Planning

The next day, Hyuuga Nen opened his eyes and sprang out of bed. Taro was still asleep. Nen went over to the cabinet and opened it, then saw that the letter and scroll were untouched. He silently breathed a sigh of relief.

When he went into the living room and checked the time, he realized he'd gotten up later than usual. His mother had already gone out, too.

Nen quickly washed his face, then hurried back to his room. He opened the cabinet, took out the scroll, and headed over to Taro.

As soon as Nen reached him, Taro woke up and looked up at him.

Nen crouched and stroked Taro's head. "Taro, let's go downstairs and open the scroll." Hearing this, Taro got up first and ran toward the basement.

In the basement, Nen unrolled the scroll and laid it in front of Taro. Taro stepped forward, raised a paw, and gently pressed it to the center of the scroll. With a poof, a huge pile of things appeared before Nen.

"One scroll, several books, and two boxes!"

Nen gazed at the items excitedly, then sat right down on the cool basement floor. He opened one of the boxes first and found that it was full of money. "Looks like this is the living expenses for Mom and me."

Nen opened the other box. Inside were several wrapped kunai, some shuriken, a few brushes, several bottles of ink, a few blank scrolls, and some sheets of white paper.

Nen picked up a sheet and examined it closely. "This probably isn't ordinary paper. Could it be chakra paper?"

Setting the paper down, Nen looked at the blank scrolls, brushes, and ink, but left them alone. "There isn't much of any of this, so it's probably for practice. I can't get more right now, so I'll have to use it sparingly."

He closed both boxes and set them aside. Then he turned his attention to the books and picked up the thin one on top.

The words "Chakra Refinement" appeared before him. This is it! Nen thought to himself. But instead of reading it carefully, he quickly skimmed through all the books.

After setting down the last book, Nen furrowed his brow slightly. "These books use very standard wording and an official tone. They're all printed, too. Could they be textbooks?"

Nen thought it over and settled on an answer. "Looks like my deadbeat old man just brought over the Ninja Academy textbooks and altered them so no one could tell where they came from. That's even better, though. They'll help me learn about being a ninja."

Nen already had an idea what the last scroll contained. When he unrolled it, he found exactly what he'd expected: all sorts of ninjutsu, from the most basic Transformation, Clone, and Substitution Techniques to techniques of various chakra natures.

"This scroll even has Medical Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, and Sealing Techniques." Nen studied the scroll closely. "But it doesn't include any Taijutsu?"

After thinking it over, Nen understood why Taijutsu had been left out. The Gentle Fist of the Hyuga Clan and Konoha's Strong Fist both had distinctive features. Anyone who used them would be easy to identify.

Nen looked at the section on Sealing Techniques. "The Four Symbols Seal, the Eight Trigrams Sealing, and all sorts of other seals, both familiar and unfamiliar."

Nen frowned at the list. "It includes Konoha's Sealing Techniques. That doesn't fit my old man's style!"

With that thought, Nen took a book from the pile. It had no title and was the only handwritten book among them.

He opened it and skipped past the sections on training insights and experiences using ninjutsu, going straight to the part about Sealing Techniques.

"The rest of this book goes into detail about my old man's experience with Sealing Techniques, the difficulties he encountered during training, their causes, and how to solve them." There was also a warning: he must never use Sealing Techniques in front of anyone.

At that, Nen thought of the night he'd come to this world, and the black lines that had danced before his eyes.

"Looks like my old man is highly skilled in Sealing Techniques, and he has high hopes for me, too. He risked being found out to give me Konoha's Sealing Techniques. The warning not to use them in front of anyone is a safeguard."

The pressure weighed on Nen even more, and his excitement ebbed.

Looking at the books before him, Nen rubbed his chin and began to think.

After a while, he pulled two books from the pile: one on Chakra Refinement and another on basic Taijutsu exercises. The moves in it were simple punches and kicks, so there was no need to worry about giving himself away.

"These two books contain exactly what I need right now. Everything else can wait." Nen looked at the books in his hands and thought to himself.

Nen set the box of money aside, then had Taro put everything else back into the scroll. He wrapped the scroll in cloth, placed it in an iron box, and tightly wrapped the box in waterproof material. Then he put it in another container and buried it in the bare earth beneath the basement floor.

Looking at the packed-down earth, Nen felt a little more at ease.

Now he had to decide whether to start refining chakra right away. Though this is the Land of Iron and there are no ninja here, there are samurai. If someone found out I had chakra, I don't know what would happen. Sigh, I still know too little about this world!

My cautious way of life before kept me from learning more about this world. I need to change that, even if it means taking some risks. Nen silently made up his mind.

I'll ask Mom first. She might know something, since she's from this world. Nen added softly.

That evening, Nen was having dinner with Rika. He set down his bowl and chopsticks and looked at her. "Mom, do you know about Chakra Refinement?"

"Chakra Refinement? Yes. It's something only ninja and samurai can master. Nen, why are you asking about it all of a sudden?"

"My father sent someone to find me. It happened last night." Nen thought for a moment, then told Rika.

Rika froze at his words, her expression complicated. "So you already know quite a bit. Are you going to become a ninja like him, too?"

Nen looked at Rika and nodded, then told her what he was worried about.

After listening, Rika smiled at him. "You don't need to worry about that. Chakra Refinement isn't rare, and it's not hard to get. I once thought about becoming a ninja myself and even trained, but I didn't succeed."

"Really?" Nen looked at Rika in surprise. He hadn't known she'd had that kind of experience.

Rika nodded. "Whether someone can become a ninja is decided the moment they're born. Besides, plenty of children in the Land of Iron want to become samurai. If you want to become one, I can put the word out for you. It wouldn't be difficult."

Nen thought for a moment, then said, "Let's not do that just yet." He figured that if Chakra Refinement was so common, he could master chakra first and then try becoming a samurai.

Becoming a samurai would let him train his Taijutsu and give him an identity that would help him fit into this world and understand it better.

By then, Nen had settled on a short-term plan: first master chakra, then thoroughly study the textbooks his father had given him, and after that become a samurai.

Just as Nen was thinking, he heard Rika's voice. "Nen, your father..."

Seeing the hopeful look on Rika's face, Nen silently handed her the letter he'd been keeping on him.

"Father told me to give you this letter. He also gave us some money. I put it in the basement."

Rika nodded without saying anything. Happily taking the letter, she eagerly tore open the envelope and began to read.