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"Oohhh my head…" Daichi groaned as he slowly opened his eyes and became aware of his surroundings. He was laid down on a mat on the porch of his house.

"You woke up much faster than I expected." The voice of his grandfather came from near him.

Daichi turned around and saw Kensei in his usual clothes, meditating. Kensei had changed into a more casual attire during Daichi's forced nap.

"How long have I been out?" Daichi asked.

"About 20 minutes. Your body is much stronger than normal and you have an abnormally fast recovery speed." The old man said. He didn't move or even open his eyes. His chest slowly rising and falling was the only movement Daichi saw.

Daichi then looked at the spot where the knife was stabbed during the end of the battle… He saw smooth clean skin at the place where a bleeding hole should be. It didn't take a genius to figure out what happened. "You healed me."

"Yes I did. It wasn't a critical wound. Now get freshened up and come down. We have much work to do."

Hearing his grandfather's words, Daichi got up and went to his room. He saw the system messages piled up on the side and he started going through them one by one.

Skill Leaf Academy Taijutsu’s level has risen by one.

Skill Shurikenjutsu’s level has risen by one. x2

Skill Physical Endurance’s level has risen by one.

Skill Strong Hit’s level has risen by one.

Skill Chakra Thread's level has risen by one. x2

Skill Danger Sense's level has risen by one.

Skill Chakra Enhancement's level has risen by one. x3

Skill Chakra Flow's level has risen by one. x2

Quest 'Battle Kensei Yasaji’ Completed.

Rewards:

20000 Exp.

New skill: Demonic Illusion - False surroundings technique.

Reputation increases with Kensei Yasaji.

'Hmm… Seems a few of my skills have leveled up…Looks like I didn't get the bonus rewards. But I suppose successfully completing this quest is enough for now.'

Daichi clicked on the new reward skill.

Demonic Illusion - False surroundings technique. - Active(LV.1): A simple illusion technique that alters the appearance of a nearby object or surroundings.

Rank: C

Type: Genjutsu

Hand Seals: Rat - Monkey - Horse - Hare.

CP Cost: 210 CP.

[Note: The range of this technique can vary from short to long depending on the user's chakra control and proficiency.]

'A Genjutsu huh. And one that places an illusion on the surroundings according to the caster's wishes. Something tells me that's going to come in handy one day.'

Daichi reached his room and stripped down. He found that his clothes had been torn up and there were small blood stains in several places. Discarding the rags he went to take a shower. His mind was still on the fight even as the cold water cascaded down his body.

'The old man had a counter attack for everything I threw at him. The chakra strings I used to tie him up were cut apart with chakra coated kunai. His shurikenjutsu was so skilled that I was never able to land a solid hit on him. And his taijutsu… For an old guy who lost a leg, he sure can put up a fight. Every strategy I used was useless…'

Daichi sighed as he recalled the scenes of his beat down. 'So this is what experienced Jonin and Anbu are capable of huh. The dungeon ninjas I fought till now are nothing compared to the old man.'

Daichi finished his shower and got dressed. He went downstairs and had some food and walked outside. Kensei was still meditating when Daichi came outside. He opened his eyes when the boy sat next to him.

"You are far ahead of your peers. Of that there is no doubt. But you have much to learn. And there is time for that Daichi! You can utilize the time in the academy to broaden your knowledge and experience. It will help you on your journey." Kensei said, looking at the pond in their backyard.

Daichi nodded slightly. Daichi remained quiet for a while and then asked a question. "That medical ninjutsu you used… Was it the only one you know or… Were you a medic-nin at some point?"

"I know a few medic jutsu but no. I wasn't a medic ninja. During the 1st and 2nd world war the Anbu were in charge of many important operations. And only the most skilled got accepted. So losing even one was a blow to the village. Those of us who had the talent for it and excellent chakra control all learned a few life saving jutsus." Kensei replied.

He looked at Daichi and asked. "Are you interested in the field?"

"Yes. I have a few ideas and now seeing their usefulness in a fight I want to learn it more than ever."

