"Tou-san," Ren looked up from his morning bowl of rice. "Would you teach me basic taijutsu?"
Toshiro put down his chopsticks, studying his son carefully. "What made you decide?"
"If I'm going to enter the academy, I want to be prepared," Ren replied, trying to sound determined but not too mature. "And I saw that in the store we sell wooden swords for training..."
A smile formed on his father's face. "Are you already thinking about kenjutsu? Aren't you running a little too fast?"
"I can start with the basic movements," Ren insisted. "Like the older children who come into the store do."
' If I want to have any hope I have to start as early as now, I don't remember well or maybe I haven't seen me how the academy works in Kirigakure, but they will surely be very specialized in Kenjutsu.'
After a brief discussion, Toshiro agreed to start with basic taijutsu. "But no swords for now," he added firmly. "First you have to learn the basics and move correctly."
Ren's routine expanded. Mornings still began with running and swimming, but now included an hour of taijutsu with his father before the latter left for missions.
"Lower position," Toshiro corrected, as Ren repeated the basic academy form. "The center of gravity must be stable."
In the store, Ren had convinced his mother to let him practice with wooden shurikens.
"Only in the back yard" Yuki had specified. "And only when there are no customers."
He had marked a target on an old log and spent hours throwing, retrieving, and throwing again. He vaguely recalled Itachi and Sasuke's training scenes in the manga, trying to replicate that methodical precision.
'I still can't rotate my wrist like Itachi did,' he reflected after yet another inaccurate throw, 'but I can work on the base.'
Afternoons were divided between fuinjutsu with Tatsumi and new chakra exercises. He had begun practicing control of the water element in a more structured way.
''Once I have mastered the adherence of the drop, I must be able to hold it suspended in my hands according to what Tou-san says.''
By the side of the lake, away from prying eyes, he continued his training. It was much more difficult than the adhesion of the drop.
'It's like trying to hold on to a sticker that has lost its adhesive strength,' he thought in frustration after yet another failed attempt.
Evenings were spent practicing the perception exercise his father had taught him. He had found that it worked best when combined with the controlled breathing that Tatsumi had taught him for fuinjutsu.''Now within a 2-meter radius I have no problem feeling stones.''
One evening, while practicing in the courtyard, he felt a familiar presence approaching.
"Your balance is improving," commented Ao, who occasionally passed by the store.
Ren turned around, surprised. He had not heard the jonin coming. It was at that moment that he noticed something different about the bandage covering Ao's right eye-the fabric seemed thick, and there were faint chakra marks shining through the edges.
"Ao-san, your eye patch..." he said before he could restrain himself.
Ao brushed the bandage over his right eye. "Ah, this? A souvenir from the war."
"Did something happen during a mission?" asked Ren.
"You could say that," replied Ao briefly. "A... gift from a ninja from Konoha."
'So it is a this time that happened, I would like to know more, how did he avoid the seal on the Biakugan possessor's eyes? Or did he take them from someone in the main lineage?'
Ren's gaze shifted to the earrings Ao was wearing. "What about those? They look like seals."
"They are protective talismans," Ao explained. "Against certain kinds of special eyes."
' I didn't remember them like that' he thought.
"Like the one under the blindfold?" asked Ren, 'Shit' realizing too late the inappropriate question.
"I heard you're entering the academy early," said Ao, ignoring the question. "A word of advice: the academy is not just about techniques. It's also about learning when to use them."
With those words, he entered the store, leaving Ren to ponder the meaning of his message.That night, as he mentally repeated the taijutsu forms before bed, Ren took stock of his progress:
His chakra control was gradually improving.
Taijutsu was still very basic, but it was beginning to feel more natural
His aim with shuriken was inconsistent, but improving
Chakra perception was still rudimentary, but promising
'I won't be the strongest in the class,' he thought. 'But that's not the goal. For now, I need to build a solid foundation.'