I am one and a half years old. They showed me where the calendar was and explained when I was born, so now I know. During this time, I was moved again, and now they haul me off for the whole day to be with kids who are far from the drooling vegetables they once were. The children here… Although I'm no expert, it seems to me they're developing way too fast. Well, either that or I've ended up in a group of geniuses. Because they, much like myself, are capable of primitive dialogue! In my opinion, that's a monstrous achievement for this age.
Having come to terms with my situation, I started looking at things more positively. Instead of self-flagellation, I sought amusement in my surroundings. For example, like this:
"What you do?" I pestered a little boy one day who was building something convexly square in the sandbox, resembling piles of manure.
"A fortress," he answered immediately, not distracted from his task.
I watched his work for a few seconds. Then I proclaimed:
"It will fall."
He froze, then turned to me.
"I know death. Being is finite," I said, gesturing with my eyes at the structure. "The sand will crumble to dust. You will die. That why you built bad fortress."
For about a quarter of a minute, the grinding of gears turning in the boy's head was audible as he tried to understand what I had said. Until terror crept onto his face.
"How fall? Is good fortress! I don't want to die!"
"Fortress is bad!" I declared, maintaining the most serious expression I could muster on my chubby toddler face. "Wall is crooked. Tower is lopsided. Sand is… wet? Ew!"
I poked one of the "towers" with my finger, causing it to collapse with a sad "plop."
"You… you broke it!" the little boy's eyes filled with tears. "My fortress."
"The fortress is dead," I stated the fact, nodding my head like a wise old man. "You are dead too. Soon."
The boy sniffled, staring at me with wide eyes.
"But… but I don't want to die!" he repeated, starting to sob. "I… I will build a good fortress!"
He immediately began to scoop sand with renewed enthusiasm, trying to give it shape.
I moved closer, leaned in, and whispered conspiratorially, "You know what else dies?"
The boy froze, afraid to look up at me.
"What?" he stammered.
"Relax. I'm kidding," I said, patting him on the shoulder, which only brought a look of confusion to his tear-streaked face. "You not die if fortress die. They not connected. Just messing with you," I finished with an apologetic smile.
"Y-you," it dawned on him. "Bad joke!"
Strangely, the kids didn't get my humor right away. At first, they even disliked me… However, I knew when to stop, even if not always in time. Which eventually allowed me to fit into the group. So they probably didn't think I was crazy, just "special." Ahem.
Time passed, everything moved forward. My development was multifaceted. Right now, I'm listening to a story with my peers… For the second time, the same one. It wasn't very fun. So I didn't really listen, lost in my thoughts.
My progress in mastering chakra and soul energy hadn't stalled either, though it proceeded at a rather measured, calm pace.
The flow of chakra was much easier to control. The reserve itself had grown by about one and a half times, even though I hadn't really spent much energy. My main activity with chakra consisted of moving it through its natural pathways (channels), as well as honing minor manipulations that wouldn't leave a trace.
At the moment, I had perfected the skills of "sticking" with chakra and the Chakra Threads that derived from that technique. At less than a year old, while also developing my hand motor skills, I tried to sort of latch the chakra in the pads of one hand's fingers onto the other, and then the same thing using chakra in both hands. Strangely enough, I managed it quite quickly back then, after which I began to build mastery in this skill. After some more time, I started learning to concentrate and extend chakra. First between my palms, creating balls of blue energy that shot out blue prominences. Then, extending it into the distance, manipulating it like a Chakra Thread. Or rather, exactly as a thread, visible due to the concentration of energy. After that, I practiced the technique in many variations: a greater number of threads; greater dispersion—to make them invisible; forming them into different shapes, like with soul energy, and anything else that came to mind. Chakra was harder to control, but its power was impressive and mesmerizing. Even though I didn't use it for mass destruction. But something inside me, in a barely audible whisper, told me that I could. And how. This world will yet feel my hatred! Mu-ha-ha! Alright, that last part was a bit much.
