The next day, Akihiro went to the Academy as usual. He hoped it would be a normal day, but to his surprise, there was an unusual atmosphere in the cssroom. The students were murmuring excitedly, and it was clear something unusual was about to happen.

  —Everyone, take your seats! —the teacher shouted as he entered the cssroom.

  Akihiro quickly sat down in his pce while greeting his cssmates. Once everyone was settled, the teacher raised a sheet of paper filled with inscriptions.

  —Today we will learn about hand seals, a fundamental part of Ninjutsu. Some of you may have already heard about them —the teacher commented.

  Akihiro was surprised and excited. Finally, after three years, they were going to teach him something reted to Ninjutsu.

  The teacher continued, ignoring his students’ excitement —The hand seals are the key to executing Jutsus; they are the first and most essential thing a ninja must learn to perform Ninjutsu.

  —Pay attention —said the teacher, who began to demonstrate the hand seals one by one— Each has a purpose, and it is essential to master both the posture and the speed for it to be effective in combat —he continued, only to make several seals and disappear in an instant.

  —This is the Body Flicker Technique; it allows you to move your body at an almost imperceptible speed for a moment. It’s a general jutsu that every ninja should know —he commented from behind everyone.

  Everyone turned in amazement to see the teacher in a corner of the room.

  —Although most of you don’t have a chakra reserve rge enough to perform a jutsu, learning it now will help you ter when you have enough chakra and train in Ninjutsu —he remarked as he returned to his pce.

  He distributed a paper with the inscriptions of the hand seals so they could learn them correctly. The teacher recommended starting with the first three simplest seals and mastering them before even thinking about the others.

  By the end of the day, he hadn’t managed to master even the first one. He struggled to move his hand that way, and doing it quickly while changing seals was even harder. But this didn’t bother him in the slightest; instead, he continued practicing excitedly.

  The day passed quickly, and the first css ended. The next css was a conventional Physical Training css. The st css was a theory css, which covered the typical math and other things one must learn to be a good ninja. After all, it’s not just about strength, but also knowledge to survive in the turbulent Shinobi world.

  After finishing, Akihiro rushed home. He found his mother talking to a ninja. Akihiro stopped and watched from afar; he could see his mother crying while the ninja was saying something to her.

  Akihiro knew what had happened and couldn’t help but wear a mencholic expression. His father had died on some battlefield.

  His father was an ordinary Genin with the desire to become a Chunin. That’s why he constantly went on missions, many of which took months or even years to complete. There were so many missions that over time, he had only seen his father at home a few times.

  He couldn’t compin, though, because thanks to that, both his mother and he didn’t have to worry about food, shelter, or clothing. They had a good life in exchange for his father being constantly away from home.

  Unfortunately, it seemed that his father’s luck had run out.

  Akihiro knew that his mother didn’t want him to see her crying, so he just stayed back watching her from a distance. The ninja bowed to the woman before leaving, and his mother entered with a sorrowful face.

  Akihiro left the pce, walking around Kusagakure for an hour before returning. When he entered his house, his mother greeted him with a forced smile, though he could tell from the redness of her face and her gaze that she wasn’t well. But he decided not to say anything.

  They both had a normal day, and Akihiro decided to keep her company while she slept. His mother was happy about it.

  Akihiro pretended to sleep, just to listen to his mother’s quiet sobs. She continued crying until midnight when she finally fell asleep.

  It was then that Akihiro lifted himself up and gently stroked his mother’s head. His heart felt heavy, a mix of sadness; his mother had raised him until now, and although he still had the memory of his original mother from his world, he couldn’t ignore the mother from this world who had cared for him for so many years and given him all the love she could. Seeing her crumble like this was simply a stab to his heart.

  Even though he couldn’t help her in any way, he wanted to at least give her a bit of peace of mind.

  —I have to become stronger to protect her so she won’t have to go through this again —he told himself with determination.