There were hardly any customers in the little shop downstairs, either. His father was reading a magazine as usual, though Shinsei had no idea what it was. He still barely recognized the writing here; he had not started school yet.
"I'm home!"
"Come home earlier next time. It's almost dinnertime." His mother poked her head out from upstairs, glanced at him, then went back to preparing dinner.
"Mm," his father answered, putting on a stern air while watching his son out of the corner of his eye.
Thump, thump, thump. Shinsei hurried upstairs.
The aroma of pan-fried fish fillets drifted over. Shinsei stood on tiptoe to peer into the pan, and Riya picked up a small piece and popped it into her son's mouth.
Shinsei did not know whether it was because his body was so young, but he always found himself unconsciously doing things appropriate for his current age.
Sometimes, for instance, when he was bored, he would watch the ants in a corner and toss them a tiny piece of candy, then spend ages observing them. He had also watched Uchiha Itachi train that afternoon with great interest.
After dinner, Shinsei went up to the third floor, washed his face, brushed his teeth, and sat on his little bed.
He placed his right leg over his left and folded them together. This was called the ease posture, a meditation posture from his previous life. Although there were more complicated ways to sit, there was no need; the posture had never been the point of meditation. Quieting the mind was.
He brought his hands together between his legs, pressed his right thumb against the tip of his middle finger, and wrapped his left hand around his right, lightly pinching the base of his right ring finger with his left thumb and ring finger.
This was called the midnight-noon hand seal.
He closed his eyes, slowed his breathing, and quieted his mind.
After an unknown stretch of time, Shinsei opened his eyes and sighed inwardly. Sure enough, it had done nothing at all, even after nearly half a year of meditation. His body was still too young. The old masters in his previous life had made a good point when they said the young should not practice internal cultivation and the old should not practice boxing.
For some reason, his parents would not let Shinsei become a ninja, and he could not change their decision right now. He also had no idea how to extract chakra. He had read in the original story that it involved mixing physical and spiritual energy, but even after closing his eyes and feeling around inside his body for ages, he had found neither.
He had only watched Naruto on and off before. He knew the general story, but could not remember the details. He could probably recognize well-known characters from the original, like Kakashi, if he met them. Although a two-dimensional art style was not the same as a real, three-dimensional person, Kakashi's white hair and mask would still stand out. Unfortunately, he had never run into him. Even if he approached him for advice, he did not know whether Kakashi would answer.
Right, there was Might Guy, too. He was quite distinctive as well, and if Shinsei deliberately went looking for a chance encounter, he would have a good chance of finding him. He would probably answer his questions.
As for the other characters, he might as well forget them. The Konoha 12 were mostly his age, and he might not recognize the older characters.
Since he had met Uchiha Itachi, he would try finding a way through him first. If that did not work, he could think of something else. Uchiha Itachi was still quite approachable at this point in time. After all, he was intent on improving relations between his clan and the village.
Amid these wandering thoughts, Shinsei fell fast asleep.
The next day, right after breakfast, Shinsei ran out early to the edge of yesterday's woods and waited for Uchiha Itachi to appear.
Unfortunately, no one appeared even by noon. Not everyone had as much free time as he did, after all. Shinjō could only go home for lunch before coming back to keep waiting.
At three or four in the afternoon, three figures approached from a distance through the light, drifting snow.
The older and younger pair were Uchiha Itachi and Sasuke. The extra person looked thirteen or fourteen, with gentle features, wearing traditional Uchiha robes and carrying a long sword on his back.
Shinsei stood up, stretched his legs, which had gone a little numb from squatting, and waved hard.
"Itachi! Sasuke!"
Uchiha Itachi looked at the child ahead, already covered in a thick layer of snow and seemingly oblivious to the cold, while quickly searching his mind for his name.
"Good afternoon, Shinsei. Aren't you cold?"
Sasuke stared coldly at the child opposite him, as though facing a formidable enemy.
"Itachi, you know him?"
"A little friend I met yesterday."
The older boy strode up to Shinjō, reached out to brush the snow off him, then took his icy little hands and rubbed them back and forth.
Shinsei did not feel particularly cold. This little body generated far more warmth than he had imagined.
"No, I'm not cold. My name's Shinsei. What's yours?"
"My name is Shisui Uchiha." Shisui Uchiha's smile was like a warm spring breeze as he reached out and stroked Shinsei's head.
I swear I'll never let anyone touch my head again!
Shinsei looked up and asked timidly.
"Are you here to train? Can I watch?"
"Yes. We've had fewer missions these past couple of days, so we happen to have some time to train." Shisui bent down and brushed a finger across the tip of Shinsei's nose. "Of course you can watch, little Shinsei."
