Nerfed but still op

-The next day-

There are times when you wake up and enjoy the simple things in life, the melodies of the birds and the wind, the sight of normalcy you see when you look outside your window or even the sight of clouds regardless of the weather can calm you. But even though that's all true

There is nothing more annoying than feeling that despicable ray of light hitting your face and forcibly trying to wake you and that's exactly what's happening to me for the last forsaken hour.

No matter how many times I try to sleep again and the realm of Morpheus seems to have abandoned me, grumpily making few threats and just not in a good mood, I push the blanket off me and sit up in the bed to try and keep myself aware before I need to walk downstairs

And it is as I rub my eyes and yawning I remember the memories of what I was doing till I fell asleep and it helped me knock off my sleepiness without any problems whatsoever

' Alright now let's see '

Closing my eyes I try to do the same thing I had been doing in the training, I try to focus on it with the same intensity as last night yet nothing occurs, no instinctual radar, nothing.

' All right what the hell is going on? '

So I do what I should have done in the beginning and quickly open my status where to my shock aside from my stamina nothing has changed

•

Name: Shikamaru Nara

Title: Nara heir

Age: 4 year

Stats:

Strength: E

Speed: E+

Dexterity: E+

Intelligence: D+

Stamina: D-

Wisdom: D

Luck: D+

Chakra: Locked

Haki: Locked

Skills:

Strategic Level 2

Sleeping Level 3

Language Level 4

Calligraphy Level 3

Hiding Level 2

Running Level 2

Killing intent (resistance) Level 9

Dungeon admittance Level Max

Techniques: none

•

' Why the hell is my haki still Locked, I mean if it was still locked then why can I go through the same motions without any difficulty? '

And since I'm learning observation haki at least that has to show up otherwise what's the use of a technique guru

Is it some kind of 'I teach you to fish and not give the fish' or something like that, is my notion of learning and recreating most of my favorite techniques a pipe dream?

To say my mood remained morose throughout the day would be sorta true

However I did pull myself together after sitting down again to read through the shinobi codes book I saw in the house library

' Though I do wonder if anyone's moronic enough to still use this code, still it beats learning nothing '

And while I was disappointed in my failure to use observation haki, on further thought I was weirdly kind of relieved by my failure

Maybe it was because I remember how even the prodigies and those with plot armor had to train haki for years to master it to an intermediate level and that progress was considered fast by the rest of the public

' With that type of realisation comes the fact that essentially I was just coasting by compared to them and a minor reason was that as usual I was on my Spotify extension and it's kind of hard to remain downtrodden when you're listening to songs on shuffle '

The fact that even though I had only slept for two hours I still felt fine was also another point in that favor.

' Guess that's another one to inspect '

But I believe that my failure in this was only because of my absurdity of thinking the fact I was like a gamer when I was not even close

' Seriously I'm like the cheap supermarket version of a system user, still that's better than nothing in my opinion '

The rest of the day passed just like that I kept reading books and eating

' I do wonder if the training is just memory that comes back with me - like the shadow clones, though if improvements in the physique also come back, even the lowest amount of muscle definition would be super useful '

And it really would be, while the lobby could prepare me for the techniques in all the ways mentally, I also would have to catch up physically as well.

'Still, the lobby ensures that I would be at the lowest be an average user of every technique and skill I pursue if I do not count my physique into the question '

And that night after the nightly ritual of hide and train I once again lay in bed and set the time limit but this time I decided to do something different

•

Training mode:-awakening chakra

Time limit:-6 hours

•

I immediately begin the training and once again I stand in the white lobby of endless possibilities

' If I could change the training and time limit as I'm doing the training I would have said it was an upgraded version of the room of requirements '

Still, it was different as instead of someone I could identify, the figure was just a human-like character and I mean a character as in a video game, not the anime

Once I hijack him I feel the energy that seems to be running all over my body, it's kind of pulsing too

' This feels nice '

The next day I woke up like usual, grumbling and surprisingly different

' I guess after feeling chakra traveling through my meridians all through the six hours I went through would make its absence feel weird '

And it was weird, I mean we all remember how in all the stories of being reborn in Naruto the mc identifies and awakens chakra easily

I realize that as a person who didn't have chakra before we will know its difference, but as far as the body is concerned it was born with chakra so I didn't think trying to awaken it without any security was that smart

And I'm okay with that decision as I sit in the same position I was in the training lobby and as soon as I try to make my chakra do the motions it makes me feel quite peaceful actually

At first, it behaved as if a dam had just broken it just flowed through a quarter of my meridians before I had any input in its rate of speed and I didn't know if there would be any repercussions if the meridians weren't opened all at once so I urged it once again to complete the cycle and that's how my morning hour went listening to music as I cycle the chakra in my nodes and meridians

Of course, I had to stop it eventually because I didn't want to let my parents come and see me like this, god knows what they would do if they saw me playing with energy like this without supervision

While at the dinner table, I had wondered why my father was looking at me quite intently while I was eating, but like all good things it came to an end when my father questioned me out of the blue, at least in my opinion

" Shikamaru, how did you unlock your chakra? "

Well that's rude and damn, I forgot about the fact that his experience would sniff it out

And I was not the only one caught off guard

Of course, this is just me judging from how my mother seems to have stopped her humming and is just staring blankly while holding the plate she was cleaning

' Welp, if It's happening regardless of my wishes let's try to make it in my favor'

" I wanted to and so I did "

" That's quite short for such an experience isn't it Shikaku " Mom seemed quite incensed at my flippant reply but I tried to remain cool and just continued eating after seeing I wouldn't tell further Dad started speaking

" That was quite a risky thing you did son, awakening your chakra on your own regardless of your talent is dangerous as if not properly done, the damages can be both seen and unseen, so eat faster I believe you're getting an early check-up "

It's kind of intimidating since he keeps looking in my eyes seriously but it's still a drag that I now have to see a damn medic

" You heard your father Shikamaru, now hurry up and we'll certainly be having words about it later " Yep, Mom is pissed and quite possibly will ground me regardless of the results

That's why now I'm sitting in the house of a Nara medic named Shikki while having him slowly push the chakra into me to check whether my chakra is circulating correctly or if my meridian is damaged or not.

