The Gamble

When Qi Shuang woke up in a hospital bed, it was already afternoon.

"Looks like I still underestimated the potency of that medicine and overestimated my body's ability to withstand it!" Lying in bed, he couldn't help sighing.

Although the medicine in his body was merely a relatively mild poison, his body was not that of an adult shinobi.

The so-called mild potency only applied when speaking of adult shinobi.

They trained year-round and had strong physiques. Coupled with the ample chakra protecting their bodies, their resistance to drugs was far higher than that of ordinary people.

Qi Shuang's current body was still that of a ninja student on the verge of graduation. Whether in physical strength or chakra reserves, it was far inferior to that of an adult shinobi. There was nothing strange about being knocked unconscious by an ordinary poison.

At the same time, he had discovered an astonishing fact.

There was a very good chance that he had truly traveled to this world, rather than merely dreaming!

"Under normal circumstances, if all this were just a dream, then after being unconscious for so long, I should have returned to the real world when I woke up again. But that didn't happen!"

"Looks like I really did travel to another world!" he thought to himself.

As for the original owner of this body—that consciousness called Xiao Lin—there had still been no sign of it appearing. It had probably already dissipated.

Or perhaps it had vanished!

He didn't know the reason, nor did he want to know. There were simply too many possibilities.

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

Fortunately, both this body and his previous life were free of attachments. He had nothing to worry about in the present, nor anything to worry about in the past.

Since he was here, he might as well settle in.

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

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

"I wonder how things went at the examination site?" With that thought, he pressed the call button beside the bed.

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

"Little guy, you called us. Is something wrong?" the medical worker asked softly. Her standard professional smile was flawless.

"Miss, I wanted to ask how today's ninja graduation exam turned out!" Qi Shuang asked with a smile.

At that, the medical worker's face grew solemn. After taking another deep look at him, she said, "You really are lucky!"

"I heard that at your examination site, every other candidate was killed by a kid named Zabuza!"

The news that every candidate had been wiped out was so explosive that, in less than a day, it had spread throughout every corner of Kirigakure. Streets and alleys were all talking about that child who seemed like a demon reborn.

Naturally, the hospital had also received that horrifying news. They had also learned that the unlucky child before them, who had been stabbed and poisoned by his own kunai, was actually one of the lucky survivors who had escaped the examination site's slaughter.

"So it really was like that?" Qi Shuang rejoiced inwardly.

Even before entering the examination site, after learning that Zabuza was there, he had already considered withdrawing from the exam.

Thus, he had devised a plan to coat his kunai with poison, deliberately injure himself by accident, and use that as a reason to withdraw.

There had still been an element of gambling involved in doing so.

He had not been completely certain that the teacher would allow him to withdraw from the exam.

So he had gambled—gambled that the teacher would not make him continue participating while he was weakened by poison. After all, that would have been no different from sending him to his death.

Of course, what he was gambling on was not the teacher's sympathy, but Kirigakure's policies.

Although Kirigakure had a rule requiring students to kill in order to graduate, the higher-ups of Kirigakure were not all fools.

With their shinobi population already smaller than those of the other villages, they naturally cared a great deal about maintaining their population base.

If their population declined while such rules remained in place, they would end up destroying themselves!

Thus, Kirigakure placed great importance on basic public welfare, especially on children who could be cultivated into shinobi.

That was why the orphan called Xiao Lin, who inhabited this body, had managed to survive until now.

Without the village's care, a child under ten years old could never have survived alone.

In a sense, when it came to caring for its orphans and single inhabitants, Kirigakure was probably the best among the Five Great Villages.

Of course, this was merely an act born of necessity.

Therefore, in such an environment—especially with a war raging outside—Qi Shuang had gambled that the teacher would not send him to die for no reason. It would have been meaningless.

But if the teacher ignored that and insisted on making him participate in the exam, then he might truly have been doomed.

Thus, this method of withdrawing was half a chance of life and half a chance of death.

No matter what, his odds were still far better than gambling on his chances of surviving against Zabuza.

He had no confidence in surviving Zabuza when he was not even proficient in the basic uses of chakra.

And now, the result was obvious: he had won the gamble!

After realizing that he was not dreaming but had instead traveled to another world, he was even more relieved that he had made the right gamble!

One careless mistake, and he really could have died!

"All right, is there anything else you need?" the medical worker asked again.

"Nope!"

Qi Shuang shook his head. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, he asked with a smile, "Big sister, when can I leave the hospital?"

The hospital was not a good place to be.

He was already impatient to leave and welcome his new life as a shinobi.

"Tomorrow! I'll give you another IV later. After you rest for one night, you should be about recovered!"

"And don't keep pressing that call button when there's nothing wrong. There are still plenty of wounded soldiers withdrawn from the front lines waiting for us to treat them!"

With that, the medical worker waved her hand and disappeared through the ward's doorway, her footsteps tapping against the floor.

"Wounded soldiers?" Qi Shuang frowned again.

From this body's memories, he vaguely knew that a war was raging at the front. Most of the Genin who graduated from the academy had been sent to the front lines.

He simply still wasn't sure what time period they were in.

"Zabuza seems to be around the same age as Kakashi, right?" Qi Shuang rested his chin on his hand and pondered silently.

He still remembered that, in the original Naruto story, Kakashi had made a name for himself near the end of the Third Shinobi World War.

Kakashi became a Jonin at the age of twelve. That was also the year Obito "died" in the Battle of Kannabi Bridge. Not long afterward, the Third Shinobi World War ended.

At present, he and Zabuza were in the same class and were nearly the same age. Logically speaking, that meant he was also in the same generation as Kakashi.

And now, he was nine years old. Kakashi should be around the same age.

In other words, the war still had three or four years left before it ended.

"Looks like I won't be able to avoid making a trip to the battlefield either!" At that thought, his heart tightened once more.