"One, two, three, four."
Once again, Sasuke was doing physical training, holding his body up with his hands as he moved up and down. Push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, frog jumps—exercises that in his previous life he could hardly do twenty of, but now felt easier than ever.
He didn't know whether it was because bodies in this world were somehow special, but Sasuke felt his recovery ability was much better than before. In his previous life, exercising past his limits left him sore or exhausted the next day. But in this life, even after daily overexertion, as long as he took a break between each set of exercises, he'd feel fully rested again.
Now, although Sasuke was only a little over one year old, his body was exceptionally strong—even stronger than when he was five or six in his previous life. Was it because of his constant training, or were the people in the world of the Hokage inherently stronger than earthlings? Sasuke often pondered this
A full year had now passed since Kurama's attack. In the end, just like in the original story, the Fourth Hokage gave his life to seal Kurama inside Naruto Uzumaki. During the past year, Sasuke learned to speak when he was nine months old, and to walk at one year. For the three months before that, he had done basic physical training every day. "I have to get the method for refining chakra," he thought.
After finishing his training for the day, Sasuke sat on the lawn, talking to himself. After all, he was barely over a year old and couldn't do intense exercise; once he gained the method for refining chakra, he'd be able to improve his abilities faster. But how could he get it? Sasuke scratched his head in frustration.
He recalled how, a few days ago, he'd asked his brother Itachi about chakra refinement, only to be refused. Itachi told him he was too young, not yet at the best age for chakra training. Sasuke could only drop the subject, trying not to seem too impatient. The memory still left him disgruntled.
He'd also considered asking Fugaku Uchiha, but thought better of it. Fugaku was all about the clan—Sasuke didn't want to reveal his talents yet. If Fugaku noticed, he'd make Sasuke live the same kind of childhood as Itachi. The thought alone made him shudder. Suddenly, Sasuke leapt to his feet with an idea and dashed toward Itachi's room. Itachi happened to be away on a mission today. Sasuke wanted to see if he'd left anything about chakra refinement in his room.
Sasuke opened the door and entered Itachi's bedroom, scanning quickly. There, on the desk, was a scroll. Sasuke's heart leaped with hope as he walked over. "Hahaha! Just what I needed! There's a book on basic ninja techniques right when I was desperate for one. This is beyond exciting!"
Sasuke laughed loudly, struggling to calm his excitement. Even so, his hands were trembling—finally, he was on the path to becoming a ninja. Compared to this, even if the infamous Scroll of Seals were placed before him, it wouldn't be as useful as this basic manual. After all, in this new world, he'd started with nothing—a blank slate. After seeing other ninja, he'd often felt discouraged at how slowly he was advancing. Now, at last, he had his chance, and there was no way he would let it go.
In the Naruto universe, just becoming a ninja was enough to make someone extraordinary. Not just the official ninja from large and small villages—even a vagabond or rogue ninja could grow incredibly strong. The world of ninja and the world of ordinary people were as far apart as humans and ants. Throughout time and space, one thing never changed—strength meant everything.
With enough power, there was nowhere you couldn't go. If you had strength, was success really out of reach? Of course, dreaming was one thing, but now Sasuke eagerly flipped open the first page of the book. With a whoosh, several blank sheets fell out.
Carefully, he gathered up the sheets. Sasuke didn't know what they were for, but slipped them into his pocket. "Whatever these are, if Itachi kept them, they must be important," he thought.
After pocketing the blank papers, Sasuke started reading the basic ninja book. He lost track of time—the reading left him weary, but he still managed to finish the entire thing. When he did, he was even more exhilarated, as if the book was written just for him.
The book explained chakra refinement and the basics of the three body techniques: Clone Jutsu, Substitution Jutsu, and Transformation Jutsu. It also detailed the twelve hand seals needed for performing ninjutsu. That was all the book contained, but even so, it was highly respected in Konoha and an essential read for every ninja. Of course, Sasuke only cared about what he needed.
What mattered most to Sasuke now was how to refine his own chakra. He was physically and mentally exhausted, but had no intention to rest just yet.
After reading the book, Sasuke learned that "chakra" was the perfect blend of spiritual and physical energy. It was mainly used to perform ninjutsu but could also form strings for binding enemies or cutting through chakra-based materials.
Put simply, chakra was the essential energy for any ninjutsu. This energy mainly came from: 1) the physical energy extracted from all 130 trillion cells of the human body, and 2) spiritual energy gained and strengthened through training and real-life experiences.
Sasuke reread several key sections of the book to commit everything to memory, then returned the book to its original place and slowly made his way back to his own room. Once there, he couldn't wait to try refining chakra—he left his shoes on, climbed onto the bed, and sat cross-legged, following the method described in the book. Sasuke closed his eyes, focusing intently on drawing out chakra from within.
"Sasuke, what are you doing in there? Stop playing and come out for dinner!"
His mother's voice called from outside, jolting Sasuke from his concentration.
"What?! It's already dinnertime? I can't believe I spent four hours trying to refine chakra and didn't get a single result—just pathetic..." he muttered, a bit demoralized. Never mind. I'll eat first and try again later. There's no way I'm going to fail at this tonight. (What he didn't know was that even a genius typically needed three days to succeed, and most people needed a week or more.)
"Haha!" Laughter poured from Sasuke's room. "I finally did it!" he shouted in triumph. Even though it was just the faintest thread of chakra, Sasuke was absolutely thrilled. The first step was always the hardest. Looking at that barely perceptible blue line of chakra inside himself, Sasuke could already imagine the moment when he'd become a powerful ninja.