Chapter 3: Kakashi Outside the Hospital Room
"Sigh… Kid, just keep living with all you've got."
Jiraiya glanced at the empty hospital room one last time, took another look at Naruto, and left through the window.
He couldn't involve himself in all this. If Minato were still alive, things might be different, but the man was gone. There was no connection left.
'Child of Prophecy…? So that's how it is. In the future, he comes back to teach me ninjutsu because I'm the Child of Prophecy?'
Lying on the hospital bed, Naruto let out a silent, bitter laugh from the depths of his soul.
He understood everything now.
The entity that had been tempting his soul was a transmigrator. To that soul, this world was nothing but an anime.
Driven by the desire to become the protagonist, that soul had bound itself to something called a "System" and came here to devour and possess him.
Now the System was gone. The intruder's soul had also disappeared. All its memories and abilities had become part of him.
The influence of Asura's chakra, the so-called Will of Fire… Everything had been burned away by his soul flames and devoured.
From now on, Uzumaki Naruto would only be Uzumaki Naruto — no longer a reincarnation of anyone else, and no longer a protagonist bound by a scripted fate!
He would make sure everyone understood exactly what price they would pay for bullying him.
"Naruto, how are you feeling?"
A few days later, Naruto finally "woke up" from his coma. The first thing he saw was Iruka Umino's worried face.
Although the Third Hokage liked to show concern in front of Naruto, it was impossible for him to appear openly by the boy's bedside right now.
So Iruka — who had only been Naruto's teacher for a single day — became the perfect choice.
More importantly, Iruka's parents had died on the night of the Nine-Tails attack, so he also harbored deep hatred toward the "demon fox." Yet…
He didn't know Naruto's true identity, which allowed him to genuinely care for the boy.
This kind of person was exactly what the Third Hokage needed — a bond to tie Naruto to the village.
"My head hurts… and… who are you?"
Naruto decided to play with Konoha's people for a while. This Iruka-sensei seemed like he would treat him kindly, but was that really true?
Who could he trust?
He trusted no one.
Now that he was awake, it was time to test some things that didn't belong to this world. He hoped they would bring him enough pleasant surprises.
After all, it was a System powerful enough to send a soul all the way here. Its abilities shouldn't be completely useless, right?
"Huh? I… I'm your teacher, Iruka Umino from the Ninja Academy!"
Iruka looked completely stunned. He had never heard anything about Naruto having face blindness or memory issues.
"Ninja Academy teacher…? What's a Ninja Academy?"
Naruto played dumb perfectly. The genuine confusion on his face left Iruka frozen in shock.
He didn't even remember what school was? This was going to be a big problem!
"Wait here. Don't move. I'll get someone!"
Realizing the situation was worse than expected, Iruka quickly left the room.
He needed to fetch a medical ninja and report to the Third Hokage immediately.
"What a strange person…"
Sitting on the bed, Naruto tilted his head toward the doorway. His eyes flashed with curiosity and a hint of grievance at being left alone so suddenly.
"Really… this is going to be troublesome."
Outside the hospital room window, hidden high in a tree, an Anbu member let out a helpless sigh.
Memory loss… No one could predict what would happen next. He wondered what arrangements the Third Hokage would make…
Behind the mask, a blood-red eye remained hidden, but the worry in the other eye was clearly visible. Naruto, whose perception had just awakened and was still hard to control, noticed it instantly.
'Kakashi Hatake?'
Naruto sat on the bed with a dazed expression on his face, but deep inside, he had already guessed the identity of the Anbu outside.
According to the memories he obtained, Kakashi should be very busy right now. Yet the captain of the Anbu had come personally to monitor him?
He was starting to doubt Kakashi's real intentions.