8 Progress and Chakra

It's been 6 months since I chased after Rock Lee and became friends with him. During that time, we had become practically inseparable. Whenever we went to the playground, the Matron would let me explore on my own till sunset, when I would have to go back home, so Lee and I would mostly go to the forest on our own.

During that time, Lee and I would hang out all the time. Sometimes we would just talk, he would tell me about the academy and his life while I would mostly listen. Sometimes we would play, chasing each other around and playing tag, but most of the time, we would train.

After recognizing that I was really half-assing the ninja way, something that no one recommends you to do, especially considering the fact that you are risking your life every time you take a mission, I started upping the intensity of my routine even further. I wouldn't want to find myself lacking one day after all, or, worse yet, my enemy does that for me...

With the threat of possible death looming over my head, I would train my body and mind with whatever free time I had. Every day I would complete a set amount of punches, kicks, and conditioning so that my skin and muscles would grow tougher. This training was derived mostly from Lee, after all, even if I don't know any katas, I still need to know how to throw a punch or a kick. I also kept working on my strength training, and now I can do as many as 50 pushups before collapsing. I'm pretty proud of myself, after all, there's only so much strength a kid my age can have.

With the amount of training I'm putting in though, such gains are somewhat within my expectations. My routine consists of running till I'm exhausted, conditioning my body, then strength training. After all, if I find myself unable to take a punch from an enemy ninja, I would have no time for regrets then...

When I met up with Lee, we would condition and work out together. The progress I make with him is much more than that I make alone, after all, working with another like-minded individual is purely helpful towards my motivation. With all the time Lee and I spend with each other, I can proclaim him my best friend right now.

Lee seems to be making astonishing progress as well, though I can't really tell when he was already so amazing in the beginning. Since Lee has been training his body longer than mine, and harder, he still remains stronger than me at the moment, and probably for the foreseeable future. I don't know much about how strong Lee is right now, but body-wise, I'd say he just makes the qualifications as a genin right now. Which is amazing! After all, he only just turned 7, and considering the fact that he graduates in 5 years, I'd say he has a good chance of reaching high genin by the end. Of course, all of this is in terms of body strength, in terms of taijutsu, and combat ability, he probably still remains an average genin until he goes under the tutelage of Might Gai and learns the Strong Fist.

Another thing to make note of, yet again, is my astonishing self-recovery speed. As long as I have a good amount of sleep and food, I find myself ready to continue training the very next day. Although Lee does so as well, I can tell that he still has the wear and tear from the previous workout, yet I seem to completely recover each time. I don't know why this is happening, but I find that I have an advantage in this aspect since now I have somewhen to compare to.

The other aspect of my training, meditation, has also advanced by leaps and bounds. I am starting to be able to sense the existence of a foreign energy in my body, but I haven't made contact with it yet. I should be able to do so before the start of the academy, something which I am supposed to begin by the end of the month.

My birthday passed 3 months ago, and so I am officially 6 years and 3 months old now. I look like I'm about 9 years old though, and Lee always finds it surprising when I remind him of my age. My bigger body leads me to be somewhat of a threat to Lee during our spars, considering I have a longer reach, but in the end, he always wins.

Lee had tried his best to teach me the katas, but considering that he's not a great teacher, and he doesn't have great mastery over the Konoha katas, that endeavor ultimately failed. Whenever we spar, I mostly use my instincts on when to punch and dodge. Although weaker than the Konoha katas, I can feel that this path is not a useless one either.

Being able to build my combat sense is important too, and instincts are easier to build when I let my body react according to my instincts. Eventually, the instincts I am forging now will aid me greatly in whatever combat path I choose in the future.

Back to my meditation though, Lee had taught me the hand seals that everyone in the academy learns, and this is important because the seals activate a part of my chakra, or help me move it, so by performing the I am activating part of my chakra, even if I can't feel it. The more I activate my chakra, the easier it is for me to sense it, and the more I practice these seals, the faster I could do them. I could currently pump out about 1 seal per second, which is pretty abysmal compared to what I saw Kakashi do in his fight against Zabuza.

I was currently in my bed, and after a long day of sparring with Lee, I was very tired, but I persevered in my meditation training anyway. After a long while of meditating, the benefits aren't just as simple as allowing me to sense chakra, but allowing me to regulate my mental state and feelings. I can feel that I have more control over my feelings, and even though I'm not losing them, controlling them is easier.

Anyway, today was an extremely special day. I could feel that today was the day I unlock my chakra, so I persevered in my meditations. I had thought that it would take me somewhere between now and the end of the month, when the academy would start, so it was a pleasant surprise that I would unlock my chakra so soon.

As I sensed around my body, I could feel some sort of energy coursing throughout my entire being, every vein, every muscle, every bone, and every strand of hair I possessed. The moment I sensed it, I felt liberated. I felt as though shackles were removed from my entire body, and the fatigue that I had built up during the day was quickly washed away. I felt extremely rejuvenated, like I had taken a warm bath.

The feeling was intoxicating. I don't know why it made such a difference when I sensed my chakra, after all, it was there the whole time, but I think the difference between it existing and my being able to feel it existing is the reason for this feeling. While my strength didn't qualitatively change, my understanding of it has reached a new peak.

I had finally unlocked chakra! This was my first real step on my ninja path! After months of searching around for nothing, I can finally fully feel the presence of chakra coursing throughout my body. I tried meditating again, and I could sense the dense gathering of chakra around my abdomen. Even though there's chakra throughout my body, it's pretty light and comes simply from my cells, but the bulk of my chakra is concentrated in the spot around near my abdomen.

About 70% was made of yin energy, and the other 30% was made of yang energy, which is pretty good considering my situation. After all, I had thought I had more than 90% of my energy coming from the yin aspect! I was a transmigrated individual, with over 30 years of memory and experience when I should only have 6. Also, considering the fact that I train my mind about as much as my body, probably a bit less, that chasm should not have decreased by too much. This came as a pleasant surprise, as it meant that my future path of balancing my chakra would not be too difficult, I just have to put more work into my yang.

Another thing about finally sensing my chakra is that I could finally use my knowledge of the anime and begin training my chakra control. I knew about the chakra leaf training, walking on a tree, and walking on water, I could start these training methods years earlier and gain a vital advantage on my road to becoming a strong shinobi. A fine control over your chakra is one of the most important aspects of a shinobi, especially when considering the finite amount of it I possess. After all, only a chakra monster like Naruto can really get away with wantonly wasting their chakra...