4 Two-Year Summary [Revised]
Before he knew it, two years passed by…
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Dango's second year after reincarnation was much more interesting than the last.
After his first birthday, his mother and father began to frequently take him outside. He was introduced to neighbors and other children his age, who he quickly befriended. It didn't take long before he became quite popular with the kids, having a reputation as being the smartest.
He also played hide and seek with them to advance his skills. Unsurprisingly, he destroyed them. However, it seemed that he needed to play with a larger group as [Basic Hiding] showed no signs of advancing.
Asides from obtaining a social status, his cursed energy was still increasing by a unit per day. He continued to diligently practice it, preparing for the day his innate cursed technique would manifest.
Dango was also playing around with chakra. Thankfully, he already knew what his cursed energy felt like and was able to clearly sense his chakra flowing in his body. Unlike cursed energy, his chakra wasn't concentrated within his heart. Instead, it revolved around it.
He knew that this wasn't normal, another thing he attributed to his [Empty Vessel]. There didn't seem to be any chakra pathways, or whatever they are called, inside him. He remembered that they were important, but couldn't remember why.
In fact, Dango tried to understand his body more using both CE and chakra. However, no matter how hard he 'looked,' he always saw nothing. At most, he could only see his heart and brain, but that was it. He couldn't feel anything else inside him, not his organs, not his bones, nothing. He was empty.
At the same time, he knew he had them. After all, how was he even alive in the first place? How could he move? Speak? Poop and pee?
Since it didn't seem to be harming him, he decided to stop thinking about it any further, letting future him deal with all the problems.
Dango placed his focus on what he could do with his unlocked chakra. Unlike cursed energy, he had a much harder time controlling chakra. It was ten times, maybe even a hundred times more difficult.
It took him a whole month after he unlocked his chakra to actually influence. But even then, the amount of influence he had over it only caused a slight ripple.
Slightly disappointed, Dango hoped that once he got a proper teacher to guide him, he would be able to utilize chakra and be considered a teacher.
On a slightly happier note, it didn't take long for Dango's second birthday to arrive. Unlike last time, his family invited neighbors and friends to attend. He got lots of gifts, all of which were crafted by the hands of children.
At the same time, he got everybody to play hide and seek together. It would be the largest group of players he played with for the first time.
When the game ended, Dango was the winner. His prize was advancing [Basic Hiding].
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[Intermediate Hiding]
Description: Moderately boosts your proficiency at hiding. The sounds you make and the scent you give off will go unnoticed when you are hiding. You blend in with the environment when staying still.
To advance the skill, successfully hide from multiple individuals who are older than you while constantly being in close proximity with them.
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It was the first and only skill he had successfully advanced so far. He saw that the initial effect had upgraded to where it included both sounds and smell. it also added another effect where he could be camouflaging whenever he was still.
If he hadn't been slacking off with his climbing exercises, then [Basic Climbing] would've advanced first. He was simply too lazy.
Asides from that, he didn't obtain any more skills than what he already had. Nor was he able to add anything to his jutsu and jujutsu rosters.
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Year 1 to Year 2
[Vitality: 1] >> [Vitality: 2]
[Strength: 2] >> [Strength: 3]
[Agility: 2] >> [Agility: 3]
[Intelligence: 11] >> [Intelligence: 12]
[Cursed Energy: 365] >> [Cursed Energy: 730]
[Chakra: 483] >> [Chakra: 577]
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Dango's third year could be considered the most important since he was born.
A week after his birthday, Dango noticed a slight increase in his cursed energy gain; two units per day.
There were two possible reasons for the increase. Either there was an exponential increase in Amegakure's population or something bad was going to affect Amegakure that will involve the entirety of the village including the civilians; for instance, a war. The latter being the most likely considering the timeline.
Although wars are bad, Dango couldn't help but feel excited about it. He couldn't find any signs of war, but the rate his cursed energy grew had basically doubled. He wanted to know what the rate will be once the Second Shinobi War was in session.
It didn't take long for the expected signs of war to start appearing. The first sign, asides from the system, appeared a month later.
Dango saw the downtrodden expressions of his parents and neighbors. They had faces of worry, fear, and anger. The only ones that didn't seem to be affected were the ignorant infants. They were too young to know the affairs of the adult and ninja world. Ignorance is quite blissful.
Another month passed and the second sign appeared.
There was a noticeable decrease in Amegakure ninjas, which also affected his family. Ever since he was born, Dango's father would go on missions once a month, which took a toll on the family's income, but they didn't mind it. Each time he went, he would always come back within the week, never longer.
Though there was no change in frequency, his father was away longer than a week for most of the missions. Dango was worried about his father but not nearly as much as his mother. She spent most of each day worrying about Ken.
After being away for the entirety of the sixth month, his father had returned from one of his missions, but he brought home two injuries.
He came home with a crutch as his waist and left thigh were bandaged up. Though sad about the injuries, both Dango and his mother were happy that he will be home for a while.
During the seventh month, Dango saw the third sign.
When his mom took him out on his weekly strolls through the village, Dango was able to meet and talk with his baby friends. He learned that some of them were moving away and were sad to leave their home and friends. Dango did his best to comfort them and made a promise to meet in the future.
A promise that he didn't really intend to keep. They are babies, after all. It'll be surprising if they even remember him when they were all grown up.
As his birthday got closer, more signs preluding the war appeared.
From his parents. he learned that the food prices were increasing drastically as there was a shortage going on. Families forced themselves to beg their neighbors for food, but only a minority helped.
He saw how a pair of shinobi would go to neighboring houses and knock on their doors. When the inhabitants opened their doors and saw the shinobi pair, they would begin to cry. The duo reminded Dango of the reaper, knocking on doors to collect the souls of the departed.
When the day came for him to celebrate his birthday, only his parents were there. It didn't really look any different than his first birthday. It was a joyous event, no different than any other birthday. They were all happy as if there was no danger of war.
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Year 2 to Year 3
[Vitality: 2] >> [Vitality: 3 ]
[Strength: 3] >> [Strength: 4]
[Agility: 3]
[Intelligence: 12]
[Cursed Energy: 730] >> [Cursed Energy: 1,446]
[Chakra: 577] >> [Chakra: 652]
