Chapter 22: Flow
The morning air was crisp and cool, heavy with mist that coiled through the war camp like silent serpents. Ren sat cross-legged outside his tent, steam rising from a wooden bowl of half-cooled broth. His mind wandered, not toward the food, but to the events of the last few days—Kota's rescue, the healing, the strange new strength he sensed within himself.
Kota, now mostly healed thanks to the medic-nin, was resting quietly with his leg wrapped in bandages soaked in healing salves. Ren couldn't help but marvel at the medical jutsu. It was like watching a miracle. In a world where death loomed constantly, someone had created ways to pull people back from its jaws. That thought alone gave him hope.
Today, Juro-sensei had something different planned.
"Form a line," Juro said, his voice sharp but not unkind. The children scrambled into an uneven row, still sore from the previous day's basic drills. Ren stood between Aki and Taro, both unusually quiet this morning.
"Listen up," Juro began. "Today, we're talking about chakra points—tenketsu." He pulled out a crude sketch of a human body and rolled it out on the ground. "Your body isn't just a sack of muscles and bones. It's a network. A system. Chakra doesn't just sit in your gut. It flows. Through pathways. Through points."
He pointed at different dots marked across the sketch—at the forehead, chest, palms, feet.
"There are hundreds of these," Juro said. "But they're not isolated. They're connected. Think of it like a river system. One point floods, others react. You clog one up, it affects the whole body."
Aki raised his hand. "How do we use them?"
Juro grunted. "You don't. Not yet. First, you need to learn control. Precision. And how your body moves with chakra. We'll start with taijutsu."
He motioned them toward an open patch of ground, where rough targets had been marked with stones. For the next hour, they practiced stances, punches, and kicks. Juro corrected posture with sharp taps and muttered critiques.
Ren tried his best, but his movements felt heavy. He lacked the instinct the others seemed to have, but he watched carefully. Observed how Aki adjusted his center of gravity, how Taro moved his feet before twisting his hips. Juro's corrections helped, but Ren's mind kept drifting back to the idea of chakra flow.
After the lesson ended and the others dispersed, Ren lingered.
He approached the nearest tree, placing a hand against its rough bark. He recalled stories—both from this world and the Naruto series—of walking up trees, of chakra control exercises. He glanced around. No one was watching.
Ren took a deep breath and focused. He gathered chakra into the soles of his feet—or tried to. It was like flexing a muscle he hadn't known existed. He stepped onto the trunk. One foot. Then another.
He managed five steps before his chakra surged unevenly and sent him tumbling down into the dirt.
Groaning, Ren lay there and stared up at the leaves, heart racing, a grin on his lips.
"That's progress," he muttered to himself.
That night, while the camp settled into quiet murmurs and distant snores, Ren sat in meditation. He breathed slowly, fingers resting on his knees, his mind slipping into the method he'd brought from his old world—the seven chakra meditation. It was no miracle. It didn't make him stronger. But it helped him clear his thoughts. Center himself.
Tonight, he went deeper.
Focusing not just on the main chakras but imagining the energy flow branching out. He visualized streams of chakra moving down his arms and legs. As he did, something clicked. He felt twelve distinct pulses—six in his hands, six in his feet.
They pulsed faintly, like echoes. Connected.
He opened his eyes, breath shallow.
"They're linked," he whispered. "Each point reacts to the others."
He realized then: there were more points—many more—but his body couldn't sense them yet. These twelve were just the start. He would have to find the others, slowly. Methodically. Maybe through movement. Maybe through failure.
He stood and faced the tree again. This time, he smiled.
Tomorrow, he would try again.