He was as far as looks go a typical Nara as far as we have seen in the show, though curiously he was not that surprised when father asked to see if my chakra had awakened properly, I believe that I'm probably close to the age at which clan children's chakra are awakened

" There is no problem with his chakra pathways Shikaku-sama, the procedure was done correctly as usual "

' Procedure, what procedure? '

" My son had no patience for the procedure it seems Shikki "

And just like with mom he stops and just stares at me for a while before asking father to clarify what that meant and then it's just one more check-up to be ' let's just make sure right ? '

' Yeah, right.'

After seeing no problem, again he just tries to give me a preview of what I'm going to hear from my mom

But sadly I just tune him but I still hear a few words like ' danger ' and ' injuries ' often during his triad and when asked why I did what I did I repeat the same answer I gave to Dad and this is just a thought judging by his ' this one is gonna be hassle expression ' face this statement of mine could have the potential to be catchphrase when caught doing dumb things

Anyway both of us thanked him and left for home again and if there is anything more to help me remember that this is a world and not manga it's these houses not shown, people unseen on the screen because they were not important but here they greet me and father with respect, where I can see and hear children much younger and older than me, where I can now put names to previously unknown faces I realize that I can't just look out for myself

These people ' my people ' regardless of how sheeple they can be, remain mine to protect, as I call myself Nara, as I use their gifts it is more than necessary to do my part as well and mostly because I've still got the consciousness of a person from 2022 who knows the value of being a cog in a machine and I refuse to be a cheapskate or freeloader.

And just cause I would protect them doesn't mean I won't do what I want, I still want to do what I like after all and before I lose myself further I'm startled as Dad questions me seriously

" Shikamaru why did you awaken your chakra early? Why do you want to train so early? "

Well that's something I guess he won't understand after all being a shinobi is all he's known, this worlds as far as he's concerned for all his intelligence and wisdom is the only world possible

' But that's not true isn't it, there are always strong people in all eras vying for peace but their strength itself is a beacon the others unite against, peace at the end of the day in a martial world is just a postponement of war '

" I don't want to be known as a killer "

Dad looks startled at that but I cut him off as I continue my words and pray to god that he understands the meaning of the words coming out of my mouth

" I won't back out of duty, I can't and won't do that. But the war doesn't seem to care for age or skill father, they say in the stories how our Hokages were the pillar who ensured our home wasn't seen as weak, our hokage is old father, they're seeing us as weak, can you guarantee me that there is not even one major and minor village waiting for a piece of weakness on our part to tear us apart, can you? "

At his silence, I continue my words

" My generation will be the ones tested, after all if there is to be a hokage selected again it cannot be one of your generations, not because you're weak but because you're not strong enough to make them weak, the generation below you and us, we'll be the targets, we're the future after all!

At the end of the day I need to be strong father, I need to be strong enough that I can afford to be lazy, strong enough that I can afford to be kind without any repercussions "

" I don't mind being known as powerful, I don't mind being called a lazy goof, because I prefer that I'm called a spineless bastard because I didn't kill to be powerful rather than commit massacres and be called a psycho "

" I don't want to rule the world father, I just want to ensure that the rest of the world understands that as long as you don't mess with what is mine they get to live "

I didn't notice that I had stopped when I started speaking, that my calm voice had started to become intense and I certainly did not remember having an indent on the ground below me, a small one to be sure but still

And father just looks at me and motions me to walk with him again

' I'll be honest I was expecting a pep talk or even something like -sappy hold your hands around the campfire mood history talk - but silence somehow seems to be the most annoying so far '

And he didn't say anything, not a peep he just looked at me a few times before going into his head again

But eventually, the silence ended as we stepped into our house and standing there as if she sensed my arrival with a metal spoon in her hand and with intense scary light around her was my mother and the next thing I know is being told to go upstairs and -no training or I would get it young man-

' What just happened? What did she say or what did she do for me to not even remember what I was nodding along to '

But still even then as I looked back at my dad as I climbed the stairs he remained silent

And so I spent the rest of the day reading some of the books I was interested in and circulating chakra throughout the nodes

But it was only when I sat at the table for supper that Dad spoke to me again

" Shikamaru you can start your training early, but we will be informed what you are doing, we will spectate and if we need to, stop your practicing. Because as much as I agree with you on our home situation, a home remains an ideal where children would not have to struggle themselves for survival "

' Yeah right, say that to every sob story living in the leaf '

" I have no complaints about informing you what I'm doing, never had that in the first place. But since we're doing this I would like to go all in, I would like some bokkens and find out my affinity "

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And that's this chapter, somehow I feel this chapter wouldn't be quite what you guys expected but if it was great, if it wasn't sorry please send me your suggestions, review and all that. And like always a special thanks for reasoning my story especially to Lordrim,nick_name,d_j_a_m,rom_us3 and Octoberwind

By the way this is the link of the discord group that I've made for this fic

https://discord.gg/z7kytwUJ

If you guys have any sudden inspirations or suggestions please drop them in the chat and as you know our mc is Nara and we just can't have blank faces for scenes so if you guys have some Nara characters you would like to interact with in the story drop it in the group

Thank you for continuing to read my story, have a nice day and stay safe