Chapter 43: Just Want to Learn Kugutsu
Souta remained silent for a few seconds after hearing that answer. His expression did not change, still serious as usual. However, for Aomi, who knew Souta well enough, she could see something in the boy's eyes—a thought beginning to swirl in Souta's head.
After a moment, Souta finally nodded firmly. "Understood, Ma'am!"
Aomi smiled slightly, satisfied with that answer.
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Time passed, and finally, the lesson for the day was over. As soon as the bell rang, the children rushed out of the classroom with cheerful steps. Some ran towards the door, laughing and joking with their friends. However, among them, Souta walked at a leisurely pace, unlike the other children who seemed eager to go home.
"Hey! Hey! Souta, is it true that you want to become a puppeteer?" Makima's cheerful voice rang out as she quickly stepped beside Souta, her face full of curiosity.
Souta glanced over and gave a faint smile. "Of course. Didn't I just say that?"
Pakura, walking on the other side, slipped her hand into a small pocket in her ninja academy uniform. "So, does that mean you will join the Puppet Brigade as Teacher Aomi said?" Pakura asked, glancing at Souta.
Souta shook his head slowly. "I don't know yet... Anyway, I just want to learn Kugutsu techniques."
Souta's gaze swept over the dusty streets of Sunagakure. The sun was beginning to set on the western horizon, painting the sky with golden orange hues. A few adult ninjas walked past them, wearing dusty sand cloaks, indicating that they had just returned from a mission outside the village. The evening air felt slightly cooler than earlier in the day, although there was still a dry breeze carrying swirling sand.
"By the way, Pakura-chan, have you finished the homework from yesterday? I haven't, can I see yours? Hehe..." Makima approached Pakura, her eyes sparkling with hope.
Souta glanced at them with a flat expression, but there was a faint smile on his face, as he was already used to seeing Makima always looking for shortcuts in her assignments.
Pakura just sighed and then began talking to Makima.
The three of them continued walking together until they finally reached an intersection. Makima parted ways first, taking the path to the right.
"Pakura-chan! I'm borrowing your book for now! I'll return it tomorrow!" Makima called out while waving her hand.
Pakura just nodded. "I understand."
"See you tomorrow, Pakura-chan! Souta!" After that, Makima jogged off towards her home.
Now only Souta and Pakura remained. They continued their journey in silence, enjoying the evening tranquility in Sunagakure.
After a few minutes of walking, they finally arrived at their apartment. The building looked old, with several small cracks in the walls from years of wind and sand erosion.
Without much conversation, they climbed the stairs to the second floor. Once there, they headed straight to their respective rooms.
Souta entered his room, closing the door quietly. For a moment, he stood still, allowing the silence to envelop him.
Souta's eyes gazed at the ceiling, then at the open window, where the last rays of sunlight that afternoon streamed in, casting long shadows on the floor of his room.
Today ended like the days before—but in Souta's mind, he knew that his new journey had just begun.
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Somewhere in Sunagakure, inside the Ninja Academy, a classroom was filled with the sounds of laughter and chatter from the students. Some children joked with each other, while others were busy discussing their training. The bright sunlight streamed through the window, creating shadows on the classroom floor filled with intricately carved wooden desks typical of the sand village.
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Chapter 44: Souta's Progress Over Seven Months at the Ninja Academy
Amidst the commotion, a boy sat quietly, staring blankly at the table in front of him. His hands were folded on the table, and his gaze seemed unfocused, as if his thoughts were drifting far away from this place.
The boy was about five years old, with short, slightly messy dark blue hair. On either side of him sat a little girl. The three of them shared the same table, but only two of them appeared to be engaged in conversation. The boy, Souta, remained silent in his daydream.
Seven months had passed since Souta first set foot in the Ninja Academy. During that time, many things had happened. Souta had gone through various physically and mentally exhausting training sessions, but each new challenge seemed to be more difficult than he had imagined.
Currently, Souta was practicing walking on water. Previously, he had successfully mastered the technique of walking on walls using both hands, and he could even do it with both feet while balancing several leaves on his forehead. However, walking on water turned out to be a much more difficult and complex challenge.
When practicing walking on walls, Souta only needed to make his chakra have a suction effect to stick firmly. The chakra flowing to the soles of his feet would grip the surface of the wall, allowing Souta's body to remain upright without falling. However, walking on water required a different technique. Souta had to make his chakra repel, pushing his body up from the surface of the water to avoid sinking.
The problem was that water did not have a solid structure like a wall. If too little chakra was used, Souta would immediately sink. Conversely, if too much was used, the water would be pushed away too forcefully, causing Souta to lose his balance. As a result, Souta often found himself plunging into the water after just a few steps.
Every day, Souta tried repeatedly. His legs often trembled as he struggled to find the right balance, and his body was submerged in the cold water of the bathroom tub multiple times. Despite this, Souta did not give up. He had made some small progress—now, he could stay afloat for five minutes before finally falling. But that was still not enough.
In addition to training his chakra control, Souta also kept himself busy with another experiment—trying to create Chakra Threads.
At first, Souta thought that after mastering the technique of walking on walls with leaves on his forehead, creating Chakra Threads would be much easier. He already had better chakra control, so it should just be a matter of channeling chakra to his fingers, right?
However, the reality was not as simple as Souta had imagined.
When Souta tried to release chakra from the tips of his fingers, instead of forming thin and flexible Chakra Threads, his chakra would only clump together briefly before disappearing. Sometimes, he could feel the flow of his chakra moving to his palms, but it never reached his fingers steadily. Every time he tried, the result was always the same—his chakra vanished before it could take the desired shape.
The more Souta tried, the more he realized that his chakra control was still far from perfect. If he couldn't control his chakra with high precision, it would be impossible for him to form stable Chakra Threads.
That was why, lately, Souta had been spending a lot of time thinking. Too much. Even in class like now, his mind was still filled with calculations and analyses on how to improve his technique.
"Hey, Souta!"
Someone's voice suddenly broke Souta's reverie.
Souta jolted, as if he had just returned to the real world. He then turned to his left and found a little girl with reddish-brown hair and sharp eyes staring at him with a pouty face.
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