It was past midnight, but Hikaru couldn't sleep. Something about his encounter with Seiji earlier had left him feeling unsettled. He kept thinking there was something important he was missing about what was really happening at the Academy.
He lit a candle and pulled out another of his father's notebooks from the box. Most of the notes dealt with practical jutsu and chakra theory, but this journal was different. It contained more personal observations and experiences.
Hikaru found a section that caught his attention immediately. His father's neat handwriting seemed to speak directly to his current worries.
"A shinobi's greatest weapon is not strength or speed, but awareness. The ability to read a situation, to understand what's really happening beneath the surface—this is what separates the skilled from the survivors."
The passage continued for several pages, describing techniques that weren't taught in any Academy class. Hikaru read through the detailed explanations, feeling like his father was guiding him through concepts he'd never heard of before.
"Sensor abilities begin with understanding your own chakra signature. Only by knowing your own energy can you begin to tell it apart from others. The technique requires actively molding chakra and converting it into 'sensory mode'—a special state that allows detection of other chakra signatures."
Hikaru set the notebook aside and closed his eyes, trying to follow his father's instructions. First, he needed to mold his chakra—not for jutsu use, but in the specific pattern his father had described. It felt strange, like trying to reshape water with his hands.
Following the step-by-step guide, he began to slowly convert his molded chakra into what the notes called "sensory mode." The technique was completely different from jutsu execution. It required changing his energy from its normal state into something more receptive.
At first, he couldn't manage it at all. The chakra would start to change, then snap back to normal the moment his concentration wavered. But slowly, with repeated attempts, he began to achieve brief moments where his chakra took on the receptive quality his father had described.
The sensation was unlike anything he'd experienced before. Instead of the warm, contained feeling of normal chakra circulation, sensory mode felt open and vulnerable, like extending invisible fingers into the space around him.
The technique was incredibly fragile. Any distraction would immediately break his concentration and end the technique. His father's notes had warned about this—maintaining sensory mode required constant chakra molding and absolute focus.
Patience, he reminded himself, returning to the chakra molding pattern. This isn't about meditation. It's about actively converting chakra into a detection tool.
By the time he finally went to bed, Hikaru had managed to maintain sensory mode for nearly ten minutes. He could barely detect anything at all—maybe just the faintest awareness of Ayako sleeping in the next room, and even that might have been his imagination.
The next morning brought Academy classes and a chance to test his developing abilities. As students filed into the classroom, Hikaru tried to mold his chakra into sensory mode while acting normal.
The results were disappointing. Trying to actively mold chakra while sitting in class, listening to lectures, and participating in discussions made the technique nearly impossible to maintain. He thought he might have caught glimpses of something—maybe warmth that could have been Kenta's nervous energy, or a more controlled presence that might have been Yuki's chakra—but the constant interruptions made it impossible to sustain the technique for more than a few seconds.
"Are you feeling alright, Hikaru-kun?" Yuki asked during the break between classes. "You seem distracted today."
"Just tired," Hikaru replied, which was partially true. "I stayed up too late studying."
"You should be more careful about that," she said. "Being tired affects chakra control, and we need all the help we can get with the exercises."
Her observation was more perceptive than he'd expected. Yuki was one of the quieter students, rarely speaking up in class, but she seemed to notice details that others missed. It made him wonder what else she might be observing.
The afternoon brought practical training and a chance to observe his classmates more closely. As they rotated through various chakra control exercises, Hikaru began to notice patterns he'd previously overlooked.
Kenta, despite his obvious struggles with the leaf concentration exercise, showed flashes of surprising competence when he thought no one was watching. During a brief moment when Koji-sensei was helping another student, Hikaru caught a glimpse of Kenta maintaining the leaf attachment for nearly two minutes—far longer than his usual performance.
Even more interesting was Yuki's behavior. While she participated in all the exercises quietly, Hikaru noticed that she was actually quite observant. She would watch other students carefully and seemed to pick up on techniques faster than she let on. She rarely asked questions, but when she did, they were always thoughtful and showed she understood more than most people realized.
Everyone learns differently, he realized. Some people are just naturally more observant.
The thought was both comforting and unsettling. If his classmates were concealing their true abilities, then his own deceptions were less likely to be noticed. But it also meant that the Academy environment was more complex than he'd initially understood.
During the afternoon's free practice period, Hikaru decided to experiment with his sensing abilities more deliberately. While other students worked on their assigned exercises, he found a quiet corner of the training ground and began the careful process of molding his chakra into sensory mode.
The technique was incredibly challenging when surrounded by other students actively using chakra. The ambient chakra activity seemed to interfere with his ability to maintain the delicate conversion. Most of the time he felt nothing at all, but occasionally he thought he might be detecting something.
When he managed to catch those fleeting moments of sensitivity, each person felt slightly different—or at least, he thought they did. Kenta seemed to carry nervous energy. Yuki felt more controlled somehow. Even Seiji, when he passed nearby, seemed to project an intensity that made Hikaru uncomfortable.
But it was during one of these sensing attempts that Hikaru thought he detected something completely different. While maintaining sensory mode, he caught what felt like a much stronger presence—older, more experienced. But the sensation was so brief and unclear that he might have imagined it entirely.
