Chapter 5

It was unclear to Ando what exactly the Hokage was talking about. He found it quite unlikely for the leader of the village to be fooled by his words. Yet, to give him such a lengthy speech afterward seemed kind of pointless, if the old man had seen through him. And how was he supposed to interpret those words? Ando couldn't help but feel that the Hokage might have confused the situation with something else.

Either way, Ando felt like he had messed up. Despite all his efforts to stay under the radar, his encounter with the Hokage had likely drawn unwanted attention. No plan ever survived contact with action, and he got to experience that saying today. As expected, he was no match for the seasoned players of the world.

Still, the fact that nothing had happened to him showed he was still in the clear. It was a minor setback, but that's all it was. What he had to do now was live with the consequences. He would probably be watched from now on, if that wasn't already the case from the very beginning.

With these points in mind, Ando stubbornly decided to meditate and continue trying to unlock his chakra that night. If he had already been watched from the start, changing his demeanor now would just be more suspicious. Plus, there was nothing wrong with trying to unlock his chakra.

Ando sat up and crossed his legs, easing himself into the lotus position. Blissfully unaware of the pair of eyes fixed on him from outside the window, he began his meditation.

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The registration for the ninja academy was announced a week after the Hokage's visit. One day, they were told in the gathering hall that those who wanted to become ninja would have to go to the head matron's office. This announcement was followed by a speech depicting how ninjas were the guardians and pride of the village, and how lucky they were to get the opportunity to join their ranks.

Ando did not care for the manipulative speech. He has already been sold to the idea from the very start.

Ignoring the excited murmurs of the kids, he resolutely made his way to Takara's office. The door was left open, so after a quick knock, he walked inside.

"Ando! I had a feeling you would be one of the first to visit me." Takara looked at him with a knowing smile. "Have a seat."

The strange smile on the woman's lips unnerved him, but he still did as he was told and greeted her with a polite smile. The woman nodded at him and rummaged through the drawers of her desk before placing a document in front of him.

"This contains all the necessary information you need to know before you decide to join the academy. Consider it like a contract of sorts. Don't worry, there is nothing dangerous in there. I will remain at your entire disposal if there are any words you do not understand or points you want to clarify."

Ando looked at the document with surprise. He did not expect something this formal from the village. Reality was indeed vastly different from what he had seen on the show. Taking it in his hands, Ando started skimming through the content of the document. From time to time, a frown would cross his face.

"You have changed a lot." While Ando was engrossed in reading the document, Takara suddenly commented.

"Your friend Isobe told me that you only started training recently, yet look at you now."

The woman gave him an inquisitive look. Ando had expected this type of inquiry. He had noticed the caretakers asking around about him. Given how much he had grown in a month, it was only natural. His muscles were more defined, and he had even grown taller. Nothing too exaggerated, but compared to the others, and especially the past him, he was very different.

"But it's not only your physique that has changed." Takara leaned forward, resting her head on her palm. "Your personality too. It seems like you're a completely different person now."

To this kind of pushy attitude, Ando had only one response: to be as thick-skinned as possible. He looked Takara dead in the eyes and replied, "I'm growing."

The head matron paused for a second before laughing. "That's right, you are indeed growing." She lightly shook her head and softened her gaze. "Good, good! Keep it up, kid. Like this, I won't have to face your father's sermon when I pass away."

"Wait… you knew my father?" Ando questioned with honest surprise.

"Yes, we used to be teammates." A strange glow flashed through her eyes. "Sadly, Kazuaki Yoshio was a little slow. He failed to get a chunin promotion in the same year as me and ended up getting relocated to another team. Later on, I heard that he died in an unfortunate mission in the Land of Rice. His corpse was never found."

"As for your mother… she died during a catastrophe that struck the village a few years ago."

A pang of sadness hit Ando's heart. This was the first time he heard someone mention his father's name since his reincarnation.

Takara looked at him for a few seconds before continuing. "We can talk about this another time if you would like. For now, focus on the academy. Read that document carefully and come back when you're done."

"Alright. Thank you, Miss Takara." He got up and left in silence.

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That night, Ando had a lot on his mind, so much that he couldn't focus on his usual task of trying to unlock his chakra. Frustrated, he moved to the window where the moonlight allowed some visibility. His hand moved to the window handle, hesitating for a second as he looked at his roommates, wondering if the cold air would wake them. In the end, he decided against opening the window and let out a frustrated sigh before moving back to his bed.

Until now, he had always pushed away the question of whether he had killed the previous owner of his body when he took over. It was something that always lingered at the back of his mind, but he refused to face it. He was afraid of the answer.

But the answer came on its own. He did kill the child. Whether it was unintentional or not, he robbed a child of his future… and past. He completely erased Ando Yoshio from this world when he took over.

