TPMITWON Chapter 28: Chakra Control Practice Using Leaves

A wide smile formed on Souta's face.

"Alright! I've decided to become the greatest Puppet User Ninja!" Souta exclaimed enthusiastically.

A few people around Souta glanced at him with confused expressions. A young mother carrying a shopping basket stared at Souta for a moment, then chuckled softly while shaking her head. An old man sitting on a bench merely smiled faintly, as if reminiscing about a dream-filled youth.

However, Souta was oblivious to their gazes. All that occupied his mind at the moment was practicing chakra control so he could start learning Kugutsu.

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On his way home, Souta began to think about the first step.

"Before I can control puppets, I need to create Chakra Threads first."

But before that, Souta needed to improve his chakra control.

Along the way, Souta picked up several leaves scattered on the ground. He would use these leaves for basic practice—keeping the leaves stuck to his forehead using chakra.

After arriving at his apartment building, Souta entered his simple little room. Sitting on the cold sandy floor, he placed the leaves in front of him and prepared to practice.

Souta took one leaf, pressed it to his forehead, and began to focus.

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Time passed.

In the last few hours, Souta kept trying and trying. However, keeping the leaf on his forehead was not as easy as he thought.

Every time Souta's chakra became unstable, the leaf would fall. If he used too much chakra, the leaf would be pushed upward instead. However, there was one thing that made Souta feel satisfied—he was starting to understand the pattern behind this technique.

Previously, Souta could only keep the leaf on his forehead for thirty seconds. But after several hours of trying, he could now maintain it for a full five minutes.

Although he was still far from his target of one hour, this was progress.

In between Souta's practice, his thoughts kept drifting to Kugutsu. If he could master this basic technique, the next step would be to create Chakra Threads and then use those threads to move small objects.

After that, Souta would look for a way to obtain a puppet.

Souta knew that this journey would not be easy. It could take months, or even years. But Souta had already decided on his path.

Where Souta would not give up.

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Time continued to pass, and now only twenty days remained before Souta and Pakura officially became students of the Ninja Academy. For most children their age, twenty days might feel short, merely a time of excited waiting or playing. However, for Souta, this was precious time—every day, every hour, even every minute had to be used as effectively as possible to improve his abilities.

Since the first day after Souta learned that he would be entering the Ninja Academy, he began training his chakra control with a simple yet challenging basic exercise: keeping a leaf on his forehead. At first, this exercise felt impossible to Souta.

The first day passed with many failures—the leaf barely lasted more than a few seconds before falling to the ground. Time and again, Souta furrowed his brow, biting his lip, and tried again.

Souta tried to concentrate, imagining how his chakra was supposed to work, but every time the leaf fell, frustration haunted him more and more.

After a full day of practice, Souta's progress was minimal—he could only keep the leaf for fifteen minutes before losing control. However, Souta did not give up. In the following days, he continued to repeat the exercise diligently. Souta's hands often clenched tightly in frustration, but his determination was stronger than the fatigue that began to creep into his body.

Finally, after five full days of relentless practice, Souta managed to keep the leaf on his forehead for a full hour.