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About an hour went by as Daichi peacefully meditated under the cool shade of the tree. His mind was on the second step of the fire chakra control technique.

'It will take me a lot longer to master the second step. I only have 4 months before this year ends. I'm not sure I'll be able to complete it by then. Looks like I slightly overestimated myself. It seems mastery of Rasengan and the earth element at such a quick pace has gotten to my head…'

Daichi let out a sigh. He sat there and composed himself. At that moment he started hearing the sounds of footsteps. It was faint but as the seconds went by it got louder and louder. Daichi focused on his senses and he realized that the person was a child and was headed to the clearing. He used 'chakra sense' and after a few seconds came to the conclusion that it was just a civilian child.

Daichi believed it was just some random child and decided to keep meditating and not interact with the person. His mind was focused on how to improve his training efficiency.

Several seconds later a small figure reached the clearing. The child looked at the giant training stump and was about to walk over when he noticed a boy his age sitting under a tree and meditating. The child, not having seen this person here before decided to introduce himself. He walked up to Daichi and after a couple seconds of silence spoke.

"Umm… Hi!"

Daichi felt the child approach him. He didn't want to interact with the kid but hearing his voice Daichi immediately opened his eyes. When Daichi took in the image of the boy in front of him he was astonished.

'No way. It's him!'

The boy had long hair fastened in a braid. He wore a white kimono sleeved shirt with dark pants and a martial arts belt. The most prominent features about him were his round eyes and thick eyebrows.

Daichi stared at the kid and didn't speak for several seconds. The child shifted on his feet and looked at Daichi with uncertainty.

"H-hi. I've never seen you here before. My name is Rock Lee."

Daichi snapped out of his stupor and introduced himself with a small smile. "Hi. I'm Daichi. Daichi Hekima."

The moment Lee heard the name his face got slightly serious. 'Daichi Hekima? So this is the underclassmen the teachers call a prodigy. He's probably like the rest. He'll just make fun of me when he finds out who I am.'

"Excuse me. But I'm going to train here." Lee gave a short quick bow and walked to the stump before Daichi could say another word.

Daichi was observing every emotion on Lee's face. Daichi saw recognition in Lee's eyes the moment he mentioned his name. 'Seems this kid has heard of me. And his attitude… He's shy but he's also unusually serious… Makes sense. All those insults and mockery at the academy didn't do him any good. He needs that Might Guy motivation and training to have that unbreakable will and bursting confidence and smile.'

Daichi watched as Lee got into a basic punching stance. He began punching the stump and Daichi heard Lee counting the strikes. Daichi, not wanting to intrude on the training, decided to leave.

"It was nice meeting you Lee. Good luck with your training."

With those parting words Daichi left the clearing. Daichi had a smile as he heard the sounds of fists hitting the wooden stump.

'Lee is one of my favorite characters. His will and determination is far above that of normal people. With sheer brute training he was able to stand toe to toe with people who had powerful bloodlines and inborn talents… Train hard Lee. I'm sure you can reach those heights once more.'

—-

The days quickly passed with Daichi trying to master the advanced fire nature chakra technique.

3 clones were currently trying to separate the waterfall with fire nature chakra. The whole area was covered in steam.

In the second step of the 'Fire nature' Daichi had to expel the fire chakra and turn the water to vapor and thus separate the water flow.

"This is a lot harder than before."

"That's obvious. Fire is weak against water so this step would be more difficult when compared to other elements."

"I'm out of chakra. I'm going to dispel myself so the original can recover."

One of the three clones burst into smoke and the other two gained its knowledge. Before long they both dispelled themselves as well.

Daichi was in his backyard as he felt the clones dispel and the chakra returning to him. He was breathing hard but he endured it. His chakra and stamina regeneration was absurd when compared to a normal person. Daichi was going through the memories while his body recovered. He opened the skill and took a look at his progress.

[Fire - Waterfall separation technique - (Active/Passive)(LV.18):An advanced fire chakra affinity training skill obtained through continuously focusing the chakra to heat and separate the flow of water. An advanced technique to help the user increase the control and strength of their fire nature chakra.]

[Note: Increasing the level of this skill will increase the level of the skill 'Fire Affinity.']

[Effects:]

[36% Increase in Fire Chakra control.]

[54% Increase in power of Fire Chakra nature.]

[CP cost : 140/sec.]

'Only level 18 huh. And that's with a month and a half of training… The new year will begin within a couple days. Seems I might not be able to Max level this skill by the end of March.'

Daichi sighed and got up. It was night time and he decided to finish for the day. He looked at the night sky and saw countless stars shining. He pondered on the question he had for a while now.

'I wonder… If this world is real… Isn't it possible that the others are too…'

After several seconds of just staring into the black sky he went inside.

—-

Leaf Shopping District.

It was early morning and Daichi was looking through a shop in the leaf shopping district. He pointed at several objects and was browsing for something special.

"Yes. I'd like that one as well." Daichi said pointing to the small white tiger plushie.

"All right. That'll be 4600 Ryo total."

Daichi paid the cash and headed for Aiko's orphanage. It was January 29 and it was baby Reo's birthday. He wanted to get her something on her birthday. Even though she won't remember this moment, Daichi didn't want her to feel alone.

He quickly reached the orphanage and met with the matron.

"Hello Miss Aiko."

