"Boss, how much is this mask?"
That afternoon, pure white snowflakes drifted from the sky. Pedestrians came and went along the snow-covered streets as a child in a black coat stopped in front of a mask shop, bent down, casually picked up a mask from the stall, and asked.
"Bastard! Who told you to touch that?!"
Yet the shop owner shrieked as though his backside had caught fire, leaping up to snatch the mask from the child's hand. He even pulled out a cloth and vigorously wiped the spot the child had touched, as if it had been stained by something impossible to clean away. As he wiped, he glared at the child with naked disgust.
Under the owner's gaze, the child slowly straightened up. He raised his head slightly, revealing a pair of azure eyes. He gave the owner an indifferent glance, then turned to leave.
Smack!
"Hmph! Who would want something touched by a Demon Fox like you?! Just my rotten luck!"
With an angry shout, the owner hurled the mask at the child's back, whereupon it fell into the snow.
The various passersby nearby noticed the commotion. After brief looks of surprise crossed their faces, they gathered around and stood off to the side, whispering about the child.
"Careful, don't get close to that yellow-haired brat! He's a harbinger of disaster! He's the one who got the Fourth Hokage killed!"
"That's right! I heard he's the Demon Fox's incarnation! He eats people!"
"Yeah! A few years ago, I almost got eaten by him! I saw that Demon Fox devour so many people with my own eyes, and lots of the village's powerful ninja were killed by it too!"
"Why does Lord Hokage still let him stay in the village?"
The child ignored the clamorous voices around him. However, when he turned back to pick up the mask, he froze slightly. A smiling fox face had been painted on the mask lying in the snow.
But at that moment, the smile seemed full of mockery in his eyes.
"Even a mask looks down on me?"
"No... no... no. I just wasn't calm enough. Those people still got under my skin a little."
After examining his own emotions, the child picked up the mask, dusted with a little snow, and placed it directly over his face. As the cold melted snowwater on the mask adjusted to his body heat, two masked figures suddenly appeared in front of him.
"Ah! They're Anbu ninja!"
Someone among the crowd recognized the newcomers. At once, no one cared to gossip anymore. With suspicious looks and fear on their faces, they scattered in twos and threes.
They were merely ordinary people watching the spectacle. Ninja had suddenly appeared, and not just any ninja—these were Anbu directly under the Hokage. Their presence was naturally intimidating.
"Uzumaki Naruto, it's time to go home. Lord Hokage is waiting for you!"
"Yes, I'm Uzumaki Naruto. You don't need to remind me so deliberately."
The wind picked up.
Looking up through his mask once more, he watched willow-fluff snowflakes swirl in the cold wind. They fell faster and heavier, wave after wave.
Uzumaki Naruto was not actually from this world.
In his original world, he had been an abandoned infant, a cripple born paralyzed from the waist down. With help from the community, he had painstakingly learned a trade and finally managed to make a living in that world of towering buildings. Then fate played a joke on him.
During a random earthquake, in a world full of malice, he died unwillingly while watching anime, trapped at home in his wheelchair and unable to move easily.
At the final moment of his life, he had only one thought.
"If heaven gave me one healthy life, how wonderful would that be?"
When he woke again, he found that he had become a baby. Just as he had excitedly let out a hoarse cry, he discovered that he was about to be left all alone once more.
Because he had become Uzumaki Naruto. After leaving a few words behind, his parents had departed from him. He had not even had time to open his eyes and look at them before an immense power surged into his frail body.
He fell asleep.
He had been in this world for four years, but the snow here was no different from the snow he had seen before. Winter here was just as cold.
Rustle, rustle~~~ Rustle, rustle~~~~
His feet sank into the slightly fluffy snow as masked Uzumaki Naruto began walking home. Naturally, the two Anbu followed behind him.
As they passed a corner, a delicate-looking black-haired child in the distance held the hand of a ponytailed young man with one hand. With the other, he excitedly pointed at Naruto in front of them and whined.
"Nisan! I want a mask too!"
"Sasuke, what kind of pattern do you like?"
Accompanied by a gentle voice, the ponytailed young man revealed a handsome face, with natural smile lines beside his nose. After watching Naruto and the others disappear from sight, he stepped forward and crouched with his back to the child. A Gunbai emblem was clearly printed on the back of his clothes.
The child named Sasuke blushed. The next moment, he happily jumped onto the ponytailed young man's back. A Gunbai-shaped emblem was printed on the back of his clothes as well.
"Hehe! Naruto, I never expected you to learn all the basic characters by the age of four, and your comprehension is so high too. You truly are a smart and gifted child!"
An elderly voice came from within a dilapidated little building. Both the laugh and the words carried a warm, kindly feeling.
"What's so smart about recognizing words? Besides, Lord Hokage, you've been taking time to teach me reading and writing for quite a while. I've seen many children around my age learning ninjutsu already. They really seem like geniuses."
After the old man's praise, a childish voice answered.
But once the voice finished speaking, the room instantly fell silent. In a room on the second floor, an old man wore a complicated expression as he watched the child, whose back was turned as he meticulously put away his books.
He was Hiruzen Sarutobi, Konoha's Third Hokage.
"Naruto, do you want to become a ninja?"
"Yes, Lord Hokage. I want to become a ninja. Can I?"
Naruto turned around and answered the old man naturally.
"Why do you want to become a ninja?"
"I heard people say that ninja can use ninjutsu to transform into someone else."
The Third Hokage fell silent upon hearing this. In his view, this reason was not enough for him to take the risk of allowing Naruto to begin learning ninjutsu now.
After all, this child had another identity—the Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki.
The Third Hokage could not help recalling the child's upbringing.
Other than the night he was born, the child before him had never cried again. After reaching the age when he could walk and speak on his own, he had never displayed the childish nature of other children his age. He had never even been curious about his origins.
Especially when he was three, the child had actually taken the initiative to ask him to teach him how to read and write during one of his visits.
Whenever he looked at this child, the Third Hokage felt an inexplicable unease. Konoha truly could not endure another night like the one four years ago. If he taught Naruto ninjutsu now, the risk would likely be too great.
Just as he was about to refuse, Naruto spoke again.
"Lord Hokage is very powerful, right? I've heard people in the village say that you're the strongest ninja!"
"Does little Naruto want to become the strongest ninja?"
The Third Hokage looked at Naruto deeply as he asked.
"Whether I'm strong or not doesn't really matter," Naruto answered after thinking for a moment.
"Uh, then why do you want to—"
"Lord Hokage, I want to learn ninjutsu mainly because I hope I can truly use it to become someone else. Then, when I go out, people won't dislike me anymore. Then I won't have to stay home alone so often."
As he spoke, Naruto walked toward the window.
Hearing this, the Third Hokage recalled the Fourth Hokage, who had become famous throughout the Shinobi World for his tolerant and gentle nature. At last, he was moved.
"Naruto! Since it's still early, I'll first teach you how to refine Chakra today! I'll also teach you the Transformation Jutsu you just mentioned, the one that lets you become someone else. But you have to study seriously, understand?"
"Thank you, Lord Hokage! I'll work hard!"
Before you continue