3 Chapter 3

'Normal Speech'

'Thoughts'

'Bijuu/Summons/Gamer'

'Bijuu/Summons/Thoughts'

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, The Gamer, or any series for that matter. If I did the last thing I would do is write fanfiction for your amusement. Another thing to note is that I am too lazy to come up with new creative and funny disclaimers to post on every chapter, so I'll be copying this one and pasting it on every chapter. I've got better things to do with my time, like reading fanfiction, write fanfiction, eat, do work, work out, read fanfiction...you get the idea.

Chapter 3

"Hmm. So this is the child you told me about."

"Yes Lord Danzo, he has an exceptional ability to learn and create skills and he has displayed amazing maturity for his age."

"Intriguing. And you say he has also managed to display certain mastery over 2 of the 3 fundamental chakra control exercises? And by himself no less?"

"Yes Lord Danzo, but it would be best to ask him personally, after all, he has been awake for some time."

And with that, I decided to finally open my eyes. It took a second for me to adjust to the dim light and when I did, I took quick stock of the surroundings. Well, I wasn't at the Orphanage anymore which was obvious enough.

It was a simple room from what I could see and didn't have any extravagance to it. Dark brown walls, a desk, and two other people made up the room.

I groggily stood up, absently noting that I wasn't bound or anything, before staring at the two people before me.

The one to the left appeared as a frail, old man. He had black, shaggy hair, and his right eye was bandaged. Looking at his face, I noticed he had an x-shaped scar on his chin and he wore a white shirt, with a black or dark grey robe over the top of it covering to just over his right shoulder.

"Danzo...Neat." I thought somewhat thankful that foggy memories still allowed me to remember his profile.

With that, I turned my gaze towards the other person in the room. The first thing of note was that she was a female. The second thing of note was that she had short, chestnut brown colored hair tied up into two mini-tails that laid on her shoulders. She had hazel colored eyes and fair skin with an enticing, mature body. Her breasts seemed to be in the C-cup range, but the most important thing of note-

"Kotoe."

-was that she was the maid in the Orphanage who looked after me. Well, I guess this explained her high level.

"I would ask why you kidnapped me, but it seems obvious enough." I started softly while appraising Danzo, "Bandages evident of either a horrific accident or most likely, given the state of this world, war. There's also the fact that you addressed him as 'Lord' indicating that he is of a much superior position to you. From the contents of your conversation, I assume that my peculiar talents interested you all enough to kidnap me."

I paused for a second before continuing, "The fact that I am not dead reinforces the thought that you want to make use of my capabilities. Then there's the fact that my movements have not been restricted of which I can only conclude that you either don't see me as a threat; you want me to more agreeable towards you; both; or you were neglectful, but I find that highly unlikely."

Kotoe was looking somewhat amused while Danzo still looked emotionless. Seeing that they hadn't moved to stop me from speaking, I continued, "And finally you had the decency to respect my privacy enough to leave my mask on. In conclusion, I can only imagine you want to use me for something beneficial for your cause. I don't know how long I have been out for, but I doubt I've left the hidden leaf village."

"Ohh? And why is that?" The Ninja/maid asked with a tilt of her lips.

"Well you have been watching me for a long time...no not me specifically but all the children in the orphanage, but I just so happened to catch your attention." I started, "If Hidden Leaf had allowed an individual of your caliber to not only sneak into the village but to also stay in their midst for who knows how long, then I would fear for the future of this village. Also, I'm dubious of the fact that an enemy would go through all the effort of sneaking into a hidden village, so that that they could work as an orphanage Maid. After all, if you want information on the state of a hidden village, working as a merchant, while old-fashioned, would allow you to get some information through gossip while keeping you relatively safe."

I continued without breaking stride, "If you wanted to infiltrate the villages ranks, well I highly doubt being an orphanage maid would get you far up. All this without even mentioning the fact that working at an orphanage would definitely require a background check to make sure the personnel isn't someone...uncouth. The risk would not be justified."

I stopped to see if I had missed something before remembering something with narrowed eyes, "I just remembered that Lord Minato had looked past me at the time as if he was looking at something or someone else. I hadn't made note of it at the time and I'm sure no one else in my position would have, but it makes sense."

I paused while closely appraising Kotoe, "If you had been keeping your eye on me up until you attacked, then it stands to reason that you were at the training grounds when I was there. If that's the case then Lord Minato must have noticed you and if you were an enemy he would have either captured or killed you?"

"Lord Minato? What makes you believe that he is stronger than me?" The woman asked with a raised brow.

"...Instincts" "Your level..." I said and thought simultaneously. "I feel a lot more afraid of him than I do of you, however-" I looked at Danzo, "I feel just as afraid of you as I do of him. In conclusion, you kidnapped me for some higher-up of the village and, given the shadiness of the whole thing, probably to use or train me for some secret organization."

