Chapter 3

- How he has grown, Aki-kun, how he has grown! - The old Irenian picked the boy up in his arms and then tossed the little wonder into the air, catching him and tossing him again. 

The little boy, as if made of bronze, laughed happily. He liked Grandpa Fukui. He always had something good to eat, and he always took care of him, telling him interesting stories and playing shinobi. 

- Ho-ho, you're driving the old man crazy, okay, that's enough, - the old man tiredly put the three-year-old boy down on the floor. He turned his head to the boy's mother and asked a couple of questions:

- Well, how is he, Hotaru-chan. Between you and me, I haven't seen such active and strong little shinobi in a long time, I hope he obeys his mother? - Fukui Kayoshi asked the red-haired young woman. 

- Yes, sir! - The subject of the discussion threw down his hand and added again. - I obey! 

Irenin mussed the boy's unruly bronze-colored hair, and, nodding at the active fouin analysis, asked:

- Aki-kun won't be stubborn and let old Irenin examine himself? 

- Yes, Aki will do everything! - The boy answered importantly and undressed himself and lay down on the seal. This was where the child's strangeness was noticeable. He calmly endured the long study, not showing any displeasure. Though one-syllable, but essentially answered the questions and behaved more like a five-year-old than a three-year-old child. 

-...Do you see anything unusual, Aki-kun? - Reading the printouts coming out of the device, Kayoshi asked another question. He asked this question every month and always got the answer that it was business as usual or simply not. 

- Nope. We had a boy come in yesterday, he's so funny, he's only level 5 and already so big, but he's not big, not big at all! Dad's level is bigger, a whole 24 and mom's is 22! The boy is only level 2! He's only a level above Aki! - sometimes Aki would get a little upset and decide to talk, to vent his frustrations. But usually the boy talked about childish nonsense, now he was talking about levels for the first time. 

The old experienced irienin's clear hearing picked up on this information, his brain processed it immediately, and the old man finally realized his mistake! He asked if the boy always sees something unusual, but if the genome or dojutsu has been active since birth, it would be normal for Aki to see something that others don't! It's not like he doesn't know the criteria for that normally, and something he sees might be normal for him. 

Glancing in the direction of the young mother, the irienin made sure that she too was hearing about these levels for the first time. It could be a child's imagination, but it could also be a manifestation of the genome. 

Hotaru walked over to the boy who was wary of the adults' glances, sat down next to him and asked as gently as she could:

- Aki, what levels are you talking about. What are they?

The little boy patted his eyes. For a split second his gaze changed to a more meaningful one, the way someone who is responsible for his actions looks, not a 3 year old boy. Aki was sometimes affected by such things, he became much smarter and reasoned rationally and logically during such outbursts. 

Now, during the flash of realization, Aki seemed to realize that what he had seen was unusual, but he didn't hide anything, he answered honestly. He loved his mom and trusted her with all his heart. But his father, most likely, would not answer, because his father sometimes behaves badly, hurts his mother, because of which she screams loudly at night. Some hunch was swirling in the boy's subconscious, but he couldn't remember, it was an old memory that would shed light on his mom's screaming at night. And he didn't trust Daddy and for some reason he was terribly jealous of Mommy. Sometimes, and sometimes he had fun when Daddy played with him. But he didn't trust him either. Or maybe he didn't, maybe he did. 

- I see levels, and characteristics. The higher the level, the stronger the shi-no-bi. You're a strong grandpa, stronger than daddy, you're level 28! At first, I didn't see him, but you and I meet often-frequently, and the skill worked, and I saw my mom always and my dad, and some I can't see, but I'm curious, and I also like to get experience! I still have a lot of experience to get level, but I'm trying. Here you go. 

Stream of consciousness poured out on the adults. 

Asking leading questions, Kayoshi and Hotaru were able to more or less figure out the boy's power. It was unbelievable! This was something the old irienin couldn't even imagine, couldn't even think of something like this. 

Leaving the boy to his mother, he, having all the necessary data, started deciphering the genome. The work absorbed him so much that he forgot to give the boy a prepared present. 

The results were astonishing. There was still much left undeciphered, but even this data was amazing. The boy was able to control his development, to set by himself how strong he would be. The development itself had peculiarities as well, his so-called experience was obtained by pulling yin from those caught in a special genjutsu (it was actually more than that, Kayoshi just didn't have a proper definition). If a boy performs the "task" of being caught in the genjutsu, he will receive a charge of yin that is usually emitted by all shinobi and not-so-shinobi outside, the very yin from which the sen-chakra then emerges. This yin is more coarse and cannot be used in the technique, it is also sometimes called the breath of the soul, and should not be confused with the yin that mixes with yang in the hearth to create chakra. But that's not what this is about. 

