《Reincarnation of the Aburame God》


 Chapter 1 - A New Chance

    Ascension. That¡¯s the word that has always defined me in every respect.


    I was born into a poor family and had to do everything in my power to become a man of value. I worked in dozens of jobs. They ranged from a newspaper delivery boy to a cosmetics manufacturer in a factory with questionable hygiene.


    Still, I never gave up on the basics: studying. Improving myself intellectually was the only way to make sure I wouldn¡¯t live forever in a dump with my two drug-addicted parents.


    As an adult, my efforts paid off. I got into a good college, got a good internship, and these two things led me to a higher-paying position in a small financial company.


    It was at this job that I heard about cryptocurrencies, and it was right when Bitcoin had just been launched. Some of my colleagues said it was a joke, something worthless.


    In fact, it was an almost worthless virtual currency. As everything was very cheap, and a colleague was very excited about it, I put in ten dollars. This allowed me to buy over 3,000 bitcoins at the time. It was something new, and I felt it had potential because it was a decentralized currency.


    My life went on after that. Years later, I quit my job, set up a cryptocurrency exchange company, and improved myself as best I could. I studied many languages, cultures, and, as CEO, I had a lot of time to catch up on the culture I hadn¡¯t had access to when I was younger. I played hundreds of games, watched series, anime and even started reading novels.


    My biggest flaw and quality was that I became a nerd. I tried to enjoy the things I couldn''t in childhood, not a billionaire who likes to splurge at parties.


    Luckily, that didn¡¯t stop me from being successful with women. I was never one to brag about it, but I was handsome, tall, intelligent and rich, so they were naturally attracted to me. Every week, I received up to ten invitations to dinner, from work colleagues to the daughters of other rich people.


    Sure, I went out with many of these potential suitors. I wasn¡¯t someone who only stayed at home on weekends, at least not all the time.


    One of these suitors, who was especially good in bed and intelligent, captured me in her web and got me to the altar of a church, where we got married.


    We had two beautiful children. A girl and a boy.


    As they grew up and my eldest son even had a girlfriend, I felt I had finally achieved success, no? It was something bigger than that. Fullness was the word. Because there were many successful people who couldn¡¯t achieve what I did.


    Unfortunately, feeling so happy and fulfilled made me blind to the surrounding dangers.


    On an ordinary Friday evening. My wife and children had gone to her parents¡¯ house for the weekend. It was a place where it snowed a lot, and my children loved skiing. I had some meetings on Saturday morning; otherwise, I would have gone with them.


    I was in my office, sitting at my desk, and behind me there was a large glass wall with a panoramic view of the city of Atlanta. It was then that I heard a noise and looked forward.


    ¡°Ah! I knew you¡¯d still be here, Aiden,¡± said the man in the suit who had just walked through my office door. He was Kim, the other senior partner in the firm.


    Kim was the fellow cryptocurrency enthusiast who got me to invest in cryptocurrencies. Years of discussing the same subject turned this friendship into a very lucrative business partnership.


    ¡°Hey, Kim. What are you doing here? I thought you¡¯d finished for the day,¡± I replied, returning my gaze to the computer screen in front of me. I was trying to get through the next day¡¯s work so that I could leave Atlanta straight after lunch and join my family.


    Kim walked over to my desk and pulled out a chair to sit down. ¡°Yes, I was going to a bar with some friends in Las Vegas after catching a jet. But I thought of something I wanted to talk to you about.¡±


    At that moment, his words piqued my curiosity, and I took my eyes off the computer.


    ¡°And what could be so important that you need to talk about it in person rather than over the phone?¡±


    Kim scratched the back of his head, looking a little embarrassed. ¡°It¡¯s embarrassing to say this, but do you remember when we bought bitcoins?¡±


    ¡°Yes, of course I do. Why? Do you regret selling all yours at the last high?¡±


    ¡°N-not that. I kept some, but I don¡¯t remember the password I put on my account. I just remember that we, as a joke, put in the pizzeria''s name we liked and also their number.¡±


    I laughed out loud when he reminded me of that. ¡°Yes! It was one of the dumbest things we¡¯ve ever done!¡±


    ¡°Yes! Anyway, you remember the password, don¡¯t you? Because I¡¯ve been forgetful lately.¡±


    ¡°Come on, Kim, why beat around the bush? Of course, I remember. Let me just get a piece of paper here and write it down for you.¡±


    I opened a desk drawer, took out my diary, tore out part of the last page, and wrote the funny password.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    ¡°I don¡¯t like to brag about it, but my memory is great," I said as I wrote.


    Kim took the piece of paper when I held it out to him, and his eyes ran over the password written in my handwriting. An almost imperceptible smile appeared on his face, and he read it aloud:


    ¡°Frontstreetpizza718_875_3700...¡± He held the paper carefully, folded it, and put it in his inside jacket pocket. ¡°Aiden, you really are an impressive man. You have a good memory. You have always shown dedication and intelligence. But apparently you¡¯ve become na?ve."


    ¡°What?¡±


    Kim put his hand in his pocket and made a rough drawing motion. Before I had time to move, a small pistol was pointed at me, and the click of the pistol¡¯s release was enough to tell me it wasn¡¯t fake.


    ¡°Kim, what are you doing?¡± I asked as I slowly raised both hands.


    ¡°Do you think we¡¯ve come this far together by accident, Aiden? I always knew that you were the key to my success. But you know what else I know? You don¡¯t know when to stop. You¡¯ll never stop being the man who wants to be at the top. And that... well, that doesn¡¯t suit my plans.¡±


    ¡°If money is what you want, Kim, we can work it out. I have more than enough. You don¡¯t have to do that.¡±


    ¡°Ah, but it¡¯s too late for you to think about that, my friend. I¡¯ve already planned. When you¡¯re gone, I¡¯ll have everything you have. The bitcoins...¡± He tapped his hand lightly on the pocket where he had just put the paper with the password. ¡°I¡¯ll also have a company and even your wife. I don¡¯t think a woman like her can stay a widow for long. I¡¯ll play the part of the best friend who¡¯s grieving and needs consoling.¡±


    That insinuation about my wife. About my family. My blood ran hot, but I had a gun pointed at me, and I had to keep calm. One wrong word, and it would all be over in an instant for me.


    ¡°Kim, don¡¯t do this.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a shame, Aiden. We were good friends for a few years. But... business is business.¡±


    I didn¡¯t have time to reply or try to understand his motives. He pulled the trigger.


    The sound was deafening, and the pain was immediate. The impact of the shot threw me backwards, and I felt the heat of the blood stain my shirt. My body toppled off the chair, crashing to the hard marble floor.


    My vision went dark, but I could still hear Kim¡¯s footsteps. That meant I was still alive.


    Kim stood up and looked at me. When he saw that the bullet had hit the left side of my chest, he smiled.


    ¡°I could finish the job by shooting you in the head now, but I won¡¯t do that. You¡¯ll soon die of blood loss. Because only one shot was fired, they will assume a professional assassin from a competing firm eliminated you. The camera system is under maintenance, so they¡¯ll never know it was me," he said, turned, and started walking towards my office door. ¡°You¡¯ve always trusted people too much, Aiden. That¡¯s what destroyed you.¡±


    My mind was spinning, but one thought stood out amidst the pain: ¡®I¡¯m not finished here yet!¡¯


    My hands groped the floor, looking for something, anything. It was when my fingers found the edge of the table that I remembered the button. A few years ago, when the company started to grow, I created a contingency plan.


    With effort, I reached under the table and pressed the hidden button. A secret compartment opened, and a small pocket pistol fell into the palm of my left hand.


    Kim, already near the door, stopped when he heard the click of the gun unlocking. He turned slightly, but it was too late.


    The gun was in my hand, and I pulled the trigger. An instant after the sound of another gunshot echoed through the office, Kim¡¯s body fell to the floor.


    ¡®A headshot... It seems my aim is better in reality than it used to be in FPS games...¡¯


    With my gun still raised and my hand shaking from blood loss, I smiled. Then my brain started to fail.


    Disordered flashes of countless images came to mind. My children''s smiles, Sarah''s laughter, and one happy Christmas with my parents before they died of an overdose. Even the happy laugh of what I considered my best friend, Kim, echoed in my mind, which caught me off guard.


    ¡®My family... My little ones... I wanted to see them one last time. Just one last time...¡¯


    The world went black.


    When I opened my eyes, the pain was gone. The feeling of the cold marble on my living room floor had also disappeared.


    I was on my feet. I squeezed my eyes shut and looked around. I was in a train station, but it was different from the train stations I was used to. It was older. Everything was too clean, too organized, and blindingly white.


    I was alone.


    ¡°What the hell? I really died. But why did I end up in some kind of station?¡±


    [Hello.]


    A semi-transparent screen appeared in front of me without warning.


    Surprised, I took a step back and then leaned forward slightly. ¡°Is that what I think it is?¡±


    [You¡¯ve become a wandering soul, Aiden. Now, you have the option of choosing your destiny.]


    ¡°Choose my destiny?¡±


    [In five minutes, a train will arrive on the platform to your left that will take you to the ¡®Beyond All Things¡¯ station. Also, in five minutes, on the platform to your right, a train will arrive that will take you to ¡®A New Chance''.]


    [You are free to choose what you will do after your first life.]


    To be lying on the ground dying one moment and faced with a choice the next was almost suffocating.


    I knew what the names of the stations meant. The station ¡®Beyond All Things¡¯ was probably the place of souls who have lived lives and want the cycle to end. And the other? A new chance? Reincarnation, of course.


    I would like to go to heaven, but my heart was racing, and I didn¡¯t dislike the feeling.


    ¡°I¡¯m not ready to rest yet...¡± I said to myself. ¡°But going back to Earth? No... I can¡¯t stand that place any longer.¡±


    I had a choice, but none seemed good enough.


    ¡°Before I decide, I need to know more. Where exactly am I?¡±


    *Ding!*


    The screen flashed before changing. New words appeared, clear and direct.


    [You are in the valley between Life and Death. For you, the representation of this is King¡¯s Cross Station from the Harry Potter movies.]


    I almost laughed. I knew it was ironic, but it made sense, considering how much I loved Harry Potter.


    ¡°I had already noticed the familiarity. I just didn¡¯t want to say it out loud. What about other worlds? Are there places other than Earth that would be an option for me to reincarnate? Even if it¡¯s an alien planet?"


    [Of course.]


    [To inspire souls to reincarnate, we usually let them choose any world. This includes those in their universe that are only fictional. They can also pick five skills to aid their new journey.]


    For me, reincarnation was never synonymous with going home. It meant starting over, in a new place, with new rules and challenges. But if I were to choose to start again, I would want to be reincarnated in a world where I could live life to the fullest.


    I looked at the platforms to my left and right, both offering different possibilities. One for eternal rest. The other for an uncertain journey. But, if I were to be honest with myself, the idea of starting again appealed to me irresistibly.


    I could choose where I would live and what skills I would have. It was like playing the game of life, but with the possibility of choosing the skills my avatar would have.


    ¡°I want to know more about these world options. Then I can choose my skills.¡±


    A list that seemed endless, with each name more exotic than the last, appeared in front of me. They were mostly strange names in languages I didn¡¯t know. It made sense. It was an infinite number of worlds. Yet, there was a search bar to use.


    ¡°So, let¡¯s start with the obvious... Harry Potter.¡±

 Chapter 2 - Worlds

    "Life is about making choices. Some we regret, some we''re proud of. Some will haunt us forever. The message: We are what we choose to be."


    ¡ª Graham Brown


    ...


    I didn''t really want to go to the Harry Potter World; I just wanted to check something.


    To my surprise, when I confirmed the search, the list refreshed, and a filter dramatically shortened the list to only one world.


    "Wizard World." I muttered, reading what was written out loud.


    Apparently, it didn''t matter if the name of the world wasn''t exactly what I had typed; the world I had in mind would appear.


    When I clicked on the name "Wizard World", the white holographic screen in front of me expanded and letters organized themselves into English words.


    [World: Wizard World.


    Description: An apparently ordinary world, with conventional technology, except for the fact that here there are beings called Wizards who can produce spells. Such ability requires practice and study, but has almost unlimited potential if you''re the ambitious type.]


    [Would you like to be reincarnated in the Wizard World?]


    It seemed tempting at first. For much of my life, the only book I had touched was "Harry Potter and the Philosopher''s Stone".


    I even wished that an owl had delivered my letter to Hogwarts, or any other wizarding school, to my letterbox. Then maybe I could leave my home and my drug-addicted parents behind, just like Harry did with the Dursleys.


    However, that dream ended when I turned twelve, and no letter arrived.


    So living in the world of Harry Potter was no longer as much of an adventure for me as it had been when I was a child.


    "There must be better options for me."


    I put a hand to my chin and thought. A second later, I had an idea that could have made a light bulb go on next to my head if I had been in a cartoon.


    So I quickly typed into the search bar: "Marvel".


    Unlike Wizard World, the list became enormous. It was so big that it had to be divided into so many pages that I had to look at page after page until I found the world I wanted.


    [Marvel Worlds:


    1 - 2099


    2 - Age of Apocalypse


    3 - Dynasty M


    4 - Marvel Zombies


    5 - MCU


    6 - Principal Comics


    7 - Spider-Gwen (Earth-65)


    8 - Ultimate


    ...]


    The list went on for countless pages.


    Marvel really was an interesting choice. Full of beautiful women, business opportunities, interesting worlds and... universal events.


    Sure, I''d like to be a hero, and interacting with those fun characters would be great, but then I imagined that I''d have to fight villains every week, and once a year I''d have to save the world, or even the universe, from some great threat.


    Just thinking about it made me feel a little lazy.


    ''There''s got to be some world that''s interesting, dangerous in the right way, fun, with a level of power that won''t kill me immediately if I do something wrong and that has cool characters.''


