An unlikely but expected visitor
A day passed by since I started to train Shiina, I obviously made a training plan and schedule now, so I went to look for Shiina.
That was the plan but, "Akari, the Hokage is visiting. He wants every child under Shinobi Academy age to meet him and listen to a speech. He's in the playroom with others."
I nodded my head, then headed towards the playroom. Everyone was together in one space for a speech. I assume it's propaganda time. I mean, we all know propaganda exists in this village to an extent. Although these children won't see through it.
I entered the room, finding an old man, next to Takina, surrounded by 79 children that were sitting down in front of him. Some smaller than others, and some taller. I joined them, near the front since I was smaller, and needed to see.
As for Hiruzen Sarutobi himself, he wore his Hokage robes, without his hat. He calmly looked over everyone seeing them at attention, as Takina spoke.
"That is all of them, Sandaime."
"Thank you, Miss Takina."
The Hokage's tone of voice was respectful and peaceful, like that of a loving grandfather, He certainly had the voice and tone necessary to manipulate children, or perpetuate propaganda.
"It's an honour to be in your presence, Sandaime." Takina spoke, "I have some business to attend to, however, thus I must be off."
"Well it is nice to meet you, Takina."
With that brief exchange, they got all of the children here to trust Hiruzen. Which would already be the case since children are naturally trusting of authority figures but going the extra mile would ensure proper trust and instil a much deeper sense of it within the children.
In other words, they want the children to have built up loyalty to the "King" of the village itself which if this leads to where I believe it is, would extend to the village itself.
"Right, let's get this started, I am Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Kage of Konohagakure or Hokage. I manage the most important parts of Konoha's infrastructure. You most likely do not know what that word means, thus I'll explain it this way, Just simply see me as the person handling the most important parts of Konoha." He started off with the tone of voice being that of a loving grandfather, yet holding a level of authority within. "I give these orphanages the money, food, and water, alongside electricity, in order to properly take care of the children inside the village who don't have parents. When I have free time, I like to travel the village, explore its sights, see the people and just go to see the fruits of my own hard work."
He was propelling himself to be a hero, so the children could better trust him. Such things were not necessary at this point yet would instil within the children a sense of loyalty, and a deep seeded one at that.
In other words, it was being done to create loyal, good soldiers who would follow orders and mission directives. It didn't matter to me however, as I simply took a look at my surroundings observing those which would make for good pawns.
"My desire to protect and work hard all boils down to The Will of Fire. This is the Fire inside all of us, burning brightly, as the entire village is one large family unit. Every Shinobi inside this village loves, believes, cherishes, and fights to protect the village because of this, including the Hokage. It doesn't matter the danger, so long as we keep those we care for safe. Think about it, who are your friends here? Would you like to protect them? That is the duty of a Konoha Shinobi, our sacred torch of Flames, passed from an older person, to the younger person burns bright. A Will of Fire. This is what gives Konoha Shinobi the strength to continue fighting against all odds, building willpower and strength of character, their hopes and dreams being passed down from generation to the next."
An empowering speech, made all for the purpose of inspiring children to become Shinobi that was what this was.
However this man was content with his choices, happy with them. He hadn't had the strength to kill Orochimaru, and subsequently hadn't had the strength to execute orders that would keep his village safe. He was in other words, a fool.
A distant memory appeared in my mind.
A completely white room, filled with children on white desks seamlessly solving questions, everyone in the room looked about five and that's because we were. All of us were solving problems such as the equality conditions of additive and synergistic averages. Some were struggling, others looked troubled but fine and then there were those like me, solving the questions easily.
We all wore what looked to be white hospital gowns. People, men in white lab coats, watched me and the others from a window above, looking down on us with a careful eye making sure nobody cheated. There were some men in the room, walking around checking for the same thing when a particular man stopped at my desk, towering over me with eyes that were akin to sharpened blades.
"4-01, heed my words and remember them. Those who hold all the power yet neglect to use it to their advantage," He paused, letting his words sink into the air, making his next words all the more impactful, "Are nothing more than fools."
The memory faded as I recounted the words.
I did not disagree with the man, but sometimes to secure power you do need to play the part of the fool.
And of course, deceiving people into believing you're less than what you actually are is a good thing.
But if one denies themselves use of the power they have at their disposal, they are nothing more than fools.
