'When I thought I didn't miss anything from my previous life, I was wrong.'
Hikaru woke up on his five-foot bed with an unpleasant expression, feeling the world was much emptier without his smartphone. To be honest, the only thing he truly missed was having fun with his SNS activities.
Taking a long breath while yawning, Hikaru started to stretch his body in an attempt to wake himself up. He could hear birds swarming near his house. A soft breeze caressed his cheek as he looked at the window, which was wide open. The sun had already gone down when he woke up.
After the events in the morning, he had fallen into a long, deep sleep. There was no more pain in his head; it was as if his soul had merged completely after several hours. He could now recall memories of the young boy he had inexplicably occupied.
Hikaru really liked his new home. With a hundred-square-meter house, three bedrooms, one bathroom, a living room, and a kitchen, the house was rather spacious for a family of two.
After stretching for a few minutes, he still had not adjusted to his new body. The positive news was that, despite having smaller hands and being noticeably shorter than before, he was not overweight.
Getting out of bed, Hikaru conducted a brief exercise to assess his body's strength and flexibility. Once he verified that his health was in excellent shape, he started to plan out his new life in his mind.
Just a few minutes into his contemplation, Ayako's voice called out to him, "Hikaru-kun, it's time to eat!"
"I'll be there," Hikaru responded quickly, with a curling smile on his face. "I guess the plan can wait. I couldn't do anything on an empty stomach."
Muranaka Ayako was arranging the food on the kitchen table when Hikaru arrived. She started asking him as soon as she saw him, "How are you feeling, Hikaru-kun?" Her face glowed with worry as she questioned him.
"I'm alright," Hikaru replied, massaging his head.
"Come quickly; the food is on the table." Ayako gestured by raising her hand to have her brother sit at the table, adding, "Your sensei came this afternoon to notify you that you don't need to go to the academy for a month."
'Maybe because of the destruction caused by the Nine-Tails demon fox's attacks.'
"Oh," Hikaru thought as he responded, blinking his eye to acknowledge the news.
'Great timing; I need some time to adapt here, too.'
As soon as he sat down at the table, his stomach rumbled, yearning for food. After grabbing a few bites and seeing that his sister, sitting across from him, was still not eating but only staring at him, he could not help but ask, "O-nee Chan, why are you not eating?"
"I had a few servings already; don't worry." Ayako replied, smiling softly, and asked, "I will need to prepare the barbecue stall tomorrow morning; can you come help me?"
Hikaru looked at his sister for a few seconds while chewing food in his mouth and said, "O-nee Chan, you can take a break for a week or two." He paused for a bit to swallow and added, "There is no need to rush; just take your time."
"No," Ayako denied, immediately shaking her head and raising her voice with concern. "Our financial situation right now isn't the same as before."
"We need to take care of ourselves; our parents' money will not last us long." Ayako underlined the significance of her intention while pouring water into a cup for her brother.
"Also, it is better if I do something rather than stay idle."
"Yeah, sure thing." Hikaru finally gave in and drank his water. Many people respond to loss in different ways; some will cry uncontrollably and do nothing for weeks or months. Some individuals, such as Ayako, may choose to engage in activities to distract themselves from their grief.
He would not judge her behavior for acting the way she did, as many people would normally do if they were in the same situation.
"At five o'clock in the morning, we need to go to the market to buy some meat stock."
Muranaka Hikaru's lips twitched hearing this, and he asked her sincerely, "Do we have to go that early?"
"Of course, we can only find fresh food in the morning," Ayako said hurriedly. She then pointed her finger at his face and said, "Don't be late!"
Hikaru could only nod his head in agreement and sigh, setting down his silverware. He no longer had any appetite after that. His lazy habits die hard. It might take some time to change, as all the training he needed to do required a lot of discipline.
After the conversation, the kitchen became quiet for a moment as both of them implicitly agreed not to discuss what had happened the previous night.
"Wait here; I think there is something you need to see." Ayako abruptly spoke as Hikaru was about to clean the food on his plate. She cheerfully stood up, headed back to another room to get what she had found, and returned with a box in her hand.