    Dragon Ball met almost all the requirements, except that the power level was too high and it suffered from the same problem as Marvel. I didn''t want to have to save the world every time.


    Bleach would be nice and even Frieren, but I think both would get boring after a few years.


    One Piece? Erh... My stomach has never really handled boats, and I''ve only seen half the anime.


    Analyzing my options and ruling out the ones that seemed the worst was the best thing to do at first. So, inevitably, I ended up thinking of Naruto.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    Dangerous world just right, except for the Ninja World Wars. Fun characters, and a power system that I''d really like to understand more deeply and learn on my own. After all, who hasn''t wanted to do a Rasengan, right? Yes, this seemed like the ideal choice.


    So I typed "Naruto" into the search bar. Two results appeared.


    [Naruto Worlds:


    1 - Ninja World


    2 - Infinite Tsukuyomi.]


    My eyebrows rose. It was a big surprise that Tsukuyomi''s alternative universe was listed, and choosing that option to reincarnate was tempting to me.


    There were many differences between the normal Ninja World and the Infinite Tsukuyomi, big and small.


    The biggest of these differences was that the world created by Madara''s idealization of perfection, the world of Tsukuyomi, was nothing less and nothing more than a perfect world for all people. No wars and everyone fulfilling their dreams. Even Akatsuki was good in this universe.


    Living in a world like that would be cool, especially to watch events unfold differently from the original work.


    But I wouldn''t just want to watch things unfold. I''d like to be the driving force behind the changes. To really experience the world of Naruto, and not watch them all have their happily ever after.


    Since that was my goal, what I needed to do was as clear as the white clouds.


    I clicked on the name "Ninja World" and after reading the brief description of the world of Naruto, the question appeared.


    [Do you wish to reincarnated in the Ninja World?]


    "Yes." I confirmed out loud, because there was no button to click.


    Immediately, I felt everything around me shake. From the station tunnels, I could hear trains running down the tracks. Then a train stopped on the platform to my right.


    When I approached the train, the doors didn''t open. Instead, there was another holographic window in the door.


    [Before leaving for A New Chance, you must choose the talents you will have in your next life.]


    [We''ll start with... Normal Talents].


    An infinitesimal number of skills appeared on the holographic screen. Like the worlds, these skills were listed in alphabetical order.


    I went through tab by tab to better understand what this thing meant by a normal skill. To my surprise, I saw skills that I actually considered rare, such as [Sharp Aim], [Mother''s Intuition], [Fearless], and many others like that. Sure, there were common skills like [Cutting Vegetables with Precision].


    "A normal skill I''d like to have...?"


    Well, there were a lot of other people''s skills that I would have liked to have had in my past life, and that I envied some people for having those skills. However, I couldn''t think of what my old self needed and wanted to have. Unfortunately, that old me was already dead and there was no going back. I needed to think about what my new self would need.


    I didn''t know which country, clan, or condition I would be born into. So, I needed skills to meet all my needs and to be strong. If this was true, then being fast or excellent at one thing wasn''t the best. A skill that made me good in several areas, like an elite athlete, was better.


    After a few seconds of thought and research, I found the most suitable skill.


    [Talent Name: Superior Manual Ability


    Description: Motor coordination so advanced that it allows for quick and precise maneuvers with your feet, as well as the use of any tool that uses your hands. Your body will adapt whenever it needs you to do something manually.


    Rating: Normal.]


    At first glance, it might seem like a bad skill, but it''s not. With great motor coordination, it would be easier for someone unaccustomed like me to perform hand seals at high speed, handle ninja weapons, and move my body like a ninja.


    [Do you want to choose this talent?]


    "Yes, that''ll be it."


    [Talent "Superior Manual Ability" acquired.]


    [Now, you must choose a Rare Talent.]


    As I read the first few skill names on the new list that appeared, I realized this system understood "Rare" to mean skills that were rare in the omniverse.


    At this stage, I was undecided between two skills. One was [Amplified Senses], while the other was [General Elemental Affinity].


    In the world of Naruto, normal people have an affinity for one or two elements. The very talented can have up to three affinities. This meant that those who had affinities with all the elements were almost legendary figures for this reason alone. For this reason, [General Elemental Affinity] would usually be the obvious choice for me.


    However, [Amplified Senses] allowed me not only to have hearing, smell, and sight comparable to those of the Inuzuka Clan, but also to pick up hostile or malicious intentions from subtle changes in someone''s facial expressions or posture.


    In my first life, I died not because I trusted someone too much, but because I couldn''t spot the signs. I wouldn''t want to go through that a second time.


    So, with a little anguish, I chose [Amplified Senses].


    If the clan I was born into was a civilian clan, at least I would have the innate talent to be a sensory ninja.


    [Talent "Amplified Senses" acquired.]


    [Choose your Epic Talent.]


    [Talent "Perfect Control of Spiritual Energy" acquired.]


    It was easy to choose this time. My options were fewer, and none seemed more helpful than having perfect control of my chakra. I was even looking forward to seeing how it would work out.


    [Choose your Legendary Talent.]


    This was the hardest one to choose because the skills that appeared were all related to the world I had chosen.


    There were skills like [Absolute Natural Mastery], which allowed me to access a chosen Sage Mode without restrictions. There was also [Vision Beyond Space-Time], which involved perceiving combat movements that would occur moments in advance.


    However, what really captured me was [Divine Chakra].


    [Talent Name: Divine Chakra


    Description: A chakra with unique properties, so dense and powerful that it increases the strength of all jutsus, including genjutsus and taijutsus. This type of chakra can frighten or intimidate ninjas with high sensitivity, as well as being recovered at a much faster rate.


    Rank: Legendary.]


    Combining this talent with the Epic Talent I chose, I would have practically infinite chakra.


    [Talent "Divine Chakra" acquired.]


    "Phewww! It was hard, but it looks like I''ve reached the end." I wiped the imaginary sweat off my brow. "I think I made some good e-choices."


    [Choose your Systemic Talent.]


    I frowned and saw a short list appear. To my surprise, this list had ten systems for me to choose from on my own.


    [Systemic Talents available:


    1 - Leveling System


    2 - Extraction System


    3 - Territory Domain System


    4 - Shop System


    5 - Survival System


    6 - Villain System


    7 - Simulation System


    8 - Essence Gacha System.]


    As I used to be an avid reader of novels and manhwas, I knew all the systems mentioned on this list, all except for one. The last one. Maybe I was an embarrassment for that one.


    "What is an Essence Gacha?"


    [Basically, you can get Gacha Points and spin a roulette wheel every day, with the chance of getting a Kitchen Knife or Thanos''s Infinity Gauntlet, with all the gems.]

 Chapter 3 - Behind the Dark Lenses

    "It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one that best adapts to change."


    - Charles Darwin


    ...


    ''The Infinity Gauntlet? Is that so?'' I thought as a smile of disbelief formed on my lips.


    The most important decision had just become much easier. Even though I had a lot more information about how my other system options worked, Essence Gacha was the system that anyone would want to have.


    So, I didn''t delay and said:


    "I want the Essence Gacha System then."


    [Talent "Essence Gacha System" acquired.]


    [Now, Aiden, A New Chance awaits you.]


    As this last message turned into glowing particles, the train door opened. It was a modern train, with automatic doors and even faint music coming from inside. I could even feel the chill of the air conditioning inside.


    Everything inside the train was incredibly normal, but the high-pitched whistle from the front of the carriages ¡ª like a steam locomotive ¡ª reminded me that my mind was projecting all this.


    ''Okay, I think that''s someone up there telling me it''s time to go.''


    As if it were one of my college days, I got on the train, sat down in a vacant seat ¡ª there were so many options ¡ª and waited.


    After that, I don''t remember if the train moved or left the station. Everything went white and then black.


    Reincarnating was surprisingly peaceful. There was no color vortex, no memories of my old life, and, unfortunately, no giant pair of breasts near my face like Rudeus from Mushoku Tensei.


    What I found at the end of the darkness was the calm sound of a thick voice.


    "That''s why you should pay more attention to what''s in your mind than in your heart when you''re wielding chakra. I''m serious, children. Controlling your emotions is essential."


    I opened my eyes and saw a white-skinned man with a chubby face. He had a goatee with brown hair and a Leaf Village bandana sewn onto a blue wave cap.


    As a fan of the world of Naruto, I quickly recognized this man as Daikoku-sensei, one of the oldest teachers at the Ninja Academy.


    Daikoku was standing in front of what looked like a classroom. On the blackboard behind him, he had drawn a human body with various arrows and lines.


    I was happy to see all this. The fact that I was in Daikoku-sensei''s presence was great because it meant that I was where the main story unfolded, namely Konohagakure. However, he was much younger than I remembered seeing him in the anime. If in the anime he looked to be in his forties, the Daikoku in front of me looked to be in his early twenties.


    Well, that meant I wasn''t so close to the events of Naruto Classic and Shippuden, which was great.


    Just as I was about to smile with excitement, I remembered Daikoku''s words. I must control my emotions and not get carried away with this news.


    "Aiden Aburame, can you hear me talking to you?" asked Daikoku, which made me turn my head in his direction.


    "Is he listening to you, sensei? Look at him and ask yourself if he''s awake to talk!" a boy behind me said.


    When I turned around, I saw a boy with black hair and round cheeks. He was no fatter than Chouji, but he was close.


    "In fact, with those sunglasses, it''s impossible to tell if he''s asleep or not." The slim boy with blond hair next to him said, in a more handsome pose.


    These two comments made half the room laugh out loud, while the other half held back and sniggered.


    "Humph. What a disappointment. He''s an Aburame, but he can''t manipulate any insects. He''s talentless..."Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    Hearing all these insults in sequence made me confused, but a click happened in my mind at that moment. With that click, memories that I wasn''t sure were mine or not came to mind. That''s how I understood my situation in this world.


    I didn''t reincarnate as a baby. Instead, I was in the body of a boy who had the same first name as I had in my past life. I was Aiden Aburame, son of Shibi Aburame ¡ª one of his sons, in fact.


    Although I was only a nine-year-old child and in the Ninja Academy, I was seen as a failure because my younger brother was Torune Aburame, an expert insect user and the one in the spotlight talent in my clan. No wonder he was adopted by my father, the head of the Aburame Clan, so that he wouldn''t end up in an orphanage.


    As for Aiden Aburame, since the offering ceremony, when the Aburame offer their bodies for the parasitic insects to make a colony, no insect has ever managed to get close to him, neither take shelter in his body.


    In this way, Aiden was not only seen as a failure by the Aburame Clan, but also by the other people who knew this story.


    The laughter around me at that moment in class, of course, meant that all my classmates already knew about it.


    Fortunately, remembering all this didn''t make me feel the pain that characters in novels used to say there was when getting memories from another body.


    With all these memories, I understood that I had undergone a reincarnation not of body, but of soul, merging directly with the mind and memories of Aiden Aburame. I was now nine years old and in the training year of the Ninja Academy.


    "All right, everyone. That''s enough! Masayuki and Komoda, I''ve told you to stop it!" exclaimed Daikoku, calming the class down. "As I just asked you, Aiden, answer me: what is the best way to concentrate chakra and perform ninjutsu, genjutsu, or taijutsu?"


    The answer to Daikoku''s question came so easily to my mind that I didn''t even realize when it left my mouth.


    "Making hand seals...?"


    Daikoku smiled out of the corner of his mouth at my answer. "That''s correct, Aiden. Guys, hand seals are very important for most jutsus, from the simplest to the most complex. Now, turn to page forty in your books and check out some of the basic seals."


    This lesson turned out to be very interesting for me. I could get information about hand seals that I didn''t even remember whether I had seen in the anime or not.


    During the class, I also realized that I had a pair of glasses on my face. They were black-rimmed, identical to the ones Shino wore in the anime, but it didn''t hinder me at all in seeing things in the exact shade I always did.


    It made me think a little about why all the Aburame hide their faces. At first, it might have seemed aesthetic, it could be to intimidate the enemy or to protect the Aburame from accidental contact with the kikaichuu ¡ª the parasitic insects with whom all the Aburame have a symbiotic relationship. However, I could see the real reason for this when I went to the bathroom.


    Facing the mirror, I lowered my glasses for a moment and saw that my irises were a different color. Instead of my usual black, I saw an intense yellow, and their shape was different, like thousands of geometrically perfect honeycombs.


    Through my memories, I found an explanation for this hue in a conversation with Aiden Aburame''s father a few years ago.


    Shibi wasn''t the most loving of fathers, neither with Torune nor Aiden. He was equally strict, as you would expect from one of the most exceptional clans in Konohagakure. Shibi showed no signs of favoritism, even though his youngest son had enormous natural talent.


    Scouring Aiden''s memories, I saw the day Shibi explained why the members of the Aburame Clan didn''t show their special eyes to the world.


    "Why do we do that? Um... Why are you asking me this now?" Shibi asked as he brought a glass of green tea to his mouth.


    The young Aiden Aburame was only six years old at the time, so he also had a curiosity that was hard to quell.


    "It''s because you''ve always told me not to take my glasses off in the presence of anyone, including my family. But you never told me why."


    Shibi sighed. "All right, I think you''re big enough to know... Son, do you know the Hyuuga?"


    "Yes, of course I do."


    "And the Uchiha?"


    "As well."


    "We''re not like them. Our eyes don''t allow us to perform genjutsus, like Sharingan users, nor do they allow us to easily see things that other ninjas can''t, like the Byakugan. Basically, what we have is not a dojutsu, but a Kekkei Genkai. We can''t deactivate it. It''s part of our biology."


    Aiden scratched his head, confused. "Dojutsu? Kekkei Genkai?"