There was progress with soul energy too. I had grown significantly in control. And I had arrived at two techniques. First: by twisting and contorting my mind in every way possible, I managed to make my soul energy interact with the real world. To do this, I had to strain myself in a very specific way, forcing the energy to shift… in something that I've found, and then, for example, the feelers could actually touch and move something. The only thing is, the strength of these feelers turned out to be small. At the moment, having developed considerable skill in this ability, I could lift a couple of mugs at most.
The second ability could basically be considered two in one. By moving in another something… that I don't understand, I somehow managed to stick my soul's hand out of my body's hand! Fortunately, by returning the limb to its place and huffing and puffing a bit with my mind, I got everything back to normal. This was a prospect… the ability to leave my body. But I had no intention of using it. It's not a fact that I wouldn't go straight to reincarnation after that—one. It's not a fact that I could possess another body afterward—two. I've started to like this body, with its powerful chakra, I've gotten used to it, so I'm not going to change it—three.
And… with these thoughts, I considered another motivation for not doing it. Or rather, the opposite—I need to stay and get jacked like ten bodybuilders combined. This world will soon have, if it doesn't already, an organization called "Akatsuki." They want to gather all the tailed beasts to resurrect the Ten-Tails and plunge the world into an eternal genjutsu with its help. Of course, there are reasons for that. But, what's true here is that if I remain Naruto and stay weak, then a fate possibly worse than death awaits me. I'll be taken half-dead to the husk of the Ten-Tails and have all my chakra drained into it.
Chakra is composed of Yin and Yang, where Yang is the body's energy and Yin is the soul's… And actually, I find that statement dubious. I can more or less clearly feel these two energies in my core, I can combine them to create chakra. It's an extremely natural process, barely perceptible to my consciousness. In contrast to separating the two components, which I have never been able to do. Although I tried hard. But soul energy is different from Yin, which I also clearly feel. From this, I can vaguely infer that having my chakra drained isn't necessarily the death of my soul… But that's a supposition, not a certainty. Everything needs to be double-checked. With stakes as high as my own existence, it's better to assume the worst. So, to avoid kicking the bucket, I have to grind.
I also considered the option of taking a risk and changing bodies. But that's even worse: this body, I assume, will die without a soul. It's not for nothing that everyone has one. Or it will become something… not right. Or I'll just give control of the body over to my double… In short, the idea already stinks. But it gets worse. Let's say this body dies. The world will be left without a shinobi who could have become very strong—considering the same chakra core. Meanwhile, let's say I successfully possess an adult body to make life more convenient. Will I be able to become as strong in another body to stand against the Akatsuki? I don't know, it's doubtful. If not, then the Akatsuki capture the tailed beasts and then plunge everyone into an eternal genjutsu. Every inhabitant of the planet, including me, becomes fertilizer for the tree that drains chakra. It's quite possible that it drains the soul along with it. For the same reason, I can't just take over a body and hide out on another continent—death awaits everywhere if I don't grind. Therefore, I must grind.
However, not everything is as bad as it might seem at first glance. No, everything is shit. But not that bad.
Self-improvement is something you can get used to. Moreover, you can get pleasure from it. I've been convinced of this since my past life—my trips to the gym will confirm it. Therefore, this life might not be so bad after all. Which means there's no point in making things up to worry about.
"One day, on the darkest of nights, when the fog was especially thick, a stranger infiltrated the village. He was a shinobi from another land, known for his cruelty and thirst for power…" one of the caretakers continued in the meantime. I, however, had returned to the real world. Another bout of introspection was over, so I would relieve my boredom in some other way.
Putting on the most dignified look possible, I discreetly separated my soul's hand from my physical one. It was invisible to those around me.
"His name was Kazuki, and he had come to seize the spring and use its power for his evil purposes…"
All so that its finger could end up in my nose and start leisurely wiggling around. Of course, in a way that it felt like a foreign object in my nose.
Yes, this was exactly why this technique was worth perfecting.