The success of the "Blue Flame" was a internal milestone, but in the world of the Hidden Sand, a internal change doesn't mean much until it produces an external result. For a ninja, the only metric that matters is the Jutsu.
On a rare day off, the desert sun was actually tolerable, and the wind had died down to a gentle breeze. My dad didn't go into the unit, and I stayed away from my workbench. We walked out into the stone courtyard, the same spot where, a year ago, I'd turned myself into a human garden gnome.
The ground was still the same packed, dry clay. But looking at it now, I didn't see an insurmountable barrier. I saw a medium that could be manipulated.
"You ready?" Sharyu asked. His voice was tight with a mix of nerves and something that sounded like hope.
I took a deep breath. I closed my eyes and reached for that newborn stream of chakra. It was still small, but it was there. I didn't have to "squeeze" it out of my cells anymore; I just had to guide it.
My hands moved. Ram. Snake. Tiger. I'd practiced these seals thousands of times in my head during my "armchair training" phase. Now, my fingers moved with a crisp, mechanical precision. I channeled the chakra down to my feet, and for the first time, the "hardware" didn't stutter.
"Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu!"
Buzz.
The chakra hit the ground. It wasn't a weak ripple this time; it was a targeted pulse. The earth beneath me turned to liquid silt instantly. I didn't just "sink" I moved through the ground like a hot knife through butter.
Knees. Waist. Chest.
I felt the chakra creating a thin, stable pocket of air around my body, resisting the pressure of the soil. I was actually navigating. I moved five feet to the left, feeling the density of the earth through the energy field, and then I pushed.
A few feet away from my dad, the ground arched upward. My hand burst through the surface, followed by my head.
I was covered in dirt, my hair was a mess, and I probably looked ridiculous. But as I blinked the grit out of my eyes, I saw Sharyu's face.
I'd done it. A full, successful execution. No power failure. No getting stuck. The code had compiled, and the program was running flawlessly.
"Dad! I did it!" I shouted, my voice hoarse from the excitement.
Sharyu didn't just walk over, he practically tackled me. He grabbed my shoulders so hard it actually stung, staring at me like I was a ghost. He looked at the dirt on my face, then at the spot where I'd emerged, and then back at me.
This hardened, veteran ninja, a guy who had seen the horrors of a world war and the loss of his wife completely broke down.
His lips were trembling. He tried to say something, but the words wouldn't come. He just pulled me into a hug that felt like it was trying to fuse us together. I felt his rough hands patting my muddy back, and then I felt the hot tears hitting my shoulder.
He'd spent nine years carrying the weight of a dying woman's wish. He'd given up his career and his pride to take care of a kid he thought might never even be able to run, let alone fight. He'd lived with the guilt that his son was "broken" because of a debt he couldn't pay.
And now, watching me pop out of the ground like any other Genin, he realized the debt was settled. The chains were off.
"Good... good boy," he choked out, his voice thick with a decade's worth of relief.
He looked up at the blue sky, and I knew he was talking to my mother. Haruko, did you see? He did it. I didn't fail you.
I hugged him back, ignoring the mud and the sweat. We stood there in the sun for a long time, just two people crying in a dusty courtyard.
The Past was officially over. My foundation was repaired, my chakra was flowing, and my first jutsu was a success.
I wasn't just surviving anymore. I was a Ninja of the Hidden Sand. And I was just getting started.