    Shibi almost laughed, but continued explaining for a few minutes. It took years for Aiden to understand everything Shibi had said that day, but as it was the longest conversation he''d ever had with his father, he remembered the details, and that meant I did too.


    The special eyes of the Aburames were called Meikyugan, which means Eye of the Labyrinth, and were unique to the Aburame Clan, but curiously only appeared among the male members of the family.


    Unlike the dojutsus, the Meikyugan did not offer offensive abilities but acted as a sensory and mental amplifier, allowing users to see the world from the perspective of their insects and also to talk directly to them. When activated for the first time, between the ages of two or three, users'' eyes would gain a honeycomb-like pattern, with multiple structures, and a different color.


    The color of the Meikyugan could vary from shades of amber to a bright yellow, like mine.


    This Kekkei Genkai gives us many disadvantages. High Chakra consumption was one of them, as was sensory confusion. However, it allowed us to have exceptional abilities such as Chakra Detection, Chakra Cancellation Field, Multispectral Perception and many others.


    High chakra consumption made us terrible in long battles, so the Aburame Clan''s style was to plan as much as possible in advance and carry out missions with maximum efficiency, which is why it was considered the clan with the highest mass mortality potential in Konohagakure and also one of the Four Noble Clans.

 Chapter 4 - Spin

    "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity."


    ¨C Seneca


    ...


    Having a Kekkei Genkai was an unexpected addition to my range of options in this new life. Yet, the former Aiden Aburame didn''t seem to be very good at controlling this power or even his own chakra.


    Considered untalented in ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu, Aiden only excelled in basic school subjects such as math, philosophy, and the like.


    So, my first big mission in this world was to change the way people outside, and especially my clan, saw me.


    After classes ended, I stayed in the bathroom and waited for most of the students to leave. I''d rather avoid the bullies for now than face them without a plan.


    As I sat on the toilet seat inside one of the toilet cubicles, one of those holographic screens appeared to me. This screen was unlike any other I had seen in the Valley between Life and Death. In the center of this screen, there was a large, colorful wheel with a key underneath it that read [Spin].


    Discovering what this is was as easy as adding one and one.


    ''It''s the Essence Gacha System I''ve chosen.''


    In the many sections into which the wheel divided itself, the colors also changed. The game''s common rarity color pattern helped me. I knew, with near certainty, what each color meant based on how often they repeated.


    White was a normal prize. Green was abnormal. Blue was probably rare. Purple, epic. And gold was legendary.


    Underneath [Spin], there was something that was written in almost imperceptible letters, as if on purpose to make me spend something I didn''t even know what it was yet.


    [Cost per Spin: 10 GP.]


    "GP... That must be the acronym for Gacha Points. So, the cost of trying my luck is 10. There are many more white and green spaces than blue, purple, and gold ones. So, it''s easy to assume that my chance of getting something of high quality is low. Maybe less than 30%, anyway."


    "Every time I spin, I''m guaranteed to win something. Since this thing said that what I can win in this system involves the whole omniverse - at least that''s how I interpreted it - even if I win a normal prize, it could be something good."


    I didn''t regret my choice of system. The decision I made was definitely the best in the short and long term.


    "Before I spend 10 GP, I need to know how many GP I have."


    A pop-up appeared between me and Gacha''s wheel when I thought about it.


    [GP balance: 100 GP].


    A broad smile appeared on my face. If I had 100 GP, I could spin the wheel at least ten times already.


    A little excited by this, I raised my right hand and, with my index finger I clicked on [SPIN].


    The environment changed completely when I did this. The wheel glowed brightly and started playing loud slot machine music while the wheel was spinning fast.


    Spinning... Spinning...


    The wheel spun so fast that the profusion of colors somehow became a rainbow until it slowed down and finally stopped. To my surprise, the arrow pointed to a blue space.


    The roulette wheel was put in the background because suddenly a blue sphere took over the holographic screen. Underneath the sphere, it read [Open Gacha Ball].


    "Come on... let it be something good."


    I clicked the button, and the sphere opened to the side like a pokeball, revealing what I had won.


    [You''ve won a BLUE (Rare) prize!]


    [Prize: Levitation Cloak (Marvel Universe - Doctor Strange)


    Description: The mystical cloak that allows the wearer to fly and can act on its own in dangerous situations. Although it has its own "personality", the cape adapts to the wearer and defends them like a loyal ally.


    Rating: Blue.]


    [Do you want to spin again? Your balance is now 90 GP.]


    My smile only got wider. A rare prize the very first time, and it was Doctor Strange''s cape!If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    Excited, I spun five more times. The results were a little more normal.


    1 - Temporary Invisibility Potion (Minecraft)


    2 - Longclaw Sword (Game of Thrones Universe)


    3 - Basic Survival Kit (Fallout Universe)


    4 - Xena''s Chakram (Xena: Warrior Princess)


    5 - Regeneration Potion (Minecraft)


    All great prizes, but nothing too overpowering.


    The potions would be useful for specific occasions; the Survival Kit with water, a lighter, and a small manual for surviving in desolate lands, not so much.


    The only things I wasn''t sure if they were any good were the Longclaw Sword, because I have watched a little Game of Thrones, and the Chakram. Fortunately, the system gave me a description of the item when I clicked on it.


    [Prize: Longclaw Sword (Game of Thrones Universe)


    Description: The bastard sword made of Valyrian steel. It has a sharp edge, a lightweight design, and high effectiveness against magical creatures.


    Rating: Blue.]


    [Prize: Xena''s Chakram (Xena: Warrior Princess)


    Description: A throwable circular disk that returns to the bearer. Highly effective in ranged combat, with impressive accuracy and damage.


    Rating: Green.]


    "Good. Two good weapons, but... no skills?"


    I couldn''t tell if I had been lucky or unlucky in these six rounds. I had won more Blue and Green "rating" prizes than White ones, but not winning any skills complicated things.


    "Before I spend my remaining points, maybe I should understand how I can get these GPs..."


    When I said this out loud, a new capsule appeared in front of me. This capsule was black, so it differed from all the others.


    Hesitantly, I reached out and opened the capsule. Instead of a message, something appeared before me. It looked like a small book, about the size of a Japanese light novel.


    I picked up the book and saw that the cover read something.


    "Instruction Manual on the Gacha System." I read it aloud.


    After reading a few pages of this manual, I better understood how this system worked.


    The roulette wheel of luck was available all the time. It wasn''t something that appeared at a certain time or place. I could always access it. Except for one thing: a daily limit.


    The most number of times I could spin this wheel was ten times a day. In other words, I could only spend 100 GPs a day on it. If I exceeded this limit, the roulette wheel wouldn''t appear again until after midnight.


    However, I didn''t have to wait for it to reset every day if I had enough money. There were two other types of roulette wheels that I could access.


    One of them was called Weekly Roulette. On this wheel, I had a better chance of winning high-rarity prizes, such as Epic and Legendary. But, the cost per spin was 100 GP.


    The other type of roulette I could access was Panorama Roulette, which had the same daily limit as normal roulette. Choosing the panorama let me select the universe, and all roulette prizes came from that universe. The downside was that the cost for this was double that of the standard roulette, i.e., 20 GPs.


    Now, leaving behind the part about spending GP, I focused on studying the ways to get it.


    I earned 5 GPs every day, and I could always buy 1 GP for 100 Ryos.


    For comparison, 1 Ryo, the currency of the Naruto Universe, was worth almost a tenth of a dollar. Doing the basic math, for each spin of the normal roulette wheel, I would need to pay out 1000 Ryos. It seemed expensive, but a Genin''s pay is usually between 5,000 and 5,500 Ryos per mission.


    The limit of Gacha Points I could buy was 300 GPs. Enough to spin the daily roulette wheel 30 times. Obviously, this was not enough when you consider I could win something as useless as a Fallout Survival Kit.


    All things considered, the limits imposed by the system would be the biggest problem in the long run. I assumed the limits would increase as I used the system and spent Gacha Points, like with credit cards. But that wasn''t guaranteed.


    Massaging my temples, I decided to read the rest of the Gacha System Manual later. At the moment, I had a sunny, rich world outside the bathroom to explore. So that''s what I did.


    I walked out of the bathroom and, soon after, out of the Ninja Academy building. When I put my foot forward, I stepped onto a dry dirt floor. I raised my head and saw a stone path leading to a tree with a swing. I smiled at the corners of my mouth.


    Through Aiden''s memories, I could tell for sure that the events of classic Naruto hadn''t happened yet. In fact, not even the Kurama Incident or the Uchiha Clan Massacre.


    Considering that Torune Aburame was almost an adult in Naruto Shippuden and he was only about 5 years old just now, the Third Shinobi World War hadn''t happened either.


    So, I possibly wasn''t far off in age compared to Kakashi, Might Guy, Itachi and others.


    The big events of the anime would still take a long time, I guess. Well, it was a relief not to have to worry about how close the Fourth Shinobi World War, Kaguya and the Otsutsuki were.


    I ignored the swaying tree and walked out of the inner walls of the Ninja Academy, coming across a huge courtyard.


    The Ninja Academy was in a complex of important buildings in Konohagakure, where there was also the administrative building, where the Hokage''s office was, and the Jounin Waiting Station.


    The largest building was the administrative one. But it looked small next to the giant faces carved into a mountain behind it. The Hokage Monument was more impressive in person than it looked in the anime. I don''t know if it was because I was a teenager again and thus smaller, but the faces of the first three Hokages were all very large.


    It was at that moment that I realized that everything I was experiencing was as real as my memories of the other world. I no longer saw this world as an anime, but as my real life.


    I adjusted the high collar of my jacket. It hid my back up to my chin. Then, I put my hands in my pockets and walked out of the complex.


    The Aburame'' territory was in a secluded, forested area of the village. It allowed us more contact with nature and insects, and greater discretion. This was our clan''s way of life.


    As I wanted to test this new body, I rushed home. I discovered in this way that this body, even though it was much younger, was much healthier, stronger, more agile, and more resistant than my previous one.


    When I arrived in the Aburame'' territory, I found a place with classic old Japanese houses. There was a river nearby, so I could still hear the running water even though I couldn''t see it. I passed through the tall wooden gates and came across many houses within our territory. It worked like the Uchihas'' territory, where each family unit of the clan had the right to its own house.


    As the son of Shibi Aburame, I lived in the largest house in the territory at the end of the main street.


    As I walked to my house, I noticed that some members of my clan were looking at me. I couldn''t see their eyes through their glasses, but I could feel the stares.


    When I looked back at them, they looked away and pretended to be doing other things.


    I couldn''t imagine the Aburame being gossipy. So, I assumed my bad reputation at the Ninja Academy wasn''t limited to my classmates.

 Chapter 5 - Ayumi Aburame

    "Affliction is often that thing which prepares an ordinary person for some sort of an extraordinary destiny."


    - C.S. Lewis


    ...


    Ignoring the stares of the others, I entered my house. As Aiden Aburame was a quiet boy, I intended not to say a word beyond the obligatory words. However, when I opened the sliding wooden door, I came across my first obstacle.


    Torune was sitting in the hall where shoes were left. He was putting on his ninja sandals and raised his head.


    "Good afternoon, onii-san." He said with his mouth covered by the high collar of his white jacket, which was almost identical to mine.


    I should have just nodded, like Aiden Aburame did. But, digging through his memories, I found he didn''t have a brotherly bond with Torune.


    In my past life, I always wanted a brother, so why not try to mend the relationship with the brother I have now?


    "Good afternoon," I replied.


    Sure, mending this relationship would take time. The most natural course of action was to make small changes gradually. If I brought it up too much, he might get weirded out and walk away.


    I walked to the dining room, sat down at the table, and a member of staff brought my lunch. It was normal that whenever Aiden came home, he had lunch alone.


    Torune ate lunch before everyone else to go training. Our father wasn''t even home and our mother, well... she was a unique case, one that the anime had never mentioned, just like the many other aspects of the Aburame.


    Ayumi Aburame was her name. She had Aiden at a very young age, just 17. This pregnancy was full of complications, but it was after the Kikaichuu Ceremony went wrong with Aiden that she fell ill. What she had was something rare, but not mysterious. It was called Autoimmune Chakra Disorder, a disease or condition, call it what you will, where the Chakra system reacted against its host and caused debilitating symptoms.


    First, Ayumi was bedridden; then she lost movement in her legs and finally fell into a deep coma. She lived in a separate bedroom in the house on a bed connected to various medical monitoring devices.


    It was the old Aiden''s habit to always go to his mother''s room in the morning and after lunch, so that''s what I did.


    When I saw Ayumi lying on that bed, with skin as white as paper and a face with fine features like a model, I felt my chest tighten with sadness. It was strange to feel this way. Theoretically, she was my mother and, being in Aiden Aburame''s body, I had affection and some memories of her. I found it strange to feel affection for someone I barely knew.


    Ayumi had little time to play her role as a mother to Aiden, but I could see how she proved to be a better mother than my mother on Earth ever was.


    On Earth, I lost my parents during college. They were two drug addicts who provided minimal support for me during my childhood and adolescence. Instead, they sold things from our house to buy drugs.


    Despite this, I didn''t hate them. However, I couldn''t say that I cared about them either.


    As far as I know, their childhoods weren''t very different from mine. Maybe that''s what motivated me to break the cycle of failure and strive for success. I''ve never regretted it.


    But, as Aiden Aburame, I had a chance to do more than I did for my former parents.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    After I left my mother''s room, I went to my room on the second floor of the big house. The room wasn''t big. It had a shelf with some books, a study table, and space for a futon, which was rolled up in a corner.


    I locked the door after entering and sat down on the floor in the lotus position. There were still a few things I needed to check.


    I stretched my hand forward and whispered: "Status."


    A status screen''s appearance in front of me didn''t even surprise me. This was the basic thing you''d expect from a system.


