(April, year 51 AK)
Yuta was still on the square in front of the Hokage Tower and the Ninja Academy, there are much less people here than before, and all the kids went inside the academy after the Hokage's speech. Yuta felt exhausted mentally.
'For the two whole fucking hours!' His exhausted mind sluggishly processed a thought, 'For the entirety of the two hours the old man Hiruzen didn't stop his monologue even for a second! This is absurd! All he said could've been summarized in a few sentences! I regret coming here!'
Yuta was standing here for around three hours already after the Hokage's speech ended, Chitose was some distance away, chatting with a group of adults that Yuta assumed are the other orphanage's caretakers.
Suddenly a man in shinobi attire came to Chitose and the others, giving them some papers and left.
'That should be the results.' Yuta thought and came closer.
"Koba-san, did Atsushi and Naoto pass?" Yuta asked curiously.
"Atsushi passed." Chitose glanced at Yuta and said with some regret in her voice.
"Naoto failed? what will happen to him now?" Yuta asked a little puzzled, "Will he try the next year?"
"No, he will not." Chitose said coldly and sighed, "If you fail, that's it, this means you don't have what it takes to become a shinobi."
'Is that so...' Yuta thought, 'Atsushi and Naoto look equal to me when it comes to being physically fit. They both often play "ninjas" with other kids and run around a lot, and both should be physically fit equally, but one of them passed and the other didn't. There might be something else that is being tested besides physical capabilities, maybe...'
'It's good that I've come, I've learned something here. There should be simple physical tests like some basic exercises or something like that, and nothing else. It seems that students being closely observed during it, and there might be something else besides physical capabilities, that being tested. Mental state or attitude maybe?'
As Yuta was deep in thoughts, he didn't notice that a group of around a hundred kids came back from the academy and surrounded Chitose and the others, almost everyone is talking excitedly about becoming students of the academy, and only some of the kids seem lost and being quiet.
Shortly after, Chitose and three boys were on their way to the orphanage. Naoto being gloomy and sneaking hateful glances at Atsushi, while Atsushi seemed excited and happy, he openly ignored Naoto and only looked at him from time to time like he was looking at trash.
'Does something happened between them during the entry exam I wonder?' Yuta thought, 'They were friends a few hours ago... But for some reason I feel like there is actually nothing happened between them during the entry exam, they are just like that, Naoto is dejected and envious, blaming everyone and everything but himself for his failure, and Atsushi is prideful and arrogant and thinks of the failed Naoto as of someone unworthy to even be in his presence or some stupid bullshit like that...'
Early the next morning Chitose took both Atsushi and Naoto somewhere and returned alone. After breakfast Yuta was feeling much better than the day before, his muscles are still sore but at least he doesn't feel like he is about to die from exhaustion like before.
Yuta was a little curious, so he went to Chitose and asked. "Where is Atsushi and Naoto?"
"Atsushi will be living in the housing that village provides for the academy students that doesn't have one." Chitose replied, "And Naoto is now an apprentice under a local merchant, so both of them are no longer live here."
'So that's how it is, the orphanage doesn't provide for the kids until the adulthood, by the age of six you either go to the academy, or they'll find some civilian job for you and that's it. Well, that's understandable, if kids are allowed to become ninjas and do murder, then it is ok as well to send them to work I guess...'
'Manabu said he would teach me tomorrow, so today is another free day for me, what should I do? Chitose seem a little nicer to me now, maybe it's because I behaved fine yesterday during the trip to the academy, or maybe she heard about Manabu's registering me as his student, anyway, now it's worth a shot to ask the thing I wanted!'
"Hey, Koba-san, can I go outside to look around the village, please?" Yuta asked expectantly, "The village is big and amazing, I really want to look around a little! I remember the way back and won't get lost!"
Chitose's usual stern look returned, and she looked over Yuta scrutinizingly, after a few seconds she finally said "I allow it, but there would be conditions. First, you are only allowed to go out for no more than two hours a day, and second, you shouldn't miss any meals at the orphanage. If you break those rules even once, then you will be no longer allowed to go out, do you understand?"
"Thanks! You are the best, Koba-san!" Yuta exclaimed excitedly and ran outside to explore the village immediately, while Chitose sighed tiredly and shook her head, but there was a slight smile on her face for a couple of seconds that no one noticed.
As Yuta went out, he followed the same path they took to the academy, while he didn't have any plans in mind in particular, there is not much to do on the outskirts of the village where his orphanage was, so he went for the central part of the village first.
When Yuta finally entered the central area, he checked out some grocery shops and food stalls to better understand the local currency and its value, as well as the basic costs of living.
After spending some time looking around, Yuta came to understanding of the local currency. The local currency, Ryo, seems worth around 10 Ryo = $1, while cheap meals at food stalls like meat skivers and such would cost around 100-150 Ryo for the equivalent of a full meal, eating at small restaurants something on the cheap side like ramen would cost around 150 Ryo for a meal and buying groceries to cook personally would be a little bit less expensive.
'Ah, and there are Naruto's favorite food, instant noodles, those worth from 50 to 100 Ryo for a meal.' Yuta thought as he went to another point of interest.
Yuta pushed the door of a shop and entered inside.
"Hey, kid, did you get lost?" Yuta heard a man's voice, he looked up and saw a man in his thirties inside the store.
"I'm just looking around." Yuta replied politely and started to hastily read the signs and prices inside the shop.
'Kunais are 1k Ryo each, shurikens are 500 Ryo each...'
"This is a weapon shop for shinobi, you are not fooling me kid, you are too young to be an academy student yet!" The shopkeeper said being annoyed.
'Smokescreen bombs are 2k Ryo, explosive tags are 3k Ryo...'
"I'm entering the Ninja Academy next year, I just come here to look around." Yuta said absentmindedly while looking at prices.
"If you are not buying then just leave, go play somewhere else kid!"
'The cheapest short swords are from 20k Ryo and higher, mesh armor prices start from 30k... I wonder how much the missions pay, I don't really remember such insignificant details from the anime sadly...'
"Fine, I'm leaving, no need to yell old man." Yuta said and left the shop.
"Hey, you little brat, I'm not even thirty yet!" The man yelled to the already closed door where Yuta was a few seconds ago.
As Yuta went through a few more weapon shops and had somewhat similar experiences, he confirmed the prices on those items, they are almost the same at other places, with only slight differences.
'Hm... I didn't spot the sealing scrolls yet, maybe they are being sold at some specialized Fuinjutsu-shops or something, but I didn't find those yet... Time is running out, I have to return to the orphanage soon.' With that thought, Yuta ran back to the orphanage to not lose his newly obtained rights to go outside on his own.
'This whole "being a kid" thing is annoying as hell...' Yuta thought, 'Having to ask permissions for every simple thing and stuff like that... There is a whole year before I enter the Ninja Academy and get some autonomy to do whatever I want, but before that, I just have to tough it out I guess...' He sighed tiredly.
Yuta came back on time and rested for the day as Manabu told him to do so. He was very excited for tomorrow's chakra control lesson from Manabu.
'I wonder how hard it would be to learn chakra control, but even most importantly, would it let me finally grasp my Time Control ability or there would be some other requirements for it... I feel like learning chakra control and improving chakra in general is essential for the Time Control ability to work, the important question is – would whatever Manabu is about to teach me be enough for it or not...'
--- AN ---
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