"I found something in our parents' room." Ayako spoke as she handed him a box. "Otou-san probably prepared it for you."
Hikaru accepted the box while raising his eyebrows, and he began opening it with his sister's anticipation.
There was a scroll and several notes inside the box.
'Jackpot!' Hikaru screamed happily inside, seeing the contents. 'This is better than I thought!'
Shunshin no Jutsu: Body Flicker Technique (Rank D).
Magen: Narakumi no Jutsu: Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique (Rank D).
Fūton: Toppa Wind Release: Breakthrough (Rank D).
Fūton: Daitoppa Wind Release: Great Breakthrough (Rank C).
Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu: Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole Technique (Rank C).
Kage Bunshin no Jutsu: Shadow Clone Technique (Rank B).
Despite the limited quantity of ninjutsu scrolls his parents provided in the box, they were crucial for a novice like him. At least he did not have to start from zero like others.
He would eventually learn the three jutsu required for graduation from the academy, just like everyone else, but these scrolls were unique.
Typically, if you don't belong to a clan, you can acquire ninjutsu skills from a Jōnin sensei once you graduate and gain acceptance into the Genin team. Another option is to complete a mission and exchange merit for the ninjutsu, but it may take time to accumulate sufficient merit.
Unless you're part of a large clan that has its own jutsu or even a library to serve your clan, comparing them to other civilian ninjas who lack support or, in the worst-case scenario, are orphans could feel somewhat unfair.
He was fortunate that, although both his parents were civilian ninjas who did not come from a big clan, they were still genuine ones with some ninjutsu skills in their arsenal. This initial capital is far better than he could have hoped for.
The most valuable part is probably a note recording their experiences as ninjas; his dad was a Sensor ninja, while his mom was a Fūinjutsu user. This speaks volumes; he hoped to discover something useful once he went through all the details in the note.
Seeing Hikaru's beaming face brought Ayako tears of joy; their parents had left their inheritance to them. She would use the deed and money to manage the house and care for her younger brother.
When her brother matures into a fine shinobi, he can reciprocate her care as he ages. Ayako quietly left Hikaru and started doing her chores around the house.
Hikaru returned to his room with the box in hand to see if there were any additional items inside.
Luckily, he did indeed find something when he set the box on the table and looked through it.
A small square piece of paper, lying among many notes, caught his attention due to its unique color.
The paper's color was slightly brownish in comparison to the white note he was holding. Picking it up, he could feel its specialness between his fingers as he tilted his head while looking at it closely.
"Chakra Induction Paper?" Hikaru guessed the item with a surprised look.
He hadn't anticipated that his parents would also provide this item. It was expensive to buy one, he remembered. The reason for this was that a chakra-fed tree was the source of the paper.
Generally, each person's chakra corresponds with one of the five basic nature transformations, and this paper evaluates this affinity.
Learning ninjutsu that aligns with your affinity is typically beneficial, as it can double your progress with just half the effort. On the other hand, learning becomes a lot more difficult if you learn ninjutsu that you have no affinity for.
"Let's check my affinity then," Hikaru said with a hopeful voice. He focused on the chakra within his body, recalling the Ninja Academy's teachings from his memories. The warm feeling spread from his inner body to the finger that held the Chakra Induction Paper.
The paper first reacted with wrinkles; then it tore and split in two before igniting and turning to ash.
"Three affinities, lightning, wind, and fire?" exclaimed Hikaru, shocked at the outcome.
After seeing the result of his affinity test, Hikaru couldn't help but think, 'I have some jutsu on hand for wind release, but others will be difficult to get anytime soon.'
Hikaru pondered as he glanced at the remaining notes in the box and said, "These might take days or weeks to finish reading all of them."
"Let's start with the training plan first; I've got a month of free time!" Hikaru started searching for a piece of paper and began writing enthusiastically as he planned his training schedule.
Hikaru kept writing down details of his training plan throughout the night until he heard Ayako's voice telling him to go to sleep.
Stretching his body, Hikaru smiled as he glanced at the nearly finished plan. "There is always tomorrow, I guess." He rose from his seat, switched off the light, laid down on his bed, and muttered as he closed his eyes to sleep.
"The same goes for the shower part."