(late December, year 50 after Konoha establishment)
For the past month Yuta was diligently trying his best to train each day, and although he didn't last long during the training sessions, his body was recovering fast, so he was able to do up to five workouts per day, and by the end of the first training month he was able to last longer and do more than before.
During the first few weeks Manabu Koboshi, the orphanage caretaker that usually watches over the kids outside, was watching skeptically over Yuta's training efforts, but as Yuta persisted and pushed himself further, Manabu's look gradually turned from skeptical to hesitant.
Yuta also tried a couple more times to meditate and grasp his Time Control ability with the same result each time, it remains unreachable at the moment, though recently he felt that he was now a tiny little bit closer to it than before, but he wasn't sure if it isn't just his imagination.
Training and resting aren't all that he was doing, at first Yuta tried to plan his future life as a shinobi and about things he wanted to accomplish, but after a while he felt like the future is so distant and uncertain that there is no point to plan ahead that much. First, he would enter the Ninja Academy, and everything else comes after that. He would also make a good effort to prepare for the academy and train.
Yuta also tried to feel his own chakra, he remembered that every living being in this world should have chakra, it's a fundamental part of life here, their life essence of sorts, and since he inherited the body of the native to this world, he too should have chakra.
But whenever Yuta was meditating and trying to get a feel of his own chakra, he was too distracted each time by the pleasantly cold feeling somewhere deep inside, that was supposed to be his dormant Time Control ability. He came to realization that figuring out his chakra on his own, at least until he fully grasps his Time Control ability, is a futile effort.
After Yuta ran for a while and pushed his body to the limits, he sat on the ground heavily panting.
'Damn, usually I would hate to push myself like that, after all it's hard and exhausting...' Yuta thought while resting his legs. 'After I become a ninja, I should figure out some easy methods to train my body, like the gravity seals or something...'
'But there is not much to do here either way. The normal routine for kids in the orphanage is boring and uneventful. Once a week Chitose teaches kids for a couple of hours, usually she shows how to read and write some words, and she also talks for at least a whole hour about the village and its greatness, as well as about the shinobi heroes who protects it, directly and openly encouraging kids to become ninjas in the future... And there are also some chores that older kids had to do, like cleaning and washing dishes...'
"Hey, don't sit on the ground!" Manabu sneaked up on him without being noticed, "After you ran, you should at least walk around, not just sit on the ground immediately like that!"
"Huh, Koboshi-san, what do you mean?" Yuta replied confusedly while hastily getting up.
"You are doing it wrong, your training I mean." Manabu said in annoyed voice, "Also you should not only run in a moderate pace all the time, but you also should have sessions when you run sprints as fast as you can. Running in moderate pace builds up your endurance, but endurance is not everything! You should also work on your explosive speed for the short bursts, it's essential for a shinobi."
Immediately after Manabu said his piece, he left, leaving Yuta confused.
'Huh, what was that?' Yuta thought confused, 'I've never heard Manabu speak so much combined during my whole time here, and now he suddenly comes to me and gives me some advice... And how does he know how to train and what is good for a shinobi? Is he a shinobi? Or more likely a retired shinobi?'
'It is possible that he is a retired shinobi, I better listen to his advice, what he said does make sense.' Yuta thought while starting to walk around and no more resting on the ground after his laps around the playgrounds.
'If he is a retired shinobi then I should try to get closer to him. Good and timely advice from a shinobi would be invaluable to me at this stage. It would be even better if I could make him to train me directly!'
Yuta felt excited thinking about the opportunity of getting a shinobi trainer before the Ninja Academy. He glanced at Manabu with some expectations in his eyes, but all he saw was a usual dismissive attitude on Manabu's face who are not even looking in Yuta's direction.
Yuta turned back and resumed his training session with some pushups.
'And how do I do that? It doesn't seem like going directly to him and pestering him to train me would work... He always seems so distant and unbothered, like he is not even here. But he never spoken to any kid so much as he did right now, if he didn't care he wouldn't do that in the first place...'
...
'The question is, did he spoke because he was just annoyed that I was doing something wrong, or is he actually care about me and my training?'
