Three Years Later

The sun set in the west, dusk arriving.

By a lake not far from Konoha, five-year-old Hyuga Naraku was training alone.

The small figure gripped a katana slightly taller than himself, weaving among a cluster of training dummies, the blade slashing out at them from time to time.

Though wielding a sword longer than his own height looked odd, it didn't seem clumsy in Naraku's hands. On the contrary, the long blade moved as if it were an extension of his arm, showing just how terrifying his arm strength was!

The dummies standing on the ground had long been hacked to pieces by the sword.

With a whoosh, the figure among the dummies vanished, reappearing elsewhere as if teleported.

Naraku raised his left hand, index and middle fingers together, and chanted at a dummy, "Hadō Number Four—White Lightning."

As the words fell, a bolt of lightning shot from his finger, striking a dummy directly. The next moment, the already battered dummy shattered into fragments.

"Bakudō Number Nine—Crumbling Wheel."

After casting the hadō, Naraku immediately followed with a bakudō. A yellow rope of spirit particles shot from his fingertip, binding the remaining dummies tightly together.

"Hadō Number Eleven—Striking Lightning."

Another bolt of lightning, stronger than White Lightning, erupted from Naraku's finger, traveling along the Crumbling Wheel's rope to the dummies. The tightly bound dummies were instantly blasted to pieces!

"Striking Lightning, as an eleventh-sequence hadō, deals more damage than White Lightning, but it needs a medium to extend. White Lightning, though only fourth-sequence, has solid single-target power and excels at catching opponents off guard—better than Striking Lightning in that regard. With this move, I could take down a chunin by surprise."

"Also, I've mastered Flash Step. Overall, I've barely got enough ability to survive in this world."

Three years had passed since Naraku arrived in the world of Naruto. He was now five years old.

At first, due to his age, he hadn't chosen to train.

It was only half a year ago that he started sneaking outside the village to train alone.

As for why he trained outside instead of within the Hyuga Clan—he was afraid someone might see his abilities. After all, his Shinigami powers were quite different from the ninjutsu of this world.

Especially since the entire village of Konoha was secretly monitored by the Third Hokage's crystal ball. Who knew when he might be caught? If that happened, he'd never be able to explain himself.

Over three years, Naraku kept checking in daily, but thinking about what he got from those check-ins left him speechless.

"Check-in successful. Congratulations, host, you've received: one baby diaper."

"Check-in successful. Congratulations, host, you've received: one baby pacifier."

"Check-in successful. Congratulations, host, you've received: one lollipop."

"Check-in successful. Congratulations, host, you've received: one bottle of Thunder Pop."

"Check-in successful. Congratulations, host, you've received: one box of Durex condoms."

What the hell were these things? The check-ins only gave everyday items. Pacifiers and diapers—those were just right for little Hinata, who'd been born recently.

But what was the point of giving him a little raincoat? He was still a kid, just a few years old! System, don't corrupt me. I can't use that yet, and by the time I can, it'll be long expired...

Naraku had asked the system about this.

The system replied, "Daily check-ins mostly yield everyday items, host. Don't expect daily check-ins to give you anything ridiculously good. That's not how it works."

"Also, this system suggests you wash your face before each check-in. Maybe your luck will improve a little."

So... was the system mocking him for having bad luck?

Naraku mentally ignored that taunt, but from then on, he always bathed and cleaned himself before checking in.

Yet the results didn't change. So Naraku realized the system was just messing with him.

Of course, it wasn't all bad.

Naraku silently opened his status panel.

Code
Host: Hyuga Naraku
Level: Junior Spiritual Pressure (Genin)
Abilities: Byakugan (Intermediate), Gentle Fist (Master), Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms (Proficient), Hadō Sequences 1–30, Bakudō Sequences 1–30, Junior Flash Step
Items: Zanpakuto (Asauchi State)

When Naraku was three, and Hyuga Hiashi began teaching him the Hyuga Clan's inherited techniques, Naraku checked in and immediately gained Master-level Gentle Fist and unlocked Intermediate Byakugan.

Then, the next day, when he demonstrated it to Hyuga Hiashi, he stunned his father.

I only taught you once, and you've already mastered it? You're a damn genius...

Overjoyed, Hyuga Hiashi began pouring effort into training Hyuga Naraku.

Naraku didn't let him down. Three days later, he said he'd awakened the basic Byakugan. A month after that, he said his Byakugan had advanced to Intermediate, and he'd fully mastered Gentle Fist.

Disbelieving, Hyuga Hiashi sparred with Naraku using Gentle Fist. To his shock, they ended in a draw.

Hiashi's heart raced. He felt Naraku was a gift from the heavens to the Hyuga Clan, meant to help them rise.

So he strictly sealed off the news, teaching Naraku entirely on his own, and warned him not to reveal his abilities in front of others.

Having spent years navigating the shinobi world, Hiashi knew that the tallest tree catches the wind. In the ninja world especially, overly famous geniuses often got assassinated by enemy ninja. Naraku was still young, not yet grown, and lacked the strength to protect himself.

Of course, this decision suited Naraku perfectly. He wanted to keep a low profile too—that's why he'd chosen to reveal his abilities to Hiashi bit by bit.

After all, leaving aside the distant threats, right here in Konoha there's still that old schemer Shimura Danzō lurking in the shadows. Until he's grown strong enough, Narak doesn't want to expose himself to others' attention too soon.

A genius like Uchiha Shisui was still taken down by Shimura Danzō's schemes. Narak feels that compared to Shisui, he's still far behind.

Narak sits down against a large tree, his gaze drifting toward the sunset clouds on the horizon, and begins to ponder.

"I've been in this world for three years now. Naruto is only three years old, and there are still nine years until they take the Chunin exams. During those nine years, Konoha will be relatively peaceful."

"Only when the Chunin exams begin nine years later will all kinds of monsters and demons start to take the stage."

"That means I have at most nine years to quietly develop. In these nine years, I have to get stronger. By then, I'll at least need Kage-level strength just to barely protect myself."

"But... this system of mine is a bit unreliable..."

The power of a Soul Reaper largely depends on the Zanpakuto. The stronger the abilities the Zanpakuto awakens, the stronger the Soul Reaper becomes.

But for three years—three whole years—Narak has been calling out to his Zanpakuto in his heart, hoping to learn its name and unlock its Shikai.

Yet his Zanpakuto has remained as calm as still water, giving him no response at all.

This leaves Narak feeling disheartened.

Without Shikai, a Zanpakuto is just an ordinary Katana that's a bit sturdier.

"Forget it, forget it. I won't think about it anymore. It's almost dark—time to go home and eat."

Narak slowly rises from under the tree, stretches, and then with a flick of his feet, he vanishes from the spot as if teleporting, reappearing on a distant large tree. With a few more leaps, he disappears from sight!