At the top floor of an apartment building that looked somewhat modern yet carried a strange, unfamiliar style, there was a small room furnished with only a few simple pieces.
"Sigh…"
On the bed lay a child of about five or six years old. His youthful face was slightly furrowed, his eyes fixed blankly on the wooden ceiling above, where a hanging lamp swayed faintly. After a long silence, he finally muttered under his breath,
"It's already been five years…"
"I don't mind transmigrating, but why did I have to end up in this world…?"
There was a trace of melancholy and helplessness in his voice as he continued murmuring to himself,
"In a place like this, it's not easy for an ordinary person to survive safely…"
"Ninjas… this is practically a deadly world…"
After suppressing his thoughts for five years, he could finally let them out now that he was alone.
…
That's right—he was a transmigrator.
Back on Earth, he had only been a young man in his early twenties, someone who should have had a steady and uneventful future. But while playing a random mobile game he had clicked on out of curiosity, he had accidentally fallen asleep.
And when he opened his eyes again, he had somehow arrived in this new world.
—
From the moment he was still a baby in swaddling clothes, he already knew what kind of world he had entered.
After all, as a well-educated young man from Earth, he had watched Naruto before.
That's right—this was the real world of Naruto, and he was currently in Konoha.
But in this ninja world, lacking strength meant living in constant danger. No—not just lacking strength. Unless one was powerful to a certain degree, safety was nothing more than an illusion.
This was not the beautiful world portrayed in anime. The reality here was brutal enough to break people.
Not even mentioning future events like Pain's attack that would destroy Konoha…
Just five years ago, the Nine-Tails had rampaged through the village. Although the Fourth Hokage ultimately sealed it at the cost of his own life, countless ninjas and innocent civilians still perished in that disaster.
Kazama Shin's parents in this world had given him that name at birth… and then died in that very Nine-Tails incident.
Leaving behind an infant.
At the time, there were simply too many war orphans in the village. Not all of them could be adopted, so most of the babies were entrusted to the orphanage.
…
He had spent four full years in that orphanage.
With the soul of an adult, Kazama Shin quickly adapted, displaying maturity far beyond his peers. At the same time, he came to deeply understand the harsh reality of this ninja world.
After careful consideration…
At the beginning of his fifth year, Kazama Shin persuaded the orphanage director to let him move out and live independently.
He wanted to truly step into this world.
…
Don't say a five-year-old couldn't live on his own.
In this world, some five-year-olds far exceeded imagination.
Take Kakashi Hatake for example—he graduated from the Ninja Academy at five and became a Chunin at six.
Compared to that, Kazama Shin becoming independent at five wasn't so strange.
As for where he was living now—it was the only inheritance left by his deceased parents, who had been ordinary ninjas. After years of saving, they had managed to leave behind a modest apartment of about fifty to sixty square meters.
Small for a family, but more than enough for him alone.
…
Having cleaned up the room yesterday and officially moved in today, Kazama Shin lay on his bed, recalling the past four years of his life in the Naruto world.
After a long moment of reflection, he thought with a bitter smile,
"Sigh… at least I should be thankful. I ended up in Konoha… not some other village…"
Compared to other places, Konoha was undoubtedly the best choice. It was the center of all major events.
…
"Whatever. Now that I finally have my own place, it's time to think about how I'm going to live from here on out!"
Having vented the emotions he had suppressed for years, Kazama Shin quickly shook off his melancholy and began focusing on the future.
—
"What major events are happening in Konoha this year? Probably none…"
"The only thing worth mentioning is next year, Year 54, when the Rookie Nine enter the Ninja Academy… but that's nothing major."
"Year 55, though… the Uchiha Clan massacre—that's the event that will shake the entire ninja world."
Kazama Shin murmured softly, organizing the timeline in his mind.
After sorting through it briefly, he stopped thinking further.
"Right now, the most important thing is obtaining a method to cultivate chakra!"
After lying there for a long time, his eyes suddenly lit up as he clenched his teeth.
Because to survive in this world—
He had to find a way to become a ninja!
And to become a ninja, one must first learn how to extract chakra.
…
Although chakra extraction methods were basic, they weren't accessible to every orphan.
Even Naruto himself only learned it after entering the Ninja Academy.
"I hope my parents left something behind…"
Kazama Shin immediately got up and walked toward a bundle placed nearby.
It was the only thing his parents had left him besides the apartment.
Swish!
Opening the bundle, he found several scrolls along with a few shuriken and kunai.
His eyes lit up at the sight of the scrolls, and he quickly picked them up one by one.
The first scroll was a ninjutsu scroll, but it only contained the three basic techniques: the Substitution Technique, the Transformation Technique, and the Clone Technique.
These were all E-rank techniques, the lowest level—but when used well, their effectiveness could rival even C-rank or B-rank techniques.
The second scroll was a record written by his parents, something like personal notes. Kazama Shin skimmed through it quickly.
Then came the third scroll—and a smile finally appeared on his lips.
"On Chakra Extraction…"
Reading the words slowly, his grip on the scroll tightened unconsciously.
"Since I've come to this world, how can I not become a ninja? Hahaha…"
Kazama Shin laughed, a hint of excitement in his voice.
Not to mention the earth-shattering battles he remembered from the original story…
Even in the past few years, he had seen some genin-level ninjas firsthand.
Though they were considered ordinary among ninjas, compared to his current self, they were overwhelmingly powerful—strong enough to crush him effortlessly.
Thinking of this, the smile faded from his face.
His gaze sharpened as he focused on the scroll in his hands.
And began his first true training.