Chapter 3 – Family inheritance and system
The next day, Kazuki woke up to the sound of metal being hammered outside. He looked around and saw that his grandfather had already gotten up, so he decided to do the same and have breakfast.
Leaving the small cabin with a piece of bread, Kazuki sat in front of his grandfather's forge and once again watched him work as always.
However, as time passed, Kazuki noticed that he had no interest, or rather, concentration, to watch his grandfather work. Since the previous night, Kazuki had been feeling strange, and his mind was confused.
After eating the last piece of bread, he stood up and decided to take a walk to clear his mind.
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In a location a little distance from the cabin, the calm and crystalline waters of a small river were suddenly disturbed when Kazuki jumped in, startling the small fish swimming there.
Kazuki remained submerged for about 30 seconds before resurfacing and then starting to float. The cold water ran through his body as he remembered the conversation with his grandfather the night before.
"Save or destroy Konoha. In the end, Grandpa said I can do whatever I want because it will be the right choice, but..." Kazuki didn't know what to think about it. A place that his family built and for which they gave their lives had become a place where a child couldn't even have a normal life and was treated like trash.
He didn't know why that boy received such treatment, and he didn't care. His grandfather reiterated several times: Konoha is a place created to protect children from the flames of war, to allow them to grow away from all violence and lead a common and safe life.
But what he saw yesterday was the complete opposite of that. Deep down, Kazuki hoped that Konoha would be a good place, and that only those at the top were to blame. But now, he realized that perhaps Konoha was just a facade, an illusory place for the dreams of his ancestor Hashirama.
"Maybe... Konoha was never a good place, even when the clan was present?"
Not knowing what to think, Kazuki simply dove again and remained quiet. The riverbed was cold and silent, allowing him to calm his mind filled with fear and doubts about his future and the future of Konoha.
After a while, Kazuki, now calmer, emerged from the river and headed back to the cabin. Upon returning, he didn't go to see his grandfather work and instead went to look at the chest he had been given the night before.
Inside were some scrolls and a ninjato (ninja sword) of common appearance. Kazuki looked at the scrolls and then separated them according to their purpose.
Most were of little monetary value, but when Kazuki saw them, he was genuinely happy. Like one that told part of the Senju clan's history before the foundation of Konoha, and another that narrated some battles against the Uchiha clan.
Kazuki didn't know why his mother kept these or even how she got them, but he decided to read them later.
Then he focused his attention on the other 4 scrolls. The largest contained different fighting styles with different types of weapons.
Another, slightly smaller, contained the basics for refining chakra and the basic techniques (transformation, substitution, and cloning), all jutsu from Novel E, and taught in the ninja academy.
The other two were a bit more important, containing 2 ninjutsus of level B and C. Kazuki took some time to organize everything and finally put them back in the chest, leaving out only one scroll containing instructions on how to refine chakra.
Looking outside, Kazuki saw that he still had some time before lunch, so he decided to start reading about chakra refinement and try to refine it in the afternoon, then over the constant sound of the hammer in the forge outside, Kazuki began his studies.
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Three days later
Kazuki was still studying chakra refinement while his grandfather had gone out for a bit to buy iron. Chakra refinement is more complicated than it seems, it deals with an energy that combines both physical and spiritual energy, so initially, it is necessary to have a calm mind or at least be able to partially calm it before starting the process.
Kazuki was sitting on the floor of his room trying to feel the chakra for the last 3 days and today, finally, he managed to produce a small amount. However, before he could react to this new energy, a strange sound echoed in his mind.
[System Initiated]
"Hm?"
Opening his eyes, Kazuki looked around and saw that he was still alone in the room, and due to the time, his grandfather had not yet returned from the village. He then left the room and went to the door to check, but he realized that no one was there.
"Did I mistake?" When Kazuki was about to turn back, a strange screen suddenly appeared in front of him.
[System Evolution Activated]
Host: Senju Kazuki
Age: 5 years
Lineage: Senju (common)
Chakra: common civilian
Chakra nature: none
Kekkei Genkai: none
Ninjutsu: none
Taijutsu: none
Genjutsu: none
"What is this?" Seeing the screen in front of him, Kazuki stopped for a moment and watched it for a while. He tried to touch it, but his hand passed through it as if it didn't exist. Although a little confused, he decided it was best to talk to his grandfather about it.
While waiting, Kazuki tried to interact several times with the strange screen in front of him, but it remained intangible. After a while, he finally discovered that the strange screen appeared and disappeared whenever he wished, and after reading what was written on it, he understood that somehow his data was exposed on it.
"Hm, whatever, when Grandpa returns, I'll talk to him about it." Kazuki put the strange screen aside and returned to refining chakra, however, this time he felt that it was much easier to refine chakra and his body was absorbing it quickly and steadily.