I looked up, spotting the Hokage, looking around, and answering various questions of the children. Most were unimportant to me though, since all of them were questions that I did not care for, as I raised my hand to speak.
If there was one way to have Shiina learn something from this, it would be to ask a singular important question.
"Hokage, may I ask a question?" I asked, trying to not sound so monotonous.
"Of course you can, child."
"Well I was wondering if you could teach us about Chakra? I once read about it in a book and it stated that all Shinobi use this energy to fight."
Hiruzen's eyes softened as he looked at me nodding approvingly, "Ah, Chakra," he began, his voice carrying the warmth of a teacher eager to share knowledge. "Chakra is indeed the lifeblood of a Shinobi. It's the very energy that flows within all of us."
He paused, allowing the other children to look at me, most surprised at my question, others curious. I had always been seen in the library, of course, so I knew a bit about Shinobi's powers.
"Imagine your body is like a big pot of water. Chakra is the water inside that pot, a blend of two vital energies: your physical energy—drawn from your body, cells and stamina—and your spiritual energy, which comes from your mind, your experiences, your knowledge." He made a gesture with his hands, bringing them together, "When these two energies mix together Chakra is created. This Chakra flows through a special pathway in your body called the Chakra Pathway System, like rivers that carry water throughout a village, nourishing everything along the way. Chakra can also be increased through training these energies. Push ups, running and other things like that increase physical energy, meditation, and studying increases spiritual energy."
The Hokage's tone became a bit more serious, speaking with some level of authority. "Chakra is what allows us to perform jutsu—those amazing techniques you've probably heard about from the children of the academy. From creating clones of one's self, to making yourself look like an entirely different person all of it is possible because of Chakra. But, like any precious resource, it must be used wisely." He scanned the room, ensuring he had everyone's attention. "If you use too much Chakra, like drawing too much water from the pot, you can run out and become exhausted. It is not just about having power; it's about knowing how to use it effectively."
"Hand Seals are used to perform many Jutsu, they are designed to aid people in properly summoning and moulding chakra necessary to perform a technique. There are different sequences of hand seals for every technique, requiring the user to memorise them. These things exist to help a person properly perform a technique."
"Hokage, how many handseals are there in total?" Another child asked, their voice curious.
"There's many many handseals, but there's 12 you have to remember. I might as well give an early lesson to you lot. I'll demonstrate the 12 that you have to remember."
That captured the room's attention, specifically from those wanting to be Shinobi one day.
"Rat," he extended the right index and middle fingers; these are then grasped by the other hand, while the left index finger is kept on top, with the left thumb remaining on the outside.
"Ox," he sticks all of his fingers out and crosses them, leaving the thumbs out. His left hand faced outward, while the right hand faced inward. Once this was complete, he laid the left ring and middle fingers on the right hand, making the remaining fingers look like a bull's horns. His forearms held parallel to the ground.
"Tiger," he clasped his hands together with the fingers intertwined. The forearms are kept parallel to the ground, as the left and right index and middle fingers are raised together.
"Hare," making finger guns with the left hand, which is then slid into the right hand with the pinky extended.
"Dragon," he interlocks his fingers with the pinkies pointed to the ground, touching at the tips. Similarly, the thumbs are crossed and held above the interlocked fingers. From the positioning alone it looked uncomfortable.
"Snake," he interlocks his hands. Said hands are kept perpendicular to the ground, and the forearms remain parallel. It looked incredibly easy to perform.
"Horse," he connected the tips of the index fingers while interlocking the remaining fingers at the ends of the knuckle. The right finger was on top of this configuration, as the palms faced inwards. Looking pretty awkward to perform.
"Ram," he began sticking the left and right index and middle fingers together as they point upwards. The right fingers are positioned approximately two centimetres below the left. The left ring and pinky fingers overlap those on the right hand, which are tucked into the palm.
"Monkey," he placed his palms together, holding them parallel to the ground as he slid his right pinky between his left thumb and index finger.
"Bird," he began connecting the middle and pinky fingers while the ring and index fingers intersect. The thumbs are pressed together at the tips, forming a triangle-shaped hand sign.
"Dog," he placed his left palm on top of his right fist. Simple and easy.
"Boar," creating a partial fist he began sticking the palms together. The fists are then pointed towards the ground while the forearms remain parallel.
