4 Chapter 4

(MC POV)

You know, the sky looked a lot more beautiful than it used to today. Stars glitter in the black. I've never seen so many in my world. It was like a river of shine flowing in space. Everything was quiet. The soft rustling of leaves, calling out to the calm winds. The inherent silence of the forest is only broken by the howls of animals in distant corners. It was nice and calm.

"Oi! That's enough dilly-dallying. Get up and continue running. We have a quota to fill."

All that I heard was, "Caw" or something like that. Took me time to realize but yeah, crows can't talk. They're just communicating with their minds.

"Oi! Get up!" And he started pecking me.

"I'm getting up, I'm getting up. Geez"

I pulled up my exhausted body and continued running. This is turning out to be a lot tougher than I thought it would be.

You may be asking how did this come to be.

Yes, I was waiting for you to ask that.

Cue flashback

{Flashback Begins}[A/N: Starts just after the previous chapter]

After writing my name and slowly taking the moment, I looked at my work. Damn, I got a cool name. Yami. Let the darkness consume you.

Yes, I was having a chuunibyou moment. But, it's not chuuni if I can do those stuff for real. Well, anyway.

I said to the crow," So, happy cooperation I guess. What am I going to call you and where am I?"

" We do not have names nor does our land, young crow. But you can call me elder, Yami. As for this land, let us just say that it is a sanctuary for crows. " He replied.

" Now, ahou. If you have finished the introduction part, let's get going. We got training to do." interrupted a crow, whom I'm pretty sure was the same one that brought me here.

"Go on." added the elder.

So, I followed the rude crow.

We arrived in a clearing. It landed on a branch and then stared at me intently.

" Let's start then. Tell me, what do you know about ninjas?"

I thought for a second. "Well, they can do a lot of jutsus. And umm... They're cool?"

"You're an ahou. Anyone with chakra can do jutsu. But that does not make a ninja. Deceit, secrecy, and persistence, are just some of the keys to being a ninja. A ninja knows his limits and what he can do with them. On that note, you are pathetic. Blindly going about something is not something a ninja does. I have seen your so-called "training". It is in a word, inefficient. You are our summoner and I will make you worthy even if it's the last part I have to play in the balance."

Okay, I was mildly offended by that. I did all I could. I never even went to the gym. I was going to retort, but I got curious about something.

" What is this balance you're talking about? The elder was also talking about something like this." I asked.

"The balance is the balance of all existence between existence and destruction in this world. Our clan was entrusted to watch over it. We are weak. But such is the nature of all tools and weapons. It is how you use it that gives it strength. You are not the first one, human. We have knowledge of others that have come to this plane before. But yes, you are the first to come in this millennium. Everything has a purpose as fate dictates and you will serve yours. We are short-lived but our clan is old. It existed before the frogs and snakes. It existed even before humans came on this rock. We seldom interfere with the world. We only do it when necessary. So, do your duty with seriousness, young crow. Because you will have a hand in the existence or the destruction of this world."

Beady black eyes stared at me even more intently, when he said that.

Wow. That was heavy. Way to increase my stress levels. I wanted to ask how they were talking telepathically. But I stopped myself. It was probably chakra bullshit or is it natural energy. Whatever.

"Now if you're done, let's get to training. First I need to know what you can do jutsu-wise. Keep on throwing jutsus till your reserves deplete. You can go as big as you want."

I looked around.

" They're nobody nearby. We are far from the nest. Do as much destruction as you want." It added.

I did as he asked. We got wood release, we got earth release, we got water release. I did as many as I could. It was oddly relaxing. But by the end of it, my reserves were pretty much depleted and I was huffing.

" Now that the useless stuff is finished. Start running."

I was like "What?"

"Listen, kid, your energies are extremely imbalanced. You got a lot of chakra potential. Which would be a good thing, if only your physical energy wasn't so pathetic. You're young. So, it's kind of obvious. Your impressive reserves would have been a clutch for you if you kept to your training plan. So, we need to up the physical stuff. Get me?"

I nodded.

"So, what are you waiting for ahou? Get running. You got no stamina"

I started running in the clearing, through the forest.

{Flashback ends}

That was how camp hell started today. I have been running around the whole forest. If I tried to take it a bit easy and slow down a bit, The fucking crow would start bothering me again. It was not easy. I only got a bit of rest when I almost passed out at times. The crow's damn perceptive about when I'm going to pass out.

Now I'm sore, exhausted, and ready to pass out at any moment. But, hey no pain, no gain. Though all this is extreme.

"Stop! This is all for today." It told me.

I collapsed to the ground. It came over me and then again smoke. I was in front of my cave again.

"I will come again tomorrow. Be ready" It added flying away.

I watched as it flew away. It gradually became a small dot before eventually disappearing on the horizon.

Finally some peace. I can sleep all I want now.

"Grr…" Great, I was hungry.

Well, what can you say in this situation except, "Fuck!"