Kensei hummed hearing the boy's answer. "Complete your chakra control training. That will be your focus this year. Then maybe in your 3rd or 4th year, I'll introduce you to someone I know who can teach you some medical ninjutsu." He said to Daichi.

Daichi nodded and he had a pensive look on his face.

"What is it?" Kensei asked.

"It's about genjutsu… I'm a bit confused. I thought-" Daichi began but Kensei interrupted him.

"Daichi! What do you know about genjutsu?"

"They are illusions. When a ninja controls the chakra flow of a target's cerebral nervous system and affects their senses, Genjutsu is created. People use this to confuse the senses of their enemies and trick their body into thinking it's in pain when it's not. We essentially influence the senses and control what the target sees and feels." Daichi gave the reply.

"Yes. You just described the broad interpretation of genjutsu but it's much more than that. What you just described falls under one of the 3 main categories of this art… Daichi, based on my understanding you are immune to most genjutsu but not for some… I'll start you on genjutsu training when you begin your training in medical ninjutsu. I'll give you a thorough explanation about genjutsu at that time."

"I understand." Daichi nodded and got up. "I'm going for a walk around the village."

Kensei nodded and went back to his meditation.

Daichi left the house and slowly walked along the village road. His fight with Kensei opened his eyes to many of his weaknesses. 'During the blackout Genjutsu, even though I used 'chakra sense' I couldn't find him. He was able to mask his chakra and attack me. All the points he struck on my body could have been lethal if he wanted to… So how do I find someone who can mask their chakra…?'

This was one of the many new problems Daichi faced. As he walked along the road he saw a large tree nearby with birds and some squirrels scurrying about. Daichi used the chakra sense skill and was able to locate the birds and small animals around the area.

'These creatures can't hide chakra. It's why I was able to find them. It needs to be the case for humans too if I want to successfully track them. I need to find an aspect of a person that they can't hide… So what can't humans hide?'

As Daichi pondered on this question an idea came to his mind. 'Mana. Is that the answer?... Mana is an energy produced by an intelligent mind. But right now only I can use Mana and my theory is Atamagai could use it too… But what about everyone else?... Is it possible to sense the mind of a person with Mana?'

Daichi got near the tree and looked at the creatures. He wanted to test his theory. Daichi used the mana in the same manner as he used the chakra sense skill. His goal was to sense the animals near him. He closed his eyes and concentrated.

'I know the description said an intelligent mind but these creatures even though not as smart as humans still have some intelligence. So would it work on them?'

As Daichi focused on the birds near him, after several seconds he suddenly felt a spark of something. His eyes suddenly opened wide and he smiled. 'It works. I felt something. It was small. Barely there… but it's something. And the birds don't seem to notice anything… Time to test it on a person. I hope there's no negative effects.'

Daichi made his way to the village market. He casually walked around as if he was looking to buy something. Daichi concentrated his mana once again and this time the effects were magnified. He could sense every person within a certain range. And some felt stronger while some felt weaker.

'I knew it. My hypothesis was right. Mana is an energy similar to brain waves but only an exceptionally intelligent mind or someone like me who has an affinity and the gamer's ability can use it. But that doesn't mean it's limited to people like me. Everyone's mind produces small amounts of mana. The difference is they can't sense or use it.'

Right then a new skill notification popped up.

[Through continuously concentrating Mana to sense the presence of intelligent creatures, the skill 'Mana Scout' has been created.]

Mana Scout - (Passive/Active) (LV.01): All minds produce some miniscule amount of Mana energy. This skill allows the user to sense the presence of an intelligent mind.

Effects: 10 meters: Current maximum range.

+2% Location accuracy.

MP Cost: 15 MP/2 Meters.

'Wow…' Daichi looked at the skill and was excited. 'Time to level this baby up.'

Daichi started using the skill as he went around and bought some items. He was testing the limitations and usage of the skill.

'So with this right now I can tell that someone is near me but not the exact location. But increasing the skill would increase the location accuracy. So that's taken care of. And another thing I'm noticing is that some people's mana are a bit stronger than the others.'