"These are the 12 most basic hand seals one must master. It is in fact one of the things at the academy they will teach you and have you master and continue mastering throughout the entirety of your time there."
Most of the children seemed rather surprised, I mean I don't blame them getting an early look at what we'd be taught at the academy was rare, as there were rules about people teaching civilians Jutsu or anything. Talking about it was allowed by teaching things was not, this only inspired the children to become Shinobi.
Yet somehow I couldn't shake off the feeling that he planned this, like he wanted somebody to ask about Hand Seals and that's why he mentioned them.
Oh well, at least I got useful information and little did anyone know, I was performing them myself to get used to it, nobody even noticed, except maybe Hiruzen himself, but that's why I delayed myself performing them after he did.
Like a student following a demonstration.
And of course the result was...
New Skill gained, Hand Seals.
Hand Seals LVL 1/10: Hand Seals are important to many Jutsu, learning how to perform them and do them well is a requirement of any Shinobi worth their salt +5% speed when performing Hand Seals for Jutsu. DEX also naturally increases the speed of which Hand Seals are performed and the ease of which they are used.
I obviously glanced at the screen reading it all, but did not make things obvious, after all.
The children would obviously ask more questions to the Hokage and the others would listen, until eventually he would have to leave.
~50 minutes later~
The Hokage had just left 5 minutes ago, and I made my way towards Shiina, "Shiina, come with me."
"Okay, Akari." She seemed to be deep in thought, contemplating the words, she'd been like this since she heard about and had seen the Hand Seals be performed.
I guess my little plan worked in the end.
The idea behind me asking the Chakra question wasn't about giving knowledge to other people, but it was to increase her own knowledge. I had also expected the man to add something more to the little lesson, and I was glad for it, as now she knew of the Hand Seals. My Knight would be stronger because of this.
This would also tame her energetic nature a bit as she contemplated the lesson, to me this was valuable as it would allow me to better train her. In the end, everything works out.
I began to walk with her, leading her to the Library, since now that her energetic nature was tamed it was the perfect time to train her mind.
"When the Hokage mentioned that studying helps increase your Chakra, I thought it'll be a smart idea to start doing daily visits to the library for our training, Shiina, and I have a good book for that for you."
I grabbed the book, 'Simple Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji for children to learn.'
It was a dictionary with simple words only, and contained all 3 writing systems of this world, allowing it to be picked up by a child and learn, of course, they'd be taught how to read all 3 as well.
I handed it to her.
"It's boring to read, but if the Hokage mentioned it was important to study, then reading is required. Thanks Akari, for helping me with this."
"Don't mention it, Shiina."
With that, Shiina would begin reading as I pulled out a book myself, however, I came to realise that it was better if I did something else, I was already smarter than most people already, and reading advanced material might attract more attention than I want, thus with I left Shiina in the room, alone. Heading to my own room for training.
Since I kept my intelligence I had no reason to train it yet, but I did have a reason to train physically, as that would not be transferred between worlds except things like Martial Arts.
My training plan was simple, 100 push ups, 100 sit ups, 100 squats and running from one wall to the other in my room, 50 times, which would be 10KM, so Saitama's training method, though of course, this training in real life would not make you super strong, and is actually a basic workout routine for those with above average physiques.
To a child in this world like this body it would be tough, but enough to push them, and I needed tough training anyways.
Thus, I began the schedule.
~2 hours later~
2 hours passed by, as I completed the basic training, sweating profusely and feeling my muscles hurt from the intensity of the training, but it was fine, as I took a few moments to steady my breathing properly, using both my nose and mouth.
Fairly quickly, my breathing stabilised, as the screen popped up.
STR has increased by 5 points, DEX has increased by 7 points, CON has increased by 6, CHA has increased by 1 point.
After seeing the screen my stomach grumbled, signifying that it was time to eat, for me, thus I left.
Children here can request to eat when they want so long as there's 2 hours between them, and the reasoning is explained. Saying that I was exercising is a valid reasoning.
Also needed to eat a bit more, too, in order to keep up my training, meat, vegetables and other things were going to be my main sources. Since I planned to eat a balanced diet, but with some more protein involved to keep my training up.
Either way, I was going to become stronger, and better.
I decided to check on Shiina as well, seeing that she was reading it, and focused on the contents of the book. The sight showed me that making her a valuable piece on the chessboard in my mind was not wasted.
After that, I left to go eat my food.