For your astute observations, you have earned +10 INT and +10 WIS.

Ping!

Congrats on creating a new skill!

Lying (Active/Passive) Lvl 5 (38.86%)

Your ability to lie to people without getting caught.

This skill automatically comes into play when you lie.

5% chance of success.

-20% if the lie is too unbelievable

"Neat..."

The room continued to lapse in silence as Konoe looked at me carefully as if appraising my words and Danzo stayed mute. He suddenly spoke, "And do you refer to Minato as 'Lord' because you fear his power?" He asked looking straight at me with his one eye.

I shook my head lightly, "No. I would say something about how respect is earned, but I believe that is a given. I consider him as such because even though he was clearly much stronger than me, he had the decency to treat me with respect even after I told him I was an orphan. I believe that since he treated me with respect, I would treat him with the respect he deserved."

Surprising both Konoe and me, Danzo smirked, it was barely visible and you would have to squint to even notice that slight upturn of the lips, but it was definitely there, "You told me that he was impressive and mature for his age, but you failed to encapsulate the magnitude of his character. You should already know by now, Konoe, that when filing a mission report every variable must be carefully explained and key points must be emphasized. I am disappointed."

Clearly, he wasn't

The chestnut haired woman must have understood that point as she rolled her eyes and smiled, "I apologize Lord Danzo for my negligence. I will endeavor to never make the same mistake again."

Danzo's face turned to its normal apathetic facade, though it was a barely noticeable change, "See that you do. Now that we are all aware of why we are here, I would like to know your response."

I blinked, "You're giving me a choice?"

Danzo nodded, "It is a lot more productive to train someone who is willing to go through the effort. If you decline we will have to remove your memories of this encounter. You would have fallen unconscious from chakra exhaustion during your training and Konoe would have found you and returned you to the orphanage. Afterward, you would eventually go to the Shinobi academy due to your talents and become a shinobi of the leaf or you could live a life of a normal human being. In the end, this meeting would have never happened and you could live whatever life you choose to."

"That's..." I began to think. I knew my memory was foggy, but I was sure Danzo was much less agreeable..."I see, then I accept. I don't believe I can survive another day at the orphanage and I feel like the academy won't teach me all that you plan to have me learn."

"That is the best choice." Danzo started with a nod before looking at Konoe, "As for you, your negligence must not go without consequence." I swear there was a ghost of a smirk on his face as he continued, "As of this moment you are coming out of your inactive state and you will return to full duty as this boy's trainer and overseer. I expect that he will excel under your care."

Kotoe accepted with a smile, "I will endeavor to exceed your expectations, Lord Danzo. He will certainly blossom under my tutelage."

"Then we are finished." Danzo started. "I feel that it is unnecessary to mention, but I agree with your decision to train Yoru and he is yours to oversee as you see fit. Within reason of course. Now, you are dismissed."

"Thank you, Lord Danzo." The now active shinobi bowed before leaving the room and I followed her in stride. As soon as we left the room, however, Kotoe suddenly put a hand on my shoulder and I felt my surroundings twist.

I felt my legs buckle and my head spin before I was able to calm down my nausea, "That was uncalled for." I stated blandly.

"You took that better than I thought..." She muttered in disappointment before saying, "Always expect the unexpected."

"...Right."

With that, I took a look at my surroundings and noticed that I was in a well-lit living space. It was a well-kept establishment as everything was neat, orderly, and/or clean. The area of the place was small, most likely an apartment, with the kitchen connected directly to the living area. There was a small table in the dining area and a couple couches in the living room.

Finally, there were a couple of doors, most likely leading to a bathroom and a bedroom. All in all, it looked like a solid place to live for a single person.

"...nice place." I absentmindedly noted.

The woman I was addressing nodded, "Thank you. Now as you know I'll be your Teacher and I expect to be addressed as such. I will probably run you through the basics today, but we will truly start training tomorrow. Help yourself to any food or beverage in this house. Do you have any questions."

A couple actually, but I asked the only one I actually cared about for the moment, "Where will I sleep?"

She showed a slight smile as she answered, "Of course we need to grow closer together as Student and Teacher, so you will be sleeping with me."

I nodded simply, and she seemed pleased by my response before she looked at me curiously, "Why exactly do you have a mask? I'm genuinely curious if there's any other reason, but it's fine if you don't want to tell."

My gaze was unemotional as I replied, "….my face changed…a lot"

I noted that one of her brows shop up in curiosity as she asked, "Why would your face suddenly change? And how bad could it be that you would hide it under a mas-" She paused as I removed my mask and showed her my face. "You definitely look different from before...how?"

