Childhood Arc: Companions

The night I awakened my Devil Fruit, I slept especially soundly. Maybe gaining strength made me feel secure, or maybe it was because I had Rin's support.

Or perhaps I had finally let out a sigh of relief.

In any case, I slept deeply that night, and so I had an incredibly vivid dream—a dream of my past.

"Hey, catch!"

A basketball suddenly flew toward my back at incredible speed. The moment I heard the shout, I turned around, but the ball was already right in front of me.

The basketball struck me squarely in the face. My glasses fell to the ground, one side of the frame broken, and a piercing pain shot through my face.

Even so, I only smiled and apologized to them. Bending down, I ignored my glasses and picked up the basketball first, returning it to them.

"Looks like the 'novelist' has terrible reflexes. You've gotta catch a ball like that, right? Hahahahahaha..."

I had long since grown used to it. I had gone away to school and returned to my rural hometown, while everyone around me was either from the same village or the same elementary school. They had already formed their own little circles.

I was the only one who didn't fit in.

That would have been fine, until several of the most influential boys in class discovered the novel I had written. From then on, my life began to go wrong.

Every day when I entered the classroom, the first thing waiting for me was always a pile of inexplicable mocking nicknames.

Once the bell rang for recess, my seat no longer belonged to me, and the personal belongings in my desk became public property.

The endless teasing, ridicule, and extortion... Over time, I grew used to that life. I remained lonely until I entered society and met the one good brother who respected and acknowledged me. Only then did the shadows in my heart gradually fade.

I wondered how he was doing now. The wedding should have gone smoothly, right?

How ridiculous. I wanted to save someone, but slipped and crashed into a table, dying so carelessly. I hoped it hadn't affected the wedding.

I really hoped he and my sister-in-law could stay happy forever...

When I opened my eyes, a familiar yet unfamiliar ceiling filled my blurred vision.

I remembered. I had already been reincarnated as Qingyue from Naruto.

"I'm heading out!"

After making and eating a simple breakfast, I called out to the empty house. Then I put on my shoes at the entrance and left.

After all, both my parents were outstanding jonin and were rarely home. But that gave me more freedom to move around.

[Lord Qingyue, please continue training hard today.]

[Got it, Teacher Hill.]

With my hands behind my head, I walked through the bustling streets. After passing through countless alleys, I arrived at an empty clearing.

I had stumbled across this place while jogging around the village to familiarize myself with it, and I had made it my training ground.

[Lord Qingyue, please warm up first. Stretch all the muscles in your body, then begin burpees, followed by shuttle runs with changing speeds.]

Thanks to the knowledge from my previous life and Hill's help, I carried out extremely scientific training every day.

Compared to these natives, who only knew how to brutally work their bodies, this kind of training let me improve faster and offered better long-term prospects.

After warming up came sword drills, followed by sparring blindfolded against specially made wooden posts.

Battle Aura training was even more tedious than I had imagined. It was just repeating a few movements over and over—getting hit, standing back up, and continuing to get hit.

By the time the morning had passed, I was drenched in sweat, and my chakra was nearly depleted.

"Phew, phew..." Exhausted, I lay on the ground with my tongue hanging out, every part of my body aching.

[That concludes this morning's training, Lord Qingyue. Please return home, take a shower, and have lunch.]

[Today's training seems more intense than before. Is that just my imagination, Teacher Hill?]

[Lord Qingyue, your strength grows little by little every day, so the intensity of your training must naturally continue increasing. If you are very tired, I can say some sweet comforting words you would like to hear. What do you think?]

[Thanks... but I'll pass.]

A relationship between a human and a machine was just too bizarre. Who got reincarnated into another world and, instead of dating pretty natives, fell in love with their own system?

After returning home, showering, and changing clothes, I brought the lean meat I had braised the day before to Ichiraku Ramen.

"Uncle Teuchi, the usual, please!"

"Got it! Tonkotsu ramen, less oil, extra noodles. It'll be ready soon!"

Whenever my parents weren't home, I would make some meat dishes myself and come to Ichiraku Ramen. Although Uncle Teuchi was already incredibly generous and always gave me plenty of meat, it still wasn't enough to restore my muscles.

My brother from my previous life used to go to the gym often. He was always telling me how important protein intake was, and after hearing it enough, I learned how to plan my diet.

[By the way, if I start tormenting myself like this now, will I end up not growing taller later?]

[No, Lord Qingyue. Your appearance is almost a perfect replica of Rudeus Greyrat. Reaching 175 centimeters will not be a problem. You may even grow taller.]

That was good. If I ended up becoming a short, muscular little guy later, then this second chance at life would be ruined...

While waiting for my ramen, I did not sit idle. I concentrated on recalling the sensation I had grasped during training earlier.

Battle Aura was extremely unfamiliar, both to this world and to me. After successfully using it, I had to immediately remember that feeling.

"Uncle Teuchi, I'm here for ramen!"

"Oh? Isn't that Obito? The usual tonkotsu ramen, right? It'll be ready soon! And will the young lady have the usual as well?"

"Mm. Make the flavor a little lighter, and give me slightly fewer noodles too, or it'll go to waste."

That familiar soft, adorable voice interrupted my thoughts. Turning around, I saw Obito and Rin had come together.

"Huh? Qingyue! You're here too? What a coincidence!"

"My parents aren't home, so I came to Uncle Teuchi's place."

Obito was still loud, excitable, and completely lacking in boundaries. We were not even that close, yet he casually slung an arm around my shoulder and started talking without hesitation.

What an enviable, cheerful personality. If I had been able to act like that in my previous life, perhaps I would not have suffered so much.

