The children's shouts echoed across the Ninja Academy training ground.
Today's practical lesson was on the Substitution Technique, one of the most basic of the Three Basic Techniques.
The teacher was explaining the essentials. "Focus, and the instant you're attacked, channel Chakra into a substitute object you've prepared in advance to swap places with it! The key is timing and releasing your Chakra in an instant."
The children listened with only a partial understanding, then began trying it themselves. Soon, the pops of failed attempts and the occasional wisps of smoke from successful ones filled the training ground.
Temari and Kankuro were the first to succeed. Though their substitutions were still clumsy and slow, they had already earned the teacher's approval.
Shira stood before a wooden training post, silently looking at the log in front of him that was meant to serve as his substitute.
He knew he couldn't do it. The Chakra control was so precise that it required sensing, judging, gathering, releasing, and swapping in an instant. For him, it was an unattainable dream.
The essence of the Substitution Technique was the precise and rapid application of Chakra shape transformation, which was his greatest weakness.
But he still wanted to try, even if it was only to understand the "gap" more deeply and search for the slightest chance of success.
He focused all his attention, struggling to sense the unruly energy inside him and trying to guide it toward the substitution log at his feet.
The result was no surprise.
His Chakra was either as hard to control as a flood bursting through a broken dike, surging wildly through his body and refusing to gather in an instant, or as still as stagnant water, impossible to release at will.
After several attempts, he felt dizzy and mentally exhausted, but the substitution log hadn't budged.
"Pfft... I knew it wouldn't work."
"He can't even use the Substitution Technique. How lame!"
A few boys mocked him without restraint.
Expressionless, Shira stopped his futile attempts, brushed the dust off his hands, and prepared to return to his physical training. Arguing with these people would only waste time.
He had expected to fail, and he wasn't discouraged.
Just then, a gentle voice came from beside him. "Um, are you all right?"
Shira turned to see a girl looking at him with some concern. She was about their age, with soft, short, dark brown hair tucked neatly behind her ears, making her small face look even fairer.
Her eyes were large, their gentle light brown irises like glass soaked in water. She was looking at him with a hint of curiosity and shy kindness. Her name was Ameno.
"I'm fine," Shira said evenly, shaking his head.
Ameno seemed to sense the determination beneath his calm exterior. "The Substitution Technique really is hard," she said softly. "It takes very precise control. I can never quite get the timing right either."
There was no mockery or pity in her tone, only the understanding and encouragement of someone in the same predicament.
Shira looked into her clear eyes and answered firmly, "I know it's hard. For every bit of effort they put in, I'll put in a hundred times as much. For every drop of sweat they shed, I'll shed a hundred drops of blood."
His voice wasn't loud, but it was as weighty and firm as a rock in the desert. If he couldn't use the Substitution Technique, then he had to make his own speed, reactions, and ability to withstand blows strong enough for him to survive without a substitute!
Ameno was stunned. She looked at Shira's profile, covered in sweat and dust yet exceptionally resolute, then watched him turn without hesitation to other training after failing again and again. She had never felt such fearsome resolve and perseverance in someone her own age.
Shira said no more. He turned and walked toward a corner of the training ground, where some of the most basic physical training equipment lay: rough stone weights and heavy sandbags.
He began the most monotonous exercises: squats, presses, striking the sandbag, running with weights...
Though the movements were simple and repetitive, he strove for perfection with each one, pushing his strength to its limit. Sweat quickly soaked his clothes, and the heavy stone weights rose and fell in his hands again and again, making dull thuds.
The other children gradually got the hang of the Substitution Technique and went off in twos and threes to rest or play. Shira alone remained on the training ground, still tempering his body frantically. His determined figure looked out of place amid the bustling grounds, yet there was a moving tenacity to him.
Ameno didn't leave right away. She practiced changing the shape of a water ball nearby, but her gaze kept drifting toward the figure striving alone.
The last trace of surprise in her eyes turned into pure admiration, clear as a spring.
He's working this hard even though he can't use Ninjutsu? Hakiro, you...