A Good Era

The shinobi world was actually very simple.

If you understood your role, carved out a good niche, and knew when to bend and when to stand firm, you could live better than 90% of ordinary people.

Yamada Soji had figured that out as soon as he crossed over.

So he skipped the usual stages of self-pity and lamenting that life in the Shinobi World was worse than being a dog. The moment his body was fit for training, he threw himself into learning skills related to being a ninja.

Unfortunately, his limited talent made the road to mastery a rough one.

By the age of eleven, his combat ability ranked only around the middle among his classmates... His dream of throwing his weight around on the strength of his own combat prowess was more or less just that—a dream.

Fortunately, Yamada Soji didn't lose heart.

What's more, compared with the other chaotic and war-torn eras in the world of Naruto, he actually thought Konoha Year 29 was a great era!

Armed with his precocious mind and the keen "nose" he had developed through office politics in his previous life, Yamada-kun had already prepared to shift into logistics work, despite having no business doing anything else.

Based on what he had seen and heard, along with what he knew of the story's future direction, he had even planned out his entire career for the next twenty years. All that remained was to graduate from the Ninja Academy and put the plan into motion.

But on his birthday, the unexpected happened.

A system that had arrived years late suddenly burst into his mind in the form of a Scottish Round-Faced Fat Chicken!

An acceptance letter from Hogwarts, accompanied by a beginner-level spell, became an unexpected source of support on Yamada Soji's path as a ninja.

"Energy Purity: E"

"Spell Unlocked: Accio"

Lying in his bedroom, he stared blankly as the system's flashy effects faded one by one. Then he beckoned... and the Ninja Handbook on his bedside table came flying toward him!

The excitement of unlocking a new skill lasted all night.

By the time he went to school the next day, neither his classmates nor his teachers could spot anything unusual about Yamada Soji.

With almost forty years of life experience between his two lives, he had learned to stay calm in the face of unexpected events. After a brief burst of excitement, he immediately revised his life plans to account for this unexpected stroke of luck.

The Second Shinobi World War had yet to officially begin, but the tense atmosphere on the eve of war had already grown overwhelming.

To prepare students for the battlefield, the Ninja Academy's curriculum devoted most of its time to physical conditioning and combat training.

Yamada Soji waited until he and his classmates had finished their twenty-kilometer cross-country run over rough terrain that morning. Only then did he finally have a chance to speak privately with Uesugi-sensei, who taught them Ninja Tool Throwing Technique.

Naturally, their conversation would center on the cheat he had suddenly acquired the previous night.

For Yamada Soji, a civilian-born ninja, this was a trial to prove his worth—a crucial negotiation to secure his first job offer just before graduation.

Before he could even ask his question, Yamada Soji gave his teacher a proper bow, as he always did.

It might have seemed like an insignificant detail, but every gesture and movement reflected Yamada Soji's many observations about the world around him.

Ever since the First had ended the Warring States era of warring clans and contending schools, Ninshu had replaced every other violent institution and become the symbol of each nation's greatest military power.

This shift in status had brought a change in who held power.

Ninjas had quickly grown more prominent, eventually finding their place in a new political order by establishing ninja villages.

As a result, an unprecedentedly vast workforce was brought under unified management in a wholly new way, replacing the small, clan-based societies of the Warring States era!

The inexperienced leaders of the Five Great Ninja Villages had all been left scratching their heads. They could only feel their way forward by following the sudden rise of Konoha Ninja Village.

Ninja academies, police forces, Anbu, hospitals, mission-assigning and mission-accepting offices...

A whole host of new institutions had been established just as the old generation of powerful figures—including Hashirama, Tobirama, and Madara—left the stage. The resulting power vacuum was filled in an almost savage fashion.

Though the biggest slice of this grand feast still belonged to the established clans, who had bought their way in, this new way of life had nevertheless increased social mobility in tangible ways!

In other words, compared with the timeline after a series of landmark events—the Sannin leaving the village, the Fourth Hokage's death, and others—Konoha Village was now at a historic turning point, before its social hierarchy had fully hardened.

