Mika and Haruno Mebuki left, leaving only Sakura and Ito Makoto in the room.
Ito Makoto was the first to break the silence.
"Sakura, I'll teach you how to refine chakra."
"Okay!" Sakura answered timidly. It was the first time the two of them had spoken to each other.
But though he'd said he would teach her, where should he begin? Ito Makoto was at a loss. He decided to simply start from scratch, following the method his mother had taught him.
First, the surroundings. They had to watch the house, so they couldn't go out to the woods like before. Still, improving the environment should help.
Ito Makoto opened the window, letting the outside air circulate into the room.
He looked around and decided the bed seemed the most comfortable.
"Sakura, come sit on the bed."
Sakura obediently followed his instructions.
"I'm going to explain the theory behind chakra and how to create it. You need to remember it carefully. Chakra is..."
Ito Makoto repeated what Mika had told him earlier.
When he finished, he asked,
"How was that? Do you understand how to create chakra now?"
Sakura remained silent.
She probably hadn't remembered much, Ito Makoto thought to himself.
"How much do you remember?"
"A little bit."
"How little?"
Sakura pressed her thumb and index finger tightly together to show Ito Makoto.
"Just this much."
As if to prove she was being honest, Sakura pressed her fingers together with all her might.
Seeing her thumb and index finger touching, Ito Makoto fell silent. How was that "a little"? It was nothing at all.
"Sakura, what part did you remember?"
Ito Makoto asked, ready to fill in any gaps in her understanding.
"I remember, 'Chakra is...'"
"What comes after that?"
"That's all."
She hadn't remembered anything at all—just the opening words.
Sakura, Sakura... Ito Makoto was getting a headache. You're supposed to be a top student. How could you not even remember a little theory like this?
But he'd overlooked one thing: even the most brilliant student was still a toddler at three, unable to count to four. Even if children in this world matured early, the future top student was still just an ordinary little girl right now.
Ito Makoto decided to try another approach. He would set the theory aside and teach Sakura by guiding her through each step himself. Once she managed to refine chakra, she would understand the relevant knowledge naturally.
He put the idea into action, instructing Sakura to follow his directions.
"First, calm yourself and concentrate until your mind is completely still."
"Spread your mental energy throughout your body and merge it with your hundreds of trillions of cells."
"Combine your mental and physical energies in a counterclockwise spiral."
The direction of chakra's rotation had to match the spiral in the hair on top of one's head. In the original story, Naruto Uzumaki had gotten the direction wrong, causing his chakra production to be intermittent. He'd only corrected his mistake after Jiraiya taught him.
He wasn't about to let Sakura make the same mistake. Earlier, he'd taken a careful look at the direction of the spiral in the hair on top of her head.
"After that, you'll feel a tiny current of energy forming inside your body."
Ito Makoto broke the method down as much as he could and taught Sakura step by step. She followed his instructions one step at a time.
"And finally, you'll have refined chakra." Ito Makoto explained the last step. He secretly activated his Sharingan to see whether chakra was flowing inside Sakura.
But nothing happened.
Ito Makoto was puzzled. How could she have no chakra at all? This simple ability should have come naturally to Sakura before he'd even finished explaining it.
"How does it feel? Do you notice anything?" he asked.
Sakura opened her eyes and shook her head.
"Is there anything you don't understand?"
"What is mental energy? And what does counterclockwise mean?" Sakura asked innocently.
Well, he'd wasted his breath again. She hadn't understood from the very beginning.
He suddenly had the bizarre feeling that he wasn't teaching Sakura, but trying to teach an old man to recite a tongue twister.
It wasn't until evening that Mika and Mebuki returned from shopping.
By then, Uchiha Cheng was sprawled in a chair, staring blankly ahead as if all the life had been drained out of him.
"Sakura, what did you do to Xiao Cheng?" Haruno Mebuki asked in disbelief.
"Nothing, nothing!" Sakura jumped up and hurried to explain. "Brother Xiao Cheng kept teaching me how to refine chakra, but I just couldn't understand. Then he ended up like this."
Mika snickered behind her. "That's right! Chakra refinement isn't easy to learn. A normal child would need a year or two to master it."
"I was so stupid. Really." Ito Makoto muttered to himself. He never should have accepted this task.
Mika showed no sign of realizing she'd set her own son up. She went straight over and pulled Ito Makoto to his feet.
"Even though you didn't manage to teach her, at least you tried hard."
Mika praised him.
"Let's continue tomorrow!"
Ito Makoto's vision went dark. He was about to refuse.
But Mika seemed to have read his mind.
"What? Are you really going to abandon Sakura when she's only just started learning? That would be so cruel to her."
Ito Makoto was at a loss for words. Looking at the innocent, hopeful expression in Sakura's eyes, he couldn't bring himself to refuse.
"Fine. We'll continue tomorrow," he replied listlessly.
Mika and Mebuki exchanged knowing smiles. These two little ones were so amusing.
Mika took Ito Makoto back to their home on the second floor. To his surprise, the once filthy, messy room was now neat and tidy, and all the household necessities were in place.
"We have your Aunt Mebuki to thank for that. I couldn't have managed it all on my own," Mika said with a sigh.
Ito Makoto went into his room to check that all the necessities were there.
Just then, there was another knock at the door. Mika opened it to find a man standing outside, his clothes marked with the Uchiha Clan crest.
"You must be Ito Mika. I was ordered to deliver your share of the family assets," the man said coldly.
He tossed a scroll to Mika.
"Your share is inside. The house belongs to the Uchiha Clan, so it isn't part of the division of assets. Your shared property consists only of some furniture and household necessities. There's no money left over. This scroll contains the money from selling your household necessities and furniture. You can check it."
Mika opened the scroll and released the seal. A puff of smoke dissipated, and household items such as bedding appeared out of nowhere.
Mika and Ito Makoto checked the items and found nothing missing. Even the Ninjutsu Scroll for Earth Spear was still there.
After confirming everything was in order, Mika signed the confirmation papers.
The man put away the papers and said coldly,
"According to the rules, you should have been responsible for half of Uchiha Kenji's debts. But thanks to the clan leader's benevolence, you've been spared that burden. Be grateful for the Uchiha Clan's kindness!"
With that, he used the Body Flicker Technique to leave.
Ito Makoto couldn't make sense of the Uchiha Clan's logic. That wasn't their debt, so why should they have to pay it? They'd let them off the hook, sure, but now they wanted them to be grateful too?
Ugh! What a bunch of trash.
Before you continue