Naruto: I make my own way!

Just like that, Sora and Minato kept training for two whole years in order to improve their chakra control and reserves. Minato was the one to make the most progress but that doesn't mean that Sora was slouching either.

Sora actually managed to advance into the tree and water walking trainings but has found a wall that's been stopping him: Jutsus.

Normally, with enough chakra, understanding and chakra control one can begin to use jutsus. Some examples of this are geniuses like Minato, Itachi, Shisui and Kakashi, all of them were geniuses that just by unlocking their chakra were able to perform various D-Rank jutsus and few C-Ranks.

Sora however seems to have a great problem performing even the basic clone jutsu. Right now, he's fighting against Minato in a simple Taijutsu match.

Sora began throwing a right hook at Minato's face but he swiftly catched Sora's arm and used its momentum to deliver a kneecap to Sora's belly. Sora spit some saliva before he swung his other arm at Minato.

With a graceful backflip, Minato evades the punch and makes some distance between the two of them. Sora knelt on a leg and crutched his belly before rushing at Minato once again.

Minato prepared himself to grab his arm once again but just as Sora's fist was about to repeat his previous attack, he opened his fist, throwing sand to Minato's face.

Minato covered his eyes, but some sand still made its way to them, blinding him. Sora took the opportunity to strike him with a left hook on the chin. Minato fell backwards but easily recomposed himself and cleared the sand off his eyes.

"That's low. Throwing sand I mean, not the hook." Minato.

"In a real battle fairness doesn't matter, all that matters is who's alive as the winner." Sora.

"Then you won't mind if I try some of those tactics, do you?" Minato smiled.

"Say what now?" Sora looked confused.

Before Sora could acknowledge what just happened, Minato made some hand signs and vanished from his spot. Sora tried to step back bet he felt something grabbing his shirt and throwing him forward.

He fell and before he could get up again, Minato appeared in front of him with his punch being millimeters away from his face. They both remained still until Minato smiled and backed off.

"Simple sparring my ass. No jutsus allowed Minato." Sora.

"The Body Flicker Jutsu technically falls into the Taijutsu category." Minato.

"Aha, I call a cheat on this one so with this… *Sora begins counting with his fingers* we're 100 victories for you and 1 for me." Sora.

"Congratulations." Minato.

"Quit yappin', will ya?! We both know I never get close to beating you." Sora.

"Come on, don't say that. I'm sure you'll do better next time." Minato tried to encourage Sora.

"Minato let's be honest here, my chakra reserves are so low they're the size of a bucket. Which is why I can't do any jutsu like you. Worst yet, no matter how hard I train my chakra just doesn't appear to be increasing." Sora.

He's been training his chakra nonstop these past two years but the progress he made was incredibly small. To put it into perspective, it was like filling up a pool with a bottlecap instead of a hose.

He needed to find a way to fix that quickly, otherwise, he wouldn't be able to grow stronger beyond a certain point.

"Still, it is weird. You never slouch in the chakra related training, do the exact same exercises that I do and even practice the hand signs to such high level. By all means, it doesn't make sense that you can't even use a simple D-Rank jutsu." Minato entered into thought mode.

"Do you think I'm sick or something? I've talked about it with my parents, and I've haven't gone to the doctor in these past two years so, maybe?" Sora.

"It may be something similar, but I doubt an actual illness since you're using chakra just fine, even if it's just for strengthening the body and the walking trainings." Minato.

"Still, I'll go throw myself to the hospital really quick. Don't wait for me." Sora.

"Let's hope it's nothing serious. The academy entrance is next month." Minato.

"Don't worry, goldilocks, I'll be back better than ever." Sora darted towards the hospital.

Minato sees his friend running off with a worried expression. But he quickly brushes it off. He knows that whatever obstacle appear on Sora's path, he'll be able to break through and advance forward.

Minato smiles and kick his training up a notch.

[In The Hospital.]

After waiting for hours for a turn, given that he's healthy, Sora had to call for his parents after the doctors made some tests for him. Now, the whole family is sitting in front of the doctor who checked Sora with worried expression.

"Well, doctor, what's the matter with Sora? Please be honest from the get-go, you wouldn't have called us if this weren't anything serious." Liam spoke worried.

"Well, then allow me to be blunt. Sora has a condition known as "Underdeveloped Chakra Pathways and Tenketsu Points." The doctor spoke but interrupted Liam and Alaina before they could speak.

