Naruto: Power in Play

Chapter 3

[You have slept in your bed! HP and CP fully restored!]

A short and sharp noise, reminiscent of a small bell, rang out, waking Ando. He wasn't sure whether the sound or the words came first, but both were a small blessing, a reminder of the world he had left behind.

A world he would never visit again.

Ando sighed as he pushed his bedsheet aside, a slight shiver running through his body as the cold morning air touched his skin. The sun had yet to rise fully, but there was enough light to distinguish his immediate surroundings. He kicked his feet off the bed and began stretching his body, preparing his muscles for his morning routine of push-ups, sit-ups, planks, and squats. For a week now, this had been his daily regimen.

At first, he had been too lazy to move out of bed, especially when he always woke up earlier than the other kids. He thought he could get some more sleep, like he used to do in his previous life. But that was the problem. He couldn't sleep. His mind would wander back to those memories, and the more he thought, the more unstable his feelings became.

In the end, he had to find something to occupy his mind.

"Twenty-one, twenty-two, ... twenty-three, twenty-four..."

Ando gritted his teeth and forced himself to do one last push-up, rounding up the count to twenty-five. His chest heaved up and down as sweat pooled on his body, making his damp shirt feel stuffy and uncomfortable.

Twenty-five was almost double the number of push-ups he could do on his first day. The same was true for all his other exercises. Be it sit-ups, planks, or squats, he could now do almost twice as much as before. And that was within one week of work.

These changes were reflected in his stats. He now had 6 vitality, 6 stamina, and 6 agility points. Contrary to his initial belief, he didn't need to double his stats to see improvement. Just a small, but noticeable, enhancement was enough. He attributed this progress to his increased stats and to one particularly broken perk: Gamer's Body.

Gamer's Body allowed him to live like a video game character, restoring him to peak condition with just a night's rest. This meant any damage done to his body, including torn muscles from daily training, would be fully healed by the next day. And combined with the peculiar resilience of the natives' bodies, the results were nothing short of amazing. This served as his motivation to train diligently every day.

After calming down, Ando moved back to his bed and sat cross-legged. After strenuous activity, he found it easier to meditate. Meditation was another skill he gained three days after trying in vain to unlock his chakra each evening. It helped calm his mind, and by focusing his meditation on unlocking his chakra, it stopped his thoughts from wandering.

Eventually, the first rays of the sun penetrated the curtains, signaling the end of his exercise.

[Meditation: Level 2 (71%)]

Ando uncrossed his legs and got up. He tidied up his bed and changed into his everyday clothes: a loose white shirt and black pants. He then headed directly to the shower. He didn't like showering with the others, so he always made sure to be the first one there.

These past few days, he had been acting out of character. His routine was drastically different from the previous Ando's. He wasn't naïve enough to think it would go unnoticed. He lived in a world of ninjas, a world of violence and deceit. People here would die if they weren't observant or careful enough. Ando had no doubt that the matrons had already arranged for someone to keep tabs on him.

But the only reason he allowed himself to be so carefree was that he had an excuse.

At the tender age of eight, he was grappling with a weighty decision that would shape his future. In this world, orphans like him were obliged to choose their life path early on: to either embark on the treacherous path of becoming a ninja or to embrace the relative safety of civilian life.