An innocent child who had no choice in the matter was destroyed for him to live on. It was sad. And he only truly realized it after hearing about the child's parents. Hearing about them confirmed that the child really had an origin and a future that awaited him.

When he was told about it in the morning, what really saddened him was what happened to the Yoshio family. Not a single one of them remained. Their dreams and hopes were gone the moment he descended.

[The system has detected an elevated level of stress in the user's spirit!]

[Do you wish to counter it with Gamer's Mind?]

No! Ando resolutely rejected the prompt. He would not take the easy way. He had to face the repressed feelings, and he had to do it on his own. It was his responsibility. It was the least he could do.

At least, that's what he told himself. But Ando knew that he could not allow himself to succumb to guilt and despair.

He had indeed killed the child. It was a regrettable incident, and... he couldn't change that. But his future was in his hands. While the previous Ando had no living relatives or close ones to make amends to, he understood that he still had a responsibility to the life he now possessed. He couldn't change the past, but he could shape the future that lay ahead.

The only thing he could do was try his best to guarantee the best future for both of them. It was a flimsy excuse, he knew, but to move on, he had to turn his remorse into something else. He had to find his resolve.

Until now, Ando never had a real goal. His only wish was to live without regrets. But that was too vague to be considered a dream. So, he changed it to living his best life, a life that the real Ando would not regret.

Yes, it was not any better than his previous one, but he understood that he could build upon it. He didn't have all the answers at that moment, but he was willing to figure things out as he moved forward. He was determined to turn this vague aspiration into something concrete, step by step.

Ando closed his eyes and took a deep, calming breath. He had finally regained a semblance of peace.

[Congratulations! Your meditation skill has reached level 5!]

[+1 SPIRIT]

[+1 VITALITY]

So that counts as training too? Ando frowned before shrugging. It made sense; everything could be considered as training if one thought about it carefully.

With his previous level 4 meditation skill, Ando could get some semblance of insight into his body. He predicted that to unlock his chakra, he needed to reach a level close to something like inner sight.

Ando settled into his meditation pose and focused. He cleared his mind and tried to locate the hazy feelings he had sensed before. In the beginning, it was challenging. His mind was cluttered with thoughts of the past, the guilt he carried, and uncertainties about the future. But Ando persisted. With each breath, he let go of his worries and anxieties, focusing solely on the present moment.

As he delved deeper into his meditation, Ando began to feel something. Something still hazy but clearer than what he had felt during his previous attempts. It felt like a ball of amber, pulsating at his center. As he focused on it, the warmth grew steadily, spreading throughout his body in soothing waves. Ando tried his best to pin down its source.

Time passed as he continued to meditate. He slowly began to feel a subtle shift in the energy around him. It was as if a door had been opened, and he could sense a new level of awareness within himself. The hazy feelings that had eluded him before became clearer, and he started to feel something warm running through his body.

He instinctively knew that it was his chakra awakening. With cautious curiosity, he immersed himself in the experience, eager to explore the flow of his chakra. Like an untamed river, the energy surged powerfully within him. The pathways that were once shadowed and unclear had now opened and expanded, allowing the energy to flow freely and unhindered.

Amazing. The word came to his mind. It was a novel feeling that he had never experienced in his previous life. And he could not help but be curious about it.

He wanted to understand the nature of his chakra and how he could wield it. The amber-like energy inside of him felt both potent and delicate, and he knew it required careful guidance.

With focused intention, Ando decided to test his ability to manipulate the energy. He gently nudged the chakra, and to his amazement, it responded. The sensation was electrifying yet serene, and he could feel the energy responding to his thoughts and intentions.

But soon, his control was broken, and his chakra resumed its previous calm state. He gave it a few more attempts before moving on to observe the way it was flowing inside his body. He followed the path of his chakra until it formed a full harmonic cycle inside his body. Without even meaning to, Ando was already able to visualize the path of his chakra inside his mind, but he was too distracted to realize it.

A random thought made him wonder what would happen if he actively pushed more chakra into the pathways? Would it result in something like chakra reinforcement? Or would he actually damage his body?

Ando shook his head left and right, rejecting the idea. Given the actual control he had over his chakra, it would be best if he repressed the urge to rush into such experiments rashly. He could not let his excitement get to his head; otherwise, he might really harm himself.

With that in mind, he started trying to rotate the center pool of his chakra into a vortex once again, finding it to be an adequate exercise to both familiarize himself with his chakra and learn how to manipulate it.

With each breath and every moment of focus, he honed his ability to control and direct the flow of chakra. Ando got so immersed in his research that he forgot the passage of time. It was only when the first rays of the sun hit his face that he finally snapped out of his daze.

In a flash, morning had come.

[Congratulations! You have managed to unlock your chakra on your own!]

[+5 Status Points awarded for achieving a minor feat!]

[Skill: Chakra manipulation unlocked!]

[Skill: Chakra sense unlocked!]

[Level Up!]