"Daichi! I had a feeling you would show up today. You're here to see her, I take it?"

Daichi nodded. The matron took Daichi to Reo's room. The room had several other young children as well. Along the way Daichi brought a few sweets and toys for the other kids as well.

There were two reasons. One, Daichi wanted to keep his relationship with Reo under wraps for as long as possible. This way people wouldn't be able to quickly connect him to Reo. And the second was that he occasionally got gifts and candies when he himself was a ward here. He wanted to return the favor and do something nice for the children.

Daichi spent the day at the orphanage playing with the kids and answering their questions about the academy. He gave Reo the white tiger plushie and stayed with her for hours. The matron and the kids celebrated Reo's first birthday.

Daichi had a gentle smile as he looked at the small child. 'Happy birthday Reo..'

He only left at dusk when Reo went to sleep.

Daichi clenched his fists as he walked home. 'You're going to pay for what you did, Obito… And if you go anywhere near her, Danzo... I don't care what happens. It'll be the last thing you ever do.'

—-

Lee jumped backwards and barely avoided the blow to his torso. He was breathing hard while his opponent looked fresh as a Daisy.

"Not bad Lee. Your Taijutsu style is getting better. Let's stop for now. Your muscles need rest."

Lee nodded and bowed.

"Thank you for the spar Daichi."

Daichi waved him off. "I told you, you don't need to do that."

After their first encounter, Daichi and Lee began meeting occasionally in that same clearing. Lee, understanding that Daichi was not like the rest of his classmates who mock or jeer him, quickly warmed up to him. They became friends and after a while Daichi decided to help Lee improve his taijutsu skills.

Lee was extremely happy that there was someone who finally believed in him and he trained with renewed vigor.

Both of them went to rest under the shade. Daichi took a few snacks from his bag and gave them a couple to his friend.

Lee, after taking one bite, had sparkles in his eyes. "These are so delicious. I can't believe you can also cook. You're so awesome Daichi!"

Daichi had a smirk and rubbed his nose. "Well I'm not one to brag…"

Lee laughed seeing his friend's attitude. They ate and talked about various things. The topic of the final exams came up.

"I still can't use any ninjutsu or genjutsu. So I can only rely on my Taijutsu and written grade to pass." Lee looked down as he said those words.

"Everything will work out as long as you don't give up. You need to have faith in yourself. As long as you don't give up, I have no doubt that you can be something amazing in the future." Daichi said words of encouragement as he ate his snack.

Lee's eyes widened as he heard those words. A bright smile appeared on his face and he lunged and hugged Daichi as hard as he could. "Oh my good friend Daichi! Thank you for your words of encouragement. I will remember them forever."

"Oy oy get off me." Daichi tried to pry the laughing Lee off him.

Daichi didn't fail to notice the system message he got just before Lee jumped at him.

[Reputation massively increased with Rock Lee.]

—-

March 14th

Iruka was supervising the class as they had their final exams. The students were writing the answers as fast as they could. He saw some struggling with the questions(Naruto) while others having an easy time(Sakura). His eyes then landed on three particular students.

All three of them were doing nothing. That's not entirely accurate. One was meditating while the other was glaring at him and the last one was taking a nap without a care in the world.

Iruka quietly sighed as he looked at the three of them.

'Daichi, Sasuke and Shikamaru. Those three... Their intelligence is above the others in the class. But only two of them seem to take this seriously. Well, one of them takes it too seriously. Being second place has really motivated Sasuke to improve himself. But I feel that this rivalry is being too serious… And then there is the third one... Thankfully he knows to keep himself in check. Daichi and Sasuke finished all the questions quickly but Shikamaru answered only just enough questions to get him a satisfactory grade. And now he's taking a nap… Why did I expect him to do anything else.?'

Iruka let out another sigh and supervised the exam. Before long it came to an end and with it their third year at the academy. Daichi hung out with his friends and after a while he left for his home.

Time passed quickly and he was in his room going over his skill list when he noticed that it was almost midnight. A few seconds after the clock struck midnight the blue system message boxes came.

[Ongoing Quest - 'Path to the strongest.']

[3rd Year tasks successfully completed. Distributing the Special reward for clearing a dungeon. Distributing New Skill for successfully learning chakra control techniques.]

[Special Reward.]

[A-Grade Item Blueprint (1/3).]

Daichi's eyes widened as he looked at the reward.

'An A grade item? The Atamagai cloak is an A grade item and its functions are incredible. Does this mean I will get an item with extraordinary abilities…? No! This says blueprints. That means I have to build it or find someone who can build it for me, depending on what this blueprint says. And moreover It says I only have one part out of three… So I need two more huh… If this item is anything like the cloak then I can wait. I'm sure it'll be worth it.'

A blue paper appeared in his inventory slot. Daichi took it out and used 'Observe' on it.

[Special Item - Rank A. Item and functions unknown (Need complete blueprint for more information.)]

Daichi then looked at the new skill he got. His eyes widened as he read the details of the skill. "What kind of sick shitty skill is this?"

[New skill: 'I'm Ready to Die' stance.]

Author's note:

Rock Lee and Might Guy are two of my favorite characters in the series. No matter what anyone says, They're awesome in my view.

If you enjoy my story then please take a moment to review and rate. A thumbs up always helps.

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