The morning air was cold, but the training field was already warm.
Not from sunlight.
But from the scars of yesterday's fire.
Kayomi stood barefoot on the dirt, breathing slow and deep. His shirt hung loosely over his shoulders, sweat clinging to the fabric like a second skin. A set of kunai had been planted into the ground in a perfect circle around him eight blades, spaced with precision.
Balance training.
Chakra control.
Sakumo stood a few paces away, arms folded, eyes calm. "Your goal is simple," he said. "Channel just enough chakra to stay balanced on each kunai's tip. Move in a circle. No more, no less."
Kayomi glanced down at his feet. "That's it?"
"That's everything," Sakumo replied.
Kayomi exhaled. This was nothing compared to what he'd done before, right? Fighting rogue shinobi. Escaping ambushes. Training until his hands bled.
But the moment he stepped onto the first kunai, his chakra flared too fast.
The metal trembled, and he slipped hitting the ground hard as dust flew around him.
He rolled, gritting his teeth, and sat up.
"Again," Sakumo said, voice unreadable.
Kayomi got to his feet.
Tried again.
Overcorrected.
Fell.
And again.
And again.
By the twelfth fall, his hands were scraped raw. His ankles throbbed with strain. His chakra pulsed like a beast gnawing at its leash unruly, wild, wanting to roar.
"I don't get it," he muttered, breath catching. "I can burn through enemies, but I can't stand on a damn kunai?"
Sakumo said nothing. The silence stretched.
Then, finally, he spoke.
"Do you know what a candle flame is, Kayomi?"
Kayomi blinked, frowning. "A weak flame?"
"It's not weak," Sakumo said. "It's precise. A candle flame burns clean. Controlled. It doesn't waste energy. It listens to the room. The wind. The darkness."
He stepped forward, kneeling beside Kayomi.
"You've survived off wildfire. Now you must learn the candle."
Kayomi looked down at his hands.
They were trembling.
Not from pain but from frustration.
"I don't want to be weak."
"Control isn't weakness," Sakumo said. "It's direction. A storm is loud. But a scalpel changes lives."
Kayomi closed his eyes.
He didn't answer. Just stood.
Stepped forward.
This time, he moved slowly placing his foot on the kunai's tip with care.
He called his chakra gently.
A flicker, not a wave.
The blade held.
He moved to the next. Then the next.
On the fourth step, his chakra wobbled but he caught it. Slowed his breathing. Focused.
And something shifted.
The fire inside didn't fight him this time.
It whispered.
By the time he completed the full circle, his body was heavy but balanced. Grounded.
Sakumo gave the faintest nod. "Better."
Kayomi stepped off, collapsing to the ground. But he was smiling now.
Only a little.
A message pinged into view:
> [System Update]
Quest Progress: 50%
Hidden Objective Progress: 34%
New Trait Unlocked: Prodigious Mind [Level 1]
He looked at his hand again.
It didn't tremble.
Only the faint warmth of something he hadn't felt in a long time
Trust.
In himself.
And in his fire.
Sakumo knelt beside him and placed a canteen in his hand. "Rest. You'll need it."
Kayomi took it without a word.
The wind swept gently across the field, brushing through silver hair and black. The training field
scarred and battered stood still once more.
But this time, the stillness wasn't heavy.
It was earned.