2 2. Ashi Kōrima

As Ashi woke up he found himself in an uncomfortable bed facing a wall turning around he found another wall not far sitting up he saw a door straight ahead showing how small the room he was in, leaving only enough room on either side of the bed to stand up his head snapped towards the door as it opened revealing a man in a completely black armored bodysuit and a cat mask

"Follow me…"

Knowing the man wasn't asking Ashi kept his mouth shut and followed behind the man as they walked down a low light dank hallway, soon they walked up some steps and found themselves in front of a door the masked man knocked

"Come in"

With that they entered the room the first thing Ashi saw was his bag laying on a desk alongside multiple scrolls looking at the man behind the desk he could figure out where he was… Hi no Kuni; Konohagakure no Sato, making the man in front of him the Hokage

Ashi's parents didn't speak much of the Hidden Villages but he knew that Konohagakure was a force to be reckoned with… well it atleast was during the first ninja war Ashi wasn't all too informed, As the two eyed each other Ashi spoke

"Hello Hokage-sama…"

Still with a blank face the Hokage spoke out lifting up one of the scrolls

"Hello Ashi… I would like to know why your were found on our borders"

Ashi was surprised that the man in front of him knew his name it tried not to let it show on his face… which he failed miserably

"My clan was attacked and my mother told me to run… so I did as I was told"

The Hokage could appreciate someone that followed orders without questions

"You expect me to believe that? You got a bag full of Hyoton Release Jutsu and you expect me to believe your 'clan' was attacked… I doubt anyone would be able to wipe out the Yuki clan so easily so you are either a runaway or a thief"

While the Hokage waved the scroll he had in his hand around Ashi was silent looking down at the floor, his face was dark, his whole body slightly trembling his chakra slowly leaking into the surroundings unconsciously subtly dropping the temperature in the room not enough to be noticed… Ashi slowly looked up his glacier blue eyes meeting the Hokage's

"Release me and my belongings… I don't feel welcome here anymore"

The Hokage chuckled at this

"Who ever said you were welcome here boy? YOU trespassed into our borders knowing it or not. YOU have no say in when you leave and whether you do that with or without your belongings"

Ashi froze at this he didn't know what to say, and he knew he couldn't fight his way out… His chakra may be unlocked but he didn't know any jutsu not that it would have helped but he was never allowed to practice his father always said 'Not until I deem you ready' and now that seems to have came back to bite him

"However… If you are willing to become a Konoha Shinobi… Under supervision Of Course… We could work something out where you get your belongings back along with keeping your life"

The Hokage flickered his killing intent making Ashi freeze this was the first time he was subjected to such a pressure but yet his face looked calm despite the sweat running down it

"I'll become one of your shinobi… But if I find one thing missing from those scrolls I'll gut you myself… even if it kills me"

A glint passed through Ashi's eyes something that gave the Hokage goosebumps for just an instant he felt as if he was facing a tailed beast there wasn't any bloodlust, killing intent, or chakra pressure… just pure mental pressure excluded from Ashi in that instant revealing how much his will has hardened

Putting the thought in the back of his mind already preparing himself to 'check' in on the kid later

"I'll have one of the Anbu move you to the orphanage and tomorrow you'll follow the other kids to the Ninja Academy"

The cat masked ninja placed his hand on Ashi's shoulder and began leading him out of the room before Ashi forcefully removed the Anbu's hand practically growling

"I want my belongings"

The Hokage clicked his tongue at that

"*Tsk Tsk* Can't have the kids in the orphanage randomly learning jutsu because you failed to keep your things hidden I'll hold on-"

"NO… I will take my belongings… We both know that they wouldn't be able to learn Hyoton so there is no need to worry about others learning it… So stop bullshiting me and give me my belongings, ALL OF IT…"

The Hokage couldn't refute he couldn't find a reason not to at this point off the top of his head, he handed him every scroll except one which was in his desk but surprisingly Ashi sat down right there and began unsealing all the scrolls seemingly looking for anything missing he was hoping that the kid didn't know what all was in the bag but he was soon disappointed as the boy looked up anger apparent on his face

"MY FATHERS ARMOR WHERE IS IT YOU FUCKING LEECH-"

Before Ashi could continue 'Neko' covered his mouth turning all his words into mumbles as the hokage looked slightly conflicted before reaching into his desk pulling out a scroll and tossing it to the boy with a distinct lack of care speaking in a stern tone

"If you are found wearing that armor in this village I'll have the Anbu move you T&I don't test me boy…"

With a grunt Ashi loaded all the scrolls into the bag leaving the room slamming the door behind him leaving behind 'Neko'

