Laws were everywhere—on notice boards, in classrooms, in the mouths of authority figures who demanded obedience. But Shino had stopped believing in them. Society's rules bent too easily. They changed with time, with power, with corruption. What was forbidden one day became acceptable the next.
If he was to build himself, he needed something stronger.
Not laws given by others—
But laws carved into his own soul.
Thus, the Code of Discipline was born.
---
It started small.
He would rise before dawn, long before anyone else stirred. Not because anyone forced him, but because he commanded himself. His mornings were silent rituals: washing, stretching, reading, preparing. The world was still asleep, but he had already claimed victory over it.
Next came his words. He decided that he would never speak without reason. Every sentence had to have purpose—no waste, no weakness. Silence itself became part of his code. Others might lie, brag, or shout. He spoke only when it mattered. And when he spoke, people listened.
Food, study, training—everything fell under his laws. He would never eat in excess, never allow laziness to drag him down. He would study not only what teachers demanded, but what he knew would sharpen him for the battles no one else saw coming.
Society told him what was "good" or "bad."
His code told him what was necessary.
---
At first, people mocked him.
"Why so strict?" they laughed.
"Why torture yourself?"
But discipline was not torture. It was freedom.
Others were slaves to habit, slaves to desire, slaves to authority. He alone was free—because he was bound only to his own law.
When friends wasted hours on meaningless distractions, he trained his mind like a blade. When classmates broke rules for quick thrills, he broke nothing—yet achieved more than all of them. His victories came not from chance, but from discipline so sharp it cut the future into his design.
---
There was a day when even authority noticed.
A teacher caught him in the hallway during break.
"You study too much," she scolded. "You should relax like other boys."
Shino met her eyes, calm. "If I live by their rules, I will die their deaths. I prefer my own."
The words unsettled her. For once, she could not command him. His code was higher than hers.
---
But discipline was not only about strength.
It was about restraint.
He never allowed himself to act in anger. Rage was weakness. He never allowed himself to chase empty desires. Lust, greed, envy—all poison to the mind. His body might be young, but his discipline was ancient.
He built invisible chains around himself, and instead of feeling trapped, he felt powerful. For chains chosen are not prison—they are armor.
---
Late at night, while the city slept, he sat by candlelight writing down his code:
1. Rise before the world wakes.
2. Speak less, listen more.
3. Waste no motion, waste no word.
4. Anger is poison—control it.
5. Comfort is weakness—seek struggle.
6. Never be ruled by desire.
7. Build strength in silence.
8. Follow no law weaker than your own.
Each line was burned into his mind, not as suggestion, but as law. Stronger than society's commands. Stronger than anyone's judgment.
---
By the time dawn returned, Shino was no longer just a boy.
He was a boy bound by his own code, harder than steel, sharper than any blade. Society could order, shout, punish—but it could never govern him. For he had already become his own ruler.
The Code of Discipline was not a prison.
It was his crown.
And unlike society's fragile rules, his code would never break.