Chapter 3 - Preparation

"A shinigami..." Itachi thought for a moment before responding. "I'll think about it."

"Well you certainly have the talent and skill to become one." Ryuji said.

"If you are interested, then come by to the academy near district one for your entrance exams."

"What will the exam cover?" Itachi asked.

"Don't worry, it's a simple test of your reiatsu quantity and control" Ryuji replied.

"Is reiatsu the energy I feel inside my body?"

"Yes, reiatsu is the spiritual energy circulating in your body. With enough control, you can channel it and create techniques like the one you saw me use earlier. Of course, we mainly use our zanpakuto to fight as it is our main method of fighting." Ryuji said as he pointed to his sword.

"I see, thank you for saving me, I will consider it." Itachi said before turning around to head back.

" Wait, if you are interested, the exam will be held about 45 days from today." Ryuji said.

Itachi turned around for a moment and acknowledged Ryuji's statement with a nod before making his way back to the district.

"Becoming a shinigami...even after death the weak still struggle to find peace." Itachi pondered before finally arriving back to Itsukis house.

"Hey!, You're back! Are you alright!!" Itsuki ran forward seeing Itachi arriving with his haggard appearance.

Itachi nodded before saying "What about you?"

"Yeah I'm fine, thanks to you. What happened to that hollow? Did you kill it?!" Itsuki asked.

"No. A shinigami found me and dispatched of the hollow." Itachi replied.

"Wow you held off a hollow and got to see a shinigami fight!" Itsuki said with awe in his eyes.

"I heard that the entrance exam is happening in a month and a half. I've been preparing for a long time so I can pass it!" Itsuki proclaims with a determined look on his face.

"Why do you want to become a shinigami?" Itachi asked

"I want to be able to protect people who can't protect themselves. Many souls are killed by hollows and I watched some of my own friends be killed. When I become a shinigami, I will be able to protect. " Itsuki said resolutely.

"It seems even after death, the weak still struggle to find peace..." Itachi thought as he looked at the boy's determined face.

"Why don't you join me?" Itsuki said snapping Itachi out of his thoughts.

"Yeah, the fact that you were able to live against that hollow shows that you have the spiritual strength to attempt the examination". Itsuki states looking expectantly at Itachi, awaiting an answer.

Itachi thought for a moment. "Even in the afterlife, perfection doesn't exist. I was born into this world again. My life did not end even after I died. I won't lose faith in the person I've become before my death as I realized who I truly was. This may be but a pipe dream but like a nameless shinobi who protects peace from within its shadow, I will become a shinigami who protects peace." Itachi ends his train of thought and replies to Itsuki.

"I will take the exam as well, but there are things I must clarify beforehand. I will meet you at the testing location in 45 days."

"Okay, I will leave ahead tomorrow, let's just get some rest for today!" Itsuki said before leading Itachi into the house.

"Sorry I know there isn't much room but try to just find an area to lie down" Itsuki looked apologetic to his savior, but like most of the children in these districts, he was very poor and Itachi understood that. Itachi simply nodded and found a corner to rest. He rested his back against the wall and closed his eyes to rest.

"A lot happened today, and I am still able to use the Sharingan... Does that I am able to use my ninjutsu as well? I will find out tomorrow." The weariness of the day took over his body, as he instantly fell asleep.

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Itachi woke up the next day, and noticed Itsuki packing his few belongings into a sack. He had some food left which he ended up passing most of it over to the kids in the house.

Itsuki turned to the corner to see Itachi awake. He walked over to Itachi and handed him a little bit of the bread.

"I know you have strong soul, and you should be able to hold on for a while, but here is some food anyway.

Itachi didn't stand on ceremony as he accepted the gift. "Thank you." Itachi said with a slight smile.

Itachi stayed until Itsuki faded into the distance. Once he was gone, he looked at the kids and bid them farewell before making his way to the forest.

Itachi approaches the foot of the woods and is momentarily reminded of the hollow he had just fought there yesterday. Paying close attention to his surroundings, Itachi enters the woods. After finding a suitable place to practice, he sits down in a meditative position. He brings his palms together and closes his eyes. Itachi concentrates on his reiryoku and lets it flow as reiatsu through the reishi in his body. He channels it throughout his body with his energy flowing from his core, moving along his meridians and veins, to every part of his body. As Itachi inhaled and exhaled in a harmonious rhythm, he gained greater insight towards his reiatsu control.

After a few hours, he finally opened his eyes and let out a breath. Itachi closed his eyes once again to continue his practice. After a few more hours, Itachi opened his eyes to see that the sun had set.

"I'll test it out now." Itachi thought to himself before closing his eyes. He focused his reiatsu into his eyes.

*Giiiiiiin*

His eyes had changed as they were no longer their usual black color but radiated a piercing red color, with three tomoe in a circle pattern encompassing the pupil. The moment he opened them, everything brightened up as he was able to see the reishi in the surrounding environment.