"Probably bloodline or something, though I have the feeling that making me look good isn't all that it does." I replied.

She nodded with a thoughtful look, "All bloodlines have some kind of use especially ones that change your physical structure. Tell me, have you felt any differences in your body?"

I decided to tell her a partial truth. It would help me down the line if she understood that my physical limits were very little and that she wouldn't have to worry about overtraining me. "I've felt like I have more stamina and I think my chakra has increased a little."

She praised me for a moment before asking, "flare it."

And so I did.

She looked at me with a lot of interest, "This is actually quite amazing, almost like an Uzumaki, but not quite…" she muttered under her breath for a moment before continuing, "Your chakra pool seems to have increased by around 10-15% since the last time I felt you flare your chakra. While I can't measure the amount of stamina you have, of what you are saying is true then this is quite the impressive Bloodline."

"She was pretty accurate." I thought. Currently, my Gamer's Body skill increased my HP, CP, and SP by 12% so in order to so accurately estimate my increase, She must have been a really incredible sensor. I guess this was how she had realized that I had some talent, but then-

"-when was the last time you sensed my chakra?"

"When you were playing hide-and-seek." She responded I paused in thought as I recalled that I had been using my chakra sonar skill more than a few times. I had no idea she had been around, but then again she was a skilled shinobi and a sensor. It didn't also help that my sonar range was decently wide so it would have been even harder to have sensed her if she was on the edge of it.

She actually looked at me curiously before she continued, "Actually what were you doing to flare your chakra so wantonly around the area? any half decent sensor in the area could have sensed the signature you were releasing and I don't think they would take to it so kindly. It's a good thing that you all were at the park and not someplace crowded or it might have been disastrous."

"Oops…" I thought before I replied, "I was playing with a new technique that I created…"

"Ohh?" She asked with thick curiosity.

I decided to explain, "I really didn't feel like running around looking for those kids in the forest, so I decided to try to find them through sensing their small chakra signatures somehow…and so I created a technique to do so."

"You created a chakra sensing technique to play…hide-and-seek?"

"…yes?"

She sighed tiredly, "I'm not sure if I should classify you as immensely brilliant or enormously dull."

"…"

"So?" She continued, looking straight at me, "how well does this technique of yours work?"

"So far I can sense anything in a 180-meter radius, however, in the beginning, I could only sense 10 meters. I know that I can improve the range of the technique as long as I practice, but I'm hoping that I could evolve it into something better…and more subtle."

"Yes, you do that." She said, "While this technique isn't really subtle, it can still be useful in reconnaissance, but if you can somehow improve upon it and make it less crude, then it will be like you became an actual natural born sensor. Very useful in the field."

I nodded my head before she asked, "Is there anything else?"

I paused for a moment before I explained, "I feel like I still have room to grow and that my ability might improve with some training, but I can't be sure."

Now she looked even more interested, "If you can increase your chakra by so much just by your bloodline awakening, but you can still grow." She muttered a little before concluding, "...no harm in trying. Worse that happens is that this is the limit…" she looked towards me with a smile, "You really make things more interesting don't you Yoru?"

I nodded. "I try to exceed expectations Teacher."

She nodding in satisfaction before asking me, "Do you want me to get your a proper face mask?"

I nodded in agreement before I responded, "If it is not so much of a bother to you, It'll make things a little easier for me."

"Then I'll see that I get something like that for you." She said with a nod. "Anything else I should be concerned about?"

I thought for a moment before shaking my head in the negative. She nodded at my response then continued, "Now then…" she started, pulling a piece of blank white paper, "I assume you know what this is right? I would hope all those times I brought you books from the library amounted to something."

I furrowed my brows at that as I could vaguely recall that ever happening…I internally shook myself from those thoughts and nodded my head. "Yes Chakra paper to test my affinity(s). I just channel a little bit of chakra inside and then the paper will react in 1 or more of 5 ways depending on my natural affinity.

Fire: the paper will ignite and turn to ash.

Wind: the paper will split in two.

Lightning: the paper will wrinkle.

Earth: the paper will turn to dirt and crumble away.

Water: the paper will become wet/damp.

I'm pretty sure that's how it goes."

She nodded, "I'm glad you remember, this saves me the effort of explaining this to you. Since you already know how to use it, let's see what you got."

With a nod, I took the chakra paper into my hand and channeled a small amount of chakra into the paper.

It became damp and split in two: One half turned to dirt and crumbled away and the other half ignited and wrinkled at the same time. It was important to note that this entire thing happened almost instantaneously with seemingly no gap between each process the chakra paper went through.

Natural Water Affinity (Passive) Lvl 1 [2.50%]

Your Natural Water Affinity allows you to more naturally manipulate and control Water style ninjutsu.

