few months before. Since then, I started learning how to read and write, hating the fact that even the numbers had to be written with kanji. Joining the other kids in the informal lessons that taught us how to write and read had been a necessary pain. The genius kid's humor had stuck with me, but the joke was on him since I assumed eatslug as my surname. 食蝓 was a pain to write correctly, but hell, Kanjis remained an idea that summoned deep fascination within me.

I entered my little room briefly looking in the mirror that hanged on the door. I was a boy (thank you god, buddha and Spongebob) with hair of a dirty blond, which tended to form an untameable mop over my head. I had normal eyes, with irises of a grayish-blue. Normal since people that walked around without pupils were real. From what I could divine beyond the pudgy appearance of my six years old face, I would end up having high cheekbones and a square jaw. But it was too soon to tell. I shrugged off the outer layer of my tracksuit before collapsing tiredly over my little bed. I just had dinner and I felt a little dizzy. I was glad that I could simply retire in my room, no longer mandatory 'playtime' with the other orphans. Today we had what could be called an 'open day' during which they showed us the academy. Again, it had been a long day for my little young body.

It was appropriate. Little bed, little window, little desk, little closet. I was just glad that being an aspiring shinobi meant that I was excused from performing the duties of maintenance. So no dishwashing! Which was only another policy to push children into the arms of the military. But that wasn't my problem. From the following day, I would start attending the academy, I was... not excited, but it was something that I needed, simply because living in that world meant belonging to one of two categories of people: predators and prey. Like hell I was going to stay a civilian.

Sitting at the feet of my bed I forced myself to pick up a pencil and smoothed down the stack of paper on my desk.

The paradoxes were mind-blogging, really, they didn't have cars or planes, but the paper was exactly like the one of my first life. I took a breath and started writing down what I knew about chakra and stuff. In English, no need to leave around stuff that could point at me like some super spy. Besides shinobi were prone to become paranoid, suspecting of everyone was something that usually kept you alive.

And there was my brilliant idea: in the same way, I couldn't learn how to write in Japanese on my own, they couldn't decipher whatever I wrote down in English.

Then I remembered about the Yamanaka and their mind-reading Jutsu. I could only hope that thinking in another language could drive them off. My first line of defense should still be 'fly under the radar'.

I read what I had been writing down:

Jutsu(術, Literally meaning: skills/techniques) are the mystical arts a ninja will utilize in battle. To use a technique, the ninja will need to use their chakra. To perform a technique, the ninja will bring out and release the two energies of chakra. By forming hand seals, the ninja can manifest the desired technique. Because of the extensive number of hand seals and different combinations, there are thousands of potential techniques to be discovered.

Ninshū (忍宗 Ninja Creed, Literally meaning: Shinobi Cult) is the religion and the peaceful precursor of modern ninjutsu created by Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, the first one to understand and teach the mystery of chakra. The teachings of ninshū were meant to give people a better understanding of themselves, as well as others, and lead the world into an era of peace. Ninshū would eventually come to be known as ninjutsu, a more weaponized version of the Sage's teachings.

There are three basic types of techniques: ninjutsu, genjutsu and taijutsu. Subcategories existed, including fūinjutsu and senjutsu. There were also kekkei genkai abilities which aren't techniques, but inherited abilities passed down through certain clans.

"Summing it up," I murmured to myself "Chakra is some kind of energy, split in yin and yang. Jutsu is everything shinobi do that uses said energy. Taijutsu is martial arts enhanced by chakra, ninjutsu is spitting fireballs and genjutsu illusions."

I kept reading what I spent hours jotting down, hoping to find a trick to become very strong, very fast.

Most ninjutsu require chakra and hand seals, but this is not always the case since the mere usage of weaponry qualifies as ninjutsu. The huge range of ninjutsu's uses is illustrated by its several sub-classifications: medical ninjutsu, reincarnation ninjutsu, space-time ninjutsu, barrier ninjutsu, sealing jutsu, and cursed seal jutsu.

Most ninjutsu use shape transformation, which deals with controlling the form and movement of the ninjutsu, while nature transformation deals with changing the ninjutsu's physical properties. Ninjutsu that uses nature transformation tends to follow a naming convention of their nature type followed by a more specific name. With practice and experience, certain ninjutsu can become second nature to a ninja, allowing them to perform it at will.

