After having lunch at Ichiraku's with his parents, they made their way home through the village streets. The afternoon sun cast long shadows across the residential district as they approached the Genki household.
His mother immediately headed inside, calling back over her shoulder, "I'll start preparing dinner. You two don't overdo it out there."
"We won't," his father replied, already gesturing for Kuro to follow him to the backyard training area.
The packed earth of the training ground was warm under Kuro's bare feet as he changed into his training clothes. His father was already waiting by the wooden posts, arms crossed, that familiar assessing look in his eyes—the one that belonged to the jonin instructor, not just the proud parent.
Before Kuro could begin his usual warm-up routine, his father spoke.
"How many leaves can you hold currently?"
Kuro paused, considering. This was the real question, the one that mattered for actual training rather than academy politics. He thought about it for a moment, running through his mental calculations based on his private practice sessions.
"Should be able to do about forty leaves, fully focused," he said quietly.
"Hmm." His father was silent for a long moment, processing that information. Then he nodded decisively. "Since you're at that level, let's up the difficulty. Starting today, we're adding wall walking to the regimen. After you get the hang of that, we'll add the leaves in conjunction."
Kuro nodded. That made sense—compounding difficulty to force adaptation.
His father's expression softened slightly, taking on a more parental quality. "Also, let's put off training for a bit. You can continue if you want to, but after today, many kids would be out and about trying to meet up with the new friends they just made."
He gestured vaguely toward the village beyond their fence. "Why don't you go join them? Find a few boys your age to make friends with. Ninja school is best done with friends—there's not much harm in making them. And you don't have to force it. If not a group, even one good friend is just as valuable."
Kuro gave a wary smile hearing his father's words. He wants me to go out and play, he thought. Making friends isn't bad...
But there was something more pressing he needed to discuss. The black substance he'd noticed growing within him, seemingly apart from his chakra system yet not entirely separate. This was more important than socializing.
Still, he couldn't resist the opportunity for some levity first.
"Alright, old man, I'll go find you a daughter-in-law," Kuro said while smirking. "So in your old age, my father-in-law can be your lifelong drinking buddy."
His father's eye twitched. This kid, he thought, not for the first time. Sometimes he says things like an old man himself.
"Just make sure my daughter-in-law is cute," his father smirked back, "so I can brag to others who weren't as lucky."
"Deal," Kuro joked back.
The smile slowly faded from his face, replaced by something more serious. The evening air suddenly felt heavier.
"Old man," Kuro called softly.
His father's attention sharpened immediately, recognizing the shift in tone.
"There's something I noticed a few weeks ago. I haven't been able to tell what it is, but so far it doesn't seem to be harmful. I wanted you to check my chakra to see if you can see what I'm seeing."
His father's posture changed instantly. The relaxed parent vanished, replaced entirely by the experienced jonin. He moved quickly, placing his hand on Kuro's shoulder, his own chakra flowing outward to sense his son's chakra network.
After a few seconds of intense concentration, Kuro felt his father's chakra probe gently through his pathways, checking for abnormalities, blockages, foreign influences.
His father's tense muscles relaxed slightly, and he asked, "I don't see anything. What have you noticed?"
Kuro's eyes gleamed with understanding. So it's not detectable to others. A quick internal check showed it was ever-present throughout his entire chakra network—faint dark threads flowing through his pathways like a secondary current. But one thing was certain: it was growing.
"Well, recently my chakra felt different—like there's an addition," Kuro explained carefully. "I've tried to manipulate it on its own, but it doesn't seem to respond. However, when I'm training and molding my chakra, it's there. And even after I've exhausted the majority of my chakra, I can still perceive it. After recovering, the thread-like dark substance—or chakra—just meshes with my normal chakra. So far it doesn't seem harmful in any way, but just in case, I decided to let you know, old man. Just in case."
Listening to his son, his father frowned, eyebrows pressed together in deep thought. He was silent for several moments before speaking.
"So you're saying that this... substance?" He paused, considering. "Why substance? Since it's molded and flows with your chakra, it should just be chakra, shouldn't it?"
Kuro nodded in agreement but left it open for consideration. The terminology wasn't as important as understanding what it was.
"However," his father continued, "when I checked, I didn't sense any unusual presence within your body. Perhaps someone with better and more refined chakra sensing could assist in investigating further." He crossed his arms, thinking aloud. "Furthermore, you said that even after you've exhausted your chakra, you can still see these threads, and you're unable to manipulate them... Hm."
