At a ninja hospital in Kirigakure, Kanna lay on his side in bed, staring blankly out the window. It was early summer, and the June weather made people feel lazy without even realizing it, as if the air itself carried a languid scent.
But from the fourth-floor window, Kirigakure seemed bleak and desolate. The few people who passed by hurried along, hardly a smile on their faces.
Kanna stared out for a while, lost in thought. He had no idea how much time passed before a mass of dark clouds suddenly swept in. A few breaths later, the entire village was shrouded beneath them.
As the sunlight slowly faded and the clouds blotted out the sky, a heavy gloom settled over everything, like dark clouds pressing down on a city. Kanna furrowed his brow. For a patient who had been bedridden for so long, the sun, the light, and freedom were among the things he longed for most. He had been stuck in bed so long he was practically growing mold.
It had taken less than a minute for the sky to go from clear and bright to completely overcast. Though he had seen it happen more than once, Kanna still sighed.
The weather in Kirigakure was always so changeable. After all, it was an island nation built on the sea.
Whoosh! Fat raindrops came pouring down, pattering against the ground, the passersby, and the eaves of the buildings. Before long, Kanna caught the earthy smell of dust kicked up by the rain. He inhaled greedily, then fumbled his way up, tugged his hospital gown closed, and slowly shuffled to the window. With a swish, he drew the curtains shut. The roar of the rain was suddenly muffled, and when Kanna turned on the light, the room brightened.
Rain often brought people's spirits down, and Kanna was no exception. As a transmigrator, he felt it all the more keenly. The sight stirred a deep sense of desolation in him, pressing on his chest until he could barely breathe.
This place, this village of Kirigakure, was so cold. Everywhere he turned, he felt an air of mercilessness. He didn't like it here. He really didn't. He wanted to go back—to his old world, to the same old routine of home, work, and home again.
Kanna had been in the hospital for a month. During that time, he had suffered through nightmares again and again. He dreamed of fighting enemies, but in the dream he couldn't remember the hand seals for ninjutsu or how to circulate chakra. Then someone would cut off his head or split open his chest. He would jolt awake in a cold sweat, only to realize he was still in his hospital bed. After that came hours of lying awake.
It was miserable. It was terrifying.
He had heard that dreams revealed the things people remembered most deeply or kept buried in their hearts. Though Kanna had acted unruffled in front of Doctor Pu Jie, his parents, who had only visited once, and all the other people around him, those recurring nightmares made it clear that he had little confidence in the life ahead. He was afraid. He was terrified.
So Kanna had thrown himself into absorbing the memories of this body. He forced himself to understand this world's view of science, endured the pain in his left chest as he practiced the twelve hand seals, and savored the faint flow of chakra inside him. Only after he successfully performed his first jutsu in this world—the Transformation Technique—and laughed so hard that he reopened his wound and had to undergo surgery again, did he finally begin to feel that this world was real.
I'm not dreaming. I'm really alive. I really can understand and use ninjutsu. In that moment, Kanna's feelings were incredibly complicated. He was as thrilled as a child who had followed a set of instructions and successfully built something with blocks for the first time.
It was as if he had opened the door to a whole new world. Kanna devoted himself even more to studying ninjutsu. Even just analyzing the memories of the original Kanna at the Ninja Academy felt new and fascinating to him, and he put his whole heart into it. He worked harder and took things more seriously than he ever had in his previous life.
Now, he was pondering a question.
"What is the Transformation Technique, really? An illusion? A change in form? Or something else?"
He couldn't understand it, or even guess. That was ninjutsu: bizarre, strange, and varied. An ordinary person could spend a lifetime without scratching the surface. Looking at the entire history of Naruto, the only one recorded as having grasped the secrets of all ninjutsu was probably the Sage of Six Paths. Even his mother had only surpassed the limits of what it meant to be human through sheer power. When it came to understanding chakra, the Sage of Six Paths was the first to unravel its true nature.
This was a wondrous world. In some ways, it was purer and more exciting than Kanna's old one. The greatest thing here wasn't status or wealth, but strength. With enough power, one could follow in the Sage of Six Paths' footsteps, create a new land, and usher in a new era. Kanna admired and envied that possibility, and turned it into the motivation that would carry him through this cold, lonely world.
He had no fellow patients. This floor had been prepared by Kirigakure for any students who might be injured during that year's exams. Now, Kanna was the only one left in the hospital. He had no companions, and there hadn't been any major battles lately, so the rooms weren't in demand. He was all alone.
No family came to visit, and he had no friends either. Kanna endured the loneliness and kept his longing for his past life in check, while quietly translating the techniques and methods of the seven jutsu in his mind. Well, seven in name only—the Shuriken: All-Out Throw Technique was basically just a doodle, though learning it could still help pass the time. He also reviewed the ninja skills he remembered learning at school, studied the different Buddhist meanings represented by the twelve hand seals—Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Ram, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Boar. The Sage of Six Paths had once been a monk, and even now some Buddhist practitioners still used these seals, which carried Buddhist meanings. He learned how different seals guided chakra through different meridians, went over basic shuriken techniques, the fundamental stances and variations of swordsmanship, basic tracking and countertracking, intelligence gathering, counter-surveillance, and countless other things. Little by little, he lost track of time, forgot his circumstances, forgot his past life, and immersed himself completely in the sea of ninja knowledge.
It wasn't until the third month of his stay, in August, on a sunny afternoon, that Kanna received word he could leave the hospital.
Three months—ninety days. Kanna had gone from being an ordinary Earthling and a transmigrator to someone who had begun to adapt to life in the Naruto world and the fast pace of Kirigakure. He was starting to show the bearing of a ninja.
Steady, thorough, calm, composed, cautious—Kanna felt as if he had become a different person, inside and out. He was more confident, stronger, and on his way to becoming a proper ninja!
After a sudden upheaval and much painful reflection, he had finally emerged transformed. That was Kanna now: a newly recognized Genin of Kirigakure, who had recently received an award from the village's Ninja Academy and been given a Forehead Protector in his hospital room.
Quietly following his stern-faced father, Kanna Tokiomi, and his mother, Kanna Morishita Mai, who was awkwardly trying to make conversation and lighten the mood, Kanna finally walked out of the hospital building where he had spent three months. Standing beneath the blazing sun, he broke into a happy smile and took great gulps of air.
The air no longer smelled of disinfectant. His view was no longer just white and blue. The veins in his arm no longer carried the chill of medicine. He didn't even care that vigorous movement brought a sharp pain in his left chest.
"Ah!"
He roared with all his strength, announcing his arrival to the world.
The very next moment, his "father" scolded him.
"What are you doing? This is a hospital! Keep your voice down!"
Kanna noticed Kanna Tokiomi's displeased expression and the people around them pointing and staring, but he simply pretended not to see.
What awaited me tomorrow, the day after, and in the future?
A new world, a new future—I'm here!
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