The Wager

When Qi Shuang woke up on the hospital bed, it was already that afternoon.

"It seems I still underestimated the potency of that medicine, and overestimated my own body's endurance!" Lying in bed, he couldn't help but sigh.

Although the medicine on him was only a relatively mild poison, his body was not that of an adult ninja either.

What was called mild potency was only mild for adult ninja.

They trained year-round, had strong physiques, and with ample Chakra protecting their bodies, their resistance to medicine was far higher than ordinary people.

But Qi Shuang's current body was still just a ninja student on the verge of graduation. Whether in physical strength or Chakra reserves, he was far inferior to an adult ninja. Being knocked unconscious by such a common poison was hardly surprising.

At the same time, he had also discovered an extremely shocking fact.

He might very well have truly crossed over into this world, rather than just dreaming!

"By common logic, if all this were my dream, having been unconscious for so long, waking up again should return me to the real world. But that's not the case!"

"It seems I really have crossed over!" he thought to himself.

As for the original owner of this body, that consciousness called "Xiao Lin," there had been no sign of it until now. It was very likely already dissipated.

Or rather, missing!

As for the reason, he didn't know, and he didn't want to know. The possibilities were too many.

What he knew now was that this body had completely become his. He had replaced that child named Xiao Lin and become a member of this world.

Fortunately, this body, like his previous life, had no attachments. He had no need to worry about the present, nor any need to worry about the past.

Since he was here, he would settle in.

Although this world was dangerous, overall, it was much more interesting than his previous life.

In a sense, he was even vaguely looking forward to the days ahead.

"I wonder how the exam venue turned out?" Thinking this, he pressed the call button at the bedside.

Before long, a young female medic in a white coat came to his bedside.

"Little one, you called us. Is there something?" the female medic asked softly, her standard professional smile flawless.

"Big sister, I wanted to ask, how did today's ninja graduation exam turn out?" Qi Shuang asked with a smile.

Hearing this, the female medic's face turned serious. She gave him a deep look before saying, "You really are lucky, kid!"

"I heard that in your exam venue, aside from you, all the other examinees were killed by a brat named Zabuza!"

All examinees annihilated—such a blockbuster news, in less than a day, had spread like wings through every corner of Kirigakure. Every street and alley was buzzing about that child who seemed like a reincarnated demon.

Their hospital had naturally received that shocking news as well. At the same time, they had learned that this unlucky kid in front of them, poisoned by his own Kunai wound, was also a lucky one who had escaped the death calamity of the exam venue.

"So that's how it is, huh?" Qi Shuang inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.

Long before entering the exam venue, knowing Zabuza existed, he had already thought about withdrawing from the exam.

Thus, he had settled on the plan of coating his Kunai with poison, faking an accidental self-injury, and thereby withdrawing from the exam.

Doing this still involved an element of gambling.

He wasn't entirely sure the teacher would let him withdraw from the exam.

So he was betting that the teacher wouldn't let him continue the exam while poisoned and weakened. Because that would be no different from sending him to his death.

Of course, he wasn't betting on the teacher's sympathy here, but on Kirigakure's policies.

Although Kirigakure had the rule of killing to graduate, the upper echelons of Kirigakure weren't all fools.

With their ninja numbers already lower than other villages, they naturally cared a great deal about maintaining their population base.

If the population base had problems, combined with such a rule, they would end up destroying themselves!

Thus, Kirigakure placed great importance on basic livelihood, especially on those seedlings who could be trained as ninja.

That was what allowed Qi Shuang's body—that orphan named Xiao Lin—to survive until now.

Without the village's care, a child under ten years old couldn't survive alone.

In a sense, when it came to caring for the orphaned and elderly population, Kirigakure was probably the best among the Five Great Villages.

Of course, this was only their last resort.

So, in such an environment, especially with the ongoing war outside, Qi Shuang was betting that the teacher wouldn't let him go to his death for nothing—that would be meaningless.

But if the teacher ignored this and still insisted he participate in the exam, then he might really be done for.

So this method of withdrawal was half life, half death.

Either way, it was still a much better chance than betting he could survive Zabuza's hands.

He had no confidence at all in surviving Zabuza while still unskilled in the basic use of Chakra.

And now, the result was obvious—he had bet correctly!

Especially after discovering he wasn't dreaming but had actually crossed over, he was even more grateful he had bet right!

One slip, and he really could die!

"Alright, is there anything else?" the female medic asked again.

"Gone!"

Qi Shuang shook his head, then suddenly seemed to remember something and asked with a smile, "Big sister, when can I be discharged?"

A hospital was not a good place.

He couldn't wait to leave here and start his new life as a ninja.

"Tomorrow! I'll give you one more IV drip later. Rest up tonight, and you should be just about ready."

"And don't go pressing that call button for nothing. There are plenty of wounded being pulled back from the front lines waiting for us to tend to!"

With that, the female medic waved her hand, and with a clatter of footsteps, she disappeared through the hospital room door.

"Wounded?" Qi Shuang frowned again.

From this body's memories, he vaguely knew that the front lines were at war. Most genin who had graduated from the academy had been sent to the front.

He just wasn't entirely sure what point in time this was.

"Zabuza should be about the same age as Kakashi, right?" Qi Shuang rested his chin on his hand, silently pondering.

He remembered that in the original Naruto story, Kakashi made his name near the end of the Third Shinobi World War.

Kakashi became a jonin at age twelve. That same year, Obito "fell" at the Kannabi Bridge. Not long after that, the Third Shinobi World War ended.

Right now, he and Zabuza were in the same cohort, close in age. Logically, that put them in the same generation as Kakashi.

And now, he was nine. Kakashi would be around that age too.

That meant this point in time was still three to four years away from the war's end.

"Looks like I won't be able to avoid stepping onto the battlefield either," he thought, and his heart tightened again.