Chakra never bored her. From the moment Shogi learnt to channel it through her body, there wasn't a single day she hadn't messed around with it. She wasn't alone in this; nearly every other kid in her class fumbled around with their chakra as soon as they learnt to regulate its flow. Not a day went by without someone trying to throw a fireball or turn into a dragon.
Suffice to say, after a month had passed, most of her classmates figured out that they couldn't just will themselves into being the new God of Shinobi quite yet.
By that time, the instructors had started introducing chakra flow techniques for warming up their coils before jutsu practice. And when those sessions ended, their coils were too busy recovering to even channel chakra.
But she stayed in that phase longer than her peers. Even now, traces of that curiosity popped up every now and then. As a result of all her fumbling around, she had developed a sense for measuring chakra flow around her body — the same sense that allowed shinobi to gauge their opponents' chakra levels.
She wasn't unique in this, of course. Every ninja gradually developed this sixth sense for measuring chakra during childhood. Hers had simply kicked in a year or two earlier than the rest.
She had seen her coils fracture from repeated chakra flow sessions and regrow stronger and longer. Shogi had felt them produce more chakra every year as her training intensified.
That was why she knew something was off with her chakra reserves. Flexing her hand, she drew up a wisp of chakra into her palm. As soon as it breached her skin, it dissipated into thin strands of purple steam. Clenching her fist, she cut the flow, and a faint gust of wind ruffled her hair.
*My chakra flow is slower.*
The problem wasn't her coils — she had trained them to keep up with her body's demands. But this new body of hers had a level of strength and vitality that made it harder for her coils to cooperate. Her skills hadn't degraded much, but they had dulled a little. Though her raw speed had increased, her coils were too slow to make full use of it in combat. It now took twice as long to throw an enhanced punch as it did before. The same applied to her other techniques.
Thankfully, it seemed more like a temporary side effect than a permanent defect. Her coils were fractured and recovering, not damaged.
Despite the sluggishness of her chakra, she had discovered a few other things during her walk back home — namely, that her endurance had increased by *a lot.* She wasn't sure by how much, but if it was anywhere near as ridiculous as she suspected, she was in for a treat.
After a few more hours of walking, Shogi found herself weaving through the familiar streets of her home village, zigzagging between civilians and shinobi alike. She crossed a narrow bridge over a small stream, where children from nearby apartments usually came to play. Since her room wasn't far, she often ran into her classmates there around this time.
*They must be with their families, preparing for graduation.*
The park was empty today. Walking past it, Shogi entered a three-story building. Her room was on the first floor, at the far end of the corridor with a wall facing the door. Two other tenants lived on this floor — older civilians attending a preparatory school. She rarely saw them except on weekends.
"Oh, Shogi? How's the academy?"
"I graduated, Toshi-san. Waiting for my assignment. I heard you're leaving next week?"
Toshi was on his last round of exams before he moved out.
"Yeah, just for a week. Congrats on passing your genin exams."
Nodding politely, she slipped past him into her room and began unpacking. The graduation party was at Momo's house near the Nara housing complex — her last chance to see her classmates before they all went their separate ways.
*I'll miss them, that much is sure.*
She'd been with the same class since she was six. She'd seen them cry over toys, throw up on her skirt, and pick their noses when they thought no one was looking. Besides, a shinobi's class was always their first real network.
*Might as well get ready, then.*
After a bath and a change of clothes, she stopped in front of the mirror to comb her hair. She wore a green T-shirt and dark pants. Her shoulder-length black hair fell neatly down her back, held in place by a black plastic bow.
Taking a deep breath, Shogi left her apartment and made her way to the party.
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