"Have Team Ro watch the boy… I want eyes on him 24/7 I don't care if he is on the toilet or beating it"

"Hai Hokage-sama"

Leaving those words behind 'Neko' left to catch up to Ashi

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When they arrived at the Orphanage Ashi didn't sit around after he was shown his room and the masked man left he instantly went to leave the place, when the scent of food reached his nose reminding him of his hunger following the smell he found himself in a cafeteria like room with long tables looking to the side he larger pots next to a stack of bowls

Grabbing himself some food which happened to just be a large portion of rice, some steamed vegetables, and tough pieces of meat he could barely wait until he sat down to dig into his food, while it didn't taste the best it felt amazing to finally have some sort of substance in stomach

Before he knew it he had finished 4 bowls and was sitting at the table lazily leaning back letting out a contented sigh, reaching for his bag he stood up and left the orphanage heading nowhere in particular just looking for a secluded place

It took him a few hours to find a place he liked mainly due to him wanting a place with water nearby, as he was searching he sensed a glimpse of an unfamiliar chakra but it disappeared before he could track it down not that he would have tried he was surrounded by unfamiliar chakra signatures but this led him to a revelation… If someone condenses the chakra reserves in their body they can make their chakra smaller making the owner seem weaker or to help with blending in a crowd

Putting this into practice was a lot more difficult than it sounds when attempting to condense his reserves he felt a pain deep within his gut this didn't fade until he let his reserves expand, after spending almost an hour on an attempt at hiding his chakra he moved his bag from his back and pulled out a scroll unsealing it, written inside was a training regime after reading it over and resealing the scroll he placed his bag back on his back and began

'1000 Push Ups

1000 Sit Ups

1000 Squats

1000 Punches with both hands 2000 total

1000 Kicks with both legs 2000 total

30 Minute Plank

30 Minute 'Flag' (A/N: Using arm and core strength to hold yourself horizontally)

4 hours of Kōrima Katas'

And that was just the beginning according to the scrolls this must be done without chakra enhancement and once they can be completed with minimal difficulty they are increased but Ashi didn't complain no he meet it head on putting his all into it as he did the same push ups he saw his dad doing which was to make a diamond with his hands and elevating the legs

After a measly 40 push ups Ashi's arms began to burn but he merely grit his teeth and kept going internally cursing himself for being weak, for not being able to help his family, for leaving his mother behind…

Letting out a yell as he continued with his push ups ignoring the tears pooling in the corners of his eyes

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Ashi was sprawled out on the cold grass drenched in sweat as he stared up at the night sky his whole body burned and it refused to move but yet he hasn't really tried he just felt like staying here for a bit using his soreness as an excuse… slowly sitting up with a slight pained expression he slowly rose to his feet and dragged his way to the orphanage ready for a good night's sleep

As he woke up he saw that the the sun still hasn't rose slowly sitting up feeling his sore body he let out a stifled sigh knowing he has to do all that once again today shaking his head he got out of bed with little trouble dragging himself over to his clothes before slipping into them and headed out of his room nobody else seemed up yet but he smelt food heading towards the cafeteria he found a single cook slaving behind a stove hearing someone enter she looked over her shoulder to find two glacier blue orbs staring at her

"You new kid?"

Ashi simply nodded

"You hungry?"

"Yea…"

With a small smile the woman nodded

"Alright give me a minute I'll make you a bowl"

Giving her a nod Ashi pulled a scroll from his bag before unsealing it revealing a long list of hand seals, he wasn't going to start shooting jutsu in the orphanage he just wanted to memorize each and every jutsu his parents left to him as he was scanning through the scroll he found two techniques towards the bottom that caught his eye

'One Handed Seals' 'Dual Casting'

These two could be a god send being able to shoot two jutsu at once? Who wouldn't want that? Now how about being able to cast jutsu with a single hand? Of Course many shinobi would die for this, having to busy both of your hands to run through the seals or only having to busy one… everyone would go for the the latter despite having to fold double the seals for the same effect but the speed at which some people could fold seals was simply ridiculous Ashi's father could fold them faster then he could process all he would see is his fathers hand twitch before he shot a justu

With a small smile adorning his face he dedicated it to memory before resealing the scroll just as a bowl was set down in front of him

"Thanks miss"

"Nah don't mind it kiddo"

Already turned around heading for the kitchen as she spoke Ashi looked down at his food finding Omelette Rice and a piece of toast he started to eat when he heard a multitude of steps rushing towards the cafeteria soon followed by a group of kids after a few minutes some of the older kids got up and left assuming this was the group he was supposed to follow Ashi picked up his bag following them out the door