...
'It doesn't actually matter. With his personality the only way I could get him to help me train is by continuing what I'm already doing and listen to his advice that he already gave me, I can't think of any other way around it.'
With that Yuta resumed his normal daily routine, and due to being a little excited about an opportunity to get a supposed actual shinobi to help him train, he subconsciously pushed himself during the training sessions much more than before, while following Manabu's advice and adding sprints to his training sessions.
...
Two more weeks flew by while Yuta was so engrossed in his daily routine that he didn't even realize it. He was sneaking glances at Manabu every now and then, but nothing changes in his dismissive attitude, at this point Yuta was feeling dejected.
But although Yuta felt a little bad that he doesn't seem to be able to win Manabu over with his training efforts, he continues to push himself during his training sessions out of stubbornness at this point.
'Doesn't matter!' Yuta thought, 'I'm still going to become a shinobi, with or without his help...' At this point Yuta was no longer sneaking expectant glances at Manabu anymore, instead he found some motivation and resolve out of this situation, 'See if I care, Manabu, I didn't need your help to begin with...'
Although Yuta felt a little embarrassed by having such childish thoughts, he didn't care much since those thoughts given him some needed motivation and he felt that he has to entertain himself somehow in this boring and monotone environment without smartphones and internet.
...
One more week has passed. Yuta was making good progress compared to what he was almost two months ago when he only started.
He now built up his endurance and is able to run at a moderate pace for a while now without spitting out his lungs and having his legs become unresponsive. He also worked on his speed in short bursts during his sprints as well.
He was making up to ten pushups in a row now and his squats become easier and no longer kill his legs outright after twenty or so repetitions. Previously Yuta was doing up to five training sessions a day, but now as he was able to last much longer and exhaust himself much more thoroughly, he switched to only two training sessions a day, one after breakfast and one after lunch, with each session lasted for up to two hours with some brief rest breaks.
Now that he made so much visible progress, Yuta felt elated and motivated to continue to push himself through it.
As Yuta was going through his usual workout and doing squats, he heard an annoyed loud voice right behind him.
"You're doing it wrong! Your posture during squats is all wrong!" Manabu sneaked up on him once again without Yuta realizing it, "Don't put your legs together like that, there should be space between them like the length between your shoulders. And keep your chest and head straight, don't bent it to the ground!"
"Y-yes Koboshi-san..." Yuta was startled by the sudden appearance, but nonetheless he quickly fixed his posture accordingly.
"Yea, that's better." Manabu commented, "During your pushups you also have to make more space between your arms and keep your back completely straight."
"Yes, Koboshi-san!" Yuta replied enthusiastically. He didn't realize that there were so many problems with how he does his exercises. In his previous life Yuta was never trained physically except for some mandatory physical activities during school, and even if Yuta was taught the right posture for the basic exercises back then, he doesn't remember it now.
Manabu left immediately afterwards, leaving Yuta alone.
Yuta felt elated and dejected at the same time. On one hand Manabu did come by and gave another advice, but on the other hand, Yuta felt that that advice was wasted on something so trivial and basic like a correct posture during the basic exercises, that is something that he felt he should've known himself already.
'Well, doesn't matter, it's fine.' Yuta thought continuing to do squats with right posture, already feeling the difference, 'Even if up until the Ninja Academy all that Manabu would help me with is these small things, it's fine. Initially I only started my training only so I won't have any problems passing the entry exam, I'm already doing much more than just that.'
...
'When did I become a training maniac all of a sudden?' Yuta thought jokingly, 'Even if Manabu won't help me more than that, it's fine.'
'Getting help with figuring out how to control chakra would be nice though...'
--- AN ---
Will old man help Yuta train and get a hang of his chakra? I'll probably flip a coin to decide on this matter, if it lands on tails then Manabu won't help Yuta. I feel so evil right now for some reason...
If you like the fic, please consider supporting me on patreon, currently there is a 1 advanced chapter on Patreon (patreon dot com /SycoreNovels), there will be up to 20 advanced chapters in the future.