Chapter 13 - Chakra Control?

'After Hana's birthday events, there's really nothing to do.'

Staring at the almost empty streets with few travelers, Ayumu pondered, boredom getting the best of him. He was so bored that he decided to skip his library visit and kunai training to work with his grandfather and mother at their local cake shop.

The cake shop was something they had poured a lot of energy into over the years, especially since it became their only source of income after his father's untimely passing a few years back.

'I meant to help out, but with barely any customers there nothing I can really do' Ayumu thought.

He meant to come here to help out, but with barely any customers, he found himself pacing around the shop, looking for something interesting. He watched the passing roads, walked around the benches, observed his mother making cupcakes, and helped his grandfather with tasks he found annoying due to his grandfather's missing leg.

"Speaking of help, someone isn't much help at all," he muttered, turning his head towards someone, with a strange glint in his eyes.

In the direction he was looking, Ayakashi, the strange, friendly owl, was pecking at something on the bench, that something being cake. As if sensing someone looking down on him, Ayakashi turned his head, eventually meeting eyes with Ayumu, then impatiently turning back to his cake as if nothing else mattered.

This caused Ayumu, who was watching the strange owl, to say out loud with a tinge of worry in his voice, "Is grandfather sure this owl can be a good summoning beast?" He had been increasingly worried about this over the last few days, wondering if he made the right decision.

As he voiced his concerns, a voice cut in from behind him. "It should be. I'm surprised the bird is so docile."

It was Ayumu's grandfather, responding to Ayumu and catching him by surprise—not because of the words, but because he hadn't expected his grandfather to respond. His muttering was mainly meant as a personal monologue.

"Yeah, hopefully," responded Ayumu. He then said to his grandfather, "There aren't many customers so far today."

"It was kind of expected. There's not much to celebrate, plus it's winter. The weather scares some people off," Hajime said, seemingly unconcerned about the lack of traffic in the shop.

Listening to his grandfather's words caused Ayumu to wonder, 'Yeah, usually there would be something like Christmas decorations at this time of year, but they just don't have anything like that in the Hidden Sand. There does seem to be something like New Year's in a few weeks, though.'

His grandfather then continued, his face becoming more worried, "Plus, the village sent out a lot of ninja toward the border a few weeks back."

Ayumu nodded, understanding the implications. "Some of my friends' parents have been leaving the village for longer periods of time," he said softly, glancing at his grandfather.

Hajime sighed, looking out the window. "Yes, things are getting tense. We must be prepared for anything," he said, his voice heavy with concern.

Ayumu eventually brought up the topic that had been on his mind for a while. "Grandpa, there's something I want to learn," he started hesitantly.

Hajime raised an eyebrow, curious. "Oh? What's that, Ayumu?"

Ayumu took a deep breath before continuing. "I want to learn the trick Shin did with the paper on his forehead. I remember you said learning illusions is difficult and requires good chakra control. I want to make progress over the winter before I go to the academy so I can reach my goal of doing Genjutsu faster."

Hajime's expression shifted to one of thoughtful consideration. "Ah, that technique. It's a basic chakra control exercise. If you're serious about learning it, I can guide you."

Ayumu nodded eagerly, determination in his eyes. "I am serious, Grandpa. I want to learn it. Can we start this weekend?"

Hajime smiled, proud of his grandson's resolve. "Alright then. Since you're so excited to get started, we could actually begin now." His eyes twinkled with amusement and pride.

Ayumu looked surprised but excited. "Do you have the sheet of paper Shin used?" He was eager to dive into the task, trying to get started immediately.

His grandfather didn't respond right away. Instead, he reached into his pocket, shifting his hand and fingers as if trying to grip something elusive. Eventually, he brought out a piece of paper similar to the one Shin had that day, holding it up with a knowing smile.

"You see, I knew you would most likely bring this up, so I brought this just to handle the situation," Hajime explained, his voice filled with a hint of anticipation and foresight.

'How did he know I would ask?' Ayumu thought, looking at his grandfather, surprised by the whole encounter. As Ayumu prepared to respond, his grandfather continued, "I knew you would get bored of sitting around the shop. It's always empty at this time; a curious child like yourself would definitely get bored," giving further explanation.

Ayumu couldn't help but smile at his grandfather's foresight. "Thanks, Grandpa," he said, taking the paper from Hajime's hand. "So, how exactly do I start with this chakra control exercise?"

