Three Lives Reborn

"...I'm not dead?"

The young man opened his eyes and rubbed his brow, which hurt as if it were about to explode.

Looking around, he found himself lying on a wet tidal flat. The waves continuously washed over his exhausted body.

"I never thought I'd be reincarnated again. Gato, this situation is far too bad."

Gato was the young man's name—or rather, the name he had borne before being reincarnated. That was right: Gato, the utterly villainous merchant from Naruto.

But Gato was not his real name either. Originally, the young man had been a new-era youth from 21st-century China.

With no house or car, he had transmigrated into the body of Gato, a big boss in the world of Naruto. Naturally, he preferred his identity after transmigration, and gradually came to identify with the name Gato.

"I was still caught up in it... Being weak really is the original sin."

In his previous life, Gato had been a Naruto fan. He knew that, as this wealthy boss, he was doomed to die within a dozen or so episodes.

He had tried to change things. He had even gotten on the protagonists' good side, yet he had still died an unnatural death.

There was nothing to be done. Before those devastatingly powerful ninjutsu, even the protagonists were sometimes too busy saving themselves. How could they spare any attention for an ordinary, albeit very rich, man?

Besides, the immense wealth Gato possessed was practically a giant magnet for disaster. The protagonist group could not possibly provide him with personal protection, so naturally, Gato had died again.

"The most important thing now is surviving. Water... I need water."

Gato endured the searing pain all over his body, as though it had been sanded raw, and slowly crawled to his feet.

Who knew how much seawater this unlucky body's former owner had swallowed? Gato was now severely dehydrated, relying entirely on his will to survive to keep himself moving.

Reincarnation did not seem like something that could happen again and again. Death... he never wanted to experience it again.

Fortunately, shellfish similar to Earth's oysters could be found everywhere on this island's tidal flats.

Their soft, springy flesh concealed sweet, precious moisture.

That let Gato catch his breath, and his throat, dry as if it had been scorched by fire, felt somewhat better.

This body's constitution seemed exceptionally good. After merely eating a few oysters, Gato, who had suffered so much and was already utterly exhausted, somehow found a little strength again.

He knew that little bit of moisture could only ease the immediate crisis. It was nowhere near enough for survival. He had to find an adequate source of water.

"To find fresh water, I can only head inland. I hope there aren't any large beasts on this island." Looking toward the dense jungle in the island's interior, Gato felt uneasy.

Never enter the forest lightly—this was a truth China's ancients had summed up with blood. Now, with nothing to his name, Gato could only gamble his life on the possibility of survival.

The only stake he had to gamble with seemed to be his life.

"Hahaha, Heaven hasn't forsaken me!" Before long, he delightedly discovered some animal droppings. That often meant there was a water source nearby.

"The amount isn't large. It probably isn't some large predator, but I still need to be careful." Filled with hope, Gato began searching the surrounding area.

When he heard the gentle babble of running water, he knew he was temporarily saved.

Water was nature's simplest yet most profound gift to humanity. Gato now understood that deeply.

In his previous life, as one of the richest people in that world, he had drunk the finest wines and eaten delicacies from land and sea. Yet none of it had moved him as deeply as a handful of clear water from this stream.

At the same time, striving to survive through his own efforts was an experience Gato had never had before.

"So in the end, the only thing I can rely on is my own strength."

Money was also a form of strength, of course, but that strength could only be exerted indirectly. It might not truly belong to him, and whether it would work was still uncertain.

With a water source, everything became easier. The shellfish resources on this island alone were enough to support one person for half a year, though eating nothing but shellfish would lead to nutritional imbalance.

But that was not something to consider in the short term. Finding water was already incredibly fortunate. Gato did not dare rashly venture deeper in search of more abundant food sources.

The courage his desire to survive had given him was completely spent the moment he found water.

Not going deeper was also the more rational choice. Before establishing a firm foothold here, rashly venturing farther in search of meat would be truly foolish.

"The first thing I need to do now should be to make a fire, then build somewhere I can sleep."

After taking a few drinks of water, Gato's mind gradually cleared. He silently considered what he should do next to improve his odds of survival.

A fire was indeed an essential element of wilderness survival, but Gato was no survival expert.

After struggling for a while, he still failed to get a fire going, no matter how hard he tried.

Helplessly, Gato raised the priority of building a shelter.

Compared with his clumsiness at making fire, Gato seemed more gifted at building shelters. Before nightfall, he successfully made the place where he would sleep that night.

Looking at the crude yet sturdy hammock before him, joy filled Gato's eyes. "Not bad. Looks like I'm actually pretty capable."

He had a place to sleep, but he could only pray that no beasts, snakes, insects, or other creatures came near while he slept. Without the deterrence of fire, such things were left entirely to fate.

In the end, Gato could not overcome his body's exhaustion. Filled with fear of the unknown darkness, he closed his eyes, preparing to end his first day in this new world.

"Don't kill me! I'll give you money!!!" Gato jolted awake, then trembled as he looked around at the bright surroundings. Only after a long while did he finally relax.

"Whew... It was a dream." Even though he had already died once, death remained one of the most terrifying things to him.

Pressed by the need to survive, he had had no time to dwell on such emotions before, but his dreams honestly reflected what lay in his heart.

This only strengthened his resolve to stay alive.

There was great terror between life and death. Sometimes fear could destroy a person's will, but sometimes it could serve as kindling, helping those who wanted to live.

Without a doubt, Gato was the latter.

"I have to get a fire going today. At this rate, I'm afraid I won't last much longer."

The importance of fire went without saying. Gato had barely slept at all last night; only when the mosquitoes seemed to have drunk their fill and stopped bothering him had he been able to fall asleep.

As long as he had fire, the mosquitoes would not dare approach him so easily.

And if he did not want to remain in a place like this forever, a bonfire was one of the few—and most important—ways to signal for help.

It was already the second day. No matter what, he had to get a fire going.

A person could last a long time without food, but without fire, being in a forest filled with dangers was probably just as bad as losing access to fresh water.

Gato believed that yesterday's failure had been caused not only by his lack of experience, but also because his tinder had been too damp. He had to find something drier to use as kindling.

"As long as I don't keep going deeper, things can't get any worse, right?" Holding onto hope, Gato left the campsite that had given him at least a little sense of security.

However, his task ran into trouble from the very start.