    +


    Name: Aiden Aburame


    Age: 9


    Race: Human


    Occupation: Ninja Apprentice


    Specialty: None


    Talents:


    - Superior manual dexterity


    - Amplified Senses


    - Perfect Control of Spiritual Energy


    - Divine Chakra


    - Essence Gacha System


    Assimilations in Progress:


    - None


    Assimilated Rewards:


    - None.


    Skills:


    - None.


    Equipped items:


    - None.


    Summoned Characters:


    - None.


    +


    Now I understood things better. If I won characters on the roulette wheel, I could summon them or I could assimilate them. I could do the same with skills. The only things I couldn''t assimilate were items and places. It wasn''t such a big problem. There was no reason to assimilate a sword when I could just summon it from my inventory.


    Incidentally, here''s what I currently have:


    +


    Inventory:


    - Levitation Cloak (Marvel Universe - Doctor Strange)


    - Temporary Invisibility Potion (Minecraft)


    - Longclaw Sword (Game of Thrones Universe)


    - Basic Survival Kit (Fallout Universe)


    - Xena''s Chakram (Xena: Warrior Princess)


    - Regeneration Potion (Minecraft)


    +


    I still had enough left over to spin the daily roulette wheel four times, so I could reach the limit of ten daily spins.


    However, I didn''t want to do that yet. I wanted to test if I could solve Aiden''s problem with chakra control and insects on my own.


    I chose a talent that basically specialized in chakra control, so I believed I could solve this problem.


    On the other hand, if I couldn''t, I intended to use panorama roulette to get items or skills specific to the world of Naruto. The costs were doubled for panorama roulette. I could only spin twice. But I had to try for a chance to change my social status. It was better than doing nothing.


    So I left my room and went to the forest at the back of my house. It was the perfect place to find lots of insects and experiment.


    I soon found a fallen tree trunk infested with termites. However, when I got close enough to see them, I saw them in a panic as they ran away. They disappeared before I could even think about what to do.


    ''My presence frightens them for some reason¡­''


    All things in the world have explanations, and this was no different.


    If something about me scared the insects, there were two possibilities.


    It could be my looks, but I was handsome without my sunglasses. And I doubted the kikaichuu and other insects would flee because of that.


    The other option could be my chakra. Ever since I woke up in this new body, I could feel my chakra coursing through my body. It was something simple that I couldn''t perceive unless I tried, like a tingling sensation just above my stomach that spread throughout my body. If my chakra was the problem, it was my [Divine Chakra]. It is denser and more powerful than ordinary chakra.


    The best way to explain this difference in the nature of chakra was the Bijuus. Although my chakra wasn''t like that of a bijuu, I wasn''t an ordinary person either because of the [Divine Chakra]. For this reason, it was logical to think that I needed to soften my chakra somehow.


    It''s a good thing I also chose the Talent [Perfect Control of Spiritual Energy]. Because of this, I had an almost intrinsic knowledge in my mind about how to sense and control my chakra. Therefore, I closed my eyes and focused on my chakra core. I could almost see it visually after a few seconds of concentration and visualize the multiple paths that the chakra took through my body too.


    The best way to visualize the chakra was to imagine the core as a waterfall and the chakra channels as rivers and streams splitting through a vast forest.


    The big question was how to slow down the flow of chakra from these rivers. I had no training in opening gates, nor did I have any idea how to do it.


    But it didn''t take long for me to find a method that worked, at least partially.


    I imagined two hands wrapping around my chakra core. As I squeezed it, my chakra became less dense. The inspiration for this was what Momo did to control Turbo Granny''s spirit inside the Okarun.


    As I imagined, the method was a success. I could feel it. However, it became hard to maintain it. Everything went back to normal when I stopped paying attention.


    I needed to make this control automatic. Fortunately, after a few minutes, controlling how much chakra flowed through my body became natural for me. It was obvious that it was because of the skill of perfect control.


    ''So that means I''m talented in some area,'' I thought, as it had become as easy as breathing.


    Looking around again, I looked for an insect nest to do another test.

 Chapter 6 - Ant

    "The ant is a model of hard work."


    - Aesop


    ...


    I found an anthill near to where I had found that rotten log full of termites. It was time to test whether the reason the insects hated me was my divine chakra or not.


    I approached the anthill slowly, with very cautious steps. Well, that was before I remembered I was like a Founding Titan next to those little living beings. My careful steps were like earthquakes to them. I almost laughed out loud when I realized that.


    Anyway, I got into a crouched position while observing the anthill. It was a medium-sized anthill, nothing very impressive.


    I remember seeing somewhere in my past life that anthills can be surprisingly bigger than they look on the outside. The small ones are over two square meters in size, so any human can fit inside a small anthill. The average anthill can be up to twenty meters long, and the large ones no one knows how far they can stretch.


    It''s amazing how such small creatures can do such big things, isn''t it?


    For a few seconds, I watched the ants at work. Before I tried to approach them, I wanted them to get used to my presence.


    Soon, I realized that they weren''t running away like the termites did. That was a good sign.


    ''Oh, yes. I almost forgot about that.''


    I reached into the right pocket of my white jacket and pulled out the piece of bread I had saved from lunch. Then I turned the piece into a few crumbs and put the rest back in my bag. I couldn''t risk giving everything to these ants and having them reject me.


    With a few crumbs in my right hand, I threw them around the anthill.


    It was curious to see how agitated the ants were at first. They ran into the anthill, and I thought:


    ''What do they think is happening? An enemy bombardment?''


    So, I remembered it was natural to be frightened by something falling from the sky, especially something good. I was the only stranger who didn''t even suspect that when I woke up in the afterlife with the opportunity to be reincarnated.


    Could it be that the fact that I could choose was because I had always expected it? My past life was very complicated, and seeing so many protagonists reincarnate made me wish for it.


    Anyway, watching those ants was gratifying for some reason. It made me relax more than I had in years in my old life. It was nice to have a bit of simplicity at last, without the extravagance of a CEO''s life.


    ''It''s not as if having a Gacha System is something simple, but it''s nice to have small goals again. Like taming insects... when did I imagine that would happen?''


    It didn''t take long for the frightened ants to realize that it wasn''t an attack on their anthill. One of them approached one of the crumbs I had thrown, picked up a tenth of the crumb, and ran into the anthill. Seconds later, one of them came out, accompanied by a row of other ants. I couldn''t tell if the one leading the line was the same ant as before, because they all looked the same to me.


    Together, the ants collected the crumbs from the bread I had distributed. It was little to me, very little in fact, but to them it was like a feast.


    Worker ants broke each measly piece of bread into smaller pieces with their tweezers before carrying it into the anthill.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    This meant a breakthrough for me. They were not only tolerating my presence by the anthill. They were also accepting something that had passed through my hands. It had my pheromones and a tiny part of my chakra.


    I wanted to explore more. So, I took some bread from my pocket. I held it over my left palm, which I rested on the ground.


    To take this larger piece, they would have to touch me.


    If the ants touched me without problems, it meant I had successfully calmed my chakra, completing the third and penultimate stage of my plan.


    As most of the ants were busy, it took a few minutes for one of them to approach my left hand.


    ''I bet it smelled the bread.'' I thought, and only didn''t say it out loud so as not to startle its with my voice.


    For a few moments, the ant in question seemed a little uncertain about whether it should approach me or not. But it was a living being, and every living being has its own level of greed. This one was apparently very greedy, brave, and exploitative. It crawled up the tip of my ring finger and circled around until it reached the piece of bread in my palm.


    However, just as a cheery smile was forming on my face and the ant was about to cut off a piece of bread for itself, I felt something fall on my head.


    When I looked up, I saw that clouds had formed in the sky, heavy clouds. Soon, another drop fell and then another, this time right on the tip of my nose.


    "Damn..." I said.


    "Damn it, a deluge is starting! I''ve got to run!" I heard a low, but still audible, voice.


    Wide-eyed, I looked down and saw the ant in my hand already running towards the anthill.


    I could hardly believe that I had heard the voice of an ant. It was cute, very cute. Similar to a child''s voice, or at least as high-pitched.


    I stood up, put my hand in my pocket again, and walked back to my house as the rain got heavier.


    -:-


    Hours later...


    It was dinnertime. My first dinner with my new family. However, the atmosphere was not as welcoming as you would expect from a family. It was more like a professional air.


    Seated at the dinner table were Shibi Aburame, my father, Torune, my younger brother, and me. No one else was in the room. The clan servants just brought the food, put it on the low table, and left. They only came at mealtimes to bring the food.


    Torune and Shibi were chatting while they ate.


    "Have you made any progress with those beetles?" Shibi asked Torune.


    "Not yet, actually. They''re... temperamental. Also, they''re selfish and want too much of my chakra to obey my commands."


    "I figured you''d have problems. Even the most talented Aburame face problems when training with the Black Beetles. You''ll be able to tame them."


    "Any tips, sir?"


    "I''ll just tell you not to give them what they want. Try to come to an agreement. They need you more than you need them."


    It was funny for me to see them talking about insects like that.


    I had to want to remember Aiden''s memories to succeed. That is why some moments, like this, were still new unless I tried to remember them.


    Anyway, throughout dinner, no one directed any questions at me, not even about how my day at the academy went. It was almost as if Shibi knew I would have nothing interesting to say.


    However, when Shibi put his hands on the table, to excuse himself and left, I talked to him.


    "Sir," I called out, using the correct way Aiden always called his father because Shibi was the head of the clan.


    Shibi looked at me. "Yes? What is it, Aiden?"


    "What happens to anthills when it rains?" I asked, and that made Shibi''s eyes widen behind those glasses.


    I wasn''t angry with Shibi Aburame for ignoring me during dinner. After all, this distant relationship between father and son was also the fault of old Aiden.


    From a young age, insects frustrated Aiden, and he always focused only on the normal subjects at the Ninja Academy. As a result, Shibi and Aiden never shared an interest in insects and therefore didn''t have much to talk about.


    Mentioning a subject that was practically forbidden between them surprised the head of the Aburame Clan.


    "Why are you asking?" Shibi asked.


    "I was in the forest today, then it started raining. I saw ants running into an anthill and wondered if it wasn''t a dumb idea. There''s a good chance the anthill will flood."


    Shibi sat back down at the table and said: "Actually, the anthills would only be flooded if they did nothing."


    "What do you mean?"


    "The ants know they need to be quick and band together to have a better chance of not doing too much damage to the anthill. That''s why they rush into the anthill when it rains. Near the main entrances, they form a kind of barrier, joining legs with legs and pincers with pincers. All this is to form a large dam with their own bodies. This stops the water from taking everything to the deepest parts of the anthill."


    I frowned. "But many must die doing that."


    "Some die. They all know they must do it to protect the egg chambers and food too. If they didn''t, it would be the end of the anthill. That''s part of what I admire about ants."


    "That''s also why some of them choose on their own to take shelter inside us, right?" asked Torune.


    Shibi nodded. "Although most of us Aburames only use the Kikaichuus, there are individuals who use the ants. For them, it''s a great trade-off. Shelter and food in abundance, plus they get stronger by consuming our chakra."

 Chapter 7 - Chakra

    "The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step."


    - Lao Tzu


    ...


    On my second day in this new life, I knew that I would have to go to the Ninja Academy like everyone else my age.


    However, I chose not to go on this second day for three reasons.


    1 - I wasn''t someone patient enough to deal with bully-type people, and some classmates mocked Aiden for not being able to do Aburame Clan jutsus.


    2 - One of the people in the class who made fun of Aiden was Masayuki Yamanaka, a random boy from the Yamanaka Clan. Although Masayuki wasn''t going to become better than a random Jounin or Chunin in the future, because I had never met him in the anime, he was still a Yamanaka. This meant that he had a mind transfer technique and many other mind-related jutsus. Being around him was a big risk, considering that he could enter my mind and end up seeing things I didn''t want him to see.


    3 - The Genin test. This would take place in a week. Yes, the training age before the third war was nine. And although it was a simple test, Aiden didn''t want to become a shinobi and he hadn''t prepared. I wanted to become a shinobi, so I needed to prepare.


    Those were the three technically easy problems to solve. But first, to solve them, I needed a place to think in peace and train my chakra control. Mastering my chakra was the key to success.


    As a kid with 9 years, I couldn''t just wander around Konohagakure during academy hours. Besides civilians, I could run into superiors in the village chain of command, like jounins, who would ask questions and tell my father that I was skipping school.


    I needed a place that was away from the eyes of the village officials, but that still had a forest for me to train my relationship with insects and wasn''t dangerous for a child to be in, like the outside of the village. It took me a few seconds to find the answer, so I started using the alleyways to get to the place I had in mind.


    Konohagakure was much bigger than the anime or manga showed. There were as many lanes and alleys as a large neighborhood in a metropolitan city.


    Also, these alleys were much darker and busier than I had imagined them to be. I don''t know why I was surprised. Many of Tokyo''s alleys have restaurants, bars, and other shops like bookstores and flower stores. It was almost intrinsic to the architecture of Japanese cities.


    That is why I used what manual agility I had to climb on the roofs. I wasn''t fast or strong, because Aiden wasn''t even good at taijutsu, so to climb the roofs I had to demand more from my body than I would have liked. I did it acceptably, though.


    To do this, I ran up the wall a bit, grabbed onto a window ledge, and reached for a pipe, where I turned my whole body twice and propelled myself upward.


    Arriving at the top of a building, I could see that the Hokages'' Monument was not far away. It was to the area above their heads that I intended to go. It was a place inside the village where there was forest and not as much supervision as there should have been. I knew this because Naruto always went up there.


    Jumping from building to building and then up a steep staircase, it didn''t take me over fifteen minutes to get there. And, as I expected, the place was empty.


