12. Chakra Assimilation.

Soon, fifteen minutes passed and Aiko collapsed on the ground, his body sweaty and aching all over, when compared with Kakashi who was breathing normally.

"You should try to improve your endurance, It is a very important thing if you want to be a shinobi," remarked Kakashi, looking at the boy lying on the ground as he left the training field allowing the boy to rest.

At his age maintaining such high intensity combat for 15 minutes was very remarkable, though nowhere compared to monsters like Guy, but Kakashi knew that it was the only place the boy could improve as his fighting skills were already refined to a certain degree.

Aiko also nodded his head and he was also thinking about increasing the intensity of his physical training recently, while carefully analysing the fight he had just now and comparing his moves with the moves of Kakashi and Minato.

'Ding! You have levelled up

All attributes +1

Congratulations, Host for reaching level 5, a new skill card has been obtained'

He received a system notification, surprising him and he opened his status screen to check it out.

Status

Name: Aiko

Level: 4->5

Strength: 6->7

Agility: 11->12

Stamina: 1 [8]->9

Vitality: 12->13

Intelligence: 9->10

Charm: 8->9

Skills: calm mind [innate], mapping [lvl 4], Instinct manipulation [lvl 2], chakra molding[lvl 5], Seal creation [lvl 4], Chakra control [lvl 3].

..........................................…..

And a familiar blue gift icon was present in front of his eyes and he 'touched' it feeling curious as to what he will get this time.

It dissolved into an ancient card which also broke to pieces and he received a system notification.

'Ding!, new skill 'Chakra Assimilation' obtained

Skill: Chakra Assimilation [innate]

Allows the host to Assimilate chakra.

It was an innate skill, which surprised Aiko as he need not worry about leveling it up, but the function of the skill confused him a bit, but he decided to check it later when he had a chance.

Since then, Physical training was also added to the daily routine of Aiko where he did push ups, squats and ran around the woods surrounding Konoha soon, it was july and Aiko decided to take a break from his training as he walked around the streets of Konoha.

He discovered that walking in crowded places, looking at people immersed in their own activities helped him relax his mind.

"Kabuto-san" he called to a kid who was walking quite a distance from him.

"Oh, Aiko-kun right?, how are you?" asked the spectacled boy with a smile on his face.

"I am fine Kabuto-san, how is aunt Nonō?" asked Aiko, remembering the kind woman, he had first met.

"Oh, mother?, she is doing fine, I am going back to the orphanage, do you want to come for a visit?, he asked curiously.

"Yes" Aiko agreed and soon, returned to the place where he had first opened his eyes.

"Let's go through the back, most children don't come to visit, mother will be happy to see you so, let's surprise her" said Kabuto mischievously while adjusting his glasses.

"Follow me" he added and went towards the back of the orphanage, as the building was at the outskirts of konoha it was surrounded by trees.

Soon they entered through the back door, tiptoeing towards Nonō's office, Aiko was amazed to find that Kabuto's presence got so low that he had to focus if he wanted to catch his presence with just chakra signature.

Aiko, feeling curious, tried to imitate him by lightning his footsteps and controlling the chakra in his body to move slowly and steadied his heart beat using instinct manipulation skill and heard a familiar system notification.

'Ding! New skill 'presence concealment' obtained, do you wish to learn it?

-yes

-no'

Aiko clicked 'yes' and obtained information about the skill.

'Ding! New skill obtained.

Skill: Presence concealment [lvl 1]

Allows the Host to conceal his presence by consuming stamina.'

Aiko activated the skill, and found out that the stamina consumption was quite minimal compared to his other skills

As they walked towards the room Aiko sensed six people inside the room, three of them were the caretakers of the orphanage and there was one more familiar aura with a yellow coloured mark and Aiko recognised it was the bandaged man he had seen in the hokage's mansion.

Soon enough, they heard a voice as they reached the window, making them stop their footsteps.

"Only you can pull-off this infiltration into Iwagakure," said a cold, aged voice and silence filled the room for a few seconds.

"But, I have already retired and I don't want to do those kinds of things again." said Nonō with a cold voice, not unlike her usual gentle tone.

"It doesn't matter, what you think, we might be going to war again and it is time again for you to be useful to the village that raised you" said the man matter-of-factly without any fluctuation in his tone.

"And, of course as the job entails a lot of risk you will be compensated more handsomely, it will be sent to the orphanage regularly, think about it, or once the war starts we won't have enough funds to feed the orphans" he added with a threatening tone in the end.

The room became silent once again, even though Aiko wasn't able to see the expressions of people in the room he sensed anger and helplessness from the aura of the two caretakers and resignation from Nonō's.

"We have lost personnel in the mission recently and are looking for replacements, you can recommend some promising seedlings, naturally, the more you contribute the more the funds would rise." he said in an amused tone. "I will wait for your answer" added the man as if confident that the woman would agree.

Soon, footsteps walked towards the door of the room and Kabuto hearing that pulled Aiko to the adjacent room, so that they wouldn't be discovered.

Aiko was thinking about the conversation he had just heard now, even though he didn't understand most of it, he realised that he had heard something important.

Kabuto too had a thoughtful expression on his face, after a few minutes they went out and met with Nonō, but they didn't mention or ask about the content of the conversation they had overheard.

Nonō genuinely seemed surprised to meet him, and was very happy when she learnt that he was currently staying in the hokage's mansion, and asked about his daily life and also advised him to not push himself too hard.

Soon, Aiko bid the people of the orphanage goodbye and started returning home as the sun was about to set.

..................................

Inside the hokage's residence the three residents were sitting around a table and having their dinner. Aiko who was still thinking about the conversation he had overheard decided to ask the man, who stood at the peak of decision making power in the village.

"Minato-san, Are we going to war?" he asked, suddenly surprising the people around him.