A Shinobi's Guide to Not Dying

Rei sat at his usual desk in the academy classroom, chin propped up on his hand as Takashi-sensei droned on about the lesson of the day. Outside the window, sunlight filtered through the trees, casting patterns on the walls. Inside, the room was silent except for the scratch of pencils and the occasional cough. But as far as Rei was concerned, this class might as well have been background noise.

His thoughts were fixed on his new training plan.

'Alright,' he thought, mentally checking off each step. 'Chakra control is a must, so that is my main focus.' He let his gaze drift lazily to the front of the room, pretending to pay attention while his mind raced through possibilities. He'd already mastered the Leaf Sticking exercise, but he knew he could improve on consistency. Maybe he'd add more leaves, challenge himself with new spots, or even try balancing them on moving parts of his body in order to add more of a challenge. 

'Once I get more precise with chakra control, I can finally tackle Tree Walking. I'll be miles ahead of these kids if I get that down.' He hadn't forgotten the near-impossible skill of Water Walking either, but he pushed that to the back of his mind for now. 'One step at a time.'

Takashi-sensei's voice broke through Rei's thoughts, catching his attention completely. "Strength isn't the only thing that determines the outcome of a battle," he said, gesturing to a rough diagram of a battlefield on the blackboard. "A skilled shinobi can outmanoeuvre even the strongest enemy by thinking ahead, understanding their surroundings, and anticipating the opponent's next move."

Rei blinked, vaguely aware that Takashi had started a lecture on tactical thinking. The teacher circled a stick figure on the board with dramatic flair, apparently using it to represent a shinobi. It looked more like a lopsided balloon, but then again, Rei knew he couldn't draw himself. 

"Take the terrain, for example," Takashi continued, drawing squiggly lines to represent rivers and cliffs. "An experienced ninja will use it to their advantage, whether it's hiding in the shadows, moving with the wind to mask their scent, or setting traps that force the enemy to move where they want them to."

Rei tilted his head slightly, his interest building as he tapped his fingers on the desk. 'Tactical thinking. Sure, makes sense. But let's be real. At a certain point, this world stopped being about ninjas.'' His thoughts drifted to the more absurdly destructive moments of Naruto's story. 'What's the point of hiding in the shadows or setting traps when someone's just going to blast the entire forest with a chakra laser or throw an actual mountain at you?' he thought, his lips twitching with the faintest hint of a smirk.

Tactical thinking was indeed important in a fight, especially early on in Naruto, Rei would not deny that. But nor would he expect tactical thinking to be a grand weapon that would get him out of every situation in the future. 

No, being exactly where the walking nuclear weapons weren't was the countermeasure for that. 

Takashi's voice carried on, steady and firm. "The terrain, weather, time of day, all of these factors can turn the tide of a fight. And sometimes, the smallest detail, like a shadow or a footprint, can mean the difference between victory and defeat."

Rei stifled a yawn, many late nights spent training just to gain an edge starting to get the best of him. 'Sure it is. Because we're totally going to be fighting like ninjas forever.' Rei quite liked Takashi as a sensei, but knowing what he did he found this lesson entirely pointless. 'Unless I'm missing the part of the syllabus where they teach us how to punch the moon in half or summon an army of undead with chakra. What a perfectly normal "ninja" life we're training for.'

Still, he supposed tactical thinking had its place, at least for someone like him. 'I'll take sneaky and alive over flashy and dead any day,' he thought, returning his attention to his mental training plan.

-X-

Finally, the school day crawled to a close.

The bell rang, a sound that never failed to fill Rei with a sense of relief and as the other students filed out, eager to head home or meet up with friends, Rei slipped through the crowd, taking care to look as ordinary as possible. It was painfully not that difficult to achieve considering who he was and the efforts he had taken to make himself appear as forgettable as possible. He'd blended into the academy routine so well by now that no one spared him a second glance.

Instead of heading toward the orphanage, though, he kept walking, adjusting his pack casually over his shoulder as he veered away from the main roads. He followed a familiar path that looped around the outer edge of the village, his footsteps light as he scanned the area, making sure he wasn't being watched.

'Alright,' he thought, feeling a quiet thrill as he reached the outskirts. 'Let's do this.'

The idea of using the Forest of Death as his training ground had come to him the night before, and he hadn't been able to shake it since. It was the perfect solution. No one ventured there, not students, not academy instructors, and from what he remembered, not even ANBU.

It was practically a forbidden zone.

Not so much due to the danger it held, well maybe it was for most Genin, but for those higher in rank, it was negligible. The reason no one ventured there was because it was situated on the outskirts of Konoha. From the perspective of shinobi looking to train, why venture out to the Forest of Death when there were plenty of more available training grounds closer?

'Which means no one will bother me there.' Rei thought, his resolve hardening with each step. No prying eyes, no questions, no "curious" classmates, just him and the quiet freedom to push his limits.

The memory of Takashi-sensei's village tour floated to the surface of his mind. The Forest of Death had been pointed out with a stern warning, its name alone enough to set the younger students on edge. A place filled with dangerous creatures, treacherous terrain, and traps that were said to test even the strongest shinobi. It wasn't just another training ground; it was a challenge—one that everyone else avoided.

Or at least that was how Takashi had described it. 

But either way, Rei felt a faint surge of excitement at the thought. The thrill of something risky, something that wasn't handed to him by the academy, but that he could claim as his own.

As he neared the entrance to the Forty-Fourth Training Ground, a tall, ominous fence loomed ahead, with a large warning sign tacked onto it. The words practically screamed at him to turn back, but he barely spared them a glance.

Forty-Fourth Training Ground.

Enter at your own risk.

Rei paused, taking it all in.

He could feel a strange mix of nervousness and anticipation bubbling up as he stood there, the reality of what he was doing finally sinking in. The Forest of Death wasn't some academy playground. It was dangerous and unpredictable.

Yet, that was exactly why he'd chosen it.

He ran his fingers along the rough bark of a nearby tree, his gaze fixed on the dense, shadowed forest just beyond the fence. 'I've been making steady progress.' Rei reminded himself. 'If I'm careful, it shouldn't be a problem.'

For a moment, he hesitated, feeling the weight of the forest's reputation pressing on him. 'Once I'm in, there's no turning back.' The warning replayed in his mind, but he brushed it off with a slight shake of his head, his mouth twisting into a smirk. 'Nothing like training in a place with "Death" in the name. Great life choices, Rei.' He took a steadying breath, a small, confident grin tugging at his mouth.

This was it.

The next step.

If he could handle training here, if he could make this forest his training ground, it would mean a whole new level of freedom. A place where he could focus on nothing but improvement, without interruptions or limitations.

After a quick scan of the area, confirming that no one was around, Rei took his first step forward, slipping past the fence and crossing the boundary into the forest. The trees closed in around him, their shadows stretching long over the uneven ground, the dense canopy above cutting off most of the daylight. The silence was thick, broken only by the occasional rustle of leaves or a distant birdcall. Every noise felt amplified, each step heavier than the last.

A faint smile crossed his face as he dropped his pack to the ground. This place was everything he'd hoped for. 'Finally, somewhere I can work without anyone getting in the way.'

He took a steadying breath, letting the forest's silence settle over him, and began to prepare. This was his space now, his chance to build himself up from the ground, one step at a time.

'If I can make this work,' he thought, confidence brimming in his chest, 'make the Forest of Death will be my training ground. And maybe, just maybe, I'll finally have the edge I need.'