2: A Strange Childhood in Konoha
The years passed quickly in the Hidden Leaf Village. Konoha had entered a fragile peace after the great wars, but beneath that peace lay whispers of tension and new dangers. In the quiet alleys, children played, training their bodies to become shinobi. Among them was one child who was unlike any other—Kanro Sasho.
Kanro grew under the watchful eyes of his parents, but no one could ignore the strange aura that surrounded him. From the moment he opened his eyes, his presence carried an unnatural stillness, as if the world paused when he looked upon it. His parents, though loving, were often filled with unease.
At the age of five, Kanro began to show unusual abilities. It started subtly—he could sense the emotions of people nearby without them speaking. He knew when someone was lying, even if their voice was steady. When playing with other children, he would stop mid-motion, staring into nothingness for seconds, as though seeing beyond reality itself.
One day, during training in a small clearing near the village's edge, Kanro stopped abruptly. His small hands trembled as his body stiffened. His teacher, a middle-aged shinobi named Takahiro, frowned.
"Kanro, are you alright?"
Kanro's voice was calm, almost detached.
"There… there is something in the forest. Watching us."
Takahiro glanced toward the trees. There was nothing visible.
"Only shadows, boy. Focus on your training."
But Kanro's eyes were different now—dark, with golden threads weaving faintly in the pupils. His breath slowed. For a moment, he seemed to be somewhere else entirely.
That night, Kanro could not sleep. He felt drawn toward the mark on his chest, the one no one could explain. Beneath the skin, he sensed something stirring. Something ancient. Something calling.
In dreams, voices whispered to him—soft, unintelligible words that carried both warmth and warning. A vision came: a vast labyrinth of light and shadow, and a single phrase etched in gold letters:
"The Paths awaken."
Kanro woke with a start. His small room in the outskirts of Konoha was silent. His mother was asleep, unaware of the tension in her son's expression. But Kanro now understood something deep—his life was not his own.
It belonged to something far greater, something dangerous.
At age seven, he began to learn control over his strange senses. He called it "seeing beyond"—but what he did not know was that it was the power of the Seer Path, the first step toward mastery over all Paths.
Kanro's childhood became a balance between training as a shinobi and exploring the strange, hidden world within his mind. No matter where he went, whispers followed him. Shadows moved unnaturally. And always, in the back of his mind, was the faint pull of the mark—a pull toward a destiny he could not yet understand.
And far beyond Konoha, deep in forests untouched by man, eyes watched him. Silent watchers, waiting for Kanro Sasho to awaken his Path.