1.2 First Student And Second Master

She leered at the blond-haired child who, at second glanced, annoyed her to high hell. His spiked hair and the color orange reminded her of a foggy memory. The faint image of an ally she was forced to endure to ensure their survival. And unending hunger that continues to gnaw at her soul. He glanced at her then continued twisting his orange shirt. She held down a growl then looked away from him. She slowly increased her spiritual pressure to make him squirm more and to test his resistance.

She know that this silence would only cast doubts in his mind and to her that was fine. Even if he tried to run away she would catch him. He truly did not know how lucky he was. He thought that he was safe running through a forest filled with predators and prey with abnormal abilities. She scoffed at the thought. Those adults chasing him were leaking spiritual and physical energy everywhere, causing the wildlife to avoid them in the meantime. The energy would have attracted another caliber of beasts. In any other case, something would have eaten him. Probably herself, she mused. Fortunately for him, she decided freedom was more important than a light snack.

She gestured for him to come. He quickly ran over to where she was and sat in front of her like an eager puppy. She was pleased with how obedient he was and decided to give him an easier lesson.

“Boy,” He jumped. “what do you know about energy?”

His face scrunched up and he started scratching his whisker-like scars. “Um, chakra is in me?”

She sighed then shook her head. “Forget everything you knew about.”

“But-”

She growled, “I mean everything.” He nodded obediently. “I am not one for technicalities, that is Ina’s thing. Nature has rules and all things must follow the rules, living or other. Nature,” She gestured to the forest surrounding them. “is spiritual energy, the essence that grants our souls shape, given physical form. You can touch nature and see it but things live underneath the veil. Physical energy, a stagnate essence that gives things weight, form, and motion, is found in a plane of existence above nature.”

She pointed at Naruto. “You are grounded in the physical realm. Your so-called chakra is equal parts physical energy as it is spiritual. It is extremely hard for someone like to you see the spiritual nature of things or interact with beings from that side. The only reason you see me can listen to me can touch me is due to me expelling an astronomical amount of spiritual energy onto you. I am crushing your soul, in layman terms.”

He blanched and was about to protest but she cut him off. “Below nature is the real spiritual realm. It... comes with different kingdoms, if you will, villages of infinitely expanding lands. They are dangerous. I believe I come from one of them. I don’t remember their names anymore. But know you know why we need you.”

Naruto looked floored and his face twisted into a mix of visible confusion, fear, and defeat. After a moment his expression focused and he looked at her with sharp eyes. “You said you can’t crossroads. Roads are made by people, physical people who have physical essence, but it uses nature essence too. Ina-san can’t cross nature, only physical. It’s like chakra, it’s half and half. You want me to make it more spiritual or more physical.”

She smiled. “Ah, you are smart. Yes, you determined your purpose but you are too weak to survive for our goal.” She noticed his excitement seemed to have tapered off. “If you pass, you will be our apprentice.”

The huntress knelt next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Do you understand? Once your apprenticeship end, which may take decades, you will be our successor.”

He searched her eyes for deceit but found none. “What does that mean?”

She gently ruffled his hair. “If you prove yourself, you can be a member of our group. Although, that might require some modifications I will make sure it never has to come to that. There is enough of people stuck between the living and afterlife.”

The six-year-old stared at her with wide eyes. “I can be a part of your clan?”

She winced and was about to correct but she has seen how much hope was shimmering in his baby blue eyes. She swallowed her pride and slowly growing feelings for the boy. “Perhaps. We can nominate you as a low-level clan member once your apprenticeship is over. Then when we declare you as our successor we will determine your actual rank.”

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

The way he smiled knowing he had a real chance to have some form of a family made her a bit glad she did not eat him like she wanted to.

“Um- Are you from Kumogakure? Because you kinda look like them. Or at least I think you do. I hear the shinobi complain about dark-skinned spies.”

Maybe she will eat him soon.

Combined Chapters

Second Master

He scratched his head with a wooden object called a pencil. He heard of them before but he never had the opportunity to use them. Academy had them, he knew that for sure, but the teachers always kicked him out of the classrooms during lessons or tests so he never saw the elusive pencil.

The room he was in kinda reminded him of the classroom. Four walls, weird not quite wood floors,

He gnawed on it as he stared at his homework. It was a long sheet full of math questions of varying levels. Currently, he was suck on 6+6 =.

“Ina-sensei! How do I find the answer to this?” He inquired while staring at his sheet. As soon as he asked his question, a figure bent down beside him and traced the page.

“Oh! You are making amazing progress Naruto, considering you didn’t know your numbers at first!” He felt Ina tussle his hair. “Remember a six is two threes! And you are very good at math with threes.”