Medical Ninjutsu (医療忍術, Iryō Ninjutsu, Literally meaning: Medical Ninja Techniques) is a branch of ninjutsu associated with healing, as well as the manipulation of their own, or another's body, practiced by shinobi categorized as "medical-nin". The use of medical ninjutsu requires very advanced chakra control, as well as extensive knowledge of such things as herbs, medicines, the human body and even poisons.

The knowledge of medical ninjutsu can be used for a variety of purposes apart from simply healing. It can be used to create poisonous gas, deranging the target's nervous system, or directly attacking a target with chakra scalpels. Tsunade, renowned as the greatest medical-nin in the world, was able to apply the extreme chakra control required for medical ninjutsu to create chakra-enhanced strength.

"What overpowered skills are out there?" I asked myself.

I looked up and down my notes until I found again the Mokuton.

Wood Release (木遁, Mokuton: Wood Style) is a nature transformation-kekkei genkai, a combination of earth and water. It was famously used by Hashirama Senju and is not known to have naturally occurred in anyone else. Because of Wood Release's power and versatility, there have been various efforts to reproduce it after Hashirama's death. Wood Release techniques are commonly affiliated with the Snake hand seal.

At its simplest, Wood Release allows the user to create wood, essentially converting their chakra into a source of life before, at its greatest, becoming mighty trees of various sizes and shapes. The vegetation can sprout from the user's body or grow from the surroundings; Hashirama created a forest that served as a foundation for Konohagakure, contributing to his selection as First Hokage. Wooden constructs can also be created, ranging in complexity from cages to complete houses. It is not necessary that the created wood take any identifiable form, allowing users to focus on its inherent pliability to ensnare targets or its durability for brute force attacks.

Wood Release can produce very detailed, ornate constructs. The Mokuton: Transformation essentially creates a costume around the user, allowing them to convincingly pass as another person. By using senjutsu, Hashirama could create a gigantic, many-armed wooden statue that he fully controlled; its barrage of punches was chiefly responsible for the Valley of the End's formation. Wood Release's most versatile application is the Wood Clone Technique, which makes a fully-functional duplicate of the user that is indistinguishable from the original and is even capable of performing other jutsu. Sturdier than the Kage Bunshin.

The Wood Release was also equally famous for its power to manipulate, suppress, and/or absorb a target's chakra. Hashirama's mastery of this ability earning him recognition as one of the few people able to fully control a tailed beast. This would be done by ensnaring a target with the Wood Release and upon such physical contact would then control the chakra until they were finally too weak to escape.

Only those with Hashirama cells could use it.

The last period gave me pause. That meant something that nobody else ever noticed. It wasn't a Senju bloodline. It was a skill of Hashirama, which had been stolen by Obito, Madara, Danzo and copied through the cloning of Yamato. And white Zetsu. All of those used Hashirama' cells. Given my scientific knowledge, the thought of implanting the cells of another on oneself was mindboggling, and that it could gift a superpower that was simply absurd. So I thought that Hashirama discovered something that he either didn't understand or simply had deemed too dangerous to share. Mokuton was more about manipulating life force than it was about chakra. Probably that was why the tailed beasts were so affected by it. It was worth investigating.

Well, Sharingan and rinnegan are the top two, being a jinchuriki closely follows. I thought, skimming over the notes. Then I thought about the Kages, who stood at the peak of the food chain. Those without bloodlines, that I clearly could not copy, were Tsunade Senju, Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Raikages and the Yondaime Hokage.

Sarutobi used at least four chakra natures, which meant that every nature could be learnt. And that was Hiraishin was the most OP jutsu in the whole series, or close to the top. And there was some kind of fuinjutsu involved. The Rasengan helped, and it was versatile, I was confident that I knew enough about it to reverse engineer it, one day at least.

Tsunade was some kind of juggernaut. Besides her immortality trick, being able to heal your injuries looked like a must.

What did I know about fuinjutsu? It could seal away things. Every kind of thing. Souls and Tailed beasts included.

"Oh, yeah, I had forgotten that souls exist here." I said.