Hajime motioned for him to sit down on one of the benches and began explaining the basics. "It's quite simple in theory but requires practice. You must focus your chakra into the paper and try to make it stick to your forehead. This will help you learn to control the flow of your chakra more precisely."

"So, just feeling my chakra and then moving it to my forehead in a steady flow?" Ayumu asked to make sure he understood the goal.

His grandfather nodded in approval.

Ayumu then sat down and placed the paper on his forehead.

'So I just need to bring the chakra up to my forehead; this shouldn't be too difficult,' he thought.

He closed his eyes to concentrate, tilting his head back slightly to keep the paper in place without using his hand. He rested both hands near his stomach, with them slightly touching each other.

Ayumu was already adept at feeling his chakra, allowing him to move it throughout his body.

He started by sensing the chakra in his head. The chakra network ran throughout his whole body, and he decided to manipulate the head first, slightly interfering with the natural flow to get the hang of it.

'This feels almost like the correct place. It's easier to move chakra here; this should be what they call a chakra point' Ayumu thought as he noticed more chakra gathering at a certain point in the center of his forehead.

As he was getting the hang of it, a voice interrupted, "The paper fell." This caught Ayumu by surprise, causing him to open his eyes and grab the paper from his grandfather's hand.

His grandfather asked, "How did it feel?" since he couldn't see Ayumu's chakra moving.

"It was pretty easy moving the chakra in my forehead. I noticed a point where my chakra gathers," Ayumu explained, ending with his theory, "I think I need to project that chakra outside of my head."

'He's pretty smart. I wasn't expecting him to notice the chakra point so early. Let's see what he does before I instruct him further,' Hajime pondered, thinking over what his grandson had just told him.

"You're on the right track," he decided to assure his grandson.

Ayumu, hearing this assurance, decided to attempt the exercise again.

'Push out, push out,' he repeated in his head, trying to push the chakra out of his body. He made some progress, with the chakra slowly draining out of his chakra network, almost connecting with the paper. Then he noticed something odd. "My chakra is not staying straight," he observed as his chakra slightly turned crooked as it left his body, causing the paper to fall again.

Around 45 minutes passed, with trial and error Ayumu finally got his chakra to line up straight, but struggled to keep the paper stuck when he lowered his forehead. The whole problem stomping him,

Noticing Ayumu worry his grandfather offered his first piece advice since this whole training started " You might be focusing on too many points, only focus on one" the same advice he gave to Shin a few days back, when he was practicing.

This bringing shock to Ayumu as he had multiply points he was focusing on.

He then tried again. Instead of scattering his chakra in multiple points, he focused on just one.

'Alright, focus on one point,' Ayumu thought, taking a deep breath. 'I need to gather my chakra and direct it to a single spot. No distractions, no scattering.' He closed his eyes again, this time with a clearer goal. He visualized a single stream of chakra flowing steadily to the center of his forehead.

'Concentrate, steady…' he repeated in his mind, feeling the energy gather and intensify at the chosen point. Slowly but surely, he felt the chakra begin to project outward, more controlled and straight than before.

'There it is, keep it steady,' he urged himself, sensing the chakra connecting with the paper. This time the paper seemed to adhere more firmly to his forehead.

'It's working,' Ayumu thought, a sense of accomplishment washing over him. 'Just keep it focused, don't lose concentration.' He maintained his focus, feeling the paper stick as if it were a part of him.

Slowly, Ayumu began to lower his head, anxious but determined to keep the paper in place. He remembered his grandfather's advice, focusing intently on the single point of chakra. As his head tilted downward, the paper remained stuck to his forehead, a clear sign he had successfully done it.

Almost a minute passed with the paper still stuck to his forehead.

'He's progressed so fast, he's even better than Shin, who has been trying for weeks. If I had given him advice from the start, maybe he could have done it on the first few tries,' the shocked Hajime thought.

"Good job, Ayumu, this is the fastest I've seen someone do this," his grandfather praised, seeing the determination and effort pay off.

Ayumu couldn't help but smile, his heart racing with excitement.

Meanwhile, his grandfather noticed a customer entering the shop.

"You keep doing this until you can do multiple other things while keeping the paper, that should improve your control by a ton." his grandfather advised, before turning his attention to the new arrival.

Ayumu took his advice seriously, getting back to practicing, this time finding it easier to keep the chakra steady.