Daichi walked around and near a few chunin buying groceries. He noticed that the mana he was sensing from them were slightly stronger than the civilians. 'It must be because of their strong mental constitution.'

The last thing Daichi sensed was the amount of Mana energy they produced. 'It's only a fraction of mine. So all of them have Mana energy but since it's only a small amount and therefore not usable it's probably why their mana points don't show up on my observation info… At least that's my theory.'

There was one more jutsu Daichi had in mind to test. It was also a Mana skill. He recalled the details of the skill.

Mana puppetry - Active (LV. 01): This skill allows the user to control various animals and humans with mental commands. Mana is used to implant suggestions or orders into the target's mind and the user can control them as they see fit. Since this skill is Mana based, Chakra defenses and seals will be useless against it.

[Note: At the current level you can only implant a suggestion into human targets and your mental strength is not strong enough to control them. With training and at higher levels this limitation can be removed.]

Effects: Can implant suggestions into a target's mind.

MP cost: 800/ Target

'At the moment I only have a little over 4000 MP. And the skill costs 800 MP. It says per target and not per command or suggestions. Does that mean a certain target will only need 800 MP to implant suggestions…? Or is there some sort of time limit?'

Daichi walked to a nearby fruit seller. He wanted to test the range and limitations of this skill as well. He picked a young man as his first test subject.

The man was buying some apples from the fruit vendor. Daichi concentrated on his mana and tried to implant a certain suggestion.

'Don't buy the apples. Buy some oranges. It'll be good for you.'

The Mana Daichi used, connected with the young man. Daichi could feel that his suggestion was successfully implanted.

A new notification appeared.

[Target has accepted the suggestion.]

"Hey. On second thought, I don’t want the apples. Can you wrap up the oranges for me? I'll buy the apples another time." Daichi heard the customer change his decision and he became ecstatic but he kept himself under control with a calm and cool face.

'Time to test the limits. If I give another suggestion to the same person will this skill cost me another 800 MP? I also need to test the range of this skill. And let's up the ante this time.'

Daichi walked a few feet away from the stall and concentrated on his mana. He then concentrated on the same person and gave another suggestion.

'Swipe an apple while he's not looking.'

Daichi wanted to know if the target would accept a suggestion that had some risks? It was why he gave the man such a task.

A notification popped up again.

[Target has accepted the suggestion.]

Daichi discreetly looked at the guy. He saw the man looking around trying to see if anyone was noticing him. Seeing that no one was paying attention to him, the man swiped the apple nearest to him and put it in his pocket.

Daichi was amazed at the implications. 'Wow. With enough level ups this could be one hell of an OP skill. And my Mana hasn't decreased. So does that mean I don't have to pay the mana cost when I implant suggestions on the same person? Or is there a time limit?... One more. And this is the big one.'

'Take the small knife in front of you and cut his hand. A small slash.' Daichi once again increased the danger of the suggestion and wanted to see the results.

Daichi decided long ago that while he wouldn't be a monster, he wouldn't be a saint either. This balance was his way to cope with this world and its dangers.

'It would be a small wound and would be healed in a few days. But let's see if he would do it?'

[Target has rejected the suggestion.]

Daichi saw the man looking at the knife and slightly shaking his head. He bought his items and quickly left the place.

Daichi was in thought as he saw the results. 'So if the danger is too high or the suggestion is too absurd then the target would come to a rational decision and reject my suggestion. But they will accept if the suggestions are within acceptable parameters of difficulty… Hmm… It's almost like I'm a little devil whispering in their ear…'

Daichi chuckled to himself at the thought. He continued walking around the village testing and leveling both of the mana skills. He spent his days training these skills mainly. Daichi decided he would start on the Rasengan at the start of the 3rd year.

The holidays passed with Daichi sometimes hanging out with Shikamaru, Naruto and the gang. But he focused on his training and soon March 28th his birthday came up. He kept it a secret from his classmates due to not wanting to be bothered with a party. Days passed and soon it was April 1st.

The 3rd year of Daichi's academy begins.

Author’s Note:

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