Chapter 2 - A lord's praise

I'm two years old now, and after going through the hell that is being a baby I can't stress this enough... I do not recommend the experience to anyone!

Not even real torture felt that bad!

Still, being so old gave me the needed opportunity to start talking clearly with full and coherent sentences.

Now that I could properly act like a human rather than a poo machine, I finally had the opportunity to steal- I mean, borrow my parents' books. For some reason, I was fully capable of reading and writing even though this language clearly wasn't the Luzian language that I learned in my previous life.

Through the books, I learned a lot of things, such as the geographical situation of this world, the technological level of this civilization, the extent of their theoretical knowledge, and so on.

The most interesting part that I learned, wasn't the boring stuff that you learn at a traditional school though. Amidst the many books I started reading, I found a book entitled "Ninja Foundations, 2ND Edition, By Senju Tobirama - First in the set of Ninja Studies from the Ninja Academy."

The first page had my mother's name and what I assumed to be her old address. She probably got this when she enrolled at the Ninja Academy that stands right below the Hokage Monument, which, in case you don't know, is a knock-off of mount Rushmore where the extinct United States used to be in my previous world. It has a portrait bust of every Hokage of the village, and those were like the highest military leader within the village. Hm... thinking like that, you can consider the Hidden Leaf Village to be a Stratocracy.

Anyway, I have been studying my mother's book from the Ninja Academy and have developed many theories and thesis about Chakra and Ninjutsu with those few books as the source material.

First of all, power and the amount of chakra were directly correlated. No matter how stupid you can be with the use of Ninjutsu, a sufficient amount of raw chakra can still make you an extremely scary enemy if you know the basics of chakra.

Second of all, genetics have a horrifying correlation with talent. While it doesn't rule out the use of hard work, those with better genetics can not only climb the stairs of power faster, they can also have strategical abilities that give them a direct advantage over other people. One such example was the Uchiha Sharingan as mentioned in the book.

Even the weakest Uchiha Genin has a combat power comparable to that of an experienced Chunnin so long as they awaken their Sharingan. This boost of power is far too much and can directly put them years ahead of their peers.

Third of all, Chakra control is essential for civilians who wish to overcome the weakness of bad genetics! It not only allows you to use the least possible amount of chakra when casting Ninjutsu, but it also allows you to perform an advanced elite technique called Nature Transformation with less difficulty, meaning that if you can't deal with the issue of specialization advantage given by your enemy's clan powerful genes you can go through this hurdle with versatility.

And lastly! The principles behind the so-called Kekkei Genkai and Kekkei Tota are wrong. If a natural biochemical process is capable of producing that specific effect, nothing stops this process from being emulated. Through enough understanding of the principle and mechanics of the bloodline limit, one should be able to create their own bloodline limit.

I know through my understanding of genetics that inheritances can be engraved through the DNA and passed on to one's descendants, but the reality of such inheritances is that they were first created before being spread. Meaning that the first Sharingan in history isn't a product of natural occurrence, but a man-made ability passed ahead and/or mutated over the years.

While I can't be sure as to why this wasn't noticed yet, I could only attribute it to the possibility of this ability having been developed by an older civilization with superior knowledge in the field of biochemistry.

As to why this civilization wasn't around, there were far too many possibilities, the ideological separation being the most likely, where a civilization splits into two, and one of them develops beyond the limit of a planet and eventually leaves it to search for better terrain to continue their evolution.

While I can't be sure of the truth, this theory and others couldn't be ruled out yet.

Just as I was about to finish the last book of the academy, my mother, Izumi Naomi entered the study room and saw me holding the book while seating on the ground.

"Eh? What are you doing, Tetsuya? You can't play with mommy's book, they are fragile, you know." She smiled as she crouched down and picked me up. Even though I was annoyed, I had no choice but to act like a young child and complain.

"But mom! I'm not playing, I'm reading! I want to be a Ninja!"

Seeing me throwing a tantrum, my mother was speechless. "But honey, why would you want to be a Ninja?! They are always in danger and hurting themselves... No, I won't allow you to become a Ninja!"

"B-but..." Seeing the serious look on her face, I was stunned and had to think quickly! How could I convince this owl mother to let me train as a Ninja? There's no way in hell that I will allow myself to be a civilian.

Frustrated, I could only think of exploring her tender and kind motherly personality. So I started crying and hiccuped as I stuttered to speak. "But mom! I- If I don't become a Ninja, how will I protect you and father!? What if someone attacks you! I won't be able to help if I can't fight against a Ninja..."

Naomi shuddered at the thought as if she had remembered something scary, with trembling hands, she hugged me as some tears fell from her eyes.

Although she didn't give me an answer that day, I wouldn't let that stop me. Whether or not she agreed is only for the sake of her knowing my stand. I will still enroll at the Ninja Academy, no motherly love will prevent me from seeking my ambitions. Especially in a world like this, where power is truly the only way of protecting your loved ones.