"Qingyue's parents aren't home today either? Being a ninja is really tough."

Rin was much better by comparison. Her voice was not exaggeratedly loud, but she did not sound distant either.

She seemed like the kind of person who could get along with anyone.

"They're jonin, after all. The village has lots of missions. By the way, why did you two come here together?"

"The neighbor whose food I always mooch off went on a long trip today, so I came out to eat. I happened to run into Rin on the way, so we came here together."

The neighbor whose food he often mooched off... Right, Obito's parents seemed to have died in the war.

I should invite him to eat with me more often in the future.

"Oh, right, Qingyue! Come play with us after we eat! I heard there's a competition today that only kids can enter. We get to show off ninjutsu, and this is my chance to shine!"

A ninjutsu performance? I vaguely remembered this. Obito spat out a few sparks, then Kakashi utterly crushed him with an Earth Release ninjutsu.

"Ninjutsu... I only know one. My dad taught it to me whenever he had time."

For some reason, Hill had not arranged any ninjutsu training for me. She had only been constantly training my physical abilities.

But Hill definitely would not harm me. If even my cheat system betrayed me, this would turn into a trash game.

"It's fine, it's fine! I'll definitely win first place and take the prize! This is the debut of the future first Uchiha Hokage!"

"You're that confident you can become Hokage someday?"

This guy really was an optimist. It was like saying in my previous life that he would cosplay the number one Graves player on the Japanese server—something that existed only in fantasy, yet he could say it without the slightest hesitation.

"Of course! The Sharingan of the Uchiha clan is the strongest. Once I awaken it, becoming Hokage will be easy!"

"Is that so? Then I'll come take a look later. Rin, are you coming too?"

"Mm. I feel like Obito might get into trouble if he's left alone, so I'll feel more at ease if I go with him."

"Rin, how can you say that?"

"I feel the same way as Rin. If you cause trouble, having us there means we can drag you away and run faster."

"Qingyue, you too?! Can't we be friendly companions anymore?"

Companions... What a luxurious word for the me of my previous life. But here, it seemed within easy reach.

After finishing the ramen, I paid for Rin's meal as usual, and I paid for Obito's too.

I couldn't openly treat them differently. Otherwise, if Uncle Obito ever launched some tearful Kamui-fueled thunderous campaign against me, I'd be finished.

On the street, a crowd had gathered not far from where we stood. A man standing at the highest point was loudly calling out something.

"That's it, that's it! Qingyue, Rin, let's hurry over! We won't be able to register otherwise!"

The moment Obito saw the situation, he grabbed Rin and me and ran forward. We finally made it just before registration closed.

"Sir, he and I both want to sign up!"

"Of course, young man. What are your names?"

At that, Obito suddenly grinned and pulled his goggles down from his forehead over his eyes.

"Uchiha Obito, the man who will become Hokage!"

The moment they heard the word Uchiha, the man's expression clearly became somewhat complicated, while the people nearby unconsciously stepped back a few paces.

Come to think of it, the Uchiha's relationship with the village was not as bad yet as it would become after the Nine-Tails Rebellion, but many cracks had already formed.

The reason was still the Uchiha clan's proud nature, combined with the Konoha Police Force's thankless work.

In essence, the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, had not been wrong. He had given the Uchiha the job of protecting the village while keeping them away from the village's center to prevent rebellion.

After all, there had been Madara Uchiha as a precedent. If it happened again, there would be no Hashirama Senju to stop it.

And their arrogant, disdainful attitude was genuinely hard to tolerate. Even if they were essentially tsundere, in an era where people could barely feed themselves, no one had the time to figure out how to please them.

Even now, plenty of people still held prejudices against black people. It was perfectly normal for Konoha to be prejudiced against the Uchiha.

"My name is Qingyue. Please take care of me."

"Obito and Qingyue, here are your numbers. Go to the waiting area and watch the others perform first."

On the performance stage, many children around our age formed hand seals and displayed their ninjutsu. But given their age, even the children of major clans could only show incomplete techniques.

At last, it was Obito's turn. Looking utterly confident, he walked onto the stage and loudly introduced his name and goal of becoming Hokage once again.

After an unbearably awkward round of laughter from the audience, Obito formed hand seals with both hands, then spat out a few sparks and completed an incomplete Fireball Jutsu.

"Obito is amazing."

Rin, standing beside me, was the only person applauding for Obito. It was not that he had performed badly; it was simply that the Uchiha name was too hard for people to like.

Compared to the people before him, Obito's performance had been fairly good. It was still a little lacking, but he did not have parents to guide him, so there was nothing to be done about that.

"Mm, he's very impressive. As expected of someone who will become Hokage in the future."

Then came Kakashi. Sure enough, he rapidly formed hand seals and released a complete, powerful Earth Release technique. The ground around him shook so violently that it was difficult to remain standing.

Under that powerful Earth Release, the judges all gave perfect scores.

"Wow, Kakashi is amazing!"

Mm, her attitude was visibly different from how she had reacted to Obito. Rin might not have liked Kakashi yet, but the seed of admiration was probably planted here.

I hoped that this time, Rin would be the one to like me.

Finally, it was my turn to take the stage as the finale. Following the hand seals my dad had taught me, I circulated the chakra inside my body and successfully used the Shadow Clone Technique.

"This is... the Clone Technique. Its completion is very high. If that child earlier hadn't displayed such an Earth Release, today's champion would have been him."

"Yes, what a pity."

Huh? These people could not even tell the difference between the Clone Technique and a Shadow Clone?

Only a very small number of people nearby showed surprise, but Rin happily applauded for me. Her mood did not seem any worse than it had been for Kakashi.

That was enough.