Misae, carrying the school bag and bento box, was stopped by a middle-aged female teacher with glasses just as she reached the school gate.
"Ma'am, the class assignments have already begun. You cannot enter."
"But my son is still inside."
"Your son?" The teacher pushed up her glasses and flipped through the register in her hand. "What is his name?"
"Nohara Shinnosuke."
The teacher looked down, then back up at Misae. "He has already been assigned to class a. Please head home."
"But his bento..."
"The school provides lunch," the teacher interrupted. "Pick him up at four in the afternoon. Goodbye."
The gate slowly closed.
Misae stood at the gate, clutching the small school bag, left bewildered in the wind.
"So, I came all this way for nothing?"
Meanwhile, inside the classroom, a certain person was completely unaware that his mother was losing her mind outside.
In the class a classroom, over a dozen five-year-olds sat properly on small chairs.
Standing before the podium was a young male teacher in his early twenties, wearing round-framed glasses, looking a bit like an academic-type Ninja who stayed up late reading.
His name was Ibuki Toru, a Chunin who had temporarily stepped back from the front lines due to an injury and was assigned to teach.
"Alright, everyone quiet down," Teacher Ibuki clapped his hands. "Let's get to know each other first. When I call your name, please stand up and introduce yourself."
He picked up the register.
"Kakashi Hatake."
A young boy with silver hair stood up, wearing a mask on his face: "Kakashi Hatake."
Having said that, he sat down.
The classroom was silent for two seconds.
Teacher Ibuki blinked. "That's it?"
Kakashi nodded.
"Al-alright then." The teacher checked off the name on the list. "Next, Uchiha Obito."
A young boy with black spiky hair stood up abruptly, his voice loud and clear: "My name is Uchiha Obito, and I'm going to be the Hokage in the future. Please take care of me!"
After finishing, he bowed deeply, bumping into the desk in front of him.
"Very energetic," Teacher Ibuki rubbed his brow. "Next, Nohara Shinnosuke."
Shin-chan stood up sluggishly. "My name is Nohara Shinnosuke. I'm five years old. I live in the apartment behind the Konoha Village hot springs. I'm single."
"Pfft." Someone burst out laughing.
Teacher Ibuki's mouth twitched. "Continue."
"Things I like are chocolate bars, and things I hate are green peppers and carrots." Shin-chan tilted his head and thought for a moment. "Also, my mom said earlier she was going to bring me my bento, but she seems to have gotten lost. Teacher, can you share some food with me at lunch?"
Another round of laughter erupted in the classroom.
After a round of introductions, Teacher Ibuki's face was covered in dark lines. He then turned around and wrote three large characters on the blackboard.
"Alright, the first lesson we are going to learn today, and the most important one, is Chakra."
He turned around and pushed up his glasses. "Has anyone heard of this word?"
Obito immediately raised his hand. "I know! Hokage-sama has a lot of Chakra."
"Very good." Teacher Ibuki nodded. "Chakra is the source of energy for a Ninja to use Ninjutsu. It consists of two parts."
He wrote on the blackboard:
Physical Energy, Spiritual Energy.
"By mixing and refining these two types of energy within your own body, you can produce Chakra," Teacher Ibuki clenched his fist. "This is the foundation of all Ninjutsu."
Shin-chan sprawled on the desk, staring at the blackboard, his mind a complete blank.
Physical Energy... Spiritual Energy... extraction... mixing...
He blinked and turned to look at Uchiha Che beside him.
"Tetsu," he lowered his voice.
Uchiha Che was taking notes seriously, without even looking up. "What is it?"
"Is that Chakra something like the filling inside a chocolate bar?"
Uchiha Che's pen paused. He turned his head with a "What are you talking about?" expression.
"No."
"Then is it like the strings of natto?"
"No."
"Then is it like the fire that comes out of my mom's head when she's angry?"
Uchiha Che was silent for two seconds and whispered, "Try to feel if there's a warm power inside your body?"
Shin-chan closed his eyes and felt seriously for two seconds.
"Nope."
Uchiha Che: "..."
"Then how did you feel it?" Shin-chan asked.
Uchiha Che was stunned for a moment. "I don't know either, I just can feel it."
Shin-chan nodded thoughtfully. "Oh, so you're saying this thing can only be felt and can't be explained with logic?"
Uchiha Che thought about it, and it did seem to be the case. He answered uncertainly, "Probably."
"Then why does the teacher still talk so much logic?" Shin-chan pointed at the two lines on the blackboard. "Wouldn't it be enough to just say 'feel it yourself'?"
Uchiha Che opened his mouth, but found he couldn't answer.
On the podium, Teacher Ibuki tapped the blackboard. "Alright, that's it for the theory. Now, everyone close your eyes and try to feel the energy inside your body."
"Start with Physical Energy, which is that feeling of fatigue after exercise; then Spiritual Energy, which is the feeling when you concentrate. Mix the two together and refine them."
The classroom fell silent.
Over a dozen children closed their eyes and began to try and feel.
Shin-chan also closed his eyes.
Feeling Physical Energy, which is the fatigue after exercise... he had run all the way this morning, and his legs were still a bit sore. Does this count?
Feeling Spiritual Energy, which is concentrating... he tried thinking about chocolate bars, and finally thought about what to do for lunch.
Then he tried mixing the two together.
The feeling of sore legs plus the desire to eat a chocolate bar...
Huh?
Something seemed to be rising from his belly, feeling warm.
Shin-chan couldn't help but open his eyes and look down at his palm.
There was nothing.
But he definitely felt something flowing in his body, like a small river.
"Teacher," Shin-chan raised his hand.
Teacher Ibuki was making his rounds and walked over to him. "What is it?"
"I think I have it."
Teacher Ibuki was taken aback. "Have what?"
"That Chakra thing," Shin-chan tilted his head. "It's warm and going in circles in my belly."
Teacher Ibuki's eyes widened behind his glasses.
He crouched down and gently placed his hand on Shin-chan. This was the simplest way to sense Chakra.
The next second, his expression changed.
"You refined it?"
Shin-chan blinked. "Is it hard?"
Teacher Ibuki was silent for two seconds.
Normally, for a five-year-old child who was encountering Chakra for the first time, being able to sense it would already be quite good; to refine it so quickly could already be called a genius.
"How did you do it?" Teacher Ibuki couldn't help but ask.
Shin-chan thought for a moment and answered seriously, "I first thought about my sore legs, then about chocolate bars, and then I mixed them together, and then I had it."
Teacher Ibuki: "..."
Sore legs? chocolate bars?
What kind of mess of a refining method is this!
He suddenly remembered when he was a child, it took him three whole days to refine Chakra for the first time.
And this child did it using sore legs and chocolate bars.
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