    I took off my oversized jacket because it was so hot, folded it up, and sat on it with my legs in a lotus position.


    Why was I doing this? Well, because my chakra control was not yet at the point I would have liked.


    Yes, I had made significant progress on my first day. I got my chakra stable enough for the insects not to fear me. Yet, there was a problem with that. I had diluted my chakra by letting a little leak out. That amount was just enough for me not to die. Having made some progress didn''t mean I was finished.


    People considered chakra the bridge between life and death. The anime showed this several times. Like the Seal of the Grim Reaper and even the Edotensei.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    With this in mind, I deduced the insects were afraid of me because they knew my chakra could kill them. It was the only plausible reason.


    An ant doesn''t fear a large bag of sugar, but it fears an abundance of water, even if it knows it needs to drink water to survive.


    If that were true, no matter how much I put insects inside my body by diluting my chakra with Momo''s technique, at some point, when I needed to use all my chakra, all the insects inside me would be killed by the intensity of my chakra.


    ''Perfect control... perfect control...'' I mentally repeated to myself as I meditated.


    The clue for me to control my [Divine Chakra] was something I had already seen in the anime. And no, it wasn''t when Naruto had to control Kurama''s chakra. It was when he needed to master natural energy to enter sage mode. In theory, it was the same path as mine.


    Unlike chakra, which is only in living beings or chakra-infused objects, natural energy is everywhere: in the soil, the air, in plants, and in all living beings. It connects everything. When combined correctly with a person''s internal chakra, it forms Senjutsu.


    My goal, however, wasn''t exactly to master Senjutsu. I didn''t even know the way to it, nor was I in the right place for it. I just wanted to understand and harmonize my chakra as if it were something ''natural'', as Naruto did to master the natural energy of the world.


    This would require three things: absolute focus, total control, and a deep understanding of my energy. At least that''s what I theorized, considering how cultivators from various novels I''d read did this kind of spiritual energy control.


    Sitting in the lotus position helped stabilize my breathing and body, reducing distractions.


    To begin, I did the same as the day before. I focused on my chakra''s most intense point: my core, just above my stomach. Again, I imagined the chakra pathways as many rivers and streams flowing independently.


    ''Concentrate... keep the flow...''


    After doing the same as yesterday to contain the flow, I spent a few seconds on this divine chakra.


    Once I felt confident that the flow was regular, I moved on to the second stage: letting small portions of chakra escape and run through the body. This was the critical point. If I released too much at once, all the chakra would flow as usual, and that would be a failure.


    As I released the chakra, I opened one of my eyes and checked to see if there were any insects nearby. After a minute of waiting, not even a mosquito appeared, and this place should have plenty of them.


    ''Still too aggressive.'' I thought and took a deep breath to get started.


    For the next few minutes, I repeated the same steps exhaustively. I concentrated on the core of my chakra, containing it with imaginary hands and then dragging them apart, releasing small amounts throughout my body. The process seemed simple, but it was actually frustrating.


    My chakra insisted on escaping uncontrollably, like a river breaking its banks after a torrential downpour.


    The feeling of constantly failing was a blow to my pride as a reincarnate who wanted to change everything in this world.


    But even though I found myself in my own Dante''s Inferno, I focused on my goals.


    After some time that I couldn''t measure, something unexpected happened. A tingling sensation ran through my arms, and my breathing became erratic for a moment because my stomach rumbled. This caused my chakra to leak suddenly out of my body, like a gas leak. A small circle of leaves around me flew into the air.


    When I breathed normally again, my chakra returned to normal too.


    Part of me wanted to drop everything and try my luck at Panorama Roulette. Maybe I''d get lucky and get something that would help me. But another part of me refused to be an Aburame without being able to control insects.


    After a few minutes, I started again. This time, I visualized my chakra as flowing in a different way. Instead of rivers, I imagined it as the electrical wires of a house. The aim was not to dam up the energy, but to make it something natural for the insects to live with.


    The method of visualizing chakra as electrical wires seemed to work a bit better than the previous approach.


    ''Wires don''t flow like rivers. They transmit energy from one point to another in a controlled and unaltered way.''


    That''s what I thought, but it wasn''t true. Electric currents are quite complex too, with powerful overloads.


    Even so, I didn''t abandon the idea. Time passed strangely while I was doing this. It could have been minutes or hours; I didn''t know. But my body had become a city mapped in my mind, with poles, transistors, and transformers.


    Suddenly, I felt a soft touch on my nose. I opened my eyes and squinted as I looked at a butterfly resting on the tip of my nose. It was small, delicate, with blue wings that shimmered in the evening light ¡ª had it really been that long?


    For a moment, I felt paralyzed, unsure of what to do. The butterfly was so beautiful, so... calm. It was the first insect to approach me on its own, without me offering something like I did with that ant.


    I tried to move my hand so that it could go for it, but before I could do that, the butterfly took off.


    I stood watching as it flew around in a circle, sometimes coming closer to me, sometimes moving away.


    "You''re not afraid of me..."


    The butterfly landed again, this time on my right shoulder. It stayed there for a few seconds before taking off once more and disappearing into the trees. I bent down, picked up my coat, and was about to leave for home because it would be dark soon. Then, I looked into the forest and saw the butterfly approaching.


    It stopped halfway between us and went back into the forest.


    "Is it calling me?" I asked myself.

 Chapter 8 - Blue Butterfly

    "The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough."


    - Anne Morrow Lindbergh


    ...


    Understanding that the little blue butterfly wanted me to follow it, I entered the forest right after it.


    The butterfly moved with unexpected speed, but sometimes it landed on the trunks of trees. It even seemed to wait for me to catch up.


    I frowned when I realized this. ''Where is it trying to take me?''


    After going deeper and deeper into the forest, which was also gradually getting darker, I realized I had gone too far even to hear the noises of Konohagakure. It was too quiet. Still, I was sure that the butterfly was trying to show me something, so I continued to follow it.


    It was then that I came across a clearing in the middle of the forest and beheld the most beautiful sight of my entire life. Blue flowers, like the butterfly I''d been following, covered the clearing''s ground, and dozens of identical butterflies swarmed above them. When the other butterflies saw the one I was following, approaching, they flew towards it and started playing, releasing blue particles from their fragile wings.


    My jaw dropped with surprise, and my eyes shone with excitement.


    ''That butterfly brought me here to show me this?''


    Ordinary people might find it silly to be impressed or moved by something so ''simple''. They were just butterflies, after all. However, for Aiden... No. For me, who had spent all afternoon trying to overcome the barrier my chakra created in my relationship with insects, it was gratifying.


    The bad part was that, usually, when you act like a child in a mature world like the Ninja World, where even children are treated like soldiers in the Hidden Villages, bad things tend to happen.


    I acted innocently in following the butterfly, believing that just because I was inside Konohagakure, I was safe, only to be reminded of how dangerous the very inside of a village could be.


    As the butterflies approached me and played in my surroundings, I heard a branch break. I didn''t even have to turn my head, because the sound came from in front of me.


    The smile on my face gradually disappeared when I saw a man entering the clearing.


    This man was tall, with brown hair and different-colored eyes. One of his irises was orange, while the other was dark green. A bizarre accident, it seems, caused a scar with double seams that ran vertically down his forehead and face. He also had white bands wrapped around his wrists, and across his back was his headband, a larger-than-usual model.


    In the center of the metal plate of this man''s headband, there was a symbol of four slightly wavy lines that were symmetrical to each other. I immediately recognized it.


    ''A ninja from Kirigakure. What is one of them doing here? I assumed I was in peacetime between the Second and Third Ninja World Wars.'' I asked myself as I stood at attention.


    This man licked his lips while staring at me. "I intended to stay in the shadows, but look what I found~! Kid, are you doing the security for this part of Konohagakure?" His eyes traveled down my body, and he found the answer himself. "No, you''re not. You''re unarmed and alone. Hey, Juro, it looks like I was right! There''s not much security in this mountainous area!"


    Then, a man stepped out from behind one tree to my right. He had blue hair, an Kirigakure bandana on his forehead, and a more serious countenance.


    "Congratulations, Roku. For once in your life, you''ve come up with the right idea," replied Juro.


    I put my hands in my coat pockets and looked at them directly, without turning my head or showing any fear. "Are you thinking you''re clever because you think you''ve found a blind spot in the Konohakugare security? What idiots..."


    Roku''s animated countenance disappeared when he heard me. "What did you say, kid?"


    "Konohagakure has no blind spots. Around the entire village, there is a security barrier that detects intruders through chakra signatures. Since you don''t know this, I can only assume that you are being used as guinea pigs by your superior. You''re scouts."If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    "At this very moment, the sensory team overseeing this barrier should alert all the jounins nearby about this invasion. The Anbu base isn''t far away either. In a minute, ninjas skilled in various ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu will infest this place. Two douchebags like you won''t survive. Then, you''ll be cruelly interrogated to find out why you''re here. If you want to have a chance of survival, turn around immediately."


    I didn''t take my eyes off them for a second. They couldn''t see my eyes through the dark-rimmed glasses, but it was the intent I was trying to convey that was worth it. After all, what I was saying was only half-true.


    Yes, Konohagakure had this security barrier and responded swiftly to invaders. Yet, we were at an isolated point in the village. So, the reaction time might be a bit longer than I had told them.


    "Um..." Roku put a hand to his chin and seemed to analyze the situation. "This boy doesn''t talk like a child. How annoying."


    Meanwhile, Juro entered the clearing and started walking toward Roku''s side.


    "Kid, are you a member of the Aburame Clan?" asked Juro, and he didn''t give me time to answer. "You don''t have to deny it. Of course, you''re one of them. Who else would wear sunglasses and such long clothes? Besides, those butterflies around you... You can only be an Aburame."


    "An Aburame, is it?" The yellowish smile appeared on Roku''s face. "That means that if we capture you, we''ll be fine with our superior, even if we don''t get those scrolls he asked us for!"


    Juro nodded. "Exactly. If this kid is telling the truth, when the jounins get here, we''ll already have this boy in our arms far away from here."


    Roku put his hand on the handle of his machete, which was in a horizontal sheath on his lower back. "So that''s our plan now!"


    ''I need to survive! Focus on buying time, Aiden!'' I thought as I jumped back and pulled three shurikens from my pants pocket.


    Immediately, I threw the shurikens. But when Roku drew his machete, he swatted them away as if they were nothing.


    My options were very limited in this situation. They were ninjas very skilled, and I knew this because I had the [Amplified Senses] and I still couldn''t hear them before it was too late.


    I could only assume that one of them was specialized in concealment. Perhaps he even had a jutsu for it.


    Considering that the big man called Roku was the one holding the weapon and had prominent muscles, the one responsible for my lack of detection was probably the one called Juro.


    As a child, my pocket was small, and I didn''t carry many ninja tools. Three of my shurikens were quickly scattered, leaving only one in my pocket. If I''d known I was going to fight on my second day, I would have practiced more ninjutsu or even taijutsu, but I focused too much on my chakra problem.


    ''No, there''s no point in me beating myself up about it now! They''re bigger and stronger. It would be hard to fight, even if I had focused on all this. What I need now is...''


    It was then that I remembered something I''d forgotten for almost the whole day. My Gacha system!


    Don''t get me wrong, I didn''t want to spin a roulette wheel when I was in this situation. It''s just that I could use the items I''d gotten by the times I''d spun.


    Trying to gather all the options I had, I looked at my mental inventory and counted the items I could use in this fight. Therefore, I first materialized Minecraft''s Temporary Invisibility Potion in my right hand.


    Juro and Roku''s eyes widened at the sight of me making something appear out of thin air, probably wondering where I got that potion from. Unlike them, I wouldn''t waste time watching the enemy''s reaction. That''s why I pulled the cork out of the small glass bottle with my teeth, spat it out, and drank the purple liquid.


    My body disappeared in front of the two ninjas, leaving them surprised.


    "How the hell did he do that?" Juro asked.


    Ruko brandished the machete in his hand and tried to hit the air. "Where have you gone, boy? We were just playing. Come and play with your aunt and uncle!"


    Juro and Roku moved and stood with their backs to each other, trying to find me. Roku swung his machete again, trying to hit me even though he wasn''t sure where I was. Juro, however, was a little smarter and realized that the blue butterflies were still following me, even though I was invisible.


    Juro smiled at the corner of his mouth and took a kunai out of his pocket, which he threw in my direction.


    I pulled out Xena''s Chakram from my inventory. The metal disk was heavy in my small hands, but I had great dexterity. So, I crouched down to dodge the kunai coming towards me and threw the chakram.


    Juro pulled out another kunai, but he barely had time to do this. The chakram sliced his right hand off, causing him to let out a grunt of pain.


    "What?!" Roku looked back.


    "Urghh! The butterflies, idiot! Pay attention to the butterflies!" exclaimed Juro with pain, holding his right forearm with his left hand to not lose too much blood. His right hand landed on the blue flowers, staining them red.


    Roku wasn''t the smartest ninja. But he got Juro''s info and he ran towards the butterflies and me.


    For this reason, I had to pull another item out of my inventory. This time, it was the Levitation Cloak! I didn''t know how to control this thing, but it lifted me up when Roku got too close. The bad thing was that someone could see the Cloak perfectly. It was like when in Minecraft I wore armor after taking the invisibility potion. Completely visible again!


    "There you are!" exclaimed Roku with a frighteningly excited expression.


    From above, I raised my right hand and the Longclaw Sword appeared in my palm. It was an enormous sword, the weight of which I felt as soon as I grasped it. I then put away the Levitation Cloak and fell. I spun the sword like a Beyblade, holding it with both hands.


    Roku, with his excited smile still on, put the machete just above his head to fend off my attack.


    "Come on, floating sword!" he shouted, excited.