Becoming a sage was something that could likely help, and I knew that Hashirama was one without a Summoning Contract. So summoning animals was not necessary, even if it could grant me access to very nice skillset, after all, Jiraya had learnt the Toad taijutsu.

From what I remembered, to become a sage one needed vast reserves of chakra. So I couldn't bet on it. Also, speaking in general terms, the better chakra control one had, the longer he could last, and that meant more chance of survival.

I took out a blank paper, listing down what I believed I needed to learn. In a spark of twisted humor, I choose a title that made me laugh a little. Seriously, the narutoverse needed a cultural revolution. I missed my first life's music.

Stayin' Alive

Stuff I can start working on

1) chakra control

-Medical Ninjutsu

(along with its lethal applications)

-Tsunade's strength

-Genjutsu ( maybe? )

2)fuinjutsu

(endless applications, one day hiraishin)

3)taijutsu

(top can be reached with sheer hard work)

-Exercise

"Ninshū does sound like some kind of hippy religion," I reasoned "But understanding chakra, nature, and stuff is likely the best long term game I could play."

My objectives were clear, and the possible things I gad to learn to achieve those seemed clear enough. My natural inquisitiveness would probably push me toward ninshū anyway. Sure, I would need to adapt along the way, but it was something that resembled a plan. Now, I knew enough to get started on my chakra control and exercising my body, fuinjutsu... I would figure something out.

I slid down from the edge of the bed and sat cross-legged on the floor. The first thing however, was feeling my chakra. From what I had understood, everyone could become a shinobi, and it made sense, since chakra is basically life force, and everything alive has it. It was interesting considering the influence it had on the evolution of the species different from humans, that I believed ended up to be the Summon Tribes.

I breathed slowly. I knew that chakra was produced at the pit of the stomach, flowed through coils and could be expelled through tenketsu, which were a kind of little holes placed everywhere on the body. They all were kind of symmetrical, all but one over the heart. I hoped the academy explained that. I lit a candle and placed it in front of me.

I started regulating my breath to not disrupt the fire that shone brightly into the otherwise dark room. The night outside of the orphanage was pitch black, dark clouds hiding moon and stars from view. The silence in my room was heavy and thick, from time to time disrupted by a sound coming from downstairs. Along with the vague chill of the room, it made for a slightly uncomfortable environment.

I breathed slowly, erasing the presence of the occasional goosebumps on my skin, the light rustling of his clothes against my chest moving, the almost inaudible breeze outside.

The only sounds that registered on my perception were then only the very rare flicker of the candle and my blood rushing through my body. Soon, even those disappeared.

I had felt cold in the beginning, but slowly, my body stopped worrying about cold and hot, there was only the silence, and the flame sitting atop the candle. I close my eyes, letting the surrounding darkness swallowing me.

Even more slowly, my thoughts about my day faded into the background of my mind, my general worry about my situation no longer existed. Along with those thoughts, time stopped having any significance.

When my entire being was floating in nothing, my senses slowly falling asleep, I turned my attention inwards, looking for something. At first, I couldn't feel it. The simple act of looking for something disrupting my meditative state.

It can't be that hard, Naruto was an idiot and managed it without difficulty.

Quickly as it had appeared, even that thought disappeared into nothingness.

I reached inward, not with my will, mind or intent, since none of the parts that made me existed on their own. I simply was, and with my whole being, I reached until I could feel a warm center of something. A heat that started flowing like warm water through what I supposed were my coils. It didn't hurt, it wasn't searing hot, it was just there. Like finding again a friend I had forgotten about.

I opened my eyes to see the candle that had burned through half of its length: that meant that I had kept meditating for almost an hour. But it didn't matter! I had found my chakra!

I let out a delighted laugh! "I did it!"

I was overjoyed. In that world of death and surprisingly deep characters, I too had superpowers! I lost my focus and the glorious warmth faded from my limbs. But I could still feel it, like an ember at the pitch of my stomach, ready to ignite at my command.

I rose from my seated position and placed the candle on my desk, before blowing on it. The room was completely enveloped in darkness.

My tiredness couldn't be denied, and I climbed into the bed, still smiling at my success. And like that I fell asleep, honestly happy at the prospect of being able, one day, to spit fire.