Don't panic, it's just chakra

The next day, at the training ground.

Sunlight bleached the ground white, and the turf felt soft and spongy underfoot.

Iruka stood at the front with a stack of Chakra-Sensing Paper in his hand, its edges rustling in the breeze.

The twenty-odd students stood in two rows on the training ground.

"Today, we'll put yesterday's lesson into practice." Iruka clapped his hands. "Extracting chakra."

He handed out the sensing paper, one sheet per person. It was thin, like rice paper, with slightly rough edges.

"I'll go over the steps for extracting chakra one more time." Iruka raised a finger.

"First, relax. Second, sense the energy flowing inside your body. Third, guide it together. Fourth, extract it."

He paused, then added, "Everyone's body is different. It's perfectly normal not to manage it on your first try. Don't rush."

Kiyoshi stood in the second row, clutching his sheet of sensing paper. Sweat had dampened a small patch along its edge.

He glanced down at the black iron bracelet on his wrist. The words "Don't panic" told him not to panic.

"All right, begin." Iruka stepped aside and folded his arms.

The class fell silent.

Kiyoshi closed his eyes.

Relax.

Sense the energy flowing inside your body.

Guide it together.

Extract it.

He ran through the process in his head.

Relax... relax... let your body relax...

Then what?

Sense the energy. How? With what?

He frowned and tried to "find" that energy. After searching around, he found nothing. It was as though a hundred people were shouting "Do this, then that" in his head at once. Every voice said something different, and he couldn't make out a single one.

The more he thought, the more tangled it became.

He opened his eyes and took a deep breath.

No use.

I can know all the theory in the world, but this body just doesn't get it!

Meditation was like this in my past life, too. The harder I tried not to think, the more I thought.

When that thought surfaced, he froze for a moment, feeling a little unsettled, but he didn't have time to dwell on it.

The students around him wore all kinds of expressions.

Naruto had his eyes shut and his face strained bright red. He muttered under his breath, his hands shaking.

Choji sat cross-legged, his eyes half closed and his hands hidden in his sleeves.

Kiyoshi suspected he was sneaking snacks.

Shikamaru leaned against a tree with his hands in his pockets and his eyes closed. His expression was relaxed, as though he were basking in the sun.

Sakura's brows were knitted tightly, her palms facing upward. She was taking it seriously, but nothing had appeared for her, either.

Hinata kept her head lowered and her hands clasped in front of her chest, her lashes trembling.

Kiyoshi looked away and closed his eyes again.

One more try.

Still nothing.

His head was too full. A jumble of voices kept telling him "what he should do," making so much noise that he couldn't hear anything inside his own body.

The minutes ticked by.

"All right, stop for a moment," Iruka called. "Let me see how everyone's doing."

Kiyoshi opened his eyes, tapped his fingers twice against his knee, then stopped.

He reached out and plucked a blade of grass in front of him, wound it around his finger, then let go.

The stem snapped and fell to the ground.

Just then, something happened over by Sasuke.

His eyes had stayed closed, his focused expression unchanged from the start.

Suddenly, his palm lit up. A wisp of pale blue chakra glowed there, faint as a firefly, but unmistakably chakra.

Iruka's eyes lit up, and he walked over. "Sasuke did it! Very good!"

The whole class burst into an uproar.

Sakura was the first to react, her eyes sparkling. "Sasuke-kun is amazing!"

Naruto gritted his teeth. "Damn it!"

The other students began whispering among themselves, too.

Kiyoshi watched the glow in Sasuke's palm, the corners of his mouth tightening downward.

We're both Uchiha. He got it on his first try.

He lowered his eyes and pinched the seam of his pants with his nails, leaving a mark. He didn't let go.

But on second thought, Sasuke was a genius. He had trained within the clan since childhood and already had a foundation.

Kiyoshi was just a total beginner, but now he had a system, and he was going to become a big shot, too.

Back when I worked in sales, this was how I learned to handle big clients. Act the part first, and little by little, it becomes real. Ninjutsu should work the same way, right?

There's no point comparing.

He released his grip, leaving a crease along the seam.

He touched the bracelet on his wrist, brushing his fingertips over the words "Don't panic."

Kiyoshi, don't panic.

"All right, all right, quiet." Iruka clapped his hands. "Sasuke did well. Everyone else, keep practicing. It's normal not to extract chakra on your first try. There's no need to rush."

Kiyoshi closed his eyes again.

This time, he didn't think about "how to do it right."

He asked himself, What do I feel inside my body?

Rather than deliberately searching, he simply felt.

He relaxed and emptied his mind.

Then he felt it.

A warm current near his abdomen.

It was faint, like a cup of warm water resting quietly there.

He tried guiding it upward, through his chest, his throat, his arm, and toward his fingertips.

Halfway there, it broke off.

Something seemed to block the warm current, and it dispersed.

His chest tightened.

Again.

Gritting his teeth, he guided it once more. This time, he didn't dare rush. He moved slowly, pushing it upward bit by bit. As the warmth passed through his chest, it wavered again, nearly breaking off. He held his breath and waited for it to steady.

It steadied.

Keep going. Throat, arm, fingertips.

A sliver of light appeared at his fingertips.

It was dimmer than Sasuke's, a faint sheen like moonlight on metal, but it was unmistakably chakra.

He opened his eyes and stared at the light on his fingertips.

His hand trembled, his breathing unsteady, his chest rising and falling several times. He stared at that tiny glow for a few seconds, then clenched his fist, enclosing the light in his palm until his knuckles turned white, before letting go again.

He glanced down at the words "Don't panic" on his bracelet. The corners of his mouth twitched, but no smile came.

Iruka walked over, glanced down, and nodded. "Not bad, Kiyoshi. Well done."

Kiyoshi said nothing. He tucked his fingertips behind his back and squeezed his still-tingling hand.

"All right, keep practicing." Iruka turned and walked away.

Naruto was still struggling, his face even redder now and sweat beading on his forehead. Nothing had appeared.

Iruka walked over and patted his shoulder. "Don't rush. You'll get there with practice."

Naruto gritted his teeth. "Just you wait. I'll definitely do it!"

The bell rang.

Iruka closed his lesson plan. "That's all for today. Keep practicing when you get home. We'll continue tomorrow."

Kiyoshi stood, brushed the grass clippings off his pants, and headed toward the classroom.

Halfway there, a glowing screen popped up.

[System settlement: Face Value +264 (Iruka's approval + classmates' approval) Awkwardness Value +12 (frustration over the first failed attempt)]

He glanced at it and was about to close it.

Then he noticed another line of small text below.

[System notification: Host's first successful chakra extraction detected. Assessing Taijutsu potential...]

His steps faltered, and his heart skipped a beat.

Assessing Taijutsu potential?

This thing can measure potential, too?

He stared at the line for two seconds, then took another look.

Then he closed the panel.

On the way back to the classroom, those words kept turning over in his mind.

Taijutsu potential. Assessment.

Forget it.

I'll deal with it when the time comes.

He quickened his pace and caught up with the group.

He didn't know whether he was imagining it, but after a few steps, he felt noticeably lighter on his feet.