    To his misfortune, the Longclaw Sword was very sharp, and his machete hadn''t seen a whetstone in a while. When the two blades collided, the machete cracked and splintered into dozens of pieces and, unintentionally, I cut Roku in half like a slab of butter.

 Chapter 9 - Blood on the Flowers

    "When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die. There is no middle ground."


    - Cersei Lannister.


    ...


    I was gasping and a little dizzy to realize what I had done, but, when I raised my head, I saw the pieces of Roku''s body each falling to one side. The Longclaw Sword had sliced into his body in a straight, vertical line.


    It was the first time I''d seen so much blood. Sure, I had seen a lot of my blood when Kim shot me. Besides, Roku wasn''t the first person I''d killed.


    So, I tried to stay as calm as possible, stood up, and looked at Juro.


    He was standing still, dumbfounded, while still holding his fist. Blood was spurting out of the place where his right hand should have been. His eyes were already half-closed, perhaps because of the rapid loss of blood.


    Knowing that Konohagakure shinobi were coming, Juro had to decide. Seeing what I had done to his brutish colleague, he chose to run. He turned around and, with consecutive leaps, tried to reach the forest.


    I raised my right hand in the air, and the chakram returned to my possession. I then threw it in Juro''s direction, and it sliced off his head.


    Fifteen seconds later, the jounins finally reached the clearing. Some of the beautiful blue flowers that filled the clearing were painted blood-red, and the two corpses of the men I had killed were still on the ground.


    "W-what happened here?" a trembling male voice asked, apparently shocked by the scene in the clearing.


    An instant later, I heard someone else arrive. "Looks like someone got here before us."


    Hiding behind a tree in the forest, my blood ran cold, and I widened my eyes when I heard the second man''s voice. When I boldly peeked, I saw Shikaku Nara standing next to four other men in military green vests.


    "Could it be Anbu?" asked one of the jounins.


    Shikaku put his right hand in his back pocket and took out a carton of cigarettes. He then took out a cigarette and a metal lighter, with which he lit the cigarette and brought it to his mouth.


    "Fu..." He blew out the smoke after a drag and looked at Roku''s divided body in front of him. "I don''t think that''s the case here. The Anbu are indeed around, but they don''t act without direct orders from the Third Hokage."


    "What if it were Root?" whispered another, leaning over to speak in a hushed tone, as if mentioning that last word out loud was taboo.


    Shikaku remained silent. He knew Root''s base was inside the Hokage Monument mountain. Yet, had they had time to come out and leave? He couldn''t say if so. But the brutal way these two Kirigakure ninjas had been killed made him feel it wasn''t the skilled Root members. They specialized in quick, clean kills.


    "It''s hard to say... Hey, you. Yes, you. Go to the Hokage and report the situation so they don''t send reinforcements. Also, tell the Hokage to call Mr. Fugaku." Asuma said, and the jounin he had pointed to disappeared quickly.


    Meanwhile, I was doing my best to hide my presence. Using that first chakra control technique, which comprised wrapping my chakra center with imaginary hands, I managed to almost completely hide my presence. Still, a Hyuuga with a Byakugan could see me. So, I tried to get out of the situation as quickly as I could by retreating deeper into the forest and following an alternative path.


    -:-


    That night, when I arrived in the Aburame'' territory, it was already very late. The streets were dark and empty.


    When I opened the gate, I saw Shibi Aburame standing with his arms crossed on the porch of our house.


    Aiden had never come home so late from school, and he had never seen his father worried either, but that day I sensed he was worried.


    Shibi was blocking the doorway, forcing me to talk to him.


    "Sir, I..."


    "Where were you?" With his arms crossed, he asked.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Shibi was too young to be a father, about 23, but he still had an intimate aura about him because of his age. And I couldn''t blame him for being worried about the disappearance of a nine-year-old child.


    "Training." I replied sincerely, although it was only half-true.


    One of Shibi''s eyebrows rose, standing out above the line of the black glasses he was wearing. "Training? What are you talking about? Just a month ago, you said you wouldn''t follow the ninja path."


    My heart was pounding, with Aiden''s emotions conflicting with mine at that moment. It was then that I raised my head and looked at my father with a calm expression.


    "If we''re going to talk about my future like this, let''s do it without clan formalities. What do you think, Dad?"


    He frowned and looked at me in silence until finally he sighed, took a step to the side, and said:


    "Very well. But let''s do it indoors."


    We went into the house and approached the dining table, but it was already empty because of the time.


    "Where''s Torune?" I asked as I sat down with my knees bent.


    "He''s in his room. Why? Is he necessary for this conversation?" Shibi asked.


    "No, I don''t think so."


    "Well, then..." Shibi sat down in front of me and took off his glasses, exposing those frightening yellow eyes like mine. "You can start explaining yourself. What training are you talking about?"


    I took my glasses off too and put them on the table. "Okay... Dad, to begin with, I''m sorry for being such a disappointment to you for so long. I was the first man in the history of this clan to be turned down by the Kikaichuu, and it tormented me throughout my childhood. I always had chakra, but I never thought of learning techniques from clans other than my own. Because I created this burden for myself, I also became a disappointment to myself."


    At that moment, it was more Aiden''s memories talking than me.


    "Countless times, I tried to get close to the insects, and every time I failed miserably. As you said, I gave up on becoming a ninja... But I never lost hope. Some time ago, I finally understood the root of my problem with insects: my chakra."


    "Your... chakra?" Shibi, confused, asked and looked at my stomach. "I''m sure your chakra is normal."


    ''So he can somehow sense my chakra because of those eyes? It must be some advanced technique. But if he couldn''t tell the difference between normal chakra and divine chakra, that means the color is still the same. Maybe only the intensity is really the problem.'' I thought quickly and then took a deep breath.


    "Anyway, Dad, I thought that if I contained some of my chakra, maybe I could make the insects no longer fear me."


    "If what you say is true, that makes sense. Insects can feed on chakra, but when exposed to too much chakra, they explode. Death by nourishment. It happens to a few insects in the early years of any Aburame training, when some insects eat a larger slice than it can handle. But for insects automatically to fear that... you''d have to have very intense and voluminous chakra."


    "I don''t know if that''s the case with me. It was just a theory, but I had decided that it would be my last attempt. So, I''ve spent the last few weeks trying to get it under control."


    The week''s part was a slight lie, because he certainly wouldn''t believe that I had mastered my chakra control in just two days.


    "After so much practice, yesterday I finally got an ant to climb onto my hand and today a butterfly too. I''m not a very optimistic person, but I think I''ve solved my problem with insects. For that reason, I''d like to do the ceremony with the kikaichuu a second and final time."


    Our pairs of yellow eyes stared at each other in that moment.


    A second ceremony for the same person had never been performed in the entire history of the Aburame Clan. Precisely because no man had ever failed. However, Shibi was my father and the head of the clan. If there was anyone capable of making this happen, it was definitely him.


    After thinking for a few seconds, Shibi put his right index finger on the table. "I can think about it and discuss it with the leaders of the other family groups in our clan, but first I need to see for myself if it''s true."


    A tiny insect emerged from the sleeve of the jacket Shibi was wearing. It ran along the back of his hand and then along his index finger until it touched the table and started walking toward me.


    "If what you say about your training and your chakra is true, this kikaichuu of mine will enter you. After that, I want it to survive at least an hour. If all goes well, I''ll do everything I can to make this second ceremony happen."


    I nodded immediately and placed my right hand on the table.


    The kikaichuu walked up to my hand and climbed on it without stopping. It ran up my arm completely, which caused a slight prickling sensation. Then I felt it on my neck, and it went up to my face.


    "Open your mouth," Shibi ordered, and I did.


    The kikaichuu made its way past my lips and into my mouth, sheltering somewhere under my tongue.


    "What do you say we play some shogi while we wait?" asked Shibi, taking the wooden board from under the table.


    "Sure, why not?"


    The requested hour passed uneventfully, and I saw my father smile for the first time in a long time. He agreed to hold the second ceremony. Yet, for this to happen, it also depended on other family leaders within the clan.


    -:-


    The next morning, the first thing I did after washing my face to wake up was going to my mother''s room.


    My mom was as beautiful as ever, looking like a jade doll lying on that bed. I had a theory in mind, and I wanted to test it out to see if I could help my mother.


    That epic talent I''d chosen, called [Perfect Control of Spiritual Energy], had helped me solve my chakra control problem; only this name was all-encompassing enough to make me think that maybe this control wasn''t just about my body.


    So, could I somehow control my mother''s chakra? I needed to test that.


    *


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 Chapter 10 - Hizashi Hyuuga

    "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."


    ¨C Nelson Mandela


    ...


    Autoimmune Chakra Disorder was a very rare, little-known disease in the Ninja World. Its incidence was so low that most small villages were unaware of it. There were also few records of the disease.


    The mysterious nature of this disease made it one of the most feared chakra-related illnesses, which is why it was addressed in special medical ninjutsu classes as an untreatable and deadly disease. The peculiar way in which the chakra of the sick person''s own body became the aggressor, attacking the chakra channels and other organs as if they were invaders, was the most misunderstood feature of this disease.


    The first stage of this disease was practically imperceptible and occurred in the first few days. The disease caused the host''s chakra to behave chaotically. It collided with the channels or broke them in half. Patients might feel brief visual disorientation, but this common side effect in tired people could be mistaken for tiredness.


    As the flow collisions damaged the chakra channels, the body felt more serious physical effects. Movements became slower and more painful, leading to a gradual loss of mobility.


    After this stage, the sick person''s body usually identified the reason for the problem and treated its own chakra channels as serious enemies. This worsened the sufferer''s inner turmoil, causing rapid physical decay.


    As the disease progressed, the chakra channels became so damaged that the body entered a critical state of health, and the host inevitably fell into a deep ''recovery'' coma.


    This recovery never ended because the damage to the channels continued. Usually, after all this, death was only a matter of time.


    How did I know about all this? Well, on a small bookshelf in one corridor of my house, there is a book on the subject.


    ''My father probably did a lot of research on this.'' I concluded, as I held the book under my arm and looked at my mother.


    I pulled out a chair from next to the door and put it next to the bed. Then I read aloud some prognoses I had studied.


    "Occurrence of Autoimmune Chakra Disorder in the Land of Water. Chosen form of treatment: Therapeutic Chakra Seals to temporarily stabilize chakra flow. Result: death of the patient... Hmm. Okay, no seals."


    "Blah, blah, blah... Oh, that second patient was the sister of the Daimy¨­ of Earth during the Warring States Era. Specialized Herbal Medicine was the method chosen to treat her, and the result was... total organ failure."


    Patiently and without losing hope, I turned the page of the book.


    "New treatment based on chakra transfer. Carried out by a highly skilled medical ninja from the Senju Clan fifty years ago. It is ineffective. The transferred chakra can''t travel through the destroyed channels."


    Several talented medical ninjas over the last few decades have tried to treat Autoimmune Chakra Disorder, none of them have succeeded. This is bizarre, and I understand why everyone considers it a disease without a cure.


    However, I wouldn''t settle for that. I wanted to have a normal family in my new life. To have something I didn''t have in my other life.


    Every illness, no matter how bad, had to have a cure, as every problem has a solution. I might not cure my mother, but I definitely want to find a way for someone else to do it.


    After closing the book, I got up and left it on the chair. Then I approached my mother''s bed and reached out with both hands to touch her left arm.


    ''My father was able to sense my chakra yesterday just by looking at me. I should be able to sense other people''s as well and perhaps manipulate it because of my talent.''Stolen story; please report.


    Just as I did with my chakra, I tried closing my eyes, imagining, and trying to feel. It was certainly easier to feel when it was my chakra because it was running through my body, but that didn''t mean I couldn''t feel someone else''s.


    If Sakura, who was only a Haruno and had no eye jutsu or dojutsu, could do it, I should be able to do it too.


    It took just over ten minutes, but not only did I feel something, I heard it too. Listening to it felt like a leaky hose in the wind. It wasn''t loud. Despite the noise, I could hear it with clarity.


    Yet, no matter how long I spent with my hands touching her arm, I couldn''t see anything when I opened my eyes. And it was definitely necessary for me to see how her chakra channels were doing to help in some way. Otherwise, I could make the situation worse.


    I had to stop after an hour of trying to visualize because it was close to class time.


    With the Konohagakure jounins looking for a culprit for the deaths of those two Kirigakure ninjas, the Ninja Academy was the last place they would look.


    Going to class meant having to put up with Masayuki Yamanaka''s torment, but I had no choice.


    The first class was with Daikoku Funeno. When he walked through the door, the boys celebrated at the sight of him. He walked to the front of the big blackboard and asked them to calm down and sit down; otherwise, they wouldn''t hear the big news.


    This kept the boys'' spirits down.


    Looking like a good man, Daikoku smiled with satisfaction, turned around, and started writing some kanji.


    In my past life, I lived in many countries and traveled the world when I became CEO, that is why I knew a few languages, but in the world of Naruto there were many kanjis that I didn''t know. Luckily, Aiden''s memories helped me understand them.


    ''Exercise... of... training... in...'' I read mentally as the words were written. ''... set?!''


    "Joint Training Exercise!" exclaimed Daikoku, which caused the entire room to stir again. "Today you''ll be training your ninja skills with people from the same year as you!"


    ''Same year? That means...''


    Doing the math according to the events that had yet to happen, and my age of 9-year-old, there were many interesting figures I could meet in this exercise, such as Obito, Rin, Might Guy and many others.


    I have to confess that this made me a little more excited. It would be nice to see in person if Obito was really clumsy, and if Might Guy was already such a... unique.


    When Daikoku got the boys in my class in order, we went to the outside courtyard of the academy to train. A class of about twenty students was already waiting for us, led by Hizashi Hy¨±ga-sensei. Or was it Hiashi Hy¨±ga? They were twins and the one in front of me was much younger. I could only imagine that it was Hizashi, because Hiashi was the leader of the clan.