Passively increases Water effects by 0.25%.

Reduces the cost of Water Style Ninjutsu by 0.50%.

Increases experience gain when learning and using Water techniques by 50%

Natural Wind Affinity (Passive) Lvl 1 [2.50%]

Your Natural Wind Affinity allows you to more naturally manipulate and control wind style ninjutsu.

Passively increases Wind Jutsu effects 0.25%.

Reduces cost of Wind Style Ninjutsu by 0.5%.

Increases experience gain when learning and using Wind techniques by 50%

Natural Lightning Affinity (Passive) Lvl 1 [2.50%]

Your Natural Lightning Affinity allows you to more naturally manipulate and control Lightning style ninjutsu.

Passively increases Lightning Jutsu effects 0.25%.

Reduces cost of Lightning Style Ninjutsu by 0.50%.

Increases experience gain when learning and using Lightning techniques by 50%

Natural Fire Affinity (Passive) Lvl 1 [2.50%]

Your Natural Fire Affinity allows you to more naturally manipulate and control Fire style ninjutsu.

Passively increases Fire effects 0.25%.

Reduces cost of Fire Style Ninjutsu by 0.50%.

Increases experience gain when learning and using Fire techniques by 50%

Natural Earth Affinity (Passive) Lvl 1 [2.50%]

Your Natural Earth Affinity allows you to more naturally manipulate and control Earth style ninjutsu.

Passively increases Earth effects by 0.25%.

Reduces cost of Earth Style Ninjutsu by 0.50%.

Increases experience gain when learning and using Fire techniques by 50%

"..."

"..."

"...Help yourself to the fridge. I'll be out for a while to gather materials for your training." Without even waiting to see my reply, my teacher disappeared in a swirl of leaves and left me in her house. I didn't know wether or not I should have felt bad for her, so I opted for indifference. She was a well-trained shinobi; she would get over it.

I shrugged then plopped down on the couch and thought about what I could do. Hmm well, I could finally do physical exercise without worrying about getting caught, but I was going to be trained anyway. The only reason I hadn't done so when I was in the orphanage was that I had no idea what kind of individual I was in the 4 years blank period in my memory, so if I suddenly started doing something I normally wouldn't have, I might have been suspect. I might have been worrying too much, but since Kotoe had apparently been watching over me for a while, I probably did the right thing in just acting mostly indifferent.

It was only now that I noticed I was quite hungry, so I went to the fridge to check up what kind of food she had. Hmm eggs, Greek yogurt, a bunch of fruits and vegetables, some milk, and finally cheese. Yeah, that looked about right. A seasoned shinobi should have proper nutrition to aid in their training and growth. Well, she did say to help myself, so I made a smoothie with the milk, fruits, Greek yogurt, and ice that I found in the freezer. Then I made an omelet with eggs tomatoes, spinach, and Mozzarella cheese...

Ping!

Congratulations, The skill 'Cooking' has been created!

Cooking (Passive) Lvl 10 [34.5%]

The ability on how to cook meals and how good it turns out. Current level allows you to make somewhat complex meals such as lasagna, baked pasta, complex soups, etc. Hint: Some meals can only be made when using a recipe or having watched someone teach you how to cook it.

Increases cooking speed by 10% (instant meals aren't affected).

Increases the success of creating a new dish by 10%

Increases how well the meal taste by 10% (instant meals aren't affected)

"Neat."

It's important to note that since I was so damn short, I had to use a stool to properly use the appliances on the kitchen. I couldn't wait till I grew up, but I hoped I didn't become too tall or anything, maybe around 6 feet or 1.9ish meters tall would be alright.

With those passing thoughts, I made my way to the kitchen counter and enjoyed my simple meal of eggs and a smoothie while I waited for my teacher to come back from whatever it was she was doing.

Suddenly-

"I'm back."

I had to force down my heart from lurching out my throat and I coughed as some of my food got stuck in my esophagus. After gulping my smoothie to get the food down, I looked at Kotoe who had just appeared behind me.

"Can you not do that?" I asked plainly.

"Always expect the unexpected." She replied before unceremoniously dumping a stack of books, a stack of tags that had fuuinjutsu seals on it, Kunai, and Shuriken. "These are going to be your training materials for some time before we go to more advanced material."

I gulped down a piece of the omelet I had put in my mouth before looking at the title of the books she brought, "Chakra Theory, Chakra flow in Hand Seals, Different Aspects of Chakra, Human Anatomy and Physiology." I then took up one of the tags and looked at Kotoe, "And these are for…?"

"Restriction Tags." She stated before explaining, "They help restrict your body's natural movements by a maximum of 10 times, however, they can only last a day at most and are stupidly expensive. However, I want to test how drastically your body will improve with such restrictions placed on them. I also don't want to risk stunting your growth by letting you play with weights, so this is a better alternative."

