3 Living the Life as a Normal Infant [Revised]

The next day, Dango was lying in his crib, trying his best to act like a normal infant. He didn't know how they should act, but since his parents didn't look like they were worried, he assumed they just stayed still.

If his parents were to look at his expression, they would be able to tell how bored he was. After all, he was but an adult within a baby body. All he had done today was eat, pee, poop, and sleep. He started to miss reading and watching anime, never truly cherishing before his reincarnation.

At least he has a system to distract himself.

He took a look at his system and immediately noticed that there was a slight, but impactful change.

His cursed energy had increased by 1.

[Cursed Energy: 0] >> [Cursed Energy: 1]

'Wha? Is that supposed to happen? Shouldn't be... if cursed energy increased over time, then it would've been mentioned in JJK. Is it a function of the system? Or a hidden effect of one of my skills?'

'Just one point. Is the increase one point per day? By the time I'm five years old, I would be... there are 365 days in a year... multiply by five... at least one thousand units of cursed energy! It's quite a lot, I think. Does the rate increase? This is the world of naruto, lots of wars if I remember correctly. It doesn't seem like there's a war going on right now, so does that mean it will increase if there's a war?'

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A year quickly passed by…

During this period, Dango's parents noticed several odd things about their child.

One: When he was less than a month old, he would start crying whenever he was alone. It was a weird sight to behold, They investigated the crib room but found nothing that would make their son cry.

(In actuality, Dango was suffering the drawbacks of being a phone addict. It also didn't help when he realized that he would never find out the ending of JJK. The last chapter he read was chapter 152. Eventually, he got over it within a month.)

Two: Asides from those moments where he cried by himself for no certain reason, he never cried or seemed to be in distress. Whenever he got hurt, he would just walk away like it was nothing. Other infants would be bawling their eyes out if they had similar accidents.

Three: Two months after his birth, Ken and Hana saw Dango try to walk. When they first caught him in the act, he just stared blankly at them and continued trying. They were so happy that their son was so diligent to learn how to walk. A

Four: Around the same time, Dango spoke his first word... which included a sentence or two. It had happened when they were tickling him for the fun. However, Dango couldn't handle it anymore and begged them to stop... fluently.

Though they were sad that their son didn't say 'dad' or 'mom' as his first word, they were happy that he was quite intelligent for his age.

For the next ten months, nothing else interesting happened. At most, Dango was just really into climbing and playing hide and seek.

Though... there seem to be no limits to what he can and cannot climb. Hana and Ken were both amazed and scared at the fact that Dango was very into climbing. They even saw him managed to reach the ceiling somehow!

Not only that... Dango had a weird mindset whenever he played hide and seek with them. At first, he actually hid as a hider should. But after several games, he began to stalk and trail behind the seeker. Though, they always noticed he was there, his actions gave them creepy vibes.

As Dango's first birthday got closer and closer, Hana and Ken both concluded that their child was not normal.

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Soon after his birth, Dango managed to figure out when and where he reincarnated into the world of Naruto.

Thanks to his parents for telling him a bedtime story, he learned that there had only been one shinobi war so far. From what Dango could remember, there were three in total before the canon start. So that meant, Dango was born before the second shinobi war started. Though, Dango was inwardly shaming his parents for telling a baby a gruesome story before bedtime.

He also confirmed that he was born and living in the village hidden in the rain, Amegakure. His father kept on blabbering about a man known as Hanzo the Salamander. That was a name Dango immediately recognized. If he was still alive, then that meant the Akatsuki hadn't been created yet since they were only founded a while after Jiraiya taught the Ame Orphans, which was in the second war.

As time passed, Dango's cursed energy steadily increased. Each day amounted to one unit of cursed energy. He expected that by the time of his birthday, he would have 365 units of cursed energy in total!

Strangely, as it continued to increase, Dango also felt something within him grow. He wasn't worried, however, as he believed it to be his cursed energy. As it grew, the more peculiar the feeling became.

By the tenth month, Dango's belief became a fact. When his cursed energy broke the 300-mark, Dango instantly knew that what he was feeling was the cursed energy concentrated inside his black heart.

With this realization, Dango was now able to do the one thing he had been trying to do ever since he had reached 100 CE; to be able to manipulate it, and possibly apply it to himself.

He now had a starting point, the beginning of a path.

By focusing on his heart, Dango vaguely sensed the cursed energy surging in it, waiting to be used. The more he tried to focus on it, the clearer this sensation became. Eventually, it got to the point where he could describe it.

