Yukika Setsu began what would become four long years of grueling training.
He quickly realized he had severely underestimated the intensity of the regimen.
On the very first day, at two o'clock in the morning, he was shaken awake by a member of the ANBU.
"It's time."
The ANBU's voice was even colder than En's.
Still groggy, Yukika followed him to the ANBU training ground, where his task was to make a rough, uneven stone float in the palm of his hand. Meanwhile, the ANBU trained independently nearby.
At eleven in the morning, En arrived at the training ground, carrying a sack.
"Soldier pills," he said, tossing a brown pellet to Yukika, who hurried to catch it.
Yukika took a bite, immediately assaulted by its bitter dryness. He forced the rest down and gulped down the bottle of water En handed him. Then they headed out to the forest beyond the village.
"I'll run the route with you once. After that, you run it every day until I tell you to stop. Got it?"
En's hands were tucked into his sleeves, one brow raised.
"Yeah," Yukika responded without objection.
One tall and one short figure dashed around the outskirts of the Hidden Leaf Village.
After five hours, Yukika collapsed beside a tree, clutching his stomach.
"Ugh... huff... bleh..."
He gasped, vomiting up yellow bile. He hadn't eaten anything all day, and now he couldn't even puke properly.
Face red and neck strained, he felt like he couldn't breathe. His whole body screamed in agony. He honestly wished he could replace all his limbs with prosthetics.
Another soldier pill was placed in front of him. He looked up at En's calm, gentle smile, now terrifying in Yukika's eyes.
"Next is tactical training. No break yet."
Boom!
A deafening explosion and rising flames sent Yukika tumbling into a rock.
"Kuh—gah!"
Lying on the ground twitching, Yukika realized he'd stepped into one of En's traps. If he hadn't sensed something was wrong and instinctively dodged, he might've been knocked unconscious.
"Huff... huff..."
After a long moment, Yukika managed to stand and stagger forward, trying to follow the route En had marked—filled with traps he had to avoid.
Swish!
He vanished into a pitfall. Staring at the now-darkening sky from the bottom of a pit, bruised and dazed, Yukika thought:
Maybe I should just die here.
By 8 p.m., he still hadn't completed the route. En retrieved him from a trap where he'd been hanging upside down in a tree.
Exhausted and nauseous, Yukika vomited again. En force-fed him a strong-tasting revitalizing tonic and some kind of cooling oil. Then shoved another soldier pill down his throat and dragged him back to the ANBU training grounds.
From afar, several human-sized training dummies were arranged at varying distances. Beside him were large barrels full of shuriken, kunai, and senbon.
"Shinobi tools training. Take your time. If you run out, ask that guy."
A white-haired ANBU waved lazily from a distance.
"..." Yukika said nothing. After catching his breath, he quietly grabbed a shuriken from a barrel.
"Oh, and make sure to train with all three types—shuriken, kunai, and senbon."
En called this out from the doorway as he left. Yukika nearly fainted headfirst into the barrel.
By midnight, his arm numb from throwing tools endlessly, the white-haired ANBU clapped him on the shoulder.
"Not bad for your first day."
He added, "This was just to get you familiar with the feel of the tools. Your aim is terrible though… Don't worry, I'll be in charge of this part of your training."
Yukika could barely register the words. He was so dazed he could sleep the moment he shut his eyes. Still, he followed the white-haired ANBU to the door of a laboratory where En was already waiting.
Once Yukika was handed over, the white-haired ANBU vanished.
En opened the door and dragged Yukika inside.
In a lab room, a black-haired man in a lab coat gave him a stiff smile.
"You're Yukika Setsu, right?"
Yukika barely lifted his head to look at the man and nodded weakly.
"I'm Orochimaru. I'm sure you've heard of me," the man said, squinting. "Strip and get in."
Yukika numbly removed his clothes, detached his prosthetics, and struggled into the empty chamber. The moment he lay down, the capsule sealed shut.
A pale blue liquid flooded in.
"—AaaaAAAAHHHHHHH!!!"
Yukika's eyes shot open. A hoarse, agonized scream burst from his lips. Blood vessels bulged in his eyes. His skin cracked audibly. Veins popped on his face as he pounded against the capsule walls.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The violent reaction startled En.
"Orochimaru-sama, is this—"
"It's fine. Perfectly normal," Orochimaru replied with a cold smile, handing En a small vial of the blue liquid.
En poured a little on his palm—and instantly recoiled, the intense burning pain making him drop the vial, shattering it on the floor.
He stared at his stinging hand, then at Yukika thrashing in agony.
Yukika's convulsions didn't last long. Soon, he had no strength left. Mouth agape, he tried to scream, but the blue liquid rushed into his body, bubbling from his lips.
His entire form contorted grotesquely, twisting like a backwards shrimp. His body twitched unnaturally.
"Don't worry, I'll handle things with Danzo," Orochimaru said, not even glancing at En. "You can go. Someone will pick him up later."
"...Yes, Orochimaru-sama."
Suppressing his unease, En bowed low. He cleaned up the broken glass and left.
Orochimaru looked down at Yukika writhing in the capsule with no trace of sympathy, only curiosity in his eyes.
"Hmm... hehe. You didn't pass out? Remarkable. No wonder Danzo took an interest. A pity you don't have any kekkei genkai… otherwise, I'd be a bit more intrigued myself."
He smiled wickedly. "Mind if I take a little more blood for research?"
Yukika didn't hear him. His mind was a buzzing void, overridden by the overwhelming pain that consumed his every cell.
"...I'll take that as a yes," Orochimaru said with a grin.
At 2 a.m. the next morning, the same cold-voiced ANBU arrived at Orochimaru's lab. Yukika, now unconscious on an operating table, had been removed from the capsule.
The ANBU woke him.
Yukika's eyes were vacant. The nightmarish pain hadn't faded.
—Actually, it hadn't faded at all.
He clenched his fist and felt the sting in his bones. Something had seeped into his body.
"Time to start chakra training," the ANBU said coldly.
Yukika nodded weakly and glanced at Orochimaru in the distance. He'd have to return here after training tonight.
...Is this really worth it?
Yukika started to doubt himself. He wanted to survive, sure, but this felt worse than death.
Still, his body did feel lighter. The exhaustion and fog from yesterday were gone.
But just thinking of that blue liquid made fear flicker in his eyes.