Sasuke turned his head away with an annoyed huff.
Uchiha Itachi wrapped Sasuke's towel securely around him and tapped his forehead.
"Don't get too close, you two."
The two Uchiha boys exchanged a glance, walked aside, and formed the seal of confrontation.
"Itachi, here I come."
"All right."
Shisui drew two kunai from the pouch at his waist, held them crosswise in his hands, and charged at Uchiha Itachi.
With a clang, Uchiha Itachi blocked the kunai and kicked his right leg at Shisui, who twisted aside to dodge.
For a time, the two traded blows, the sound of clashing shuriken ringing out without pause.
Shinsei could barely follow it all.
This was his first time seeing ninja fight. All he could say was that they lived up to the name, especially these two outstanding Uchiha ninja. At their age in his previous life, he would have struggled to kill a chicken, yet in Naruto, they were already qualified fighting machines.
The two used taijutsu from beginning to end, switching from kunai to long swords. Whether out of consideration for the two children nearby or not, they never used ninjutsu, dashing Shinsei's hopes of seeing it.
They fought and paused in turns. After about an hour, they finally stopped and came over to rest beside the two little ones.
Sasuke took out his handkerchief again and stood on tiptoe to wipe his brother's sweat.
Shisui was clearly in much better shape. His breathing was less labored, and there was only a light sheen of sweat on his face.
"You're amazing! You're both amazing!" Shinsei clapped his little hands. "Shisui."
"What is it, Shinsei?" Looking at his newly acquired little admirer, Shisui suddenly thought that starting with children might be a good way to improve relations between the clan and the village.
"Just now, you stood on a tree without falling off. Was that because of chakra?" Shinsei's little face was full of curiosity, while inwardly he scorned his own shamelessness.
"Yes. You can do that by attaching chakra to your feet." Smiling, Shisui brushed the accumulated snow off Shinsei.
"But how do you mold chakra? I haven't started at the ninja academy yet, so I don't know."
"Oh? Do you want to become a ninja someday, Shinsei?" Shisui placed a hand on Shinsei's shoulder, lowering his head to smile into his eyes.
"Yes! I'm going to become a ninja, and I'll become Hokage, too!"
"Oh, I see. But being a ninja is dangerous. We can protect you, too."
"I want to become a ninja and become Hokage so I can protect my father and mother, and everyone in the village." Becoming Hokage was probably every Konoha child's dream. If you declared in Konoha that you wanted to become Hokage, people might laugh at you for overestimating yourself, but they would not laugh at you for having the wrong dream.
"What a good boy!" Shisui's expression grew serious. "Normally, they'll teach you all this when you start at the ninja academy, but there's no harm if you want to learn ahead of time."
"Chakra is a mixture of physical and spiritual energy. You just have to find the physical and spiritual energy inside your body and combine them." Shisui smiled.
Huh? I already know that.
"My teaching method is a little different from other people's." Shisui extended his index finger. A speck of blue light emerged from its tip, and he gently touched Shinsei's lower abdomen. "This is chakra."
Shinsei felt a stream of energy pass from Shisui's fingertip into his lower abdomen. His abdomen instantly felt full of vitality, along with a sense of rejection.
The energy split in two. One stream was warm and lively, while the other felt a little cool.
"These are physical and spiritual energy. Remember this feeling. You need to find your own spiritual and physical energy. Then combine them, and you'll have chakra."
The two streams merged back into one, then withdrew into Shisui's fingertip.
So this is chakra, physical energy, and spiritual energy? Shinsei did his best to remember the sensation.
"Big brother, me too!" Sasuke Uchiha grabbed Itachi's sleeve and shook it hard.
Itachi looked at Sasuke with tenderness all over his face and reached out to tap his forehead.
"Just once, Sasuke. If you can't extract chakra, I'll teach you another time."
"Big brother." Sasuke threw himself into Itachi's arms and continued wheedling.
"Just once, Sasuke. Children shouldn't start molding chakra too early." Itachi was a little helpless.
"All right, big brother." Sasuke pursed his little lips.
Itachi gently touched a finger to Sasuke's lower abdomen, then withdrew it a moment later.
Sasuke's face was full of excitement.
"All right, sit here and behave. Shisui and I are going to continue."
Shinsei closed his eyes, doing his best to recall the sensation from a moment ago.
Ignoring the ringing clashes of weapons beside him, Shinsei's mind grew quiet. Slowly, he sensed a warm stream of energy and a cool stream of energy inside his body.
Are these my physical and spiritual energy?
Following Shinsei's silent directions, the two streams intertwined, and a more powerful energy appeared.
Chakra!
Shinsei opened his eyes.