    Among the students in this class, I could easily identify three distant figures in much younger versions than they were in the anime.


    Might Guy had longer hair and was already wearing his characteristic green clothes; Asuma had almost identical hair and the same aura as when he was old, with his hands in his pockets and a bunch of wheat in his mouth instead of a cigarette; and Kurenai was there with her distinctive red eyes and surrounded by other girls.


    As I looked at them, I realized that Asuma was looking at me. Fortunately, my eyes had already passed him by and gone to Kurenai when this happened.


    *Clap!*


    Daikoku clapped his hands, drawing the classes'' attention. "Everyone''s here, right? Okay, then let''s start the explanation... Hizashi can talk to them."


    "Thank you, Funeno-san." Hizashi stepped forward. "Today''s training will be ninja specializations, which means..."


    Hizashi was about to explain, but protests quickly spread among the teenagers. As there were two classes, it quickly became a riot.


    "What? No combat?!" asked a boy behind me.


    "How boring! I thought I''d finally get to show off my new ''Death Stare'' technique!"


    "Hey, senseis! Let''s practice real combat!"


    At that moment, Iruka took a step back, and Daikoku took a step forward. The smile on Daikoku''s face had disappeared, and he exclaimed:


    "ARE YOU KIDDING? REAL COMBAT?! DO YOU KNOW HOW DANGEROUS SOMETHING LIKE THAT WOULD BE?!"


    The protests stopped almost immediately after his shout. Then he calmed down and adopted a milder tone of voice.


    "Using violence against someone can only be done when extremely necessary. It would be reckless and against the rules of the academy to put a bunch of kids out to fight on an ordinary school day. You already have the chuunin exam for that! Today, you''re going to train in ninja specializations, because that''s what kids your age need to focus on! Do you understand me?!"


    "Yes, sir..."


    "I didn''t hear you right!"


    "YES, SIR!" they all exclaimed in unison.


    Hizashi-sensei then explained how the ninja specialization training would take place, and it would comprise a circuit that would make us train on three basic aspects for a ninja.


    The first would be marksmanship training with shurikens and kunais. The second would be walking on water. And, of course, the last was agility training to overcome obstacles.


    *


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 Chapter 11 - Three is the perfect number

    "Absorb what is useful, discard what is not, add what is uniquely your own."


    - Bruce Lee


    ...


    They set up a circuit for the final year classes of the Ninja Academy. The circuit was like a marathon held inside the Academy.


    The first part of this circuit was to enter the forest behind the academy and hit at least three targets in the first thirty meters. Depending on your aim, this could take a long time or be quick.


    Professor Suzume, a woman in a white kimono and bottle glasses, would supervise this part. This pleased some students because she wasn''t known for having good eyesight.


    The second stage of the circuit was to cross a river. Although the river was shallow and calm, swimming across it was not allowed. For the test, the participants needed to cross it by walking on water, which is why they referred to this stage as chakra control. This test would be supervised by Hizashi-sensei, who was known for being a very strict teacher and would give no one a good time.


    Finally, there would be a huge gorge. Dozens of wooden stakes awaited. The students had to balance on them and jump from one to the other until they reached the other side.


    Hizashi thought the test was too dangerous. But Daikoku-sensei was proud of his earth style. He had created the gorge and wanted test this.


    ''It''s a training circuit for children. But my old body couldn''t even run it, let alone with all the obstacles.''


    The students would be released in groups of five at a time so that there wouldn''t be any confusion at the start. Therefore, the speed at which the children completed the exercises would not be measured, but whether they completed them. Naturally, it was expected that someone from the first group would come first and so on, but Hizashi-sensei seemed uncertain about this given the difficulty of the last test.


    Asuma and Kurenai were placed in the first group, mixed with three students from my class.


    In the next group was Masayuki Yamanaka, the boy who made fun of Aiden whenever he could. Might Guy was also in that group, and there were others with them.


    I was only placed in the tenth group, which meant I couldn''t test my skills against those I admired.


    When the officials released my group at the starting line, I started running. The other kids next to me were surprisingly fast, too. But I realized I wasn''t near my limit. So that''s what I did. Stretching my arms back, I ran faster and left my groupmates behind, soon reaching the forest where the targets were.


    I spotted the first target painted on the trunk of a tree to my right. I took a shuriken out of my pocket and threw it, striking the center of the target with precision.


    Further into the forest, there were many lost students looking for the camouflaged targets. Some of them even turned off the road to find them.


    Among these students was Masayuki. He was holding a kunai in his hand and seemed to be looking for something high up, so he didn''t even notice me as he approached.


    "Where''s that target I just saw!? Was I imagining it?" he wondered aloud. There were plenty of targets around him, but it was a rule that you couldn''t hit a target that was already holding a kunai or shuriken.


    I smiled in the corner of my mouth and, a few steps before I passed him, I spotted a wooden target hanging from a tree branch to my left. Coincidentally or not, Masayuki looked at me at that moment and then at the target. He saw me pulling a shuriken out of my pants pocket and tried to shout:


    "Hey, Aiden-bastard, that target is m¨C"


    Without looking at either Masayuki or the target, I hit the shuriken and kept running. I zoomed by Masayuki, saying nothing as if he weren''t important.


    ''There''s only one left... Only one left...'' I repeated to myself a little impatiently as I searched for the last target.


    I could already hear the running water of the river where the second stage of the circuit was taking place, and I didn''t want to stop for a second to catch up with Asuma and the others.


    As I went deeper into the forest, I met more students along the way. With the rule of no repeated targets, the first stage of the circuit proved to be more of a tapering-off stage than target practice.


    It was then that I finally found a target that was clean. This target was painted on the trunk of a tree just over three meters away from the main path. So, this time I used a kunai to be more accurate than I would have been if I had tried to use a shuriken. After throwing the kunai, I hit the target with no problems, which meant I could move on to the next test.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    I ran about ten meters and reached the bank of the river mentioned in the previous explanation. As Hizashi-sensei explained, it was a shallow, calm river. Even so, the place was more crowded than a public swimming pool.


    We were still at the Ninja Academy, so chakra control wasn''t exactly the strong suit of most of these kids.


    Many of the ninjas were crowding close to the riverbank still, and whenever one of them fell, a sensei was there in the middle of the river to tell them to get back to the bank and try again the right way.


    "Arww! I can''t do it!"


    *Splash!*


    "Tanaka, back to the riverside!" A sensei exclaimed to the boy who was already in midstream and had fallen in.


    This was the stage that worried me the most. As Aiden hadn''t bothered to become a shinobi for a long time because of family frustration, he had never focused on learning basic techniques like this. And I was a simple reincarnate, so I obviously hadn''t trained in that either.


    However, my hesitation was instantly shattered when a boy with black hair stumbled and fell right by the water''s edge.


    *PLOFT!*


    Because of the noise, I looked over and saw that it was Might Guy who had fallen. He had a determined expression, even though many around him were laughing because he couldn''t even stand still on the water.


    I was surprised, because I used to think that Might Guy had always been as talented as Kakashi. Well, it seems I was wrong about that. Maybe that''s why Guy saw himself in Rock Lee in the future.


    "At least I''m not the worst here, huh?" someone next to me said.


    I took a deep breath, took the first step, and said as I looked back: "In the future, that boy there may have the power to beat anyone in this village. If I were you, I''d start worrying more about crossing the river instead of judging who is trying."


    Those children looked me up and down, but they couldn''t say anything when they saw me standing in the water.


    Standing like that was a little easier than it looked. All I had to do was remember that episode in the anime, in which Naruto and Sasuke fought over who could climb the highest in the trees. Therefore, I understood all I had to do was apply a small concentration of chakra to my feet. This chakra would prevent me from sinking.


    I walked a few steps until I felt confident enough to run. It was a wide river, but calm. For this reason, I reached the other side without too much trouble after about thirty seconds.


    On the other side of the river, there was a small wood that led me until the gorge finally appeared in front of me. The last stage of the circuit.


    "HAHAHAHA! It''s not as easy as it looks, is it?" said Daikoku outrageously. He was standing on an area of land in the middle of the gorge.


    The large ravine that Daikoku had created was overgrown with bamboos that went as far as the light could reach. It reminded me a lot of the last stage of the circuit of the Sports Festival Arc in the anime My Hero Academia.


    The place was much emptier than the previous stages. Also, the students on this stage couldn''t proceed as quickly, as they had to be very careful not to fall into the gorge.


    Looking ahead, I could find Kurenai still halfway down the gorge. I didn''t see Asuma, so I assumed he had already finished.


    ''This is the part that gets tricky for me too... I could use my Levitation Cloak if it were a life-or-death situation, but I can''t do this now.''


    When I put one of my feet on one bamboo, I felt it shake under my weight. I quickly put another foot on the next one and got better balance.


    The bad part of this challenge wasn''t just the fear of falling, but also the pattern of the bamboos. They weren''t perfectly aligned with each other, and not all them were as stable as others. It took luck, patience, and skill to get through this stage without falling. That was my problem. For good reason, I was in a hurry.


    I realized that to help my mother I would need to see how her chakra channels were doing, so when I saw Hizashi I had the idea of maybe trying to use Byakugan to help me with that. If he could at least tell me how the chakra channels were and which points were most damaged, I could try to start some treatment or something.


    Hizashi was the main teacher in another class, while Daikoku was in my class; We would only contact each other on rare occasions like this. I didn''t want to wait for the next lucky chance.


    In my haste to cross the gorge, whenever I felt an instability in a bamboo, I tried to move on to the next one instead of trying to balance myself. This worked for the first two bamboos, but soon I was moving from one bamboo to the next and staying ''upright'' more by luck than skill.


    Daikoku noticed I was the only one moving so fast and got worried.


    "Arh! What was his name again? Alan? No, that sounds very foreign... Ah, yes, I remember. Hey, Aiden, try to slow down a bit or you''ll fall, understand?"


    "I''d like to do that, sensei. But I don''t think there''s any turning back now."


    Before I knew it, I had already passed Kurenai. But the further I went, the closer I came to falling. At a certain point, my options for bamboos to stretch out my leg practically ran out, and in order not to fall, I had to use my hands to reach one.


    Balancing with both hands on the top of a bamboo pole and with my legs up, I could see the darkness below.


    ''Thank God I chose the Superior Manual Skill talent!'' I thought and started ''walking'' with my hands. ''Oh, that''s surprisingly easier than with my feet!''


    Daikoku''s jaw dropped. He had taught at the Ninja Academy for over twenty years. He had seen many talented students, including Kakashi, Minato and Shisui. Yet, he never expected a student to find such an ingenious and idiotic solution to this test''s lack of balance.


    "Ohh~! With his hands, he has greater control because of the way his hands grip the bamboos!" Daikoku said, impressed. "Well done, Aiden! Keep it up!"


    ''Easier said than done!''


    Miraculously, when I reached the other side of the gorge, I almost fell face-first into the earth. It was my body, with its excellent dexterity, that acted almost on its own and stopped me. I took a deep breath, hardly believing that I had actually done it. Then I looked at the path ahead and thought:


    ''Now I just have to run to the finish line and try to talk to Hizashi.''*


    *


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 Chapter 12 - Byakugan

    "The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision."


    ¡ª Helen Keller


    ...


    When I reached the finish line, there was Hizashi with half a dozen extras standing nearby and Asuma more in the corner. Hizashi had his typical calm expression.


    I know I said I intended to talk to him, but he had a surprisingly intimidating aura.


    I didn''t know much about Hizashi or his personality, apart from the background story of the Hyuuga Clan. That wasn''t something that was explored much in the anime after his death.


    Maybe I couldn''t necessarily get his help, but an insight into what his perspective was like when he saw the chakra channels was possible. If my father was able to see that there was nothing wrong with my chakra without even touching me, it could be some technique I didn''t know about.


    Sure, I could also ask my father to help me with this. Yet, I had the slight impression that he would never allow a boy, even his own son, who had only recently learned to control his own chakra, to tamper with his wife''s weakened chakra.


    I kept my hands in the pockets of my white turtleneck and slowly approached Hizashi, who didn''t take long to notice.


    "Aiden Aburame, right?" asked Hizashi, looking at me out of the corner of his eye.


    I raised my head and looked at him directly. "Yes. Let me guess, you knew from my long clothes."


    He nodded. "That''s right. And I also knew because you, Aburame, are practically the only ones who wear those sunglasses all the time. It''s hiding your chakra in the eye area, right?"


    "Chakra in the eye area?"


    "So, you don''t know? Well, I can see." He said and suddenly moved his hands, making hand seals.


    First, he brought his two hands up together and made a kind of triangle. Then his hands went down and made a box. Then, his hand seals became faster and more complex. Finally, he put his two hands together, intertwined most of his fingers, and touched his two raised index fingers. In this way, the veins around his eyes popped, and he took on a slightly angrier expression.


    "I can see exactly how your chakra flows throughout your body. From your stomach to your feet, hands, and neck, except for your head. It''s thanks to those glasses you Aburame Clan wear. I''d like to understand why. Do your insects concentrate on the...? Wait, you don''t have insects on your body."


    I put a hand to the back of my head and turned my face a little, embarrassed. "This is a very personal secret. Try not to tell anyone," I mocked.


    The expression on Hizashi''s face eased, and his startled veins returned to their normal state. He put a hand on his waist and said:


    "If this is a secret, you shouldn''t keep it too well. Everyone knows that there''s an Aburame at the Ninja Academy who doesn''t know how to use insects. They say that this is a normal trait in the women of her clan, but that it has never happened to men. Well, the good news for you is that not everyone knows this Aburame is you, Aiden-kun."


    "I try not to attract any more bad attention."


