7 Chapter 6
Naive, I was too naive
Lacking experience, A bluff is all I could do.
At the very least I got a harvest this time.
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A few weeks after the event, I was transferred out of the orphanage, to be adopted by the Hyuga clan
"Hebi, your guardian is here to pick you up" called the matron
Outside standing was a young Hyuga woman, hair shortened and wearing an apron. She appeared to have the occupation of a caretaker.
I waddled outside with my small legs to follow her out.
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Walking the entire trip in silence. It looked like neither party wanted to give in to start talking. Reaching the outskirts of the Hyuga clan compound we arrive at a medium-size house.
"This will be your home," The Hyuga women said with a gentle voice
"Open your hand," She says as she raises her fist to drop something in my hand
As I lift up my palm to receive she drops a set of keys into my hand.
" I will come by weekly to clean up and check on you"
Without any further conversation, she walks away. Quick and easy, just the way I like it. Looks like the Hyuga have decided to keep tabs on me in a more overt fashion. Not that a clan with the all-seeing eyes would miss a single one of my actions but that doesn't concern me anymore when I've already decided to go all out.
I walk into the courtyard, fenced in by a stonewall reaching as high as the house itself, obstructing the view of all those passing by.
This courtyard was built to support a young shinobis training, I think as I look around at the spacious yard.
Taijutsu, the art of hand to hand combat, a staple amongst all shinobis arsenal. The only way to train this is fighting, starting with a stationary target, like the log placed vertically wrapped in straw I see on the edge of the courtyard. Next is sparring with a partner with the intention to exchange pointers and learn from one another, correcting mistakes, learning from small injuries.
Another way people learn is from a teacher, who is more experienced in combat and more often than not a large degree stronger than the student.
The last way is to fight with your life on the line on the battlefield, with the scythe of death being constantly wrapped around your neck ready to take your life at any moment, you must sharpen your skills or die.
But that stuffs too early for me, most kids start learning taijutsu when they get into the academy.
Although kids whos parents are shinobi or children from clans learn a year prior to the academy. On the way to my new home, passing through the hyuga compound, hyuga children ranging ages from 5-12 were actively practicing in all sorts of methods, by teacher, with a peer or even personally.
Unfortunately I'll never get the chance to learn taijutsu in a standardised way like the Hyuga, As watching their taijutsu is one thing but learning it is only a privelage to those given who are born into the clan not outsiders like me.
I look around the courtyard to see a tree. Hanging from it is a target attached to a rope, for shuriken jutsu, pretty standard for all shinobi, just throwing projectiles.
Again, none of my business until I reach the academy or when my body is more developed.
I open the door to my new house, a standard mid sized and one story house with a few bedrooms, a single kitchen, a living room and bathroom.
Nothing to special, except one of the bedrooms is locked. I look down to my hand to see the set of keys, one at a time I test the keys to see if one of them unlocks this room
*Click*
The doors unlocks, I slide it open to see whats inside. My jaw drops looking inside, the room filled to the brim with crates of scrolls, with barely enough room to squeeze my own body inside.
I grab one of the scrolls and pull it out, reading "Fire ball jutsu", containing the method to peform it,hand signs needed, requirements of chakra affinity and quantity and even situations in which it is effective.
I would celebrate but looking around each crate has hundreds of scrolls and there are tens of crates, this isn't even a whole day thing, this is a whole couple of years thing.
I sigh at the work to come but at the very least I won't be bored.
Yes, I said I would be the strongest but I severely underestimated the amount of reading one has to do to become the strongest.
