First Awakening of Chakra

Before dawn broke, Uchiha Ling jolted awake from his dream.

It was no ordinary nightmare. Deep within the darkness stood a colossal tree whose full form remained hidden; its roots burrowed into his flesh and bone like living things, and every pulse seemed to plant a new source of power within him. Ling sat up abruptly, his palm pressed hard against his chest, his forehead beaded with cold sweat.

That throbbing sensation did not vanish; instead, it spread bit by bit through his meridians, as if a seed were buried in the deepest reaches of his body, rising and falling gently with every breath.

"It's happening again..."

Ling spoke in a low voice, his tone still hoarse.

He had been in Konoha for half a year now. His current identity was a youth of the Uchiha clan, and his name had changed from the one no one in his past life remembered to Uchiha Ling. At first, he had assumed he was merely trapped in an overly realistic dream, but the day-to-day reality of the ninja world—the Uchiha compound, the streets of Konoha—forced him to accept the truth.

What forced him even more was the power within him that did not belong to a normal person.

He climbed out of bed and pushed open the door. The courtyard was bathed in the gray light of dawn, the wind carrying the chill of early morning. Today was the day of the entrance exam for the Ninja Academy. To the other children, this was just a basic assessment before class sorting; to him, it was the first time he would truly stand before everyone's eyes.

For the past six months, the clan's assessment of him had been uniform.

His chakra was unstable.

He was not like an Uchiha.

Even though he could refine far more chakra than his peers, it always felt as if a force were hidden in his depths, constantly compressing that chakra; if his control slipped even slightly, it would explode. The instructors saw this as a defect, and his clansmen treated it as a laughingstock. An Uchiha genius should be sharp and brilliant, not like him—unable to maintain even the most basic, steady output.

Ling stood in the courtyard, slowly raised his hand, and circulated his chakra once more.

A wisp of pale blue energy rose from his palm. It was steady at first, but the next instant, it collapsed inward violently, as if gripped by an invisible force. A faint, muffled sound echoed in the air, and the fallen leaves at his feet instantly shattered into pieces.

Ling's gaze darkened.

It was like this again.

But this time, he did not feel the usual agitation. Instead, he vaguely sensed that this was not a simple loss of control, but a transformation into a higher density. It was just that he could not yet harness it.

"Ling, don't be late."

His father's cold reminder drifted from outside the courtyard. Ling acknowledged it, changed his clothes, and headed toward the academy.

Along the way, the whispers never ceased.

"That's him, right? The Uchiha with the chakra problem."

"I heard the teachers say he's unstable."

"Even an Uchiha can be like that?"

Ling passed through the crowd with a calm expression. Explanations were never useful; in this world, only results could make people shut up.

A large number of new students had already gathered at the academy gate. The children stood in groups, some excited, others nervous. As Ling joined the line, he suddenly sensed a light gaze. He turned his head and met a pair of white eyes filled with panic.

It was the girl from the Hyuga clan.

Hinata.

Seeing him look over, the girl immediately lowered her head, even the tips of her ears turning red. Ling did not linger, withdrawing his gaze to focus on the testing grounds.

The test consisted of three parts: throwing, sprinting, and chakra refinement.

When it was Ling's turn, the sidelines grew noticeably quiet. Clearly, many people wanted to see if this "abnormal Uchiha" would make a fool of himself in public.

The first part was shuriken throwing.

Ling flicked his wrist, and three kunai flew out at nearly the same instant, pinning themselves into the densest part of the target's edge. A low gasp rose from the sidelines, and the instructor looked up at him.

The second part was a short-distance sprint.

Ling stepped off, his body darting out instantly, his speed faster than most of the children before him. But the moment he tried to stop, that familiar pressure deep within his meridians surged once more, like a ball of fire rising to his throat, causing his breathing to hitch.

"Still unstable," someone whispered.

The instructor tapped his clipboard and said, "The final part: chakra refinement. Stick the leaf to your palm. Begin."

Ling placed the leaf on his palm and slowly closed his eyes.

The surrounding sounds suddenly faded away.

The next moment, the world before him seemed to open up in a different way. Tiny, shimmering blue light particles floated in the air, his internal meridians looked like a bright web, and the chakra that should have been invisible was now flowing clearly within his field of vision.

Deepest of all, the "seed" that had been tormenting him finally revealed its outline.

It lay at the source of his chakra, its surface entwined with ancient and complex patterns, like tree roots or some incomprehensible seal. Every bit of chakra that passed through it was forcibly compressed, becoming denser and heavier, as if it had been reforged.

Ling's heart skipped a beat.

He saw it.

Not only did he see it, he vaguely understood its rhythm.

It was not that he couldn't control it; it was that he had been using the methods of an ordinary person to harness a power that was anything but ordinary.

If that was the case, then he would go along with it.

Ling curled his fingers slightly, actively guiding the chakra in his palm to continue compressing. The leaf stuck firmly at first, but the next instant, its edges began to emit a faint scorching sound, and the entire leaf started to tremble.

The instructor's expression changed: "Stop!"

BOOM!

A muffled explosion erupted suddenly, and a shockwave of air swept outward, carrying shredded leaves and dust. Nearby children were startled and scrambled backward. When the smoke cleared, a shallow crater had appeared in the ground where Ling had been standing.

The entire field fell into a deathly silence.

Ling stood in place, his palm tingling, his meridians stinging as if seared by fire, but his eyes were brighter than ever.

He had finally confirmed one thing.

The abnormality within him was not a defect.

It was power.

And it was a power far beyond what an ordinary ninja could imagine.

The instructor stared at the traces on the ground for several long breaths before slowly speaking: "Uchiha Ling, pass."

The gazes around him, which had previously been filled with suspicion and contempt, all changed in that moment. Some were shocked, some wary, and others looked seriously at this silent Uchiha youth for the first time.

At the edge of the crowd, Hinata stared at him in a daze, her fingers clutching her hem. She couldn't describe the feeling, only that the figure standing in the smoke and dust was different from everyone else.

Ling slowly clenched his fist, suppressing the stinging in his palm.

Just then, an even colder gaze fell upon him from afar.

It was not the gaze of a child.

It was as if someone hiding in the shadows had suddenly discovered something worth recording.

Ling did not turn back to look, but he noted the chill of that moment in his heart.

The gates of the Ninja Academy had only just opened today.

But his troubles had already arrived.