Turning from Darkness to Light

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Creak—

The shrill sound of the cell door opening woke Li Tong, who had only fallen asleep a few hours earlier. He was leaning against the corner, and now he lifted his head and narrowed his eyes slightly. An Anbu Ninja entered, carrying a filthy, chipped bowl. Inside were two rice balls wrapped in seaweed.

Breakfast for the prisoners.

The mysterious-looking Anbu Ninja walked up to Li Tong, his eyes cold. He set down the bowl, then turned and left without a word.

Creak—

The cell door shut again, and the room dimmed. Li Tong glanced at the rice balls in the chipped bowl. He had no desire to eat them!

He was hungry, but the bowl was so dirty that he would rather starve than eat food served in it.

"Damn it... How am I supposed to get out? If this keeps up, even if they don't kill me, I'll starve to death..." Li Tong muttered, then lowered his head to look at the shackles around his wrists.

A few hours earlier, he had unlocked the shackles, then put them back on himself. He hadn't found a suitable chance to leave. His desire to escape was overwhelming... but this was the notorious Konoha Anbu prison!

"Too bad I have so little chakra. I don't seem to be very strong, either."

Li Tong had already tried converting chakra. He knew the original story and this world, and the process had gone smoothly. The original owner of this body had been a ninja.

"They'll interrogate me again, won't they..." Li Tong thought. Unlike when he had just woken up, he was completely calm now. He had accepted "reality" and could think clearly, assess his situation, and look for a way to turn things around.

He needed a chance—a chance to escape.

Half an hour later.

Creak—

The door opened again.

Two mysteriously dressed Anbu Ninjas entered first. They hung torches in the brackets on either side of the door, then left.

Three more ninjas entered the cell one after another. They were all "familiar faces": Anbu Captain White Fang, the interrogator Chen He, and another, an Anbu medic with the codename "Qingsuo." Li Tong had only seen him once, but with his True Sight Eye, he never forgot anyone he had met.

White Fang walked in front and stopped a few steps from Li Tong. He glanced at the food delivered earlier, and a gleam flashed in his eyes beneath his mask.

"Are you going to starve yourself?" White Fang asked in a low voice.

"The bowl's dirty," Li Tong replied, meeting White Fang's gaze. He was actually curious about what White Fang looked like beneath his mask.

White Fang didn't press him about refusing to eat. Instead, he got straight to the point, his tone indifferent. "Since you've lost your memory and don't remember your past, the person you are now has nothing to do with the person you were. You can start a new life. Understand?"

"What do you mean?" Li Tong asked. He suddenly noticed that in White Fang's information, the relationship entry had changed from hostility to neutrality.

"After discussing it, we've decided to bring you into Konoha," White Fang continued. "If you agree, from this day on, you'll be a Konoha Ninja. Of course, you'll also become a rogue ninja from Amegakure."

"Bring me in?" Li Tong's eyes lit up. What a turnaround!

Still, he found it strange. Would Konoha really take in prisoners just like that?

"That's right, bring you in. But you must sever all ties with Amegakure. If we find out you're still in contact with them, then... you understand the consequences."

"I agree!" Li Tong answered without hesitation.

Betraying his original village and joining an enemy village might have been dishonorable, but it had nothing to do with Li Tong. If he could have chosen where to be reincarnated, he would never have chosen to become a Rain Ninja. In the original story, Amegakure was a dark place, while Konoha was much more normal.

Besides, the two main characters in the original story, Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha, were both Konoha Ninjas, along with a host of other important characters. Konoha was at the heart of the main story.

Leaving Amegakure for Konoha was, in any case, a way of turning from darkness to light.

"Good. I'm glad you agree." White Fang's tone remained indifferent, but he stepped forward and held out his hand to Li Tong. "Welcome to Konoha!"

Li Tong hurriedly raised both hands and shook White Fang's.

White Fang pulled hard, hauling Li Tong to his feet. Then he added, "But I should warn you: you're joining us as a defector, so you'll face a lot of pressure in the village. For a while, many people will be hostile toward you."

"I understand," Li Tong replied.

"More importantly!" White Fang's voice suddenly turned serious. "Because you betrayed Amegakure, they'll send people to assassinate you and eliminate the traitor. The village will protect you, but it can't guarantee you'll be safe. You'll still have to rely on yourself. Be careful, understand?"

"Understood!" Li Tong nodded decisively.

Whatever White Fang said, Li Tong nodded along. He just wanted to get out of this filthy prison as soon as possible, take a nice bath, and put on clean clothes.

White Fang could tell Li Tong hadn't taken his words seriously. He paused, then continued, "It seems you still don't understand your situation. Let me be clear: in the past year, Konoha has taken in eight ninjas in circumstances similar to yours."

"So I'm the ninth?"

"And the only one still alive."

"Hm?" Li Tong's heart jolted.

"Of the first eight, four were killed by assassins from their former villages, two died on missions, and two disappeared and can almost certainly be presumed dead. Even the two who died on missions did so under suspicious circumstances. We suspect they were assassinated during their missions. In other words, so far, every ninja from an enemy village who has defected to Konoha has died. And Konoha has lost more than ten ninjas protecting those who joined us, including two Anbu Ninjas."

"Then..." Li Tong blinked at White Fang, his expression strange. After a long pause, he asked, "If that's the case, why do you want me to join Konoha? It doesn't seem to benefit Konoha or me."

White Fang fell silent for a moment, apparently considering whether to tell Li Tong. Then he said, "There's no harm in telling you. We'll need your cooperation anyway... This is a plan devised by the Third, a plan to turn enemy ninjas and take in prisoners to serve Konoha. The key is that Konoha must prove to the outside world that ninjas who sincerely join us will be treated fairly and given adequate protection. Only then will important hardliners among our prisoners stop resisting to the bitter end and join us... If we weaken them while strengthening ourselves, this plan could greatly benefit Konoha in the war!"

Li Tong finally understood!

No wonder White Fang had come to him today and suddenly asked to bring him into Konoha.

Konoha had already had this plan for some time, but it had never succeeded. Every ninja who had once been an enemy and then joined Konoha had died! Li Tong happened to meet the requirements, so he had become a crucial part of the plan.

Konoha would do its best to keep Li Tong alive!

But judging by what had happened before, the moment Li Tong stepped outside, he'd face one deadly threat after another!

For some reason, Li Tong even felt a little excited.

"I understand. No problem at all. I want to join Konoha!" Li Tong spoke as if he had given it careful thought, though in truth, he had no other choice.