[6] – Level Up!
[6] – Level Up!
Reiji couldn’t help but let out a deep, relieved sigh as the intensity of his routine began to settle into something manageable. The early morning sun cast long shadows across the training ground as he finished his warm-up exercises, his muscles no longer protesting as much as they had in those first grueling days.
Training with Sachiko, enduring the physical conditioning quests, and forcing his Chakra to behave in unique pathways had been challenging. Yet, despite the sweat, frustration, and occasional doubt, Reiji had made undeniable progress.
His Chakra control was improving, albeit slower than he would have liked. The leaf exercise, which had once seemed tiring and annoying, was now part of his daily routine. He could maintain a leaf stuck to his forehead through Chakra alone for almost twenty minutes, a feat that would have seemed miraculous just weeks ago.
“Focus on the connection between your Chakra and the leaf,” Sachiko instructed on their early morning sessions. “It’s not about forcing it to stay; it’s about creating harmony between your chakra and the object.”
Reiji nodded, eyes closed in concentration as the leaf trembled against his forehead. In the first few days, the leaf would fall after mere seconds, but with each attempt, he held it longer. The feeling of Chakra—or Chatora, as his system called it—flowing through his pathways was becoming familiar, less like an intrusion and more like an extension of himself.
“Now that you can maintain the basic exercise, let’s try something more challenging,” Sachiko said, picking up several leaves from the ground. “You already know this, first, try sticking leaves to different parts of your body simultaneously.”
“The key is to establish multiple points of awareness,” Sachiko explained, demonstrating by sticking leaves to her forehead, both palms, and even the tops of her feet. “Your Chakra network runs throughout your entire body. Learning to control it at different points prepares you for more complex techniques later.”
Sachiko had indeed introduced him to advanced variations of the leaf exercise. And Reiji had noted that circulating chakra within the body in a loop was unheard of. As much as he wanted help from Sachiko about his ‘system’s improvements,’ he didn’t want to burden her further. After all, he already owed her, and he didn’t want to add more to her plate.
Reiji had started with two leaves—one on his forehead and another on the back of his hand. The division of focus was jarring at first; his Chakra would fluctuate, causing one leaf to fall while the other remained steady. But with practice, he learned to distribute his Chakra more evenly, thanks to the circulating chakra he had been practicing since then. Now, Reiji could maintain leaves on his forehead, both palms, and one on his chest for 10 minutes; a personal record that had earned him an approving nod from Sachiko as well.
Then came the stacking challenge.
“Now we’ll test your precision,” Sachiko had said, carefully placing one leaf atop another on her palm. Both leaves remained perfectly still as if glued together. “The goal is to use your Chakra not just to stick the bottom leaf to your skin, but to create a connection between the leaves themselves.”
This exercise had proven particularly frustrating. Reiji could get two leaves to stack for brief moments, but adding a third caused the entire structure to collapse. His control wasn’t fine-tuned enough to maintain the delicate balance of Chakra required.
“Don’t be discouraged,” Sachiko had told him after a particularly frustrating session where he’d failed to stack more than two leaves for longer than five seconds. “Most first-years can’t even get one leaf to stick properly. You’re already pushing beyond the basics.”
Her encouragement had been a balm to his frustrations. Unlike most students at the Academy who were already steeped in the fundamentals of the ninja world, Sachiko never made him feel out of place for his lack of knowledge. She patiently explained the basics—what a Hokage truly was, the different ranks of Jutsu, and even the subtle politics of Konoha—without judgment or condescension.
“The Academy curriculum assumes everyone grew up hearing these things,” she’d explained during one of their breaks. “But for those of us from civilian families, it’s like being thrown into the deep end without swimming lessons.”
Reiji nodded, grateful for her understanding. “How did you manage when you first started, Sachiko-san?”
Sachiko’s eyes grew distant for a moment. “I struggled. A lot. But I found that while clan kids have advantages in Chakra capacity and family techniques, civilians like us often develop better control out of necessity. We can’t afford to waste what we have.”
Her stories from the Academy, the lessons she had learned, and the experiences she had gained during her first two years provided Reiji with invaluable insights into this world. She was more than just a training partner. To Reiji, Sachiko had become a mentor of sorts, showing him the ropes in ways that no instructor ever could.