Someone else might be watching, he thought with growing unease.
The possibility sent a chill through him, though he couldn't be sure if his sensing had detected something real or if his imagination was running wild. He forced himself to continue the exercise normally, giving no sign of his concerns.
"Hikaru-kun, you seem really focused today," Kenta whispered during a break in the lesson. "Are you feeling okay?"
"Just trying to pay better attention to everything around us," Hikaru replied carefully. "Koji-sensei always says awareness is important."
"You're so serious about training. I wish I had your concentration."
"Did you notice anything strange during practice today?" Yuki asked quietly as they cleaned up their materials.
"Strange how?" Hikaru responded, curious about her observation.
"Like someone was watching us who shouldn't have been there. The atmosphere felt... different."
"Now that you mention it, I felt something too," Hikaru admitted carefully, though he wasn't sure if what he'd sensed was real or just his nerves.
The conversation was interrupted by Koji-sensei calling for everyone to gather for the day's final lesson. But as they rejoined the class, Hikaru found himself more aware than ever of the people around him.
After classes ended, he found himself walking home with Kenta and Yuki. The three of them had formed a loose friendship over the past few weeks. The conversation was casual, covering their struggles with the day's exercises and plans for the evening.
"I think I'm finally starting to understand the leaf concentration technique," Kenta said hopefully. "It's like you said, Hikaru-kun—steady flow, not power."
"That's good," Hikaru replied, though he was only half-listening. His attention was focused on trying to sense any surveillance they might be under.
"You're doing it again," Yuki said quietly. "You look worried about something. Are you okay?"
"Just thinking about training," Hikaru said, which was technically true.
"You think about training a lot," she noted. "More than most first-year students, I think."
The comment was casual, but something in her tone made Hikaru look at her more closely, shifting slightly in his seat. There was a thoughtful quality to her expression that he'd noticed before, as if she were always watching and remembering things about the people around her.
"I want to improve," he said carefully. "Don't you?"
"Of course," she replied. "But there's a difference between wanting to improve and being obsessed with it. You seem more like the latter."
"Is that a problem?" Hikaru asked, scratching his temple awkwardly.
"Not a problem," she said with a small smile. "Just... you work really hard. It's actually kind of impressive."
They parted ways at the village center, each heading toward their respective homes. But as Hikaru walked through the familiar streets, he found himself trying to use his sensing abilities again.
It was during this casual attempt that he thought he detected something that made his stomach drop. A presence that felt deliberate somehow—controlled and hidden. He forced his shoulders to stay relaxed, but his hands unconsciously clenched at his sides. It seemed to come from somewhere behind him, but when he turned to look, he saw nothing unusual.
Maybe I'm being watched, Hikaru thought with sudden worry. Or maybe I'm just being paranoid.
The possibility sent adrenaline through his system. He forced himself to continue walking normally, giving no sign of his concerns. But internally, his mind was racing with possibilities.
By the time he reached his front door, the uneasy feeling had faded, leaving him with nothing but uncertainty.
"You're late," Ayako observed as he entered the house. "And you look troubled."
"Just a long day at the Academy," Hikaru replied, which was becoming his standard explanation for everything.
"Mmm." Ayako studied his face with that intuition that seemed to be her specialty, crossing her arms. "You know, if something was bothering you, you could tell me about it."
"I know, Onee-chan. But really, it's nothing I can't handle."
"If you say so," she said, though her tone suggested she wasn't entirely convinced.
Over dinner, Hikaru found himself distracted, his mind turning over the day's discoveries. His classmates weren't what they seemed. Someone might be watching the Academy students. And now, someone might have noticed him.
"Onee-chan," he said as they cleaned up after dinner, pausing with a plate in his hands, "what would you do if you suspected someone was watching you?"
"That depends," Ayako replied thoughtfully. "Are they watching because they're interested in you, or because they think you're a threat?"
"I'm not sure. But I don't think I'm any threat to anybody."
"Then I think you'd have to be very careful about your next moves. Sometimes the best response to surveillance is to give them nothing interesting to watch."
"And if that doesn't work?"
"Then you find out who they are and what they want. But carefully, and with backup if possible."
The advice was sound, but it raised new questions about how to implement it. Hikaru's sensing abilities were still developing, and he had no idea how to safely investigate surveillance without revealing his own capabilities.
That night, as he lay in bed reviewing his father's notes by candlelight, Hikaru made a decision. He would continue developing his sensing abilities, but he would also begin paying closer attention to the people around him. His classmates, his instructors, even the strangers he passed on the street—everyone was a potential source of information.
The comfortable isolation of his first few weeks at the Academy was ending. Whether he liked it or not, he was being drawn into a larger and more complex world. The question was whether he would be ready for what that world demanded of him.
Tomorrow I'll try sitting with Kenta and Yuki again, he decided. Maybe having friends will help me understand what's really going on.
As he prepared for sleep, Hikaru reflected on how much had changed since his first day back at the Academy. The jutsu training was progressing well, but now he was dealing with mysteries that went far beyond simple chakra control exercises.
The sensing training had opened a door to a world of hidden currents and concealed intentions. As he closed his eyes, one thought echoed in his mind: if he could sense them, could they sense him too?