Chapter 15 — Lessons of the Leaf
Three days.
That's how long I stayed inside my room after the close call at the Xiao compound.
Three long, restless days replaying the moment over and over in my head, hearing the scrape of that lantern pole against the wall, feeling the heat of the light brush my shoulder.
The System had been right.
I'd gotten cocky.
And cocky got people killed.
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Cooldown Cleared
When the cooldown finally ended, I didn't go for a high-stakes world.
No assassins, no soldiers, no death-defying infiltration missions.
I needed fundamentals.
Focus.
So, I picked something simpler.
> [Simulation Selected: Naruto — Academy Training Grounds]
[Objective: Chakra Control, Physical Conditioning, Discipline]
[Duration: 3 Years Simulated = 30 Minutes Real Time]
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Arrival
One blink, and Floating Cloud City was gone.
I was standing in a dusty training field under the warm Konoha sun, surrounded by kids no older than twelve. Some were throwing shuriken at logs; others sat cross-legged, brows furrowed, practicing tree-walking exercises.
A sharp voice snapped my attention forward.
"New student? Don't just stand there — get moving!"
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The Grind
The first simulated year was humbling.
I couldn't mold chakra properly without flaring my energy like a torch.
I tripped over tree trunks.
I failed every balance test.
But repetition breeds mastery.
Day after day, I trained.
Fine control exercises, balancing a leaf on my forehead until sweat blurred my vision.
Running laps around the village until my legs burned.
Learning to blend movement and focus, body and energy, until they moved as one.
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Breakthrough
By the second year, something clicked.
Chakra control stopped feeling foreign.
Balancing on water became second nature.
I could scale a tree in seconds and sit calmly upside down, reading the flow of energy in my body.
And then came the sparring matches.
Nothing lethal — just wooden kunai, padded gear, and the sting of getting knocked flat again and again by faster, stronger students.
But every loss sharpened me.
Every bruise reminded me to observe, adapt, and keep moving.
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The Final Lesson
In the third simulated year, the instructor pulled me aside.
"You've learned control," he said, eyes sharp but approving. "But control is nothing without discipline. Remember that."
The words stuck with me as the simulation ended.
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Integration
> [Skill Integration: Chakra Flow (Basic)]
[Energy Efficiency: +12%]
[Physical Conditioning: +8%]
[Mental Focus: Stabilized]
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Back in Reality
When my senses snapped back to my dim room, I felt… calm.
Not invincible.
Not unstoppable.
But steady.
The panic that had dogged me since the Xiao incident was still there, but muted, tempered by the quiet confidence of someone who'd done the work and earned the progress.
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Resolve
I'd been treating this world like a puzzle to solve, every risk a necessary step forward.
But survival wasn't about charging ahead blindly.
It was about patience.
Preparation.
The storm was still coming.
But when it hit, I wouldn't just be ready.
I'd be unshakable.
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