It was like his heart was a container that contained cursed energy as if it was water. Each day, each one-unit increase was like a water droplet falling into a pond made out of cursed energy.

There was one thing to note about this container. There seemed to be no limit to how much 'water' could be contained in it. It reminded him of his [Empty Vessel], which was likely to have a connection with [Black Heart] considering their similar origins.

Soon after, he was able to manipulate it, which he thanked his intelligence stat. As long as he willed it, the cursed energy within him would flow to where he desired it, though it took quite a while.

He also managed to coat his fists in cursed energy, which didn't really do much since his base strength wasn't that high. At most, he was able to painlessly make a dent in a wall, which he carefully covered up.

Asides from cursed energy and anything jujutsu-related, Dango's chakra was still locked. He was waiting for the perfect moment to ask his dad to show him ninjutsu. Unfortunately, neither of his parents mentioned anything related to ninjas at home. It was as if the topic was taboo.

Dango didn't outright ask as it would be weird for a child to talk about something that they should never have heard before. After all, he was trying to keep up the image of being a normal baby.

Anyways, Dango was now in possession of several new skills, though all of them were basic. For instance, the first two skills he had gotten were [Basic Climbing] and [Basic Concealment].

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[Basic Climbing]

Description: Slightly boosts your proficiency at climbing. While climbing, the rate at which you consume stamina is decreased.

To advance the skill, successfully climb a cumulative 100 meters.

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[Basic Hiding]

Description: Slightly boosts your proficiency at hiding. Any sounds you make are muffled when hidden.

To advance the skill, successfully hide from multiple individuals around your age.

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Dango was surprised at how easily he had gotten them. For [Basic Climbing], all he had to do was just climb everything as any other child would. As for [Basic Hiding], all he did was play hide and seek with his parents a couple of times.

After he read their requirements for their advancement, he continued to climb and play. Though the hiding skill did require him to play with kids his age, he thought it was best to practice. He did ask his parents if he could play with other children, but they said only when he was older.

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"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to Dango Sumihara!"

In a dimly lit dining room, Dango was sitting with a cake in front of him as his parents were awkwardly dancing around him as if they were trying to summon an entity. It was just the three of them celebrating the wondrous event.

After they finished their chant, his mom cut the cake up and gave Dango a slice. As Dango was stuffing his face with his piece, his father left the room for a short moment and came back, donning his Amegakure ninja outfit.

Ken then took out several kunai and shurikens and displayed them in front of his son, from a safe distance of course. Seizing the opportunity, Dango expressed fervent excitement to encourage his father to show off more.

It worked.

The mother-son pair watched as Ken went to the backyard as it was heavily raining. To let Dango get a better view, Hana carried the baby and got closer to the spectacle.

Ken made several hand signs and performed a water-release ninjutsu using the rain. The jutsu consisted of four water shurikens which Ken propelled towards the house's fence.

Dango was in awe by the ninja sorcery. At the same time, a notification popped up concerning the completion of the Ninja Role Model mission. From it, Dango got two rewards; his chakra being unlocked and 5 CC.

He then saw his father walk towards him and patted his head, "What I just did is called Water Release: Water Shuriken."

"Wow! I wanna do that too! Can you teach me, Daddy?"

Immediately after, Dango expressed his enthusiasm and desire to learn. However, he saw Ken furrow his brows before reassuring Dango that he would learn when he gets older.

Needless to say, Dango was disappointed by the answer, but only for a moment. He realized that he only just recently unlocked his chakra. He didn't even have chakra! What a silly req-

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[Chakra: (Locked)] >> [Chakra: 483]

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'Oh god! That's a lot!' His eyes widened, which thankfully no one noticed.

Dango was perplexed by the amount of chakra he had the moment it was unlocked. He pondered about the situation and remembered that chakra was a combination of physical and spiritual energy.

'Maybe I have accumulated a lot of spiritual energy because of my past life? As for physical energy... did that come from me just climbing everything? Dang...'

It was pleasant to know that a one-year-old had nearly five times as much chakra than an academy student. Though, he was given the expected amount for an average student. He wondered how much chakra a student from a notable clan would have.

Although this world was terrifying, nothing was stronger than family.

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Year 0 to Year 1

[Vitality: 1]

[Strength: 1] >> [Strength: 2]

[Agility: 1] >> [Agility 2]

[Intelligence: 11]