He looked up at her, only for his face to be covered in white hair. He sputtered then moved Ina’s hair out of the way to look at her. She vaguely resembled Kai. They both had dark skin and long, shiny red hair. But that’s where the similarities end, or at least in his opinion. Dr. Ina’s hair was straight and often pinned into a bun. Her eyes were a brown warmer and more friendly than Kai’s. He could not compare their muscles because Ina almost always wore a long white jacket that looked like a trench coat. She swears up and down that is lab coat and she must wear it for safety.

He taps his chin with the chewed pencil then wrote ‘12’ as the answer. He was subjected to another round of tussling as Ina cheered, “I told you you were a smart kid! Haha, you just need to believe in yourself! Here’s the deal, If you can finish this page before sunset I will show you something cool! If not, you have to do night training with Kai-chan.”

He finished his homework in an hour.

-CoA-

Dr. Ina scratched her head, slightly embarrassed. While she did promise to show him something if he finished his homework early, she did not know how much he disliked night training. On the back of the page were countless, tiny, scribbled calculations that proved he rushed to be done. It was a bit alarming, to say the least. He was not a studious child, she learned that the hard way when she tried to teach him advanced math two weeks ago, but he was diligent. He was more of a tactile/ observant learner and learned more through concepts. She had to show him how she did the math for him to vaguely understand then build a foundation from there. It was a bit backward but it worked. It worked a little too well.

Now she has nothing to show him. She glanced at the boy sitting in a plush chair. His head swiveled in any direction as something constantly caught his eye. At first, it was the glass table, then the floors when then tiles changed colors from silver to black, next it was the glowing set of goggles hanging from her wall of inventions. His childlike awe warmed her heart.

Inventions, she has an idea now.

She clapped, causing the blond to jump from his seat. “Ah, I came up with an idea. I will show you how I make my brilliant inventions! Naruto, please grab the goggles then follow closely.” She did not wait for his response as she opened a hatch and jumped through. She could hear the rustling clothes, his loud breaths, and heavy footsteps as followed.

The tunnel was completely made of metal and had weak lights guiding its way. It wound down and down into the earth as she took endless twists and turns. She knew Naruto probably felt lost and trapped at this point but he still followed her. Whether it was from a lack of choice or trust she did not know.

“The tunnel is confusing because Kai made it.” She knew she caught his interest. “She chose this location for us to live because of the huge cavern under the rock layer. To make this she stole materials from wandering merchants and built a rudimentary furnace. Then she covered the floors and walls with processed wood.”

“Un, imagine you very basic walls by placing a plank in front of you, but you constantly have to move backward. If you are too close to your walls, they repeal you. Then she build the ceiling, which was absolutely infuriating as the ceiling threw her back into the ground. Lastly the floors, another pest as she was hovering over it the whole time. Eventually, she placed enough materials drenched in physical essence to subdue most spiritual energy in this cavern.”

The scientist waved the boy over and had him place his hand on the metal sheets. “I had to forge each sheet of metal you see. Kai mined, hauled, and built. I processed, shaped, and engraved. It took us years to finish, but now I have my dwelling in the middle of a forest. Unfortunately, she can’t appear here. Now the physical essence completely suppresses spiritual energy that tends to linger. Chakra, as it is equal parts physical and spiritual, is present, however more difficult to fuel.”

She turned to look at him and saw a question budding in his face. She nodded at her student, encouraging him to ask.

He rubbed the wall while stuttering. “H-how did she build the first floors though? You- Kai-san, said she can’t even handle a dirt road!”

She turned away from him and continued their journey while answering. “She explained to you that nature is more spiritual than physical, yes?” She heard a low mumble and took it as a yes. “I conducted profound studies on the matter. I believed it was my main branch of study before we were stuck here.”

She glanced at him over her shoulder and saw his intoxicated expression. “Nature is three-fifths spiritual, or 60% give or take. That is enough for a spirit to form but not have agency or the ability to interact with the physical plane. Likewise for the physical plane. However, there is a way to artificially increase the spiritual energy of one location.”

She completely turned towards him as they neared a large wall. “Death. An abundance of death.”

He froze at her words, looking more than eager to bolt. “W-what?!”

She gestured to the door. “This room was once a crypt. The lingering souls of those who passed brought the spiritual energy of this cavern close to 95%. That was 20% more energy required for a spiritual entity to gain sentience and 15% more for spirits to interact with the physical plane. This place was once filled with hostile creatures who desperately wanted to steal more spiritual essence from the living. Their hearts and minds were empty, hollowed. All rationality was gone but they could not escape due to natural laws. We believe these were the reminiscence of bandits trying to earn a quick pay.”

He shivered then took a step back. “B-but Kai-san and you cleared it, right?!”

She smiled. “Now, whoever said that.”

“Welcome to my laboratory, Naruto-chan.”