Power of the soul

Chapter 2

It's been a month since I started the ninja academy and I already hate it.

…

…

Loud. That could only describe the atmosphere of the room I was in. Young children shouting in excitement for stuff I wouldn't dare to understand or even care about.

"New limited edition Ninja action figure" or "Did you see the latest episode of Dragon Ball Super?". The same shit is spoken every day. Almost as if they are mindless creatures not bothered by anything else in this world. Aren't day ashamed of themselves? We are here to learn how to become a shinobi, not some childish hero.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that? I mean you have your nose on something that looks similar to manga…" A muffled voice came from a kid with his head down in his arms.

A vein formed on Zoro's head. "This isn't just any manga, but Monsters, The greatest manga ever to be created"

The head of the voice lifted. "How Im supposed to know this Monsters?

"Everyone should. This manga shows the path of a legendary swordsman, someone who is higher in strength than anyone else he encounters. Someone who I'll become and definitely overcome!"

A sweat drop fell from the boy's head. "And again how does that make you different from anyone else?"

"It's simple"

A small grin appeared in Zoro's face

"That path that I choose has already started, the day I was born"

…

"For someone stupid, you sure have big dreams"

And just like that, The grin disappeared

"Shut up Shikamaru, your not far from my position as dead last so you should be talking"

"Talk to me once you beat me in shogi"

Before Shikamaru heard a response, a loud authoritative voice bellowed out

"Alright everyone, Class is about to start"

The class started to quiet down enough for the instructor to start her lesson. Zoro turned down the teacher's voice and went back to reading. He didn't see a reason to pay attention to the history of the shinobi world. Plus, there was something he was still interested in. There was a reason he was reading that specific manga. He's read it over a hundred times, all because the main character and he have one similarity. Something he's been trying to analyze the second he noticed it. It was hard to notice at first, but small gestures and movements pointed out something very important. Something he also did due to one ability he has. The ability to see souls.

Or at least that's what he thought it was, but it's not that simple. Simply because not only can the main character see them as well, but he can feel their every move, almost like he can predict the future. This would usually just make him believe it's a big coincidence, but that train of thought got smashed as soon as he realized he could do the same thing if not a weaker version. Ever since he found that out, he invested his time in learning everything he knew about that ability.

His thought process was broken due to the loud bang sound of the door slamming open.

"I'm not late, I'm I? A loud voice shouted

A kid with bright blond hair and blue eyes busted into the room, panting and breathing heavily. It was clear that he was running.

As soon as the instructor saw him, his face got cold, And so did his soul.

He promptly ignored the kid's existence and continued teaching. Something Zoro found very odd but mostly ignored. Naruto looked embarrassed to be the face of attention for something like being late. Looking around to ease his embarrassment, he found a seat right next to a kid with green hair. A foxy grin appeared on his face.

.....

Naruto never understood why no one liked him. That was obvious to him and everyone around him. It used to bother him, but now it's just a minor annoyance. Waking up everyone morning to the knowledge that he was the village poria always annoyed him and demotivated him. Somedays it was so bad he wouldn't want to get out of bed. Unfortunately, today was one of those days. And now here he was, standing in front of the whole class, with everyone staring at him in indifference or annoyance. All Except for one.

A girl with blond hair facepalmed

"Please not today"

"You should be used to this already Ino" A fat kid with swirls in his cheek spoke as he stuffed chips in his face. Finishing his bag, he pulled one out of nowhere and started munching on it too.

"That doesn't mean It's not annoying"

Naruto ran up to the open seat next to Zoro

"Hey moss head" Naruto whispered as he sat next to Naruto

"Shut up, Whisker face"

"What'd you say, dead last?"

"Why does everyone have to mention that?"

A grin appeared on naruto's face "It's okay to be stupid you know?"

"Who are you calling stupid, shit for brains?"

At this point, they were budding foreheads ready to fight. Girn never leaving Naruto's face, Naruto was ready to retort, just before Two fists landed on their heads as an angry Ino whispered

"Shut up both of you"

Naruto fell down in pain while Zoro just glared.

You want another one?"

"Fucking witch" Zoro whispered under his breath

A heavy killing intent settled in the room. Zoro's heart stopped, cold sweat started to form. One thing you should know about Zoro, he isn't afraid of anything, never has, and never will. Expect for his in structure. An irrational fear, that's what he calls it. Almost like the shinigami has his blade settled in his throat, ready to cut at any second.

"That's enough, Stop disrupting the class. And Zoro, I'm sure you don't want what happened last time to happen again today"

With that last sentence spoken, the room felt as if it got a couple of degrees colder.

An Audible "Yes Ma'am" was echoed through the whole room as the group sat down in their seats.

And so, the class continued as if nothing happened.

...…..

