Chương 4: Leaf on, Leaf off

A few days and a lot of dead birds later, I finally felt good enough to start some light exercise. I was only five years old, after all, so I began by running around the orphanage. It was small and crowded, but hey, I couldn't complain since I had a place to sleep. At first, running was incredibly difficult. I got tired quickly and my muscles cramped, but gradually things improved. The progress, however, was painfully slow. It took me two entire months just to stop looking like a malnourished skeleton.

Eventually, I started resembling a rural kid from a first-world country. Slightly malnourished, sure, but surrounded by lots of adult fat people. One thing that surprised me was how much my personality started to change. I wasn't sure if I was ever that humorous or carefree in my previous life. As far back as I could remember, anger, despair, and bloodlust dominated my thoughts and actions. But now, here I was, feeling as though my true self was finally emerging. Maybe this meant I had genuinely moved on.

There was no one left who cared about or loved me in my old world, and I have already avenged my sister, whose tragic death had been the only reason for me to live. For the first time, I felt truly and completely... FREE! With that newfound sense of freedom, I sat in my favorite spot on my small bed, in my favorite position, doing my favorite activity, meditating. I focused deeply on this sensation of freedom, and a smile slowly spread across my face.

That warm emotion combined seamlessly with the warmth chakra provided, and for the first time, my mind and body felt truly in sync. At last, I was able to move chakra within myself. It was slow and difficult at first, but gradually became easier. Soon, the warmth spread throughout my entire body, and the feeling was incredible. It was foreign, addictive, and absolutely fascinating, especially to someone like me who came from a world without chakra.

Initially, I allowed chakra to flow freely through my body, which gave me an unexpected sensation of strength.

"So, this is what they meant when they said chakra strengthens the shinobi's body," I thought. After some time, I began consciously controlling it, intentionally directing chakra into my arms. At first, I could only maintain control for a brief moment before it slipped away. Slowly, I introduced chakra into each of my limbs, one by one. With each attempt, controlling my chakra became noticeably easier. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

As I was thinking to myself, "Wow, I must be pretty talented to manage chakra control this quickly," someone shook me roughly, interrupting my focus. Annoyed, I glared at the person disturbing my meditation. I have only been sitting on my bed for an hour or so, after all. One of the orphanage supervisors, a fat man with greasy hair and sausage-like fingers, shouted angrily at me, "You stupid kid! You've been sitting here in your bed the whole day. You missed breakfast and lunch and you're about to miss dinner too!

If you die, the village will cause me a lot of trouble. Get your lazy ass out of bed and go eat something!" My eyes widened in surprise. Had I really been so absorbed by the sensation of chakra? Looking out the window, I realized the sky was already dark. I quickly apologized to the greasy man, saying, "I'll go eat right away," and headed straight to the dining area.

After gulping down a large amount of water, I thought to myself that I should be more aware of my surroundings in the future and not get lost in the feeling. Using the leaf-holding chakra exercise would probably be a good way to further improve my chakra control. It would help me localize chakra to specific areas for longer periods and at higher concentrations when needed. Chakra control was vital, after all, if I wanted to master the awesome power of ninjutsu.

That day, after returning from the forest, I didn't just come back with a full stomach. I also brought back a few leaves to practice with. At first, I couldn't hold the leaf on my body for very long before it fell. Funny enough, one time the leaf fell, and I got so excited trying to quickly stick it back on that I accidentally slammed my head against the bed frame, leaving a large bump on my forehead. Making the leaf stick wasn't very difficult.

I just pressed it to my forehead with my hand, channeling chakra into that spot until the leaf adhered. Holding it there for an extended period was the tricky part. Chakra naturally wanted to roam freely through the body, but I knew I needed precise control if I was going to survive in this world. Most kids wouldn't have the attention span or the drive to persist in something like this for hours or days, but I wasn't like most kids. I kept at it, and a few days later, holding the leaf felt natural.

Eventually, I even managed to walk around slowly while keeping the leaf attached. So, I decided to start running with it, but that was incredibly challenging. Another month passed, and with the bird population of that forest nearing extinction, I was finally able to reliably run with the leaf stuck to various parts of my body. First on my head, then my chest, and then my arms.

I glanced down at my legs, smiling to myself as I thought, "Well, looks like it's finally time to take the first steps toward becoming the friendly neighborhood spider."