Hatake Shudan

Hatake Shudan, originally named Zhou Duan, had been a technical engineer at a state-owned pharmaceutical factory. During an experiment, on a whim, he dissolved some purified sleeping pills in water and drank them. The intense sensation of suffocation had knocked him unconscious, and when he woke up, he had found himself in the Naruto World.

Never mind why this young man with such a promising future had been stupid enough to drink sleeping pills. The fact remained that Zhou Duan had ended up in the Naruto World, a place full of black technology and utterly unscientific.

After suddenly finding himself in the middle of a battlefield, being hunted by bloodthirsty, brutal enemies, getting rescued and taken in by the Konoha White Fang, and going through the village's trials—experiences that would have given other authors enough material for thirty or forty chapters—Zhou Duan had finally settled down in the Naruto World, in Konoha, at Hatake Sakumo's house.

Zhou Duan stood before the mirror at home, looking at the cute eight-year-old boy with black hair in the reflection. A sense of unreality washed over him. But unreal or not, he was here now. Even if it was all a dream, he would grit his teeth and see it through!

"Zhou Duan!"

Back home, Hatake Sakumo looked at Zhou Duan, who was "reflecting" in front of the mirror, and patted him on the shoulder.

"Zhou Duan, I brought you back to the village because I couldn't bear to see you die on the battlefield. While you're young, Konoha will look after you. Once you become a ninja, you'll have to give back to the village. Nothing in this world is given without a reason. You're very talented; in just half a year, you've mastered everything a Lower-rank Medical Ninja needs to know. That's also why the Third Hokage turns a blind eye to your usual troublemaking. But that doesn't mean you can do whatever you like..."

"Uncle Shuo, I know I was wrong!"

Zhou Duan cut Hatake Sakumo off. Looking up at the stern man before him, he wore an innocent expression tinged with embarrassment.

"Are you about to take me around to every house and explain why Moshang Shizhen provoked all those famous ninjas? I remember there was Jiraiya, Tsunade, Lord Danzo, the Hyuga Main Family, and the Uchiha..."

"Ahem..."

Hatake Sakumo coughed with conspicuous discomfort, then spoke to Zhou Duan with a slightly awkward look.

"Now, Zhou Duan, you're old enough to understand. Let me teach you another principle of being a ninja: no matter the circumstances, even if you've been drugged, you mustn't lose sight of who you are. If you can't control yourself, the consequences can be severe. Moshang Shizhen is a perfect example. It's getting late. I'll go make dinner..."

Bang!

As the door slammed shut, Hatake Sakumo stumbled out of the house. Watching his slightly awkward retreat, Zhou Duan's little face broke into a mischievous grin.

"Hatake Sakumo's great in every way, except he has no idea how to deal with kids. That's the only reason I can use my genius experimental drugs on other people with impunity. Hmm, at this rate, Uncle Shuo won't be covering for me in another two years. If I want to find 'volunteers' to test these drugs that could shake the Shinobi World without getting scolded, I'll have to advance to Medical Ninja rank in the next two years..."

As Zhou Duan happily thought about the benefits of having Hatake Sakumo as both a scapegoat and an unwitting accomplice, a sudden surge of Chakra came from inside the house!

"Something's happening!"

Zhou Duan hurriedly looked toward the source of the Chakra, only to have a stream of white liquid spray straight into his face!

The smell of urine hit him. Zhou Duan's mischievous grin instantly turned into a grimace. He looked in the direction the stream had come from and saw a snow-haired baby in a wooden cradle, glaring at him with dead fish eyes. The baby's unchanging stare perfectly conveyed his displeasure!

Zhou Duan silently flipped the baby off, then, despite the stench all over him, went to change Hatake Kakashi's diaper first.

That's right, this kid was Kakashi. Even in a pile of a thousand babies, those eternally dead fish eyes would make him instantly recognizable. And Zhou Duan changed Kakashi's diaper before dealing with himself because otherwise the unlucky kid would unleash his ultimate infant technique—wailing at the top of his lungs!

If he made his benefactor's child cry in his benefactor's own home, how could he ever show his face again?

"Damn, I should've known—he really is Kakashi. He can already gather this much Chakra at two years old just to signal that he needs to pee. Seriously, I was only a little late getting you the potty. Was that really necessary?"

Zhou Duan grumbled as he changed Kakashi's diaper. Kakashi couldn't understand what he was saying, but he still flipped off Zhou Duan, who was radiating annoyance!

Zhou Duan: "..."

After meeting those dead fish eyes again, Zhou Duan gave him a pained look, picked up the freshly changed diaper, and opened the door.

"I've still got one potion left to test. I'd better trick someone into drinking it before dinner!"

With his porcupine-like white hair, sturdy build, and resolute face, made even more striking by the red markings at the corners of his eyes, Jiraiya was currently keeping a close watch on the goings-on inside through a tiny hole in the wall!

Zhou Duan looked at Jiraiya, whose entire body was practically plastered against the wooden wall of the women's bathhouse, and twitched at the corner of his eye. In this era, ninjas—especially those with a sense of danger—pushed their bodies to the limit with relentless training. The result was physiques worthy of fitness models and bodybuilders.

On top of that, Jiraiya was handsome, with a bright future ahead of him. Plenty of beautiful women should have been throwing themselves at him. But this guy seemed to have a screw loose and insisted on peeping like a pervert. No wonder no girls liked him. Even if one did, she'd keep her distance as soon as she heard about his reputation. Just look at Orochimaru: he wore a perpetually expressionless, even sinister look, and women still adored him!

Still, for all Zhou Duan's contempt, Jiraiya's habits made him the perfect person to pitch his potion to. With that in mind, Zhou Duan quietly walked up and patted Jiraiya on the shoulder!

Jiraiya had been concentrating so completely on "keeping watch" on the women's bathhouse that he hadn't noticed Zhou Duan approaching. He only snapped out of it when Zhou Duan touched his shoulder. But he was a seasoned elite jōnin; even with cold sweat pouring down his back, he didn't make a sound. He simply turned around and whispered to Zhou Duan:

"Zhou Duan, what are you doing here? Get out of here! I suspect a ninja from another village has infiltrated the area and is keeping watch. It's too dangerous here. Leave, quickly!"

Are you kidding me? If you'd said that somewhere else, maybe I'd believe you!

Zhou Duan kept the thought to himself and instead spoke with admiration.

"Really, Lord Jiraiya? You discovered the infiltrator all by yourself? You're a true pillar of the village! As it happens, I have a potion that helps people keep watch on the enemy and see more clearly. I'll give it to you for free!"

"Really?"

After going into pervert mode, Jiraiya's IQ had dropped below zero. He didn't doubt Zhou Duan's words at all. In his mind, since Zhou Duan hadn't immediately exposed him for peeping, he wouldn't harm him now, either. Jiraiya downed the potion in one gulp, only to immediately realize that his Chakra was surging out of control. With a deafening crash, the wooden wall in front of him was blown to pieces!