    "I see¡­ Then, it''s best that we don''t spend too much time talking. The others might think you''re flattering me. See you later, Aiden Aburame."


    "Please, wait."


    "What? What do you want?" Hizashi''s asked.


    "I have a question for you. Do you mind if we talk some more?"


    Hizashi squinted his eyes and analyzed me for a moment. Then he turned to me and said:


    "I must wait for the joint training to finish. So, tell me what you want to know, and I''ll think about answering depending on the question you ask."


    "Thanks for that." I said and bowed my head slightly. "Recently, I discovered that my problem with insects was related to my chakra. Today, they no longer fear me. However, when I saw you and remembered the Byakugan, I remembered that the Hyuuga Clan is the one that probably understands chakra best in all of Konohagakure. If I''m not mistaken, all your techniques involve the use of chakra, and you use it in different ways."Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    Listening to me, Hizashi crossed his arms. "It seems you know a lot about my clan."


    "And you about mine... Anyway, what I wanted to ask you about is what it''s like to see people with the Byakugan."


    "If that''s all, you didn''t have to give all that explanation. Many kids in my class have already asked about it. They think I can see women naked and are excited about the idea of having a Byakugan to do it too. In fact, what I see is only one percent of people''s flesh, just enough to give them their silhouette, while the rest of what I see in people is the many chakra pathways."


    "Hmm. That''s why you usually attack the chakra points to disable a ninja''s ability to use your techniques."


    "Exactly."


    "But, at the beginning, wasn''t it difficult to see so many things in such detail?"


    "Yes, it was. Like any technique, the Byakugan requires training and practice. Up to a certain age, it''s normal to use hand seals to help us better direct our chakra to certain areas of the body," said Hizashi, and that gave me a great insight.


    Hand seals. I had never given much thought to why ninjas use them. As a mere viewer of the anime, I saw hand seals as more than something stylish and never stopped to think about their purpose.


    It was impossible for me not to remember the lesson I had with Iruka-sensei on my first day in this world. I was confused and paid little attention to the subject, but I remember that there was a chapter in the textbook that paid a lot of attention to seals and their relationship with the Byakugan.


    Hizashi realized that I had understood something from his explanation because I didn''t even think about hiding it. He put his hands in the pockets of his green jacket of jounin, turned around, and started walking with a smile on his face.


    "I hope I''ve helped you, Aiden Aburame. Maybe I''ll see you at the Genin Exam."


    -:-


    When I got home from class, I immediately went to my room, took my academy textbook out of my bag, and sat down at my desk.


    The Ninja Academy textbooks always seemed dull at first glance. A worn cover, yellowed pages, and simplistic illustrations. Still, the tedium of reading a textbook couldn''t get to me if I was interested in learning about the subject.


    "Hand seals are the fundamental ways of shaping and channeling chakra into jutsus. Each seal activates a specific command, like gears in a machine," I read aloud. "The most basic seals are twelve, all based on the animals of the zodiac: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Ram, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Boar. Each one performs an essential function in the chakra flow."


    ''So it''s like... video game cheat codes?'' My mind wandered.


    If chakra were like raw energy, the hand seals would be the commands that translate that energy into action.


    "For example, the Tiger seal is often used to shape fire chakra, while the Horse seal is associated with speed control."


    ''If that''s true, I can use jutsus as if they were a combination of keys. Now it makes even more sense that anyone can use any basic jutsu, as long as it''s not a kekkei genkai.''


    Immediately, I tried to imitate the Tiger seal with my hands. My thumb slipped, and I repeated the gesture three times before I got it right.


    "Why doesn''t anyone explain this in a way that makes sense to us?" I muttered, looking at my fingers in position. ''It would be so much easier if it were just something like: press X and O at the same time to make fire come out of your mouth!''


    I turned back to the book, this time with more curiosity than before.


    "The sequence of seals is important because it aligns the chakra reserves in the body, directing the flow to produce the desired effect. A mistake in the sequence can lead to unpredictable results."


    "By mastering the seals, the ninja gains absolute control over his chakra, allowing quick adaptations in combat... Hmm... Absolute control... that''s a lot more powerful than it sounds. Imagine combining seals in the middle of a fight, as if you were improvising a combo. It could kill me or hinder me, but it might give me the chance to do a completely new jutsu."


    At this point, I was more in the middle of a daydream than I was coming up with any really useful ideas.


    "Now it makes sense for Kakashi to be called the Ninja of a Thousand Jutsus. He copies the hand seals perfectly and reproduces the jutsus."


    An idea that sent shivers down my spine interrupted my excitement. If the seals really were commands, then there was something else I had never considered.


    ''If my father did it yesterday, that means Aburame can see chakra, right? Maybe not like the Hyuuga, but...'' I closed my eyes, trying to remember more about the lessons Aiden watched Shibi give Torune when Torune was much younger.


    Memories were pretty hazy about that time, but Shibi Aburame always said that by observing the chakra flow of the insects, we could identify the nuances of the chakra of the bearer of those insects.


    I opened my eyes again, this time focusing on the reflection in the mirror next to the bed. My pupils seemed too normal to see anything like a person''s chakra channels, and the Meikyugan wasn''t as powerful as a dojutsu. So an idea popped into my head.


    ''What if this is more than identifying chakra with the eyes? What if we Aburame can sense and visualize through specific vibrations?''


    The textbook remained open beside me as the idea consumed me.


    ''If I could see the flow of chakra, it would be perfect. But although my father was looking at me that day, he didn''t see my chakra but felt it somehow... Insects, then, can sense other people''s chakra and transmit it to the bearer of the insect. The question is: did he do it through a specific insect or through the kikaichuus?''


    *


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 Chapter 14 - Queen

    "What the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve."


    - Napoleon Hill


    ...


    "Don''t worry... everything''s fine now."


    A distant, angelic voice said to me, literally pausing all my suffering. I took my hand away from my face and exclaimed:


    "Who''s there?!!!"


    "It''s me, the Queen... No more worries now, dear home. I''m sorry for the suffering you had to go through, but my children needed a lot of your chakra to feed themselves and survive." The voice was simple and feminine. "I hope you don''t mind that... You have such intense chakra that they couldn''t resist. The good news is that they''ve grown very strong."


    By now, I knew I was talking to the Kikaichuu Queen I had swallowed, of course.


    "Stronger? What do you mean?" I asked.


    "I am one of Queen Kikaichuu''s daughters who have lived inside her father, Shibi Aburame, for almost thirty years. I understand a little about human habits and those of your clan. I know that what you value most is family and the ability to protect those you love, so I think you understand me. We parasitic insects owe a lot to hosts like you. Your bodies are essential for our survival."


    "I don''t know if you know, but the Kikaichuu aren''t able to live just anywhere. We are self-reproducing beings, but we need an ideal environment to reproduce. The insides of the bodies of humans are ideal for this and for our survival."


    "That''s why we agree to cooperate with you and also protect our hosts with our lives when necessary. For us, Kikaichuu, there is nothing more important than our home: our host."


    "Is that why you called me ''dear home''?" I asked. At the same time, I was walking towards a white silhouette that I was seeing at the end of that very dark world I was in.


    "Exactly. Over the last few days, I settled into your body, laid my eggs, my larvae, and they fed on your chakra, but you already know that, don''t you? You studied us on the same day as the ritual."


    "How did you...?"


    "You''re smart. You already know that we''ve been all over your body, and we''ve also looked at some of your memories."


    "That means you already know what I am."


    "Yes, but such human complexities don''t concern us. All we want is to survive, procreate, and make our species more and more many. That means protecting you, our dear host, our dear home. I only ask that if you decide to harbor other insects in your body, please talk to me first. There''s plenty of room at the moment, but in a few years the home will be full."


    Talking to Queen Kikaichuu was like talking to someone older. I didn''t understand how, but this being was much more intelligent than I had imagined. Also, this was much mystical.


    -:-


    When I opened my eyes, I saw the wooden ceiling of my room. Our house had a traditional Japanese look, so the brown of the wood was the only color we saw in most of the rooms.


    I felt something heavy on my forehead, and when I touched it; I saw it was a towel that was soaked with sweat. Putting the towel aside, I sat down on the futon and looked around me. I felt physically exhausted. Even so, I tried to stand up. Silly idea. My body had reached its limit, and I felt my legs weaken.


    ''Oh, well done... Here I go into another deep sleep,'' I thought, already imagining that I would pass out again.


    However, I felt a force pull me back to my normal angle. It was then that I looked over my right shoulder and saw several Kikaichuus flying in the opposite direction from where I was falling. They were trying to make me stand up.


    My eyes lit up at that moment. Then I could hear those dozen Kikaichuus shouting:


    "Go! Do it! Go!"


    They were really attempting to keep me upright, and they were pretty strong to resist my weight with so few of them.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    My eyebrows rose automatically, and I attempted to help them help me. Soon, I was upright and stable.


    "Pheww! This guy is heavy!"


    "Thanks, fellas," I said as they flew into my shirt.


    Being almost as light as air and quite small too, I didn''t even feel them going in. When I pulled the collar of my shirt away from my neck, I saw that there were dozens of Kikaichuus living inside my shirt.


    ''Ah, yes. I read something about that in that book. The Kikaichuu divide into three fronts to help the host. There are those that don''t stay inside the body, but in our clothes. It''s a warm and dark place, so it''s not uncomfortable for them, and they can also act quickly if I give them an order.''


    While I was thinking about this, I approached my desk chair, took my white coat, and put it on.


    "Ebaaa! That''s what we''re talking about!" I heard them say.


    I smiled out of the corner of my mouth. ''They seem to like long clothes...''


    Kikaichuu''s other two ''fronts'' were on the inside of my body, but in different areas. One of them was in the lungs, making it easy for them to come out through the airways if they needed to. The other was between the organs, and this was mainly used to heal wounds or, in extreme cases, if I received a very serious wound, it could come out through the wound for a surprise attack.


    ''They think strategically and independently, but when I ask them mentally...''


    I stretched out my right hand to the door, aiming to open it, and a small test of Kikaichuu came out of the sleeve of my blouse to open the door.


    ''As I had imagined, I can give them simple orders without having to speak. That''s very useful.''


    The only annoying thing was that I was hearing a constant, low-pitched ringing in my right ear. Yet, I hoped that once I got used to the fact that I was coexisting with insects now, I would stop paying attention to it and thus stop hearing the buzzing.


    The Kikaichuu opened the sliding door to my room slowly and with a lot of effort after my command, and this made me realize I still only had a small amount of parasitic insects at my disposal. I still didn''t want to worry about it. The numbers increased more and more.


    Walking through the corridors of my house, I stopped in the dining room, with its long, empty table. It was then that I heard something whisper in my ear:


    "The grown man is coming."


    An instant later, heavy footsteps pounded down the stairs. Then I saw my father coming down the stairs. Shibi''s eyes widened in surprise when he saw me, and he blinked twice.


    "So, you''re awake," Shibi said, putting a hand to his head and looking away a little.


    "Oh, yes. It''s only been five minutes or something like that, I think."


    "The ritual was a success. I mean, in case you still doubted it. You did it this time."


    "I know," I said, raising my right index finger and pointing it upward.


    As I did so, a few Kikaichuu rose to the tip of my finger. Commanding them was as simple as thinking or activating the system because it was merely a matter of strong intention.


    "You woke up five minutes ago, and you can already give them orders? That''s surprising."


    "I just... I don''t know. Things are still confusing for me."


    "It''s totally normal to feel disoriented. After all, you''ve been awake for five days. Sit down. I''ll ask them to bring you breakfast. You need to eat well."


    That was the second-longest exchange of words I''d ever had with my father, second only to the day I told him about my chakra control and wanting to do the ritual again. Still, at the end of the conversation, only two of his words remained in my mind.


    ''Five days... I slept for five consecutive days. That explains how those feverish dreams seemed to have no end. By the way, what about the Genin exam?''


    This question remained in my mind.


    Soon, my father returned to the dining room and sat down at the table with me. With a milder tone of voice than ever, he said:


    "Breakfast will be here in five minutes. How are you?"


    "Better now that I''ve sat down... Sir, I''ve been wondering: what happened to the Genin Exam?"


    With the help of a middle finger, Shibi adjusted the sunglasses resting on his nose and sniffled. "As for that... I don''t think there''s time for you to take it this year."


    "What do you mean?"


    "Aiden, don''t get me wrong. Your grades in common subjects are great. I know you could even pass the theory tests on basic tactics and ninja history, but it''s a different matter with practical ninja skills." He said with his hands folded on the table. "To become a genin, it''s essential to know three basic jutsus: they are Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, Henge no Jutsu, and Kawarimi no Jutsu. As far as I know, you''ve never practiced them properly."


    Shibi listed the techniques of Shadow Clones, Transformation, and Substitution, respectively. Indeed, looking through Aiden''s memories, he had never attempted to learn these jutsus. That was also one reason he was ridiculed even more by his colleagues, but he didn''t care.


    "I know you''ve changed your mind about becoming a shinobi, but all the progress you missed out on during your years at the Ninja Academy can''t suddenly be made up because you have Kikaichuus now," Shibi explained. "It''s best that you use this next year to train hard and improve yourself."


    What he was telling me may have been partly true, but in theory I already had the knowledge to do these techniques. Aiden never gave it the importance it deserved, except that he had heard about it since he entered the academy. If I wanted to, I could put in twenty-four hours a day and achieve a performance that Hizashi-sensei and the others could judge as satisfactory. Especially since I had the talent [Perfect Control of Spiritual Energy], right?


    "Sir, has the Genin Exam taken place yet?"


    "No. It will take place on Saturday, in two days'' time... Aiden, you''re not thinking that¡ª"


    "Yes, sir. I think I can manage. However, I''m going to need your help with something. Do you have time after breakfast?"


    *


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