"It seems that I can still access my Sharingan." Itachi thought to himself before closing his eyes and deactivating his sharingan.

Itachi stared at the stars before standing up. " I should rest for today and continue my practice tomorrow."

He looks around and finds a large tree that towered over the rest of the trees and decides on using it for rest. Itachi channels his reiatsu into his feet and runs up the tree then stops halfway near a thick branch. He feels a bit wobbly but regains himself as his feet cling to the tree. Just like with chakra control, his body was starting to adjust to control reiatsu.

"My body hasn't completely adapted yet. It seems I need to practice some more." He rests his back against the tree and sits on the branch. He closes his eyes and falls into a slumber.

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The next morning.

The sun glares once again over the horizon, bathing the forest and town in light. On a tree near the edge of the forest was a young man sleeping with his arms crossed and his back against the tree. The sunlight hits the side of his face as he slowly opens his eyes. He turns to the side and leans back over the air, his body turning and falling off the branch, however just before his feet fall off the branch, they cling to the bottom of the branch. He starts walking upside down across the branch and back to the trunk, walking vertically down the tree before reaching the ground.

"Still not adequate, but I have time." Itachi thought to himself.

The next thing he wanted to try out were his previous ninjutsu. "I should try making a shadow clone." In the same way where one splits their chakra to summon a clone of oneself, Itachi forms his fingers into the clone seal and splits his reiatsu equally to summon a shadow clone.

"Shadow clone jutsu"

A puff of smoke and reiatsu appears next to him. As the smoke clears, a copy of Itachi can be seen standing. Itachi recalls how shadow clones retain information and experience and decides it would be good to use them for training purposes to progress his reiatsu control faster.

He looks at his clone and nods "Let's begin." Immediately the clone leaps backwards to distance itself and prepares for combat.

Itachi brings his palms together and forms a series of seals.

"Fire style: Fireball jutsu."

Itachi kneads his reiatsu and focuses it through ċhėst and lungs. He takes in a breath and spits out a mass of flames. A giant fireball emerges from his mouth and heads towards his clone.

*GIIIINN*

The clone activates his sharingan and dodges the fireball before charging towards Itachi.

Itachi also activates his sharingan and two begin sparring. The two continued their spar for 30 minutes, strenuously using their reiatsu, after which the clone vanishes in a puff of smoke. The disappearance of clone sends a wave of lethargy washing over Itachi as he feels the clone's experiences and mental fatigue take over. He drops to his knees and begins panting in laborious breaths.

"So this is my limit right now…" Itachi says to himself as he wipes the sweat from his forehead.

"A shadow clone, Sharingan, one fireball jutsu, and 30 minutes of sparring. It's better than yesterday but nowhere near optimal." Itachi once again sits in his meditative stance to recover his reiatsu. He meditates for an hour before catching his breath once again.

"I don't have my illness plaguing me, so I should focus on improving my body as well" Itachi thought to himself as he started running towards the town and fields. He continued his run for hours before stopping and resting. Once he rested he got back up to continue his run. Once he finished his run Itachi went back to the forest and started his tree climbing exercises. As soon as he finished, he sat back down in meditation to recover. Night fell once again, and Itachi climbed up the tree and marked it before laying it to rest.

Itachi continued his training for the next 28 days. He also used some of his time to get information about the first district. When Itachi had felt comfortable with using shadow clones, halfway into his training, he used a shadow clone to gather the information and relay it back it him and learned the directions to various districts and correct paths to reach them. Itachi looks at the calendar marks made on tree and realizes that the academy entrance exam was approaching.

"I should leave now. I only have 15 days to travel." Itachi thought before jumping off and making his way to town.

He stopped by Itsuki's house to visit the kids to say his farewell. He was not very familiar kids so he kept his greetings short. After taking care of this he headed out of town towards the 77th district.

He continued his path through the districts, occasionally resting for a few hours before making his way again. He always kept his guard up through the forest to ensure he was ready if a hollow attacked. However, as he passed through the forests he noticed that that he encountered no hollows.

"Seems that hollows are a rare phenomenon. The one that I saw on my first day here seemed to have been an unlucky encounter."

Itachi also noticed that the living conditions have gradually improved through each district with the districts going into the single digits having drastically improved conditions. The structures were much more organized and well built, there was an abundance of food available, and the affluent lifestyle created a generally gratified atmosphere. However Itachi still noticed hints of discrimination between the noble families and the commoners.

"These people in the higher districts are obsessed with organization, obsessed with their family name, and obsessed with themselves. They limit themselves to judgement based on their preconceptions and appearances and because of this, there is such a huge disparity in the lifestyle between districts. They focus on the trivial and have lost sight of what is most important…"