Naruto: Power in Play

Chapter 11

Chapter 11

[You have made some progress with the skill: Beginner Leaf Fighting Style[LVL 1/20[42%]

Ando grinned happily upon seeing the notification. It has been four days since he started training with Chika. Just as she promised, she helped him correct his stance. But she did not stop there. She showed him a set of exercises and stances to practice the basic fighting style taught at the academy.

The results were obivous. If before, Ando was akin to blindly stumbling around without a clear direction, now he could continuously shoot forward, and keep making progress. Although he still got his ass handed to him at the academy, he now understood how, and why he lost. It was a huge step in the right direction.

"You still haven't had enough? Trash like you will never reach my level!" Hamada Yutaka's eyes flashed with irritation as he harshly criticized Ando. The other students gathered on the sidelines, exchanging whispers and stifled giggles as they watched the orphan fall to the ground.

This scene had been repeating itself for days. Since the first day of school, Ando had been fighting against the Yutaka clan kid, never missing a day. Some students whispered that he had a few screws loose, that it was pointless—stupid, even—for him to keep challenging the clan kids. Sadly, most of those students were orphans just like Ando.

The clan kids didn't see him as a threat, not in the slightest. To them, he was just a stubborn nobody, a nuisance. The civilians, on the other hand, shared the orphans' low opinion of Ando, but they kept their distance, as if worried they might become his next targets. Though they never said it outright, their behavior and subtle avoidance were telling.

In reality, the worst came of it from the orphans themselves. They should have been on his side, standing with him against the odds, or at the very least, leave him be. But instead, they chose to mock him. They responded to his efforts with laughter and sneers, snarky remarks and disapproving stares.

Ando understood that they were doing it in a bid to distance themselves from him. He was a troublemaker, but above that, he was an orphan. Just like them. They were afraid that the people at the academy would associate them with him. There may be a deeper reason, if Ando was willing to dig deep, that is. But at this point, he just did not care.

Unlike adults, who had learned to mask their emotions, the children were unfiltered in their disdain, leaving Ando no doubt about how they felt. Naturally, in just a couple days, he became isolated from them.

Ando slowly got up from the ground and schooled his features. He wiped the blood off his face, rubbed his sore cheek and spat a mouthful of blood on the ground. "We'll see about that. Tomorrow, same time, same place. I'll beat the shit out of you!" Ando's declaration would have sounded more credible if he hadn't been consecutively trashed by everyone in the last few days.

Despite this, a small group of people felt apprehensive. If one compared the way Ando fought during his first day to the way he was currently fighting, they would realize that Ando was actually getting better at fighting. The difference may not have been visible to the mundane man, but for someone trained like Hamada, it was hard not to notice.

And Hamada wasn't the only. Ando was looking for fights with everyone! Like a fool, he did not know fear. And incredibly enough, he did not seem to know pain! How many times had he been put to the ground?

Hamada did not know, nor did he count. He had better things to do. But the most peculiar thing about Ando was that every single day, he came back as good as new. One day, Hamada had been so angry at the orphan that he almost disfigured the other kid. Yet, he came back the next day with a mocking grin on his ugly mug.