Konoha, Year 42. Early summer.
The air was thick with heat and dust. Cicadas shrilled as though warning of something to come.
The Konoha Ninja Academy, site of the 24th graduating class's practical exam.
"Get down! Stop embarrassing yourself!"
"You're both Uchiha. How did a useless wretch like you come from the same clan?"
"Your Chakra reserves are at the bottom of the class. You're bringing shame on our clan!"
Scornful jeers surged from the stands around the training field like a rising tide.
Most of them came from the east side of the stands, where the Uchiha sat, clad in dark, high-collared clothes and bearing their Gunbai clan crest.
At the center of the storm of criticism stood a boy, quiet and still.
His name was Uchiha Ryūha.
He had tousled black hair, pale skin, and strikingly delicate features.
A pair of unnecessary, non-prescription glasses rested on his nose, lending him a scholarly air that clashed with the grim atmosphere of the surrounding shinobi.
Ryūha nudged his frames. A flash of white glinted across the lenses, concealing the fleeting indifference in his eyes.
It's been three days since I crossed over... he murmured inwardly.
In his previous life, he'd been a hardcore anime fan. He never imagined that he'd wake up in the world of Naruto, as an orphan from a branch family of the Uchiha Clan.
His parents had died, and he'd been nothing special in the talent department.
His Chakra reserves were pitifully small, and in the strength-obsessed Uchiha Clan, he'd lived like a pathetic joke.
His only real advantages now were the mind of someone who'd lived two lives and his knowledge of Naruto's story.
But that was for the long term.
How was he supposed to get through this hurdle right now?
Today was the graduation exam.
It was also a turning point that would decide his fate.
On the eve of the Third Great Ninja War, failing to become a shinobi meant losing any guarantee of safety.
But becoming a Genin cannon fodder meant he could die on the battlefield at any moment.
Not to mention the suffocating law of the Uchiha Clan: only the strong survived.
At least he hadn't crossed over on the night of the massacre. There were still five years until that dutiful son was born.
"Uchiha Ryūha!"
The Chunin proctor frowned as he glanced at the match sheet in his hands. His tone was impatient. "Your opponent is... Uchiha Setsuna!"
The moment he finished speaking, laughter burst from the stands.
"Setsuna? He's the top student of this class!"
"Haha, the top student against the class dead-last. This'll be fun."
"Is Ryūha going to be burned to ash?"
A figure appeared in an instant before Ryūha.
Uchiha Setsuna, a prodigy who had awakened his One-Tomoe Sharingan at just ten years old.
He stood with his chin raised and an arrogant look on his face, staring at Ryūha as if he were garbage.
"Ryūha, since we're of the same clan, I'll give you a chance to walk away."
Setsuna folded his arms and said coldly, "Save everyone's time and stop disgracing the Uchiha."
A few snickers rose from the edge of the field.
When Ryūha didn't answer, Setsuna added with a look of disgust, "The Uchiha's noble bloodline shouldn't be put on display in a place like this by someone as incompetent as you."
Ryūha looked at his haughty "clan brother" and curled his lips into the faintest smile.
It was warm and modest.
Yet it also held a distance that kept others at arm's length.
"Setsuna, the exam hasn't even started. Why the rush?" Ryūha's voice was calm.
He might lose the match, but he wouldn't lose face.
Even if he died, he'd still have the last word.
Setsuna furrowed his brow. Ryūha's composure irritated him for reasons he couldn't explain.
What gave a loser like him the right to act so falsely composed?
"I'll show you that not everyone is worthy of bearing the name Uchiha."
"Begin!" The proctor gave the order and quickly retreated.
Uchiha Setsuna moved almost at once.
His hands blurred through Hand Seals, moving at astonishing speed.
Snake, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse, Tiger!
"Is that... a C-rank ninjutsu?!"
A student in the stands who recognized it gasped.
"A Genin needs not only plenty of Chakra, but also exceptional talent for ninjutsu!"
