(Brain storage area)
(Sorry for the trouble, everyone, but please store your brains first before you start reading. Thanks.)
"Lord Danzo requests your presence. Come with us. Don't make us use force."
A cold voice rang out in the dilapidated courtyard, scraping against Senju Chiba's eardrums.
Three Root shinobi wearing blank masks surrounded him in a triangular formation.
Under the moonlight, their figures blended into the shadows of the ruined buildings around them, radiating malice.
Chiba's body was only seven or eight years old. His clothes were thin, and he looked especially frail in the night wind.
He lifted his head. Those clear eyes, which should have belonged to a child, showed not a trace of fear—only calm.
He had been in this world for three days.
Three days ago, he had been a corporate drone in a rented apartment, eating instant noodles and cursing the developers of a mobile game. In the blink of an eye, he had woken up in this dilapidated wooden house.
Unfamiliar memories had flooded his mind. He had become Senju Chiba, the last surviving blood descendant of the Senju Clan.
The legendary clan that had once stood alongside the Uchiha and helped build Konoha was now reduced to a single orphan, left to guard these ruins, forgotten by the world.
Even the once-glorious ancestral home had become a playground for stray cats, and someone had spray-painted graffiti across its gate.
"Danzo?"
Chiba spoke the name, the corner of his mouth curling upward.
Shimura Danzo, the Darkness of Konoha—the ambitious schemer who would stop at nothing for the so-called "greater good."
That day, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, had just "warmly" welcomed him.
The kindly-looking old man had gently asked about Chiba's background, promised to take care of him as the "last hope of the Senju," and arranged for him to attend the Ninja Academy.
But Chiba's adult soul saw everything clearly: the scrutiny and calculation buried deep in those cloudy eyes were just like the empty promises made by the bosses at his old company.
In Konoha these days, Senju blood was both a valuable asset to bolster the Hokage faction's claim to legitimacy and a thorn in the side that would attract countless covetous eyes.
Sure enough, the Third Hokage had played the good cop during the day, and Danzo's bad cop had shown up that night.
"Looks like you don't plan on coming quietly."
Impatience crept into the voice of the Root shinobi in front. He tilted his head slightly, and the two beside him immediately closed in from either side.
Chiba ignored them, his consciousness immersed in the vast starry sky within his mind.
At its center, the phantom of a colossal tree reaching from heaven to earth flickered into view. It was the [Infinite Evolution Template] that had awakened alongside him three days ago.
[Host possesses the Senju Sage Body bloodline. Wood Release genes activated.] [Current level: Lv0 (Seed Stage).] [Evolution requirements: Defeat your first enemy or complete your first high-intensity battle.]
"Evolution..."
Chiba murmured.
He had tried. After exhausting all his chakra, he could only coax a crooked little sapling from his palm, not even as thick as a chopstick.
The system's icy prompt had left him at a loss for words: "Seed Stage. Please water first."
What he lacked wasn't water. It was blood.
The blood of battle!
"Move!"
The Root shinobi in front had run out of patience. At his command, two of his subordinates turned their hands into blades and struck for Chiba's neck and the small of his back.
They clearly had no intention of taking him alive. The so-called "request" was just a ruse.
A cold glint flashed in Chiba's eyes.
This was exactly what he had been waiting for!
The instant the Root shinobi attacked, he ducked low and charged toward the one in front!
He was exploiting their blind spot.
Everyone assumed he would run or freeze in terror.
The Root shinobi in front faltered, clearly not expecting a child to charge straight at him.
That split-second hesitation was all Chiba needed!
With the Senju Sage Body bolstering him, Chiba's physical abilities far surpassed those of an ordinary person. He moved with astonishing speed.
He rushed up to his opponent, stumbled into a roll, and slipped between the man's legs.
At the same time, the two Root shinobi behind him missed their attacks and nearly collided with each other.
"Brat!"
The Root shinobi in front, enraged and humiliated, turned and swept out with a kick.
Chiba rolled across the ground, barely evading it, and snatched up a piece of roof tile to hurl at the man's ankle.
The tile couldn't do any real damage, of course, but the distraction made the Root shinobi hesitate.
"Grab him!"
The three spread out and began hunting him through the desolate clan grounds.
Chiba raced desperately through the ruins.
He knew the Naruto world's ninjutsu system inside and out. Root members fought simply and efficiently, but they lacked flexibility.
He used collapsed walls, overgrown weeds, and scattered stones for cover, narrowly dodging attack after attack.
His chakra was draining fast, and his lungs burned.
"Ugh!"
A Root shinobi anticipated his route and struck him across the back of the shoulder with a hand blade. Chiba cried out and pitched forward.
Pain seared through him, but he didn't stop. Using his momentum, he rolled into a ruined house with only half its walls still standing.
"It's over."
A cold voice rang out behind him. The three Root shinobi had blocked every exit.
Chiba leaned against the wall and gasped for breath. Sweat and blood ran together, leaving him a sorry sight.
"Is this my limit?"
He licked his cracked lips, but a smile appeared on his face.
"Come on."
He looked at the approaching shinobi and calmly uttered a single word.
"Die!"
One of the Root shinobi was enraged by his taunt as he stood on the brink of death. In a flash, the man appeared in front of him and threw a punch at his face.
Chiba didn't dodge.
The instant the other man's fist was about to hit him, the chakra he had been secretly gathering beneath his feet erupted!
"Wood Release: Sapling Technique!"
A vine burst from the ground, wrapping precisely around the Root shinobi's ankle.
The vine was too weak. It snapped almost immediately.
But that tenth of a second was enough!
The Root shinobi stumbled, leaving a fatal opening in his forward rush.
A brilliant gleam flashed in Chiba's eyes. Summoning the last of his strength, he slammed his head into the man's exposed abdomen!
"Thud!"
A heavy impact rang out.
The Root shinobi hadn't expected him to attack with such a brutally physical move. The blow to his abdomen sent him flying into a wall, where he passed out.
At almost the same moment, a heavenly sound rang out in Chiba's mind!
[First battle complete! Defeated a Genin-level target! Evolution points +1!] [Host's life signs are critical. Fighting spirit has reached its peak. Hidden conditions met!] [Begin first evolution now?]
"Evolve!"
Chiba roared inwardly with all his strength.
The next second, golden-green light burst from his heart, enveloping his entire body!
The intense pain faded, replaced by a surging warmth!
The other two Root shinobi stepped back in shock at the sudden turn of events, staring in horror at the boy within the light, who should have been at death's door.
Amid the glow, a pair of eyes opened. All traces of a child's innocence were gone, replaced by a predator's coldness and hunger.
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