She then pointed at the books, "You are a smart kid, so I expect you to quickly grasp the more intricate details on chakra such as its different aspects and how it interacts with us through the use of Hand-seals."

I nodded then asked, "So what do you want for me to work on now?"

The kunoichi picked up a tag and slapped it on the back of my neck and I could suddenly feel my body become more...well restricted. "The paper tags eventually 'burn out' so to speak when a lot of chakra flows through it over time. This is more so due to the nature of the Restriction seal than the paper itself, but I digress. For now, I want you to read all those books on chakra theory while being restricted by 3x. It'll be thrice as hard to move around so you should be able to get a decent amount of exercise in. Tomorrow we will start with our real training."

With that, she took the omelet that I had yet to finish and had the audacity to eat it in my face. "Not bad Yoru. You might actually make a woman happy one day." Then she just up and tossed the plate in the sink and left me alone in the living room table with a stack of books in my hands.

"This will take some time."

Day 3

Yesterday had been day 2 of my training in which I still had a stack of books to read. You know Kotoe seemed to have a lot of faith in my ability to learn and process this information. Either that or she only expected me to understand enough about chakra that she wouldn't have to teach me about it. Honestly, there was a lot of intricacies about chakra that I hadn't known about before and would take too long to even fully explain. Pretty much Chakra is a combination of spiritual and physical energies that can be increased through training and meditation though everyone had a limit to how much their chakra could grow and I wondered if that applied to me?...though that got me wondering why my Meditation skill didn't increase my maximum CP?

Analyzing Error…

Error Located…

Patching Error…

Error Patched…

For locating an error in a skill description, You have been rewarded +5 Stat Points.

Meditation (Active) Lvl 15 [48.67%].

Meditation is a skill created through continuous inner focus. Meditation helps to sharpen focus and order thoughts, and it increases clarity of mind and awareness of the body.

Passively increase INT by 30%.

Passively increase WIS by 30%.

Passively increase ENGY by 30%

HP and CP regeneration increase by 150% when active.

(NOTE: Cannot be activated during combat. At higher levels, you are able to better sit still and the rate of HP and CP regeneration increases.)

"Neat." Well, that solved that mystery. I certainly didn't feel like my CP had increased so this may have more just have been a visual error than an actual anatomical one. Due to the restriction seals, I had also managed to gain +3 STR, +3 VIT, and +3 DEX but since that had all happened in the span on only a couple days, well I still had a lot of room to grow.

Name: Yorudan

Race: Human?

Level: Lvl 1 Next Level: 100/200

HP: 672/672 Regen: (7.5 per min)

CP: 1100/1100 Regen: (7.15 per min)

CC: 30%

STR: 10

VIT: 11

DEX: 11

INT: 15

WIS: 14

ENGY: 15

Points: 12

Ryo: 1000

Now my teacher and I were at an empty training ground that with targets all set up and in front of me were kunai and shuriken laid about. The kicker was that I had a restriction tag placed upon my body.

"Now, you have 10 Kunai and shuriken and 10 targets set up. I want you to try and hit as many of those targets as you can with the restriction seal on. I don't expect you to get any right away, so take your time. Afterward, when you can finally hit at least 3, we will go do some basic physical conditioning to get your body to the right fitness level. If you are still all-awake by the end of the day, you may go back home and we will call it a day."

I definitely know you were about to say 'alive'...Regardless I nodded in affirmative and got to work with my sadistic teacher.

Ping!

Daily Quest Alert!

Training Arc

Your beautiful but sadistic teacher is setting you up for the worst torment of your foreseeable life, however, if your live up to and surpass her expectations, you will benefit greatly. Complete all the following requirements for as many days as Kotoe places you on this regime.

Objective 1: Hit at least 5 targets with your kunai.

Objective 2: Hit at least 5 targets with your Shuriken.

Objective 3: Complete 2 hours Worth of physical Conditioning.

Objective 1 Completion: +100 EXP, +1 Reputation with Kotoe

Objective 2 Completion: +100 EXP, +1 Reputation with Kotoe

Objective 3 Completion: +200 EXP, +2 Reputation with Kotoe

Failure: Kotoe is secretly giving you 10 days to live up to her expectations.

-1 Reputation with Kotoe if you fail to complete objective 1 or 2 in 10 days and every day after.

-2 Rep with Kotoe if you fail to complete objective 3 in 10 days and every day after

Do You Accept?

Y/N

Only 10 days? I instantly clicked yes and focused my gaze on the targets before me. I believed that with my body and skills, I would be able to better handle all the things that she would throw my way. With a determined gaze, I strained to pick up a kunai before throwing it as Kotoe had taught me. Needless to say, it veered a little (way) off course since it was my first time.

