Several days have passed since the start of the academy, and I can say that thanks to the teachers and their lessons, I've managed to stand out just as I wanted.
My chakra control has improved a lot using this new training method—though it wasn't really new to me, since I'd already mastered the previous one. Still, the teachers were surprised.
I didn't neglect my physical training either. I kept improving in every area. Or rather, the basics. I don't have a particular field where I'm better than the others, nor a bloodline to explore. So I realized that the only way to become strong is to have a solid foundation and be better than everyone else in everything.
As for Sasori, he's just like I imagined. They explored very little about him in the anime, but from everything Kishimoto gave us, he was a very reserved person who didn't like wasting time.
So I've had to keep pestering him to teach me how to make threads. 99% of the time, he just ignores me and acts like I'm not there—he doesn't respond. And the 1% of the time, he says yes... well, no, it's not much, but what can you expect from someone who's lived a solitary life since birth, only with his grandmother Chiyo and puppets?
Still, I feel like I've been persistent enough that he at least gave me a small piece of advice, which I didn't waste: focus on directing my chakra to the finger and pushing it out from there.
It sounds pretty rough, but if I were a normal kid from this world, I wouldn't have understood it. But I'm a nerd who's watched enough anime and movies to know at least a little about thread users.
So, sitting in my room at night in a meditative pose, putting all my effort into concentrating my chakra on a single point—my finger—nothing happened.
At least not until today. Finally, after a week, a tiny, almost invisible thread came out of my finger. It looked like a little worm. So I jumped excitedly onto the bed and went to sleep, planning to show it to Sasori tomorrow.
I realized it was already morning, and glancing at the wall clock, if I didn't hurry, I'd be late. So I left my room, went to the bathroom to wash my face and brush my teeth, then got dressed and went downstairs to eat Mom's breakfast.
Arriving in the kitchen, I saw Mom with the table set. It wasn't a typical breakfast like in my old life, but it was enough to survive.
A plate with bread, herbal tea, and some dried fruits. A luxury for civilian families, or for middle and lower class. If you had enough money, you could eat or drink better things.
Eating calmly since I had five minutes before leaving, Mom spoke to me.
"You couldn't sleep well, Dai?" asked Ilsa, looking at Daigo's tired eyes.
"I had some ninja training I had to achieve no matter what. Though I was meditating, so I'm not that tired, Mom," Daigo said, drinking his tea.
"Even if you're meditating, your body needs rest. I always told your dad the same thing," said Ilsa.
"And did he rest?" Daigo asked curiously.
"He didn't listen to me, so I'd grab him by the ear and drag him to bed. Don't think I wouldn't do the same with you if I wake up and see you awake. So don't let it happen again—or at least sleep a little," said Ilsa, eating from her side of the table.
"Hahaha, poor Dad. Don't worry, if I do it again, I'll make sure to rest. When Dad comes back from his mission, I want him to teach me something," Daigo asked.
"If I remember correctly, he's supposed to be back in two days. If something happens, it might be a bit longer. And I think it's time to go to the academy—you're going to be late," said Ilsa, standing up from her seat and handing him a bag with his lunch.
"Okay, Mom. See you in the afternoon," Daigo said, running out toward the school.
At the academy
Daigo didn't take long to arrive at the academy and find Sasori in his usual spot, staring out the window with the same empty expression.
Daigo approached close enough for Sasori to notice and look at him.
"Good morning, Sasori. Thanks for the advice you gave me—I made some progress," Daigo said, bowing his head in gratitude.
This left little Sasori confused, who looked at him as if waiting for an explanation of what he meant.
"Oh, you don't remember? You told me the way to create chakra threads is by focusing your chakra on the finger. Look, it's not very long, but it's progress," Daigo said, showing his finger where a small, almost invisible thread extended—not visible to just anyone, but not to the two of them who were focused on it.
"It's very small. It wouldn't even serve to throw a senbon," Sasori said, turning back to look out the window.
"Huh? But at least it's something. Besides, I've only been training it for a short time. Like I told you, I think it's cool and interesting, but it's not my style," Daigo said to Sasori, who completely ignored him.
Daigo knew that even though Sasori acted like he was ignoring him, he was listening—and at least it didn't bother him that Daigo was talking. He just didn't know how to act. At least, that's what Daigo thought as he had to sit down when the teacher arrived in the classroom.
"Good morning, students. Today we're doing conditioning and hand-to-hand combat sparring. Everyone follow me," the teacher said, and we all started following him.
Once outside, the first thing we did was start running to warm up. The most important thing for a shinobi is to never run out of energy—when that happens, there's only one outcome: a quick death.
In Daigo's old world, ninjas preferred stealth over stamina, but here with chakra, it's more preferable not to tire yourself out and waste your chakra than to rely on stealth. That's what ANBU are for—the most dangerous branch of shinobi, experts in espionage and all kinds of missions in the shadows.
Daigo knew that a good physical body equals more chakra. Thinking about it, that's the natures of chakra: yin and yang, where yang is normally physical energy and yin is spiritual.
Hashirama was the clear example of the best yang energy that ever existed in Naruto, including the Otsutsuki. A man who could regenerate from any wound in seconds without needing hand seals, and not only that—his cells, even after death, turned people without extraordinary talent, like Obito (who needed the Sharingan to even be a chunin, maybe jōnin), into a Kage-level ninja, spamming Kamui and Wood Release at will.