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I'm three now, I have been trying to practice Chakra control for all this time, but it was only recently that I achieved minor success at holding a leaf at my forehead through the use of Chakra. This was one of the recommended practices for those that are starting their training in Senju Tobirama's book, and I can see why he choose it.

Doing this sort of thing required not only good skills but also a great deal of concentration, one mistake, and the leaf would fall from your head.

The more I read what the man had written, the more respect I had for him in my heart, this Tobirama was wise and intelligent, and could explain things that should have been complicated with such ease that it made me ashamed of being the senior instructor in the army as I had been. If I had half of his teaching skills, the many platoons I have trained over the year would have been considered the best in the whole army.

While I couldn't really use my knowledge in the Arcane Arts due to not having the serum that adapted the human body to feel it, the theory behind Chakra and Arcane Arts could complement each other easily.

Using my hundreds of years of foundation, my progress in Chakra training was astonishing according to my mother who could only sigh in resignation towards my insistence of becoming a Ninja.

Even now as I walked down the street, I had three leaves being held in my forehead, two leaves in each elbow, and one leaf in each knee.

Eventually, I made my way to my father's workplace. The shop was half full, and many clients were eating happily on the tables. Seeing him cleaning a plate, I walked over and climbed the stool to look at him in the eyes.

"Hey, father!"

Turning to look at me, my father gasped in surprise as he didn't even notice me entering the shop.

"Tetsuya!" My father laughed happily as he grabbed me and carried me around. "What are you doing here? Weren't you training Chakra Control?"

I smiled at my father and replied while pointing to the leaves in my body. "I'm still training! See, if the leaves don't fall is because I'm using chakra properly!"

"Eh!? But just a month ago you couldn't even move when doing this exercise!" My father gave me a look of a surprise because he wasn't experienced with this, he couldn't tell if I was talented or not, but he never thought that I would progress so much in such a short period of time and that itself was evident from the way he looked at me.

"Your son is very talented for a civilian."

At that moment of father and son bonding together, a low but deep and dangerous voice echoed in our ears.

I felt my father shaking from fear as he gulped, but I had sensed far worse in my time in the army, so the stranger's aggressive and frightening aura couldn't affect me.

When we looked at each other, I could see the quick glint of surprise in his profound black eyes. Reaching out with his hand for a handshake, he spoke calmly. "I'm Uchiha Fugaku."

"Ah!?" Every client in the shop was stunned hearing this name.

"Oi, oi, isn't he the patriarch of the Uchiha!?"

"Um, I heard that they were all snobs, why would someone of his status eat here?"

"Tsk, shut up! Do you want to get beaten up like the others? Pay attention to what you speak in the presence of an Uchiha!"

Hearing the whispers, I couldn't help but give the man a surprised, and yet, fearless look. Uchiha Fugaku was a true elite Ninja, reigning above thousands of Shinobi with his powerful Sharingan and years of training.

"A-ah... Lord Fugaku! Pardon my lack of manners!" My father bowed down respectfully as sweat poured down his skin. He quickly cleaned his hand and returned Fugaku's gesture.

Fugaku was a famous man with a frightening reputation. In the Land of Fire, he was known as Wicked Eye Fugaku. Rumors said that any enemy who had the misfortune of looking at his eyes would fall unconscious at the same moment, this was proof of how powerful his genjutsu was.

"Don't worry about it." Fugaku drank the cup of sake and turned to look at me. "I wasn't joking nor being kind when I said that. It takes a lot for me to be surprised by someone, and I'm sure that few people in my clan can be as dedicated and as skillful in his age."

Looking down, Fugaku seemed to be thinking of something before he gave me another look. "Next year, there should be only two members of my clan going to the academy, I hope you can treat them well."

Leaving two hundred Ryo on the desk, Fugaku stood up and left. His mysterious back was the only thing I could keep in my mind at that moment as if his face had been forcefully erased from my mind.

It was only then that I noticed just how powerful this man was, and cold sweat dripped down from my face.

"Ahhh!" My father sighed in relief. "I thought that he was annoyed with us, thank god that wasn't the case..."

"Kekeke, you're lucky, chef Kunio, if an Uchiha wanted to trash you, I doubt anyone would be able to stop them."

Kunio only shook his head with a smile. "You guys are exaggerating, surely a noble clan like the Uchiha wouldn't seek trouble with a civilian like me or my son. Anyway, I hope you aren't trying to make me forget about your bill with distractions again, mister Hisao!"

Hisao gasped as he looked at my father with surprise, looking at his face, I could even imagine what he was thinking. 'How did he notice my dumb trick!?'

Shaking my head, a glint appeared in my eyes as I stared towards the direction that Lord Fugaku had left. 'The time to enroll at the academy is drawing near. It's time to stop focusing on Chakra control and start learning the Academy's Ninjutsu, and martial arts!'