The Path Severed by Dan

Seeing the confusion in Chiba's eyes, Xia Mu sighed again and told him about his own attempts to find a way into a village back then.

"At first, I wanted to join the Rain Ninja, but when I went there, I found out they didn't recruit children from outside the village."

"I begged them for a long time, but nothing came of it."

Seeing this, Chiba suddenly realized something, and his expression darkened.

After glancing at Chiba, Xia Mu continued, "These days, every ninja village, whether large or small, already has a complete system of its own. They eliminate a great many of their own children, let alone children like us from outside the village."

"So joining a ninja village is simply unrealistic."

Chiba furrowed his brow slightly. He knew Xia Mu was telling the truth.

The days when the great ninja villages were first established and short on manpower were long gone. Back then, ordinary people might have had a chance to join a village, especially Konoha under the leadership of the kind First Hokage.

But nowadays, the various ninja villages had no shortage of resources for training the next generation. They might even find themselves short on resources.

The impoverished Mist Ninja and Sand Ninja, for example, had even been forced to reduce their numbers.

Under these circumstances, children from outside the villages had no chance of joining at all.

Especially since the various villages were all trying to infiltrate one another and thwart one another's infiltration. That made such an opportunity even less likely.

Who would be foolish enough to give the enemy an easy chance to infiltrate their village?

Chiba had been focused on learning how to use chakra and finding a way to learn ninjutsu, without stopping to think about much else. Now, with just a few words, Xia Mu had all but crushed his hopes.

Chiba suddenly understood why Shadow had told him at the beginning that, no matter how talented he was, he was destined to remain an ant all his life.

He also understood why Scarface had been willing to let him go.

It was simply because he had no chance of becoming a ninja.

In an instant, cold sweat began to trickle down Chiba's head.

Was he really destined to be nothing but an ant all his life, just as Shadow had said?

Seeing the bewilderment on Chiba's face, Xia Mu sighed softly again.

"Actually, there is a way to learn chakra, but the chances are incredibly slim."

"What way?"

Hearing Xia Mu say there was still a chance, Chiba clung to it like a lifeline and stared anxiously at Xia Mu.

"One possibility is that I've heard ninja villages sometimes recruit children with exceptional talent or intelligence. Of course, they send people out to find them at random. If you approach them yourself, they won't take you. So it all comes down to luck, though living near a village for a long time might improve your chances."

After hearing Xia Mu's so-called solution, Chiba couldn't help but smile bitterly.

He could guess what it meant when a major village occasionally made an exception.

Konoha's Root seemed to have a tradition of recruiting orphans, but Chiba would rather die than enter that terrifying place.

Being brainwashed and brutalized by cruel training until he became a tool was absolutely not what he wanted.

Besides, who could say those so-called special recruits weren't taken away for experiments by scientists like Orochimaru?

Even if they really did recruit some children for legitimate reasons, Chiba absolutely didn't want to be chosen.

He couldn't believe they had no way to detect lies. As an ordinary person with no training whatsoever, he would probably give himself away in minutes under interrogation by experienced ninjas. A single genjutsu would likely finish him off, and then he might be arrested as a spy.

And if they used some machine or jutsu to pry open his mind and uncover even more, that would be even worse.

So while this method might count as a glimmer of hope for someone else, to Chiba it was nothing short of the deadliest poison.

Just as Chiba's brow furrowed into a knot, Xia Mu spoke again.

"Actually, there may be one last option. I tried it myself back then, and I almost succeeded."

"What option?"

Looking at Chiba, who seemed tense, Xia Mu slowly uttered a few words. "Have you ever heard of samurai?"

"Samurai?"

Chiba suddenly seemed to fall into thought.

"Looks like you've heard of samurai. Samurai also have a chance to learn chakra, and the bar for entry should be much lower than joining a ninja village. I've also heard that highly skilled samurai are no weaker than powerful ninjas."

As he spoke, a flicker of remembrance passed through Xia Mu's eyes.

"Back then, I took part in the Land of Iron's samurai selection training. They weren't as wary of people from other villages. After all, they upheld neutrality at all times, so there wasn't much value in infiltrating them. Besides, many of their samurai were trained to serve other countries. But there was one other thing they cared about a great deal."

"What was it?"

"Physical aptitude—your body's natural abilities. There were many of us who passed the preliminary selection back then, but fewer than one in ten made it through in the end. I was one of those who got eliminated."

"Hm? So that means—"

Before Chiba's eyes could brighten, Xia Mu dealt him another heavy blow.

"But this seemingly easiest option may be the hardest one for you."

"Why?"

Chiba froze for a moment, then suddenly realized.

"Is it because of my body?"

"That's right. Honestly, your physical condition isn't just unimpressive; it's poor. I don't mean that you're in bad shape because you're malnourished. You simply lack natural physical aptitude, and you haven't had much exercise since childhood. If you tried out, you might not even pass the preliminary selection. So..."

Xia Mu gently placed a hand on Chiba's shoulder.

"Give up. It may sound cruel, but the truth is, your chances of becoming a ninja are very slim."

Before Chiba could argue, Xia Mu continued quietly, "And that's not all. Even if you do manage to learn chakra, what then?"

"As far as I know, the best age to learn chakra is under ten. Once you're older, even if you can learn it, the improvement it brings will probably be limited."

"Given your situation, you lack natural aptitude to begin with. Even if you do learn chakra in the end, there's a good chance you'll spend your whole life as a Genin."

"And if you get caught up in a brutal war like this as a Genin, what do you think your chances of surviving will be?"

Chiba lowered his head in silence, clenching his fists tightly.

With just a few simple words, Xia Mu had easily shattered all of Chiba's fantasies.

In a world where the ninja villages had a complete monopoly on knowledge of ninjutsu, a commoner like him—a commoner from a small country with no exceptional talent—had been doomed from the start to never learn ninjutsu.

Seeing Chiba so dejected, Xia Mu felt a little sympathy for him.

He had once been in the same state himself, and he understood the cruelty of having a dream shattered.

But in Xia Mu's view, no matter how cruel it was, it was better than letting Chiba blindly walk down a path of no return.

He gently patted Chiba's shoulder and comforted him. "There's nothing wrong with not being able to learn ninjutsu. If you learn a few simple skills from me, you'll be able to handle ordinary people. Pick up a trade as well, and someday you can find a remote place and live a peaceful life. That wouldn't be a bad choice. Think it over."

With that, Xia Mu turned and walked toward his tent.

Watching Xia Mu's back in silence, Chiba clenched his fists tightly.

Was he really only able to give up?