"Allow me to elaborate: The chakra pathway system is enmeshed within the body, transporting chakra through the body and each organ as the circulatory system does blood. The system is involved in the creation of chakra itself as well, as every cell and protein in the body are connected to this pathway system by a capillary which draws out the cell's physical energy and is refined into chakra by several organs, notably the heart."

Sora subconsciously gripped his chest.

"Whereas The Tenketsu are nodes from which chakra can be released. The human body has 361 Tenketsu, each of which is located along the chakra pathway system."

"This is where the problem begins. Normally, a person can only have either of these two conditions or else their bodies would be unable to generate chakra up to a cellular level and die. However, by some miracle of life, Sora here survived."

"His underdeveloped chakra system doesn't allow enough chakra to be generated and the underdeveloped Tenketsu points don't release enough chakra when trying to." The doctor explained.

"But I can do the leaf concentration method, and even tree and water walking." Sora.

"That's something that baffles me as well. Normally, your physical energy of you at this age wouldn't make it possible to do that, much less with your chakra reserves and unique condition. The only thing that makes sense would be that your mind energy's far superior to your physical energy." The doctor explained.

That's when something clicked in Sora's mind. His 14 years of life and overall memories count as mental energy, and given all the information he knew beforehand it makes sense that his mental energy is off the charts.

"This, however, brings another problem." The doctor resumed.

"With such disparity between mental and physical energies, your body can't possibly handle them for long. The more you use chakra, the more you're propense to damage your Chakra Pathways and Tenketsu Points." The doctor finished.

The Suzuki family looked gloom. Liam and Alaina never wanted their son to become a Shinobi but, they never wanted to cut that path from his options, at most they expected him to choose on his own another career.

Sora felt like he fell into a void.

All the chances, adventures, and aspirations he had about his adventures were all fading away as if they never existed. He wanted to enjoy this life to its fullest so just being alive is enough, but he also wants to protect those he holds dear from the future dangers this world has and knowing that he won't be capable of doing that both saddens and pisses him off.

"Is there no way to treat this?" Sora asked.

"Well, it's not like there's no solution. Just that's extremely dangerous if performed incorrectly or worst yet, your body can't adapt enough." Doctor.

"What do you mean?" Alaina.

"The procedure is known as "Forced Growth Method." It essentially is a procedure where we lock the patient's chakra's pathways to the minimum, just enough for him to survive and let his body adapt to the changes."

"Your body slowly forces itself to mature in that area in order to make them grow. Normally, the chakra network overall keeps growing and changing throughout a human's whole life. We're simply stimulating the process by brute forcing the body to grow." The doctor adjusted his glasses.

"I guess there's more to it." Sora.

"The problem lies in the fact that most can't handle the lack of chakra due to their bodies being used to expending large amounts of chakra on a daily basis, but you, a kid that barely uses it, should hypothetically follow the procedure properly."

"This decision shouldn't be rushed but unfortunately things have already escalated this much. The moment you felt your own chakra; you allowed your condition to worsen. Even if it's not life-threatening as a Shinobi, you won't be able to perform even below average."

Sora couldn't help but to feel disappointed that his efforts were nut just wasted, but they also backfired.

"I'll give you some time to consider the procedure but keep this in mind: The longer he spends like this, the higher the mortality rate." The doctor was about to leave but Sora stopped him.

"No need to wait, begin the procedure." Sora.

"Sora!" Alaina expressed concerned.

"I'm sorry, mother, but I need to do this. This might be my only shot at becoming a ninja." Sora looked resolute.

"But-" Alaina was cut off.

"Sora. Have you thought this through? are you sure you won't regret this later in life?!" Liam.

"Father…" Sora.

"I told you long ago that whatever you propose to yourself must be seen through and not left halfway. Are you sure you won't back down from this?" Liam looked at Sora with a deep gaze.

Sora had heard that before, but he didn't care enough at the time. But now, he feels the means behind his father's words. It's not about what one's doing, but to never regret it afterwards.

Sora looked at his father's eyes and took a deep breath before answering.

"I'm sure." Sora answered without a doubt.

Seeing his son's resolute expression, Liam softened his and looked at Alaina. Alaina had some troubles with the whole solution but decided to comply for the sake of Sora's dream.

The three family members look at the doctor and he got the hint.

"Very well. We shall begin the procedure immediately, please change into these clothes and wait for us in the adjacent room." The doctor spoke as he gave Sora some bluish clothes.

"What about the medical fee?" Liam asked.

"Well, given that this procedure is highly experimental we won't charge you. Consider it a small gesture of gratitude for aiding this medical research." The doctor spoke condescendingly but Sora saw through his bullshit.