His expression shifted to something more contemplative. "It really does sound like it's something innate. But not being able to control it is weird—though only slightly."
"Really?" Kuro asked, surprised by his father's relative calm.
His father nodded. "By estimate, compared to your chakra, how much is present?"
Kuro paused, doing the mental calculation. "Roughly one-hundredth."
His father nodded in silence, clearly considering something carefully.
"What I'm thinking is this," he finally said. "Even if this dark substance exists, if I can't detect it, perhaps it's still developing—hence the lack of control or even having specific requirements to control it. Without meeting whatever those requirements are, manipulating it is out of the question."
He looked at Kuro seriously. "I'll get someone I know to check... however, they're currently out on a mission. I'll have to wait until they're back in the village."
"Who's that, father?" Kuro asked.
"My squad teammate. She's a sensor ninja and knows medical ninjutsu as well. After we became chunin, we separated and only occasionally do missions together now. She's also in the village ANBU. Last time I heard, she was captain of her unit."
Kuro considered this. An ANBU captain with sensing and medical expertise would be ideal for a thorough examination.
"Old man, should we keep this secret?"
"Hmm." His father thought for a moment. "We should, but if I'm thinking what I think it is, it's probably nothing much to worry about. It might just be you awakening an old kekkei genkai. Being young and developing, that's all. Based on my observation, you just happen to be able to sense it consciously. Most of these things awaken around the time one goes through the rapid stage of development—around ten to twenty, depending on the person. That's usually when chakra explodes in quantity and physically you grow the most. For some reason, you just happen to notice it now."
He placed a hand on Kuro's shoulder, his grip reassuring. "But just to be on the safe side, I'll let my friend check and give you a physical checkup just to make sure you're healthy. It's known that some abilities can overdraw the body's natural vitality and cause harm."
"What are you saying, old man?" Kuro asked, though he suspected he knew.
"Straight answer?" His father's expression grew grave. "If it's—let's say—draining your vitality, we might have to get an Uzumaki to seal it until you reach the proper age. In the most serious circumstances, that is. But that's perhaps just slapping a bandage on it, so that would be the last resource. Still, if it's intangible in your chakra network, we might end up having to seal your chakra entirely. Worst case scenario."
Kuro frowned in deep thought. This mirrored his own concerns.
He'd read theories online in his previous life about Itachi Uchiha awakening his Sharingan early potentially being one of the causes of his early death. Even if Itachi was born with weaker overall vitality, the Sharingan—and then Mangekyō Sharingan awakened later—exacerbated the problem. Overuse during his teen years, while providing massive amounts of strength, drained him dry, overdrawing his life force. His chakra was perhaps the only thing keeping him upright, and overuse of said chakra with his eyes killed him in the end.
While Kuro considered this parallel, it didn't feel the same way about his situation. He had awakened his chakra around the general age of six. His chakra awakening was done by his father about two months ago—not that long—and he'd only noticed this phenomenon a little over a week ago.
Initially thinking this might be his cheat ability in this life, he'd been excited and overjoyed. But not being able to manipulate it left him puzzled. Hence, after some internal deliberation, he'd decided to tell his father.
This wasn't like the cheat codes or plugins from transmigration and reincarnation stories he'd read in his previous life. Even if it was same kind of advantage, it didn't manifest like one. Overall, it should just be a new ability. Calling it a kekkei genkai was just easier to swallow, more acceptable in this world's framework.
"As soon as she's back, I'll have her check you physically and observe your chakra as well," his father said firmly. "If nothing is wrong, it might just be in an infancy state and will become stronger over time, soon coming under your control. Just watch it and let me know if anything negative or positive happens. Alright?"
"No problem, old man," Kuro nodded to his father, feeling a weight lift slightly from his shoulders. Having shared this secret felt right.
Then his father's expression lightened slightly. "Want to go out while I help your mother with dinner?"
Kuro raised an eyebrow. "As if she would let you step foot in the kitchen after leaving the stove on last time when you got summoned to the Hokage's office for an urgent mission."
His father sweat-dropped while rubbing the back of his head. "You brat."
But there was warmth in the insult, affection beneath the exasperation.
Kuro smiled slightly, then stood. "I'll go walk around the village for a bit. See what the other academy kids are up to."
"Good," his father said, genuinely pleased. "Just be back before dark. And Kuro?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you for trusting me with this. Whatever it is, we'll figure it out together."
Kuro nodded, feeling that same warmth in his chest he'd felt earlier—gratitude for this father, this family, this second chance at life.
Even if that life came with mysterious dark threads in his chakra network.