Sounds of wood hitting wood were heard all over the training grounds, as a kid with green hair struck a piece of log with a wooden sword with expert precision. His technique was almost perfect, could be noted to be a prodigy in Kenjustu if it wasn't for the weird form he was using. Like it was stated before, almost perfect form. As if something was missing, but he couldn't quite find what.

"You know hitting a piece of log won't change anything in your form right?"

"It's not my form that is the problem naruto, but something else."

"What is it?"

"That's what I'm trying to find out."

Zoro has been practicing this sword style ever since he started the academy. A very short period of time to almost master it, but this specific style came like muscle memory to him.

Three Sword Style. A style used by a God of war centuries ago. They say his form was so good that it seemed like he was using three swords at the same time. The name of this warrior was Asura, God of war, A legend, A king capable of splitting mountains with one slash, cutting through islands with one move, and splitting the world in half if he wanted to. No one was ever able to recreate his style, making it become a myth over the years. All that until Zoro found a book of him in the academy library. The name "The greatest swordsman of all time"

However thats not the only reason why he picked it up. He picked it up because of one thing that the book had, that no other he'd ever seen before had. A soul, one that shined brighter than almost any other ones he's seen so far. Almost as if it wanted to be picked up and opened. And so he did.

Three swords style. I don't get it, I have practiced all the move sets over 100 times but all of them ended the same way. I still don't get the feeling that I have it understood. As if I am missing a big piece of the puzzle.

My thoughts were interrupted when I sensed a stone flying in my direction. I easily dodged it and glared at Naruto.

"What was that for?"

Silence

Naruto's face went from impressed to confusion

"Say Zoro"

"What"

"How were you able to dodge that?"

"What do you mean? I sensed you throwing it at me"

"But I threw it in a blind spot"

"Yeah, but I still-"

"And we have not learned how to sense chakra just yet"

…

"Oh"

One thing to note about ninjas, they have the ability to sense small shifts in the air to locate them in coming attacks. However, just like Hayugas, they all have one blind spot. Or at least what shinobi calls blind spots, but what is more commonly referred to as the perfect timing. When an attack is being sent, a small shift is created in the air, depending on the attack, it will determine how big of the shift is. This can be avoided by understanding the flow around you and controlling it with your chakra. Academy student first years get taught that technic as soon as they unlock their chakra. When not referring to normal elemental-based jutsus, it's referred to as shuriken justu or kunai justu.

Although Naruto didn't perfect it whatsoever, being able to perform it on an academy student should, and would work no questions asked. Simply due to them not being able to sense shifts in chakra yet.

This is no different from Zoro, except for the fact that Zoro didn't sense any chakra, but just sensed it coming. As if it appeared in his head as a flying object coming to attack him. Just like him being able to sense souls with his eyes closed.

This is like Ryuma, but I don't get it. Being able to see souls and sense attacks coming like the Hyugas should be impossible. I can't see chakra but instead, I'm seeing souls.

His eyes opened wide as he came to a sudden realization.

I'm not just seeing souls, but I'm seeing the manifestation of someone's soul. Just like the Hyuga, their white eyes are able to see chakra pathways and the core of a shinobi. They are also able to view the world in almost a 360 point of view, making it a strong ability, but still just an ability out of all the other ones shinobi can do. What have is just an ability, one that I manifested when I was born, meaning this might not be the only one I have.

He put his wooden sword and book down and walked up towards the wooden log. "With the power of the soul, anything is possible." A quote he read in a book while looking into his ability. Raising his fist in a traditional academy taijutsu stance, he concentrated. While using chakra, you must guide the chakra into wherever you want to perform a jutsu. However, with chakra, you can also use it to enhance your physical strength. Chakra is a mixture of your soul and physical strength. Meaning that the same tactic should function for using your soul as an energy force.

Putting all his focus on his soul to grasp a feel of it. At first, he felt nothing, it was all empty void, as if there was nothing there to begin with. He stood there for what felt like hours looking for warmth, cold, or anything that indicated that he was getting close. And then it happened. A strong feeling of ice-cold iron passed through his whole body, originating from his chest. He grabbed it and pulled it as strong as he could into his arm, guiding it almost with force, holding his concentration in order to not lose the feeling. Opening his eyes, his jaw slightly dropped. His hand was surrounded by a glistening gray-like material, almost like metal. A huge devilish grin appeared on his face. Turning back to the log, He took a deep breath and prepared to strike it. Immediately he felt a difference in his speed. Like lightning, his fist hit the log with thunderous force, splitting the log almost in half, carving a whole bigger than his fist, and sending small chips of wood everywhere.

His own laughter filled the silent clearing as Naruto just stood there in shock. The laughter got louder, becoming crazed and almost insane. It stayed like that for a couple of minutes before it started dying down.

"Yo zoro, you good?"

With the grin never leaving his face, he looked up at the sky and declared in a whisper.

"I'm close, I can just feel it!"