In fact, the genome that allows him to fully control his own progress is the village's property, and the fact that he still has dojutsu features will allow those in power to lock Aki up in a place not so far away and use him as a breeding bull, especially now that the Uzumaki Mito Party is facing off against the Sarutobi Hiruzen Party.  No one would think of one little boy, but they would dream of a tool to further increase their influence in a village torn apart by two rulers. 

Kayoshi broke into a sweat at the thought that little Aki, the same Aki who liked to ride on the old man's back, the same little boy who listened to the stories of a shinobi who had seen the world with an amused and serious expression, would be destroyed, his personality erased, turned into an animal. 

Tearing himself away from the paper, he quickly destroyed it. He looked around and noticed a small package with a scrawled note: To Grandpa. 

Taking the gift, he unwrapped the roll and saw his portrait. 

"I won't allow it!" - A furious thought flashed through the old shinobi's mind. 

He grabbed the first scroll he could find and began to write kanji on it. The old man's movements were rapid and impetuous, ink flying in all directions, and he didn't even think of using a pen instead of the archaic brush. 

Having finished with one scroll, he immediately took up the second. For the rest of the day and half of the night the irienin wrote letters, and in the morning he sent them out to their addressees. Not all were answered, but many were. 

All this time the thought was burning in his mind, "I won't allow it!" 

Kumagai Aki. 5 years old. 

It's a very difficult thing to be a child, I'll tell you that. There is a mini-reactor constantly working in you, giving you excess energy, which you have to spend sometimes on all sorts of wild things. 

Now it's not so scary, I can more or less control myself, but when I was three or four years old, it was a real disaster. I wanted to run around in circles, jump on the spot, sometimes I even thought how great it would be to fall out of a tree. But thank all the saints, I gradually managed to get myself under control. 

I can't say that I'm such a standard of conscientiousness, just a child of five years old, nothing remarkable. There's plenty of people like me in our neighborhood.  Well, maybe not plenty, but enough. Children in this world are very smart, much smarter than many adults from my old one, for which, until recently, I had almost no memories. 

My old world. I don't remember how I died there. I remember going to work, dreaming of wearing a Virtual Reality helmet and playing my favorite RPG. I remember sitting down at the chair of my workplace, and then it was like nothing else. Then there were some glitches. There are still vague memories of customizing my genome, and then my bright new life began. Childhood, a bright time. When childhood comes again, you realize its beauty, and even though my childhood ended a couple of days ago, when my genome triggered my old memories, thereby screwing up my years, I have no regrets. I have a family again, a wonderful mother, a somewhat rude but loving father, and a grandfather who loved me to bits. That's happiness. 

Now I'm sitting on the porch, sipping a milkshake and watching the views of Range 44. It's right next door, behind a tall fence. The place is so creepy that there used to be a vacant lot next to it, because who in their right mind would settle near the Forest of Death? My parents did, followed by a few other families and elderly shinobi just two years ago. 

A sip of sweet deliciousness. The cold spreads down your esophagus, refreshing and relieving fatigue.

- Aki, you have five minutes left," my father hinted, resting from my workout in the hammock. 

I'm looking in his direction.

  Name: Kumagai Ibo

  Rank: Jonin (A rank)

  General level: 25

  Attitude: Likes. Proud. Conflict of worldviews. 

  Class: 

-Shinobi  - Taijutsu 16ur.

-Shinobi  - Bukijutsu 4ur. 

-Shinobi  - Ninjutsu 3ur.

-Shinobi  - Kenjutsu 2nd level.

...

My father is a taijutsu expert, which means he's a great fist fighter. He has a style his father created from his great-grandfather's training. 

Dad is not often at home, mostly he is on assignments, but when he is at home, then I have a hard time. He is a very responsible and strict man, rushing to the break, what to talk about, if his worldview - Orderly-neutral! In general, I love him very much, but sometimes he with his moralizing and rules just unbearable! It's like mom, with whom we are on the same wavelength. 

- Daddy, maybe that's enough, I'm tired. Let's go fishing like father and son. What do you think? - I pull tiredly, and I'm really tired, very tired. I have to go to work today, and he wants to make me faint, like he always does when he's at home. 

- No. Don't try to trick me, son. You've got plenty of strength left in you," the policeman said flatly. 

"Eh. I won't fulfill my quests again today," I said sadly. 

I looked at the experience bar and it was even sadder. 

