Yakushi Hane

The autumn wind swept through, and fallen leaves blanketed the ground.

At dusk, fiery clouds dyed Konoha's sky red.

The most prosperous ninja village in the world was cast in an especially peaceful glow.

A child whose hair was as pale as moonlight stood alone in a makeshift Training Ground, eyes closed, facing six targets around him.

"Swish, swish!"

He carefully recalled Uchiha Itachi's shuriken techniques.

The white-haired child suddenly opened his eyes and flung out both hands.

Three sharp kunai were already clutched between the fingers of each small hand.

Then he sprang high into the air!

His not-yet-grown body stretched out as much as it could midair.

The six kunai in his hands became streaks of black light, shooting toward the six targets around him.

"Clang, clang!"

Two crisp impacts rang through the air.

Two of the kunai had somehow caught up with the four thrown ahead of them, striking them and sending them ricocheting along several altered trajectories.

"Thunk, thunk, thunk!"

In the end, all six kunai hit the bull's-eyes without exception!

Perfect!

For a child who looked no older than four or five,

such shurikenjutsu was undeniably astonishing.

"What's even the point of training?"

"What good is being great with shuriken?"

Despite being so young, the child had executed such exquisite shurikenjutsu.

Yet he sighed, plopped down on the ground, and wore a dejected look.

"I don't have the Sharingan or the Byakugan, let alone the Rinnegan or Tenseigan..."

"I don't even have a decent Kekkei Genkai..."

Looking down at his own small hands, the child couldn't help but sigh at the sky.

"What can I do? I'm desperate too!"

The child was five years old.

In this life, his name was Yakushi Hane.

He was a war orphan whom a Konoha Medical Corps ninja had found on the battlefield of the Battle of Kikyo Pass.

He had no parents, no name, and no country.

Only after Konoha classified him as a war orphan and entrusted him to Yakushi Nonō, the director of the Konoha Orphanage, did he get the name Yakushi Hane.

As a transmigrator, Yakushi Hane

knew all too well that the world of Naruto was one where bloodlines mattered immensely.

In ancient times, the bloodline of Kaguya Otsutsuki, the progenitor of chakra, and the God Tree had given rise to every ability and ninjutsu in the world.

Hane knew that everything in the future of this Ninja World would revolve around powerful bloodlines like the Sharingan, Rinnegan, and Tenseigan—abilities strong enough to destroy the world.

Tsukuyomi, Amaterasu, Kotoamatsukami, Izanagi, Susanoo, Shinra Tensei, Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion...

Whenever he thought about all the outrageously powerful abilities that would appear in the middle and later parts of the story, Hane felt helpless.

"Without a Kekkei Genkai..."

"In a world crawling with geniuses and cheats, what can I even accomplish?"

Thinking about the future of this ninja world,

Hane felt his prospects grow bleaker and bleaker. A bitter smile tugged at his lips. "No, even if I had a Kekkei Genkai..."

"Unless I had the direct bloodline of Kaguya Otsutsuki, I'd be little more than a slightly stronger cannon fodder..."

After all, Hane knew the plot of Naruto inside out.

Without relying on the bloodlines passed down by the Otsutsuki Clan and the God Tree,

even the strongest ordinary humans could only reach the level of the Kage of the Five Great Ninja Villages.

Why could Uchiha Madara look down on the world and dominate the Ninja World?

Why could Senju Hashirama pacify Sengoku and bring an end to the chaos?

Why could Naruto Uzumaki and Uchiha Sasuke keep getting power-ups without limit?

Because all four of them were reincarnations of Indra and Asura, the two sons of the Sage of Six Paths, Otsutsuki Hagoromo—and they also had the protagonist's halo.

That was why, in this ninja world, no matter how talented or hard-working anyone else was, they couldn't compete with them.

In Hane's eyes, that was simply the harsh reality of this world.

"Forget it. No point dwelling on it."

"If I don't have a cheat, I'd better train hard. Otherwise, I might die in this war before the story even begins."

After thinking it over for a while,

Hane, his mind clouded by negative thoughts, shook his head hard.

He got back to his feet, determination rekindling in his eyes. "There's always a way. At worst, I'll follow the example of the future Might Guy..."

"I'll train hard in the Eight Inner Gates! Even if it burns through my life, I refuse to be a nobody!"

"Do you crave power?"

Just as Hane stood up, ready to resume his rigorous training,

an unfamiliar voice suddenly sounded in his mind without warning.

It was both sultry and seductive. Hane didn't know how to describe it.

Yet it passed through every barrier and burrowed straight into the depths of his mind and soul.

No! I crave milk—

Hearing that strange, sultry voice, Hane nearly blurted out the words on reflex.

"How strange..."

"Am I hallucinating because I'm tired from training?"

But once he came to his senses, Hane warily scanned his surroundings.

Seeing only an empty grove where the wind stirred the grass, he scratched the back of his head in confusion.

Aside from him, there wasn't another soul in sight.

"Do you crave power?"

Just as Hane thought he'd imagined it,

the sultry, seductive voice rang out again from deep within his soul.

"Who's there?!"

"Stop skulking around! Show yourself!"

The strange voice spoke again.

Several sharp shuriken suddenly appeared, as if by magic, in Hane's small hands. His little face was wary as he searched his surroundings.

In this blood-soaked ninja world, especially during wartime,

such basic ninja instincts had already become second nature to Hane, who had been training for a year.

"Ohoho..."

"So young, and already carrying yourself like a proper ninja..."

It seemed the voice could see Hane standing there, tense and on guard.

The especially sultry voice continued to ring out from deep within his soul, haunting him.

"Although you don't have a cheat..."

"You do have a handsome face!"

The sultry voice felt like a gentle hand brushing across Hane's cheek.

It was true. In this life, although heaven hadn't granted Hane a powerful Kekkei Genkai, it had given him good looks.

His hair was white as moonlight, his delicate, fair face prettier than a girl's, and his large amber eyes gleamed like exquisite jewels.

Even in Konoha, Hane was the little heartthrob most popular with the girls and aunties.

But with the soul of an old man, he had to endure those girls and aunties pinching and squeezing him all the time. Hane was practically at his breaking point.