By the time Rin turned two, she could already express herself quite clearly.
One evening, just as Kenichi returned home from a short C-rank mission, not even having had the chance to set down his ninja gear, a small figure launched straight into his arms.
"Daddy!" Rin looked up at him, her amber eyes gleaming. "Teach me chakra!"
Kenichi froze for a moment, then let out a chuckle. Squatting down, he ruffled her soft hair.
"Little Rin, you're still too young. Chakra training usually starts at age five."
Rin puffed up her cheeks and grabbed onto his forehead protector.
"I don't care! I want to learn now!"
She tugged so hard that Kenichi nearly lost balance and bumped heads with her. Stabilizing himself just in time, he let out a helpless sigh.
"Alright, alright. Daddy will teach you the simplest part."
He sat cross-legged and placed Rin on his lap, gently holding her tiny hands.
"Chakra is energy extracted from within the body. First, you have to calm down and focus on your breathing…"
Rin listened attentively on the surface, but in her mind, she was grumbling:
"I already know all the theory—skip to the practical part!"
Kenichi patiently continued,
"Now, imagine a warm light glowing in your tummy… and slowly guide it throughout your body…"
Rin closed her eyes and followed the instructions.
—Nothing happened.
Seeing the way her little face scrunched up, Kenichi couldn't help but laugh.
"Don't worry, Daddy failed many times when he first tried too."
Rin opened her eyes and gave him a defiant glare.
"Again!"
…
Half an hour later, she still couldn't sense any chakra. Kenichi rubbed his numb legs and picked her up.
"That's enough for today. You worked hard, Rin."
Rin slumped against his shoulder, sulking.
"Could it be… I really don't have talent?"
That night, once Kenichi had fallen sound asleep, Rin quietly slipped out of her little bed and tiptoed outside into the courtyard.
Moonlight spilled across the stone path, casting a silvery glow. She sat down cross-legged and tried extracting chakra again.
"Calm down… Feel the energy…"
She sat at the edge of the porch, her short legs dangling off the side, amber eyes staring intently at her palms. Because Kenichi was worried after teaching her how to extract chakra, he had stayed home with her these past few days instead of taking missions. That meant if Rin wanted to practice, she had to do it in secret at night.
"I guess… I really am too young…"
She sighed and clenched her chubby fists. In the world of shinobi, children usually didn't begin chakra training until around age five. At two, her body's chakra pathways were still underdeveloped—fragile like spiderwebs.
If she pushed too hard, it would end up like the night before—
"Tch…" Rin rubbed her sore wrist. The aftermath of her overexertion had left her hand too weak to even hold a spoon at breakfast, and her grandmother had thought she had simply fallen while playing. But Kenichi had noticed.
Rin quickly wiped the frustration from her face and awkwardly climbed down from the porch. The moment her feet touched the ground, a pair of hands grabbed her from behind and lifted her high into the air.
Kenichi, clearly waiting and prepared, grinned as his rough stubble tickled her cheeks.
"Rin, my little troublemaker. You really snuck out again to train, huh? Do you want to become a ninja that badly?"
He was a Special Jōnin, after all—of course he knew his daughter had been sneaking out every night.
"Put me down!" Rin kicked her legs in protest, but her cries were drowned out by his hearty laughter.
"Alright, how about this? Your body's still too weak, so tomorrow, Daddy will visit a friend and bring back some herbs to help you train properly, okay? But no more sneaking off alone. Chakra extraction is dangerous without an adult around."
Rin lowered her lashes and nodded obediently.
"Okay."
—As if.
The moment the sun rose and Kenichi left the house, Rin resumed her secret training.
She took a deep breath and cleared her thoughts. But repeated practice was beginning to wear on her small body—pain began to prickle faintly across her limbs.
Suddenly, she opened her eyes.
There, floating above her palm, were several translucent, pink petals shimmering under the daylight.
"What… is this?"
She reached out to touch one, but her finger passed right through. The petals seemed like illusions… yet they were undeniably there.
"Could this be… my cheat ability?"
Rin's heart began to race. She focused her thoughts, trying to control them. As she did, the petals slowly rose and began to spin around her.
—Then, with a soft pop, they vanished.
"…?"
Rin stared blankly.
"That's it??"
Unwilling to give up, she tried again with even greater focus. The petals reappeared—but lasted less than three seconds before disappearing once more.
Rin collapsed on the ground, her little face scrunched into a deep frown.
"This is way too weak…"
Frustrated, she kicked a small stone nearby. The pebble hit a beetle that had poked its head out, and in that moment, Rin felt a faint warmth surge through her body, easing some of her fatigue.
"Was that… chakra recovery?"
Her eyes widened as a theory formed in her mind.
"Could my ability be… recovering chakra when I hit something?"
To test it, she picked up another pebble and hurled it at a distant tree.
Smack!
It struck the trunk—and a single phantom petal appeared briefly where it hit.
"Even a tree works?"
Rin ran over, eyes glowing with excitement. She threw a few more times. On the third hit, the petal mark on the tree suddenly bloomed, dissolving into sparkles that floated back toward her body.
—A surge of warmth rushed through her limbs.
"I knew it!" Rin nearly jumped with joy.
"That's a passive skill from one of the game characters I used to play—Falling Petals. A power that steals and sustains itself."
It was still weak now, but with more chakra and more practice, it would definitely become powerful.
She clenched her small fists, her eyes shining with determination.
"Awesome… Could I really be… a genius?!"
That evening, Kenichi returned with a heavy cloth bundle in his arms. His face was tired, but his eyes gleamed with excitement.
"Rin! Daddy's back!" he called, squatting down and spreading his arms toward his daughter, who was now perfectly pretending to be an obedient child counting ants in the yard.
Rin looked up at her dusty, travel-worn father and ran to him. The moment she got close, she caught a faint whiff of herbs.
"What's that?" she asked, poking the bundle curiously.
Kenichi smiled mysteriously as he unwrapped it, revealing a neatly arranged collection of medicinal ingredients—dried herbs, powdered roots, sparkling mineral shards, and some mysterious plants Rin couldn't name.
"This is a formula I got from an old friend," Kenichi said as he patted her head.
"It'll help you strengthen your body and lay a foundation for chakra training."
"Medicine?" Rin blinked.
"Yep. Herbal baths," Kenichi said, carrying the bundle inside.
"It might not smell great, but it'll be good for you."
Rin trailed behind him, mentally calculating: Herbal baths? Isn't this just the classic "physical foundation" setup in ninja stories? Could she really be like Rock Lee, rising to strength through sheer grit?
—Though she had no intention of becoming a Taijutsu specialist, a strong body was always a good thing.
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