Setsuna's chest swelled as Chakra compressed furiously in his throat.
The One-Tomoe in his eye spun wildly, locking down every route Ryūha could take to escape.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
BOOM!
A massive fireball, more than three meters in diameter, roared forth.
Scorching waves of heat distorted the air, charring the dirt beneath it.
The firelight reflected in Ryūha's pupils, growing larger and larger, brilliant and deadly.
Ryūha stood where he was. He didn't even make Hand Seals to defend himself.
To everyone else, he looked as if he'd been scared senseless.
The Chunin proctor's face changed. He prepared to rush onto the field and stop the match.
"It's over." Uchiha Fugaku—the current Uchiha Clan Head—closed his eyes, his expression blank.
But a second before the fireball swallowed Ryūha—
[Ding!]
[Host is facing a life-or-death crisis. Soul compatibility has reached 100%!]
[Shinigami Gacha System officially activated!]
Ryūha's previously deadened heart gave a sudden jolt.
It had finally arrived.
The essential cheat ability for anyone who'd crossed into another world!
[Beginner's reward issued: One ten-pull from the limited banner (SSR has a chance to appear)]
[Beginner's mission issued: Crush Uchiha Setsuna with overwhelming superiority in the graduation exam and shock the entire crowd!]
[Mission reward: Unlock/enhance "Reiatsu" and automatically convert Chakra.
Owning a Zanpakuto will increase compatibility.]
[Draw now?]
Time stretched infinitely.
The roaring Great Fireball seemed to move at a snail's pace in Ryūha's perception.
Draw. Ryūha made his decision without hesitation.
Ten beams of light shot into the air in his mental space.
White, white, green, green, white, blue...
"Come on, man."
"I had terrible luck with gacha in my previous life, and now I'm still this unlucky after crossing over?"
Just as Ryūha's heart sank, the last beam of light suddenly burst into brilliant gold!
It was a sword.
A long Zanpakuto, radiating a strange yet captivating aura.
With it came a phantom wearing a white haori, with brown curls and eyes as deep as an abyss.
Aizen Sōsuke.
The man before you is—the emperor of Hueco Mundo, the one who fused with the Hōgyoku, the one who stands above the heavens.
[Congratulations, host! You have obtained an R-rank item: Shihakusho—Gigai Disguise Edition (White)]
[Congratulations, host! You have obtained an SR-rank skill: Red Fire Cannon (White)]
[Congratulations, host! You have obtained an SR-rank movement technique: Flash Step (Beginner) Quality: Blue]
[Congratulations, host! You have obtained an SSR-rank Zanpakuto: Kyoka Suigetsu (Shikai)!]
[Description: The strongest Zanpakuto of the illusion type. Ability: "Complete Hypnosis."]
[Quality: Gold]
[Note: The moment you grasp it, the illusion has already become reality.]
[System notice: Chakra detected in host. Converting energy...
Conversion complete! Current energy system: Reiatsu.]
[Kyoka Suigetsu has been materialized and stored in the host's ninja tool pouch.]
In the real world, time resumed its normal flow.
The scorching flames had already reached Ryūha's bangs.
"This is the art of Fire Release!" Uchiha Setsuna's ferocious laughter rang through the flames.
At some point, Ryūha's hand had settled on the ninja tool pouch behind his waist.
He didn't dodge.
He simply drew an ordinary-looking Tachi from the pouch.
As the flames swallowed his body, he raised the blade, its tip pointing down, and parted his lips.
He spoke the release command that would one day make the entire Shinobi World tremble:
"Shatter, Kyōka Suigetsu."
Humm—
An invisible wave surged out from Ryūha, instantly spreading across the entire training ground.
It was the ritual of Complete Hypnosis.
It was the power to control the five senses.
The next moment, the enormous Great Fireball exploded with a thunderous roar.
Dust billowed, completely obscuring Ryūha's figure.
Before you continue