"It was an era of endless war. One day, it was raining heavily.
"Shangguan Hong suddenly returned from the battlefield. He seemed to know you had been born. He gave you a name, said something to your mother that I couldn't make out, then hurriedly left home.
"No one knew where he went. After that, he never came back."
She gazed out the window at the falling maple leaves and tightened her arms around Yue.
"Your mother raised you all by herself. When you were one, she came to my house and entrusted you to me.
"She looked worried and gave me a wooden box. She said it was a gift she'd left for you, and to give it to you when you were old enough to understand.
"Your mother disappeared that same year. No one knew where she went or what she did.
"With war raging everywhere, there was nothing an old woman like me could do. I asked your parents' friends, but they all said they didn't know.
"In the end, I had no choice but to find the Third, Hiruzen Sarutobi. He was just as evasive about your parents.
"That was when I understood that some things weren't mine to investigate. After that, I stopped looking for your parents.
"Yue, now that you've decided to become a ninja, I should tell you all this.
"But remember: don't go looking for answers until you're strong enough. Ignorance is bliss. Sometimes it's safest to be blind."
Yue gazed blankly out the window. Autumn was turning to winter; the golden season was nearly over, and the bitter white cold was on its way.
Bundled in thick cotton clothes, he snuggled into Grandma's arms.
"Grandma, I understand."
The image of the woman who kept appearing in Yue's mind came back to him: her tender gaze, her careful movements, her happy smile.
"So she was my mother."
He looked up at Grandma's chin.
"Grandma, could you tell me more about my parents?
"I never knew them before. They were never home, but I miss them so much."
Grandma wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes. She was getting old, and it was easy to become sentimental.
"Little Yue, I'm sorry you've had to go through this. I'm just an ordinary person, so I don't know much. I heard your father, Shangguan Hong, was an Elite Jonin. Your mother was a Chunin and a medical ninja."
"Then what was my mother's name?" Yue asked urgently. After all this time, he could finally learn her name.
Grandma's face grew wistful, touched with sadness. "Your mother..." She hesitated for a long while, then seemed to come to terms with it.
"Sigh. You'll find out sooner or later, so I might as well tell you now."
Grandma sank into her memories.
"Truth be told, I was just an ordinary person. How could I know about these things?
"But back then, the affair with your parents caused quite a stir. Almost everyone in Konoha knew about it.
"Your father was famous and incredibly strong. Even an old woman like me had heard of him. On the battlefield, everyone called him the White Devil.
"Normally, no one would have objected to your father taking a wife.
"But your mother was an Uchiha!
"Sigh.
"Although your mother was from a branch family, the uproar was enormous. The Uchiha Clan opposed the marriage and refused to let their bloodline leave the clan. In the end, your mother was cast out.
"And after that, you were born."
Yue froze, his heart in turmoil.
"I'm an Uchiha? That can't be right."
--
Four years ago, Shangguan Yue had transmigrated into the world of Naruto. His original body had been only one year old. He didn't know why, but he'd been dazed and out of it for that whole first year. Luckily, Grandma had kept a close eye on him, so nothing went wrong.
By the time he was two, Shangguan Yue could walk and talk normally.
That was practically unheard of in the Naruto world. He was far too slow. Itachi had already started contemplating life at three.
It took a great deal of adjustment before he could control his body with ease.
When he saw ninjas leaping from rooftop to rooftop across the village, along with the distinctive statues of the successive Hokage, he realized he'd arrived in the world of Naruto.
Before transmigrating, he'd enjoyed playing the Naruto mobile game, but he hadn't watched much of the anime or read the manga or seen the movies.
He couldn't help grumbling, How am I supposed to play this?
He hadn't watched much, but he knew enough to realize this was an extremely dangerous world.
Once he figured out the timeline and heard people talking about White Fang's achievements, he knew he'd have to live through the Third Shinobi World War.
The urgency he felt made him start training consciously. Unfortunately, hard work was worthless in the face of talent.
No matter how hard he tried, his body remained pathetically weak—skinny as a plucked chicken.
Once he realized he was a complete weakling, Yue started calling out in his mind over and over.
Everyone else who ends up in Naruto gets a cheat, don't they? Where's mine?
After Yue's relentless pestering, just as he was about to give up, he actually heard a voice answering him in his mind.
"Are you trying to summon a ghost? All you do all day is daydream."
"Who?" Yue hurried to his feet and looked around.
"I'm in your head. What are you looking around for? And don't call out to me again, got it? You're so noisy."
"So I do have a cheat?" Yue could barely contain himself.
"I'm not yours. You, on the other hand, are hereby rewarded with the chance to be my servant.
"I am the great God of Balance, the mighty deity who governs the balance of the world. Bow before me, human."
The childish, chuuni voice rang out in Yue's mind, and he rolled his eyes.
"...Moron."
Before transmigrating, Yue had been a wage slave exploited by his company. There was no way he'd submit again, so he immediately started arguing with this so-called god.
Neither of them would back down. Gradually, Yue realized the god's mind was only about six years old. Its voice sounded mature, but it was really just a child.
Yue began probing for information and learned about the god's origins. It turned out to be a fragment of the Balance of God.
The Balance of God was a divine artifact forged through the combined efforts of the gods. Its main purpose was to govern the balance of the world and equivalent exchange.
As for the one in Yue's head, it had been the balance pendant he'd carried around ever since he was hit by a car and sent flying at the beginning of his transmigration. It was stained with blood and had recognized him as its master.
The balance detected that Shangguan Yue had accumulated immense merit over his previous nine lives. It directly offered him in sacrifice, taking Yue away from Earth and letting him be reborn in the world of Naruto, where he took over the original body.
The one in Yue's head had developed its own consciousness during the transmigration. It had also absorbed the intelligent code from Yue's shattered phone, giving its otherwise rigid consciousness a mind of its own.
--
By now, Yue and the god had grown quite familiar with each other. Yue knew the fragment of the Balance of God was bound to his life, so he felt no reverence for it at all.
"Hey, useless god, have you finished making my cheat yet? It's been four years. Have you been slacking off? Even the donkeys on a production team have to work.
"You're living rent-free in my head. Time to pay up."
"What are you rushing me for? Don't you know I was just born? I barely have any divine power. It'll be ready soon, so relax."
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