“Try the tree next,” Sachiko had suggested one evening as their leaf-stacking session wound down. “Tree-walking is a fundamental Chakra control exercise that most Genin learn after graduation, but there’s no reason we can’t start now, you know.”
Reiji eyed the sturdy oak at the edge of the training ground with uncertainty. “Isn’t that a bit advanced for my level?”
“Precisely why you should try it,” she replied with a challenging smile. “The leaf exercises build control, but tree-walking applies that control under pressure.”
Well, the system had consistently awarded him more experience points and skill improvements when he attempted techniques slightly beyond his current capabilities, so trying advanced might get him rewarded.
Standing before the tree, Reiji focused Chakra on his feet—a more challenging location than his hands or forehead. He placed one foot against the trunk, then attempted to channel Chakra through it in the same way he’d done with the leaves.
His first attempt resulted in barely any adhesion—his foot slipped immediately. His second attempt overcompensated, sending too much Chakra into the bark and causing a small indentation.
“Too much force,” Sachiko noted. “Think of it as creating a subtle and solid connection, not hammering a nail.”
After several more attempts, Reiji managed to get his foot to stick momentarily before his concentration wavered. By the end of the session, he could place one foot on the trunk and hold it there for nearly three seconds—nowhere near enough actually to walk up the tree, but a start, nonetheless.
“Not bad for a first try,” Sachiko acknowledged. “The tree-walking exercise requires you to continuously adjust your Chakra output as you move. It’s like the leaf exercise, but dynamic rather than static.”
Each failure was followed by a moment of analysis, adjustment, and another attempt.
Reiji has practiced the tree-walking technique every day since, making incremental progress on his leaf concentration and tree walking. He could now get two steps up the trunk before gravity reclaimed him, sending him tumbling back to the ground, and he could also maintain 25 minutes of leaf on his forehead.
He had also begun to adjust to the social dynamics of the Academy. Yuki had proven to be a reliable training partner, always encouraging and ready with a joke to lighten the mood when frustration threatened to overwhelm him. Kegawa had largely kept his distance after their initial confrontation, though Reiji occasionally caught the boy watching his training sessions with what might have been grudging curiosity. Despite his prickly attitude, it was clear that Kegawa had respect for those who could prove themselves—something Reiji was determined to do.
The students with clan backgrounds and inherent talent were still leagues ahead of him, but Reiji no longer felt like an outsider or impostor. He was beginning to accept this life and work towards carving his own path within it.
During one particularly intense training session with Sachiko, Reiji managed to stack four leaves on his palm—a personal best that lasted nearly fifteen seconds before collapsing.
“Your control is improving faster than I expected,” Sachiko had admitted, her usually reserved expression showing genuine surprise. “Most civilian students like me took months to even reach this level.”
Reiji smiled, though he knew the truth—his system provided a structure to his progress that others lacked. The quantifiable improvements, the clear milestones, and the explicit feedback all contributed to a more efficient learning process.
Sachiko’s training sessions were always intense, but there was always room for laughter and conversation. Whether discussing Chakra theory or the best ways to avoid the Academy’s overly strict disciplinary instructors, their sessions carried a sense of camaraderie that Reiji hadn’t expected to find so soon.
+++
As the sun began to set on this particular day, marking four weeks since his arrival, Reiji found himself reflecting on how far he had come—both in his training and in his understanding of this strange, new world. The challenges of his first days in the new world had already begun to feel like distant memories. He was no longer just a foreign soul adrift in a new body. He was becoming part of the flow, learning how to adapt to the rhythms of this world.
He took a moment to pause, marking today’s morning exercise to an end. His eyes flicked to the notification that had just appeared in his vision:
[Training Session Completed]
Reward: +0.4% Chakra Control, +40 XP
[System Alert: Level Up!]
Level 1 → Level 2
All attributes +1
[New Feature Unlocked: Experience Bar]
[Max Chatora Capacity increased by 1.5]
The second notification felt like a small triumph, a sense of accomplishment after weeks of dedication. Reiji could feel the change in his body and in his chakra reserves; the improvement had been tangible. The level-up was a gratifying affirmation of his efforts, the kind of milestone that fueled his determination to keep pushing forward.
That evening after Academy, Reiji examined his newly unlocked feature. The Experience Bar now sat at the bottom of his HUD, a thin, glowing line offering real-time feedback on his progress toward the next level. It was currently barely filled.