"This might take a while…"

Day 30

The dull thumping sound of metal hitting against wood sounded out as all ten kunai I threw landed dead center in the targets. Without pause, I took out 10 shurikens from my ninja tool pouch, 5 in each hand, and tossed them towards the 10 different targets. I was rewarded with a 'thud' signaling that they had hit and I looked to see that they had landed dead center as well.

Congratulations, 'Kunai & Shuriken Mastery' has leveled up by 1!

Kunai & Shuriken Mastery (Passive) Lvl 45 [0.70%]

Kunai & Shuriken Mastery increases with the level of skill you have with Kunai and shuriken.

Increases damage when using Kunai & Shuriken by 45%

Increases accuracy when using Kunai & Shuriken by 45% in battle

Increases accuracy when using Kunai & Shuriken by 90% out of battle

A clapping sound broke me out of my reverie as I noticed my teacher come out from her hiding spot in the trees. She was looking at me with pride, but she sighed as she spoke, "To think it only took you 5 days to hit at least 5 of the targets when you had your movements restricted to ⅓. Now you can easily hit all targets dead center even after you have your movements restricted to 1/4. And to top it all off, you had managed to survive 2 hours of physical exercise even with the restrictions on your movements on." She shook her head as she looked at me exasperated, "What am I going to do with such a genius like you?" She asked.

I merely shook my head, "I wouldn't say I'm a genius but that I'm hardworking. Terms like 'Genius' rub me the wrong way. It makes me feel like I simply gained all my abilities and never actually earned them." I stated lightly, conveniently ignoring that I pretty much had just gained a lot of my abilities.

She rubbed my head as she spoke, "Alright then hard worker, today will be the last day I have you on this regimen as we will be finally starting some shinobi training such as combat, stealth, survival training, interrogation, etc. I do expect you to continue this kind of training, however. We wouldn't want to get rusty now would we?"

"Of course not Teacher"

She nodded with a smile, "Then get to your physical conditioning exercise."

With a nod, I leaped up to the trees and traveled to a more secluded but larger training ground. It was covered in short grass and was the perfect place to do some laps. Kotoe had me doing the basics of the basics so that it wouldn't have too much of a detrimental effect on me, though the amount she had me do made me wonder…

It was a basic physical work out where I did as many pushups as I could until my arms died, then I would do as many sit-ups as I could until my abs cramped, then as many squats as I could until my legs gave out, then I had to run for as long as possible. The first few days were definitely challenging, but my highly adaptable Gamer's Body allowed me to survive this torture session quite easily.

But regardless of everything, I deeply appreciated my Teacher. She acted like a hardass all the time during training, but she was kind afterward.

On a side-note, I had this running theory that Chakra was the reason why shinobi could train so hard at such a young age without many detrimental effects. I mean how else could Kakashi become a chunin level shinobi at the age of 6?

With those and many other random thoughts running through my head, I completed my 2-hour physical exercise for today, but as I looked at a skill of mine, I decided to continue going for a little longer till it leveled up.

Congratulations, 'Physical Conditioning' has leveled up by 1!

Physical Conditioning (Passive) Lvl 10 [1.08%]

Physical Conditioning is a skill that measures the strength, health, and overall fitness of the user's body. It is a passive skill in which the user trains their body to enhance both bodily function and physical capabilities.

Passively increase STR by 20%.

Passively increase VIT by 20%.

Passively increase DEX by 20%

Passively increase ENGY by 20%

I slightly smiled under my mask at the bonuses I received. I was honestly surprised that I had even gotten a skill like this, but it actually made sense. This skill was like the physical equivalent of the Meditation skill where instead of improving my mind (INT and WIS), it drastically improved my body and it seemed to be a perfect match for my Gamer's Body. The best part was that since both the training of the mind and body was necessary for increasing chakra, this skill upped my ENGY stat as well. The only downside was that even though I had gone through a month of torturous training, this skill was only level 10. I could see that this skill would be so troublesome to level up later on.

Regardless, I was glad about my results and the progress I had made in this one month. The stronger I grew, the more secure I would be in the future.

I noticed my teacher appear after I had finished my workouts and watched as she scanned me up and down for a moment. "Hey Yoru, flare your chakra for me."

I realized what she wanted to check and so I flared it. I noticed her eyes twitch before she smacked her lips, "I don't even know how I can classify your Kekkei Genkai. Normally an individual would have to train for years to have as much as an increase in chakra as you've had, yet in merely 30 days, you have more than doubled the amount of chakra you had when you had before you awoke your bloodline. Let's not even begin on how drastically your stamina has increased by. I feel like I can increase the restrictions on you without having to worry about tiring you out. It's almost as if your body is...adapting to everything I throw at it."