1989/3000. 

I have yet to plow through to level 3, and not long ago I was dreaming of a fast kacha. 

Unfortunately, you can't take quests from the same people very often, and we don't have a lot of people living here, and it's not always someone who needs help! I'm not allowed to go to Konoha yet, even with my friends. I realize that I have to hide my abilities, but I wanted to run to the Hokage's mountain, climb it, and see the whole village from the top. 

- You'll be going to the academy soon, Aki, and no one will bother you there. It's what they say to do. You don't want to embarrass our family, do you? - Father asked threateningly. 

His tone gave me goosebumps. I definitely failed the escape roll (the GG is joking, there are no escape rolls in the system). No wonder, I don't have much wisdom. 

- You rested? Then get up and let's run, I think a couple of laps around our neighborhood will be enough.

It is worth explaining that our neighborhood stood on the outskirts, and the size of it was not very large, but for a five-year-old enough to fall down after a run around it without strength.

Reluctantly, I jump to the ground and run the old route.  Father Nemesis follows me, ready to speed me up with an admonishing kick or a slap of love. 

- Look, Aki-kun is being tortured by his father, it must be fun.....

- Look how he trains him, he wants his son to follow in his footsteps and not to become like his mother and all of her family....

- Quiet, you old fool, why are you yelling? If they hear you, they'll be offended, you know how touchy Kumagai-san is.

During the run, I heard my dad and me getting a bone to pick with them. Our people are simple and unpretentious. Many of them come from ordinary families - first generation shinobi, there are a couple of hereditary cells of society, but we don't have clans, which I'm glad about. I've heard about these clans, they fight for power. Having heard all sorts of things, I'm even now a little afraid to go to the Academy. If I beat some prince in a sparring match, he'll have a vendetta against our whole family. It's a little scary. 

First lap, followed by a second lap. Daddy has accelerated a couple of times before and may well accelerate again. 

But everything that has a beginning has an end. The warm-up is over. 

  50 experience gained 

"Not bad. Maybe run a couple more laps?" - I rolled over from my stomach to my back, concurrently giving it some serious thought. 

- You're rested," my father looked down at me. - Get up and let's go, I'll show you the final kata of our style. 

With difficulty, he shook off his clothes and followed his father under the curious glances of passers-by. 

We walked to our three-story mansion in silence. My father wasn't much of a talker, and I was a little shy, because he was so big and strict. If I said something, he'd be offended and even stricter.

  With these childish thoughts in mind, I followed my father down to our basement. In general, it's more like a bomb shelter than a basement. There are bedrooms and kitchens, and on the second lower level there are training rooms, so we went there. 

- Look closely, this is the final kata. If you learn it, you'll be considered a master of our family style. 

What my father called kata were actually sharp and precise punches demonstrated in shadow fighting. Our family style is somewhat similar to kickboxing, but with differences. For example, my father now demonstrates footwork, proper footwork, and distance control. 

He jerked the imaginary opponent with sharp left-right moves, striking seemingly chaotic blows, but in fact these blows had an order. First working on the bottom to reduce speed, then alternating between bottom and top, then the stomach, and then the bottom again. There were very few head kicks in the style, and as my father explained, while they can do staggering damage, they aren't worth it. Our style is more of a long suppression rather than a sharp destruction. It's a style for those with a lot of chakra. My father had a lot of chakra, a lot of chakra. His stamina was higher than mine, but he had less intelligence and wisdom, but more strength. 

To be honest, I don't like taijutsu very much, I'm not conquered by the philosophy of sweat and muscles, I prefer the beauty of techniques and tactics of their competent application. But I realize that in the world I live in there are guys who just don't give a ninjutsu specialist the time of day. I once read a book describing shinobi like Madara, Hashirama, Onnoji, etc. Well, these guys, although they had a clear specialization (I never really understood Madara's specialization), they also had knowledge of other shinobi paths.

I'll have to become a multiclasser if I want to survive.  I even saved 7 skill points after the last level, which I will spend after taking the Taijutsu class at the next level. This class will unlock some skills that were unavailable before. 

When my father finished, he demanded that I repeat myself.

I messed up the first time and I messed up the second time too. I tried to do the shadow fight again until late afternoon, and I did it. I only had enough strength to ask my dad not to leave me in the gym, and then I passed out. But I passed out happy because I got a very important message. A reward for my efforts. 

  50 experience points gained. 

Overtly Hidden Skill: 

  (Youn) Kumagai Style 6 (12%) - The positive Effect of accelerating chakra in the body when using this fighting style is increased by (12%)