'Yeah, try saying that without implying that I'm a lab rat please.' Sora thought.

As Sora prepared to leave for the other room, his parents embraced him tightly.

"We have no idea what's gonna happen, but whatever it is, we'll keep cheering you on." Liam.

"Please promise us that you'll come back. No matter what, come back to us, to our home." Alaina began to lose some tears.

Sora felt the emotions of his parents and began to cry.

He wasn't unfamiliar to the feeling of being loved but looking back he could see that look of sadness hidden in his parent's faces every time they'd see him. Now, he saw the hopeful expressions of his parents amongst their saddened expressions.

But Sora needed this.

He has no cheat system, no powerful bloodline nor advanced knowledge about the world, minor some very minor spoilers.

For the sake of his beloved parents that took care of him with love and care, he was resolute to not die and protect them at all costs. Sora's eventually freed from the hug and is led to the surgery room.

Soon after being placed into a medical bed, he was put to sleep.

After Sora fell asleep, two persons entered the room, one was a beautiful blonde woman with a big chest and the other one was a pale man with some purple eye mask in his eyes.

They were the two soon-to-be Sannin: Tsunade Senju and Orochimaru.

"This is the patient?" Tsunade asked as she took Sora's pulse.

"Yes, Tsunade-sama. He's volunteered himself to this procedure in order to increase his odds of becoming a ninja." One of the doctors said and handed Sora's resumé to Orochimaru.

"Hm… Tsunade, are you sure you want to proceed with this? You know that this surgery has a high mortality ratio." Orochimaru.

"Don't be so gloomy! They failed because they didn't have me back then. Now that I'm here, I'll help this kid to reach his dreams." Tsunade said with a grin.

Orochimaru suspected as much, he's been Tsunade's teammate for quite a long time, but he's noticed that she's happier than before. The reason to that was that his little brother, Nawaki Senju, has a chakra nature for both water and earth, making it a possibility for him to learn the extremely rare wood nature.

Of course, the probability was still slim, but it seems that Tsunade has full confidence that with some time, Nawaki will be able to become a Hokage that surpasses the first, just like he always says.

But even Orochimaru has to admit that this procedure is both risky and useless. If one could live by giving up on a dream that's killing him, why bother with the struggle? He couldn't understand that very well but decided to not dwell.

"Let's just begin the surgery, the sooner we finish this, the sooner I can go back to my research." Orochimaru said indifferently.

Even though it's called a "surgery" there's no need to pry Sora's body open at all. Tsunade is there to use her huge chakra reserves and Senju bloodline as a life support for Sora while Orochimaru carefully puts the chakra suppression seals in Sora's Tenketsu points, while being guided by a Hyuga medic of course.

The operation began.

Even though the operation sounds easy, there are various issues with it. The first one being that Tsunade can't give her chakra forever; she's wasting a considerable amount to keep Sora's chakra network from straining themselves.

On the sealing part, Orochimaru needs to draw the seals perfectly on each Tenketsu point or else he could disrupt the chakra flow. Given that there are 361 of those Tenketsu points already make this a monumental task on its own.

A normal chakra suppression seal is applied at the lower abdomen where most of the chakra gathers, however, this surgery requires every single Tenketsu point to have an individual seal that can regulate the chakra and stimulate the growth of the pathway.

Tsunade originally proposed this method to help those who wanted to become ninja but were born with either of the disabilities, however, due to the high mortality rate, almost none volunteered themselves to the surgery.

The ideal option would be to bring Uzumaki Mito, the wife of the First Hokage, here but due to the Nine-Tails' chakra having a possibility to disrupt the surgery, this was denied.

Also, the obvious fact that she's the Jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails alone restrict her movements completely outside the special Uzumaki barrier in the middle of the village.

As the atmosphere grew more tense, Sora's condition remains stable as Orochimaru continues to draw the seals in the seals. He managed to draw 150 in three hours but he's still missing a bit under half to finish the process correctly.

However, Tsunade is starting to get low on chakra.

If you're wondering why they can't just replenish Tsunade's chakra with drugs or by transfer. It's because I'll disrupt her chakra flow.

When someone's recovering chakra by external means, their chakra flow tends to be disrupted. Albeit a little for it to be of any consequence for the body but it's still in the spectrum where it'll damage the patient's chakra pathways during this specific surgery.

It's like when your motorcycle begins to wobble due to the high speed and you try to force it to stop by grabbing the handler with much more force, resulting in you making things worse. When the easy solution would be for one to lower their center of gravity to stabilize it on its own.

The surgery continued for one more hour before something unexpected happened.