Daigo had thought about it—if it were possible, he'd grab them and try to implant them—but he knew it was a 50% chance of dying or succeeding, and there were ways to get strong without needing the cells.
As for yin, it would be Madara, the only one who could somewhat fight Hashirama. Though not much was shown about his genjutsu skills, at an ocular level with his Sharingan, he was very powerful—able to use all stages of Susanoo, even control the Kyubi and use it as a summon.
Not just anyone could do that. So Daigo knew he had to become strong enough so that in the future, he wouldn't end up dead at Madara's hands in the Fourth Ninja War—or even Obito's.
Now, lost in thought, it was time for the sparring matches, and Daigo's name was the first called.
He was up against a kid who didn't stand out in anything—a normal body, though a bit flabby, and weak posture.
One thing Daigo was confident he was superior in was hand-to-hand combat. His father had trained him a lot so that at least a kid his age, or even one or two years older, couldn't beat him.
Getting into his stance, he waited for the teacher to give the order to start.
"Begin," the teacher said.
Daigo didn't hesitate and, with quite fast speed, reached the kid's side. The boy was surprised to see Daigo so close, trying to get into guard against the attack. Instead of throwing a punch, Daigo went for a spinning kick to the feet, making the completely unguarded kid fall to the ground.
Then he finished it by placing a leg on his chest, leaving him completely defeated. The fight didn't even last 10 seconds —everything happened fast enough that the kid couldn't react.
"Daigo is the winner," the teacher said, making Daigo step away from the kid, who started crying from the pain once his adrenaline wore off.
More fights passed, which Daigo knew were useless to watch, until it was Sasori's turn—the one Daigo was most curious about.
Sasori, with his small size, seemed to have the biggest opponent in the academy. All the other kids seemed to favor the bigger one, so they thought there was no chance for Sasori to win.
In Daigo's favor, they started making bets with the little money the students had, and everyone bet that the big one would win. Daigo chose Sasori as the winner.
The fight started, and as everyone thought, the bigger kid charged at Sasori with all the aggression he had, trying to crush him. Sasori, with quick movements, dodged the first attack and counterattacked with a simple punch to the ribs.
The blow made the big kid step back, feeling the power and pain—though that lasted only a moment before he got angry at Sasori and charged with even more energy.
Sasori, facing the assault, just dodged, waiting for the kid to tire himself out. When he did, three strikes—one to the stomach, another to the face, and the last to the jaw—left him sprawled on the ground, completely unconscious.
"The winner is Sasori," the teacher said.
At that, Daigo just smiled, feeling the incredulous stares from the other kids as he pocketed all the money he'd won.
The day continued with more conditioning and throwing shuriken and kunai, then ended, and everyone went home. Daigo tried to get another piece of advice from Sasori, but he didn't get any response, so he left him alone and went home.
With Sasori
Sasori didn't take long to get home, open the door, and see his grandmother sitting at the table with a few puppets.
"How was the academy today, Sasori?" Chiyo asked Sasori without stopping her work.
Sasori just walked to the table, sat down, and watched his grandmother work on the puppet.
"Nothing new. I already know everything," Sasori said.
"Huh? You already know everything? Well, that's true. You should be the strongest in your class—I've taught you a lot," Chiyo said to herself out loud.
"Grandma, why do I still have to go to the academy? Wouldn't it be better to stay home and improve my puppet skills?" Sasori said, looking at his grandmother.
"Sasori, I know you have gigantic talent with puppets, but I want you to enjoy your childhood. That's why you need to make friends. If you stay home, you wouldn't talk to anyone," Chiyo said in a slightly heavy voice, remembering Sasori's deceased parents.
"I don't care about friendships, Grandma," Sasori said.
"Huh? Why not? I'm sure you haven't talked to any kid, right? How would you know?" Chiyo said.
At that, Sasori didn't respond. He just stood up and grabbed one of the puppets he uses for practice.
"Is there something you want to tell me, Sasori? You're acting like you want to say something but don't know how," Chiyo asked, now looking at Sasori.
"There's a kid at the academy. His name is Daigo. He always talks to me and is very annoying, asking me questions," Sasori said.
"Huh? Daigo? And he's annoying? Hehehe, sounds like someone with a lot of energy. What kind of questions does he ask?" Chiyo asked.
"He asked if I could teach him to create chakra threads. I told him no, and he kept insisting, so I told him to just focus chakra on his fingers to get him to leave me alone. And it worked," Sasori said.
"And what happened next?" Chiyo said.
"It worked for a while—until today, when he came and thanked me for the advice. He even managed to create a small thread from his finger. Very useless for actual use, though I was surprised he managed to do it," Sasori said.
"Sounds like a talented kid. What do you think about bringing this Daigo here to the house to talk? Maybe you could make your first friend, and together learn to use puppets," Chiyo said with a smile.
"Fine. Tomorrow I'll tell him. Though he says being a puppeteer is cool, but it's not his style," Sasori said, standing up from the table with his puppet and heading to his workshop in his room.
Watching Sasori walk away, Chiyo just smiled.
"Maybe this kid Daigo is what Sasori needs in his lonely life."
End of chapter