[Level 2 (6/1000)]
His updated stats reflected the level-up bonuses:
[Attributes]
Power: 14/100
Speed: 17/100
Spirit: 26/100
Recovery: 19/100
Intelligence: 87/100
Luck (?): Unknown
[Chatora (0/4)]
Energy in all beings.
19.55% Chatora [No Attribute] (0.53/5) – Efficiency: 8.25%
5.45% Chatora [No Attribute] (0.3/5) – Efficiency: 5.15%
0% Chatora [No Attribute] (0/5)
0% Chatora [No Attribute] (0/5)
[Level: 2 (6/1000 XP)]
Reiji noticed the change in how attributes were displayed—remarks such as “average,” “poor,” “below average,” and “excellent,” along with the grades (A, B, C, and such), were gone while the Question Mark (?) and Unknown were still intact in Luck.
The XP requirement had doubled for the next level—a classic game progression curve that he had anticipated. “A long road ahead,” he murmured to himself, scanning the figures. His physical stats were still woefully low, but his Intelligence score gave him hope. In this world of superhuman abilities, perhaps his mind would be his greatest asset.
Before sleep, Reiji decided to attempt some Chakra exercises for the day—channeling Chakra to his feet to improve his grip on surfaces and the usual circulating chakra inside his body.
Unlike the leaf exercise, channeling the chakra to his feet requires more concentration and precise control.
Standing barefoot on the wooden floor of his small apartment, he directed Chakra to his soles. His first attempt resulted in too much force, causing the wood to crack slightly. He winced at the damage.
“Too much pressure,” he realized, adjusting the flow. After several attempts, he found the right balance—enough Chakra to increase friction without damaging the surface.
He tried applying this technique to the wall, placing one foot against the vertical surface and channeling Chakra through it. Walking along the wall proved impossible still—he couldn’t generate enough adhesion to counteract gravity. But he could feel the difference in his grip on the floor, a precursor to the wall-walking technique he’d seen ninja perform.
After twenty more attempts of practice, he switched to circulating his chakra inside his body, he noticed a huge advantage where his chakra gets refilled or denser with each 15 minutes of continuous circulation.
As he completed his minute of chakra circulation, another notification appeared:
[Training Session Completed]
Reward: +0.5% And +0.3% Chatora, +10 XP (16/1000), +1 Spirit (26/100)
[Milestone Achieved: 20% Chatora]
New Information Unlocked
Curious about the milestone, Reiji checked the Chatora section of his interface:
[Chatora (0/4)]
Energy in all beings.
20.05% Chatora [Physical + Spiritual] (1.00/5) – Efficiency: 8.25%
5.75% Chatora [No Attribute] (0.28/5) – Efficiency: 5.15%
0% Chatora [No Attribute] (0/5)
0% Chatora [No Attribute] (0/5)
Available Techniques: None (Requires Academy Training)
[Level: 2 (16/1000 XP)]
The system’s Chatora tab had expanded, offering deeper insight into his Chatora attributes. Reiji’s attention was immediately drawn to the fact that his first Chakra reserve—labeled with the Physical + Spiritual attribute—had exceeded the 1.0 threshold. He wasn’t entirely sure what it meant yet, but it was definitely a sign of progress.
Physical and Spiritual as an attribute? Isn’t that what chakra is supposed to be? he thought, puzzled.
With focused intent, he selected the first Chakra Reserve, the one labeled with the Physical + Spiritual attribute. Almost immediately, the system’s voice echoed in his mind, followed by blue text that appeared before his eyes:
[1st Chatora Reserve – Efficiency: 8.25%]
This Chatora is formed by combining physical and spiritual energy.
Used for Jutsus.
Chakra is the energy combination of physical and spiritual energy, which are drawn from body and mind, that all ninjas use to perform Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, Taijutsu, and other techniques.
However, his system had labeled only his first Chatora as ‘Physical and Spiritual’. That was odd.
Reiji knew that Physical energy comes from the body’s physical processes, primarily from the muscles and stamina. It is essentially the body’s vitality, the energy generated by the movement of physical muscles, and the energy needed for basic bodily functions. And, Spiritual energy comes from the mind, emotions, and soul. It’s drawn from a person’s mental state, including their emotional strength, willpower, and spiritual essence. It’s an intangible part of Chakra.
So, are there Chakras or “Chatoras” beyond what is taught in the Academy? Reiji thought.
“Cool.”