The younger generation, represented by the rising Sarutobi Hiruzen, was steadily claiming the legacy left behind by their predecessors.

The Third Hokage, who would one day bear much of the blame for Konoha's rigid system, was now in the prime of his life, full of ambition! The whole ninja world was becoming more free and open as a result.

But everything in this world had two sides.

Pursuing freedom often amounted to disregarding authority.

One only had to look at the Third Hokage's own students and son to imagine just how complicated teacher-student relations in Konoha had become during this period...

An environment where progress and conflict coexisted offered a natural advantage to anyone with the will to stand out.

So, after fixing his place in history, Yamada Soji decided to go with the flow and plan a suitable path for his ninja career early on.

—He had never planned to climb the ranks by clinging to the legs of the academy's second-generation heirs.

That would be too unstable and a waste of time, and it would mean missing the historic opportunity right in front of him.

So even though his image as a respectful, studious pupil wasn't particularly popular with his peers, he had kept it up year after year to win the academy teachers' favor.

Now it was time to reap the rewards.

"Uesugi-sensei, I've had a few new ideas these past few days about the thirty-meter target practice you assigned last time."

"Yamada-kun?"

His signature bow made him easy to recognize. Uesugi Taro, who taught more than a hundred students at the academy, quickly identified who had asked the question.

And by deliberately addressing him as "teacher," Yamada Soji had subtly emphasized their teacher-student relationship.

Before answering, Uesugi the Chunin instinctively took a little more care, reminding himself that he had a teacher's responsibility to fulfill.

"What do you need help with?"

"It's about Shuriken Throwing Technique..."

Yamada Soji nodded slightly and took a Shuriken with worn edges from his ninja pouch.

"I was thinking that since we can only carry a limited number of projectiles on each mission, we should try to make the most of every ninja tool we use. If we could use some method to alter the path of a Kunai or Shuriken after throwing it, wouldn't that make it more effective?"

"I see. You really have been applying your own thoughts to your ninja tool throwing lessons."

Uesugi Taro smiled. First he praised Yamada Soji's desire to learn; then he explained the key points in detail.

"In fact, every ninja village has its own distinctive throwing methods.

"The most common method on the battlefield is to combine projectiles with functional ninja tools such as wires, Explosive Tags, and Flash Tags, either to increase the damage or achieve some special purpose;

"Some go even further. For example, the Uchiha Clan's Shuriken Manipulation Technique, used in conjunction with the Sharingan, can make projectiles collide with each other and change their trajectories, allowing them to attack enemies from blind spots;

"And then there's the Hokage's Shuriken Shadow Clone, which perfectly combines ninjutsu and throwing technique for a result greater than the sum of its parts."

Uesugi the Chunin counted off the points on his fingers. After giving several examples, he shifted to the practical side of things.

"But every one of these advanced throwing methods requires close coordination between eyesight, accuracy, and chakra training. That makes them almost impossible for most young Genin to learn from.

"You're still young. Don't aim too high. Rather than focusing on advanced techniques you can't yet master, you'd be better off building a solid foundation through the daily training you can manage."

"Yes! I've learned my lesson, and I'll work hard to strengthen my foundations from now on."

Yamada Soji bowed again, but he didn't put the Shuriken back in his pouch.

He had already known everything Uesugi-sensei had just explained.

He had deliberately asked a question like this—one of moderate difficulty—not only to give the unremarkable Chunin in his thirties a chance to enjoy playing the teacher, but also to make the transition to his real topic smoother.

"But I've also run into something strange during training these past few days. I hope you can clear that up for me, too."

"Go ahead."

"...I think it'd be quicker to show you."

Just as expected, thanks to the friendly exchange that had come before, Yamada Soji had barely put on a troubled expression before Uesugi Taro gave him an encouraging look.

So Soji immediately threw the Shuriken in a direction that wouldn't put any of his classmates at risk.

Then, before the weapon hit its target, he activated Accio!

—Shuriken Accio!

Under the spell's influence, the rapidly spinning Shuriken paused in midair for a moment, then reversed course in an utterly unbelievable way...