She gazed at me carefully for a moment before muttering, "and unlike an Uzumaki, you weren't born with such large amounts of Stamina or chakra, instead your body seems to just grow at a ludicrous rate. If it was anyone who didn't know better, they would assume you were just a genius, but your growth rate is clearly unnatural."

"What do you think my bloodline is Sensei?" I asked while wiping the small amounts of perspiration from my body.

The woman rubbed her chin in thought, "Well it seems like your body is able to quickly adapt to any strain placed on it. The amount that your chakra and stamina have increased by shows that your body has quickly adapted and has compensated for your previous lack of them. I'm going to have to test how much your strength and agility has increased by as well to see if they improve as drastically as the rest of your body's capabilities."

She rubbed her forehead as she muttered, "...and I'll have to let Lord Danzo know as well." She sighed as she looked at me, "You never cease to make things more interesting and exhausting, you know."

"I didn't ask to be kidnapped and trained into a secret village organization."

She replied in bemusement, "But you are the one who agreed to all this."

"..."

It was still Day 30 and I had finished my workouts for the day. Usually, after my training, Kotoe would pick me up and make me take a shower before making us something to eat and we would talk about how to progress in my training and what it meant to be a shinobi of the leaf. I didn't mind place enough, but I still knew that no village was perfect and despite what anyone said, while Hidden Leaf was the strongest hidden village, it was not without flaws.

All that aside, Kotoe apparently wanted a 'bonding' session between us as master and student. Kind of surprising really considering she took such joy in watching me squirm while I practiced, but I knew she always had a soft spot. Now here I was in the bathtub.

Naked.

With Kotoe.

Obviously, nothing was actually happening and she was just washing my back. I was accepting it all with a bland look on my face both because of Gamer's Mind and a lack of teenage hormones.

"I'm glad you agreed to this. I think that a proper Student/Teacher relationship should be that in which there is no awkwardness between them. I'm of the belief that it will improve training productivity if both Teacher and Student have fewer barriers between them." Kotoe said, scrubbing my back with a soapy sponge.

"That makes sense...so what do you propose?"

The kunoichi smiled before rinsing the soap off my back and turning me around to wash my front. "Tell me something about yourself. It doesn't have to be specific or anything, but something that I might not have been aware of before. I feel like while we have lived together for around a month, we haven't really gotten to know each other well."

I thought for a moment, "...I don't think there is much about myself that is worth mentioning. I mean I guess the only thing I care about right now is getting stronger."

"Why?" She asked, rubbing my hair with soap. I closed my eyes at her ministrations.

"In order to survive," I said simply while Kotoe poured water over my head to wash out the hair.

"And after you have enough power to survive?" She asked, rubbing my chest with soap.

"Who knows? Probably live out the rest of my days as a hermit or something." I replied after she dumped some water on my chest.

"Pfft." The kunoichi laughed before scrubbing my legs.

After washing me off once more, she gave me the soap and sponge so I lathered the sponge with the soap and began scrubbing her back. I noticed traces of old wounds and scars there and I couldn't help but run my index finger across them. "Why did you become a shinobi? Was it something you chose or…?"

She stayed silent for a moment before replying, "It was mainly by choice, but I guess you could say I didn't have much of one. When I was around your age, there were already signs of destabilization from the aftermath of the 1st shinobi war. Everyone knew that the armistice between the Five great countries would only last so long before the situation completely collapsed. It was around that time that the village started actively try and gather potential for the coming storm."

I listened attentively to her tale while pouring a bucket of warm water down her back. It only took a moment before she continued, "I was an orphan then just like you were now. I couldn't remember my parents at all nor had they left anything that would allow me to find their identities, but it didn't matter. Orphans more often than not became shinobi if only to find an easy way out of their miserable lives. It was very bad during my time as the economic situation of the hidden villages was crumbling yet more and more money was being put into training more soldiers as opposed to the improvement of the village as a whole. Naturally, the orphanage received setbacks and as a result, most trained to become shinobi so that they could make a name and living for themselves."

I could sense a sort of humorless mirth in her tone as she continued, "Of course many of them didn't and simply died half-way. Those who were able to make something out of themselves usually died the quickest if they weren't strong enough. It was around the time when I was 12 that the war began in full bloom and I had already trained as a shinobi for around 7 years by that time. I was lucky to barely survive to that age, to be honest, and if it hadn't been for my teammates at the time supporting me, I would have died, but-"

She paused for a second before looking then rubbing an old but visible wound on her stomach, "Fast forward six years and around a year ago, they died trying to help me escape an enemy ambush. This was something I obtained at that time ago due to my negligence and as a result, I got a mark to remember it by."

I looked at it carefully and poked it with my finger. "Kunai…".

"Pierced my stomach cleanly." She replied, smiling. "I would have eventually bled out, but luckily the battle had taken place near the village borders and I had been saved by some patrolling ninja. Long story short, My injuries put me out of commission for a while, but my abilities as a sensor were still useful. I was contacted by Danzo and came into his service to help him protect the Leaf from the inside which was why I was technically 'Inactive' but I still went to the occasional recon. I worked at your Orphanage for most of the time as a result of my past and to tried to help the children there as best as I could. If I found someone with potential-"

"-You would 'politely' drag them to your secret hideout and ask if they wanted to do more for their village. If they declined, well that meeting had never actually happened and they would be left alone." I said

"I at the very least wanted to give them the ability to choose something for themselves as opposed to completely being deprived of choice like how I had been during the war." Kotoe then sighed as she resumed, "But unfortunately, that option may soon be unable to them."

"...Another war." I stated instead of asked to which she nodded. I poured soap into my hands and ran it through her hair. I wasn't sure if it was good for her hair or not but I highly doubted she cared for that sort of thing. "…You never really had the choice of becoming a ninja because it was either that or living a worse life in the streets due to decaying economic situations. Due to circumstances, you eventually were able to work with Danzo and try to help out children as much as you can. In the end you want to give them the option to choose their futures, but-" I said rinsing out her hair, "-you know that in the end that choice may again be taken away from them, however-" I tilted my head, "you are definitely happy about the choice I made."

I suddenly found myself in between two large soft things, but I was unable to enjoy the sensation as I was suffocating. I flailed my arms in a futile attempt to get free, but all I could hear was Kotoe's amused voice, "Sometimes being too smart isn't a good thing you cheeky brat." and which that she let me go.

I took in the much-needed air and looked at the source of my anguish.

"...Those things are dangerous." I stated blandly.

The owner of those things smiled and started to dry me off before stating, "It's about time we head off to bed. We are going to be doing something new tomorrow and you'll need to be rested up."

I nodded my head as she finished and then I dried her off as well. Afterward, she went to bed, not bothering to put on clothes, so I followed suit, though I did put on my face mask.

I've grown fond of the thing.

With that, I plopped on the bed in my birthday suit and asked Kotoe something that had been bothering me for some time. "...Sensei, how do you feel a ninja should handle their emotions?" I may have been a bit foggy on a lot about Danzo, but I did have the memory of his ROOT shinobi being mindless drones, yet Kotoe was nothing like that and in fact, while she wasn't the most expressive individual, she also wasn't emotionless and could express her emotions normally. I noticed how she looked at me as if wondering what brought about this question and I replied, "I know you've been with me long enough to notice that I have a very dulled emotional capacity, so I was just wondering…"

Lie successful!

Congratulations, 'Lying' has leveled up by 1!

She regarded me for a little before replying, "To be honest, you'll get a variety of answers depending on the individual. Lord Danzo, however, is of the belief that a shinobi should have impeccable control of their emotions, to the point where they could almost wear them as a mask. He believes that any decent shinobi should have enough control to feel whatever emotions they are projecting to the point where they can almost deceive themselves. That is how he trained his shinobi and that is what I believe in as well."

Seeing me look contemplatively, she simply stated, "Don't worry about something like that for now. We will have time to work on expressing yourself more, so worry about tomorrow instead." And with that, she went to sleep.

"This place...is really different."

(This author's note in between the two lines was created while I was on chapter 25) Author's Note: I don't think I understand what so many people dislike about my story up to chapter 3 (or maybe it's just something in chapter 3?). Like, yeah I don't think it's the greatest story up till that point nor do I believe my beginning chapters were all that, but I don't think it should be getting so much…hatred. I dunno, almost all the negative reviews I've seen for my story (and I mean all negative with no constructive criticism) have been about how I've glorified my MC to high heaven and, as one review so kindly put it, "Kissing my own ass". I would really like to know what is wrong with the first three chapters of my story to elicit that kind of response since those reviews have all been written at chapter 3. For all of you who have made it to this chapter, is there anything so terribly wrong with my writing that someone would feel the need to simply drop it after three chapters? Or am I just overreacting? If it really is that bad, tell me what the issue with it is. I don't think I'll rewrite any of the beginning chapters, but the input would be useful for my subsequent chapters.

Pretty much he gets kidnapped and trained so yeah. Also, do note that Yoru is only 4 so no weird shit is happening between them at all. It was literally a bonding thing and Kotoe is an experienced shinobi who has been out in the field many times. Showing a little skin for her isn't anything, especially to a child who is 4. I just need to explain before I get some weird ass pedo PM's.