I Want to Speak Like a Human

On the rooftop of an unfinished building.

The sound of pop-tops cracking open echoed incessantly.

A man tilted his head back, pouring beer down his throat with a heroic air. The man beside him didn't offer any praise, simply cracking open another can and handing it over.

"Brother Kitahara, now that you're free, what do you want to do? I'll help you see if there's anything I can assist with..."

"Me, huh..." The man glanced at the desolate outskirts. A few pitch-black crows cawed as they flew toward the sky. These birds... were symbols of death.

"I really want to be a crow... Even if it's an omen of misfortune that everyone avoids, it can still live freely and happily..."

"..."

The brother beside him choked on his words.

"Since I came here, Brother Kitahara, you've helped me a lot, and I haven't been able to do anything for you..." The brother took a heavy gulp of beer, his words starting to slur: "If you really think that way, it's not impossible..."

His tone sounded serious.

He looked up and extended his right palm, the golden light drawing Kitahara's gaze into it completely.

Kitahara was a bit dazed. He suddenly remembered that this brother had always been honest and sincere in his words and actions, which was why Kitahara had looked after him for so many years.

After regaining consciousness, Kitahara felt like breaking down. Good brother... why do you always have a way when it comes to such ridiculous things!

Kitahara turned his head, scanning his surroundings. The forest here was dense, and the air was incredibly fresh.

The only thing was, he had truly turned into a crow.

Kitahara remained silent for a moment, flapping his wings to fly to a small stream, looking at his reflection in the water.

Could a crow be any different? Yes.

The pitch-black feathers were a pure, ink-black, as if... a lazy designer had simply used a black fill tool on the entire body.

The model and design were both extremely perfunctory.

The only part that had color, yet defied logic... were those eyes. They were red, feeling like a student who had added too much water when mixing paint, resulting in a shade that wasn't even vibrant.

This must be a model and paint job done by a kindergartner!

The crow flapped its wings and took flight. Kitahara intended to find someone to demand a refund; he didn't actually want to be a crow.

After all, born as a human, who would truly want to be a beast?

"Screech... screech..."

A harsh sound reached him, catching his attention.

Kitahara looked up and saw a little boy falling along a cliff... He held two sharp blades in his hands, constantly scraping against the stone wall of the cliff, trying to delay his descent.

The flock of crows in the woods was startled, swarming over and circling above the little boy's head, waiting for a feast once he fell.

Kitahara swooped down toward the little boy at high speed. Humans wouldn't ignore the death of their own kind, which was why they had tribes.

Even though he was a crow now...

His claws gripped the little boy's arm tightly, flapping his wings desperately, trying to block their downward momentum.

However, the problem was, whether the child was too light or this crow had too much strength, he actually managed to carry the little boy and fly upward...

This didn't follow logi... but he had already turned into a crow, so what the hell was the point of logic!

"Are you... trying to save me?"

The little boy looked up, staring at the black mass above, and suddenly revealed a cute smile: "Thank you!"

"Caw?"

As soon as he opened his mouth, it was just a crow's caw...

Kitahara dropped the little boy onto the grass, preparing to fly further away to see if the kid's parents were around. Although he looked precocious, a child of only three or four years old must have parents looking after him.

However, the sentence that came from below made Kitahara almost fall from the sky...

"Thank you!" The little boy waved his small palms happily on the ground: "My name is Uchiha Itachi!"

Uchiha... Itachi...

U-chi-ha... I-ta-chi...

Kitahara flew back down, spreading his wings and hovering in front of Uchiha Itachi: "Caw?"

"Do you have a name?" The little boy squinted his eyes, stroking Kitahara's feathers with a very warm smile.

Following his movements, a surge of scorching power flowed into Kitahara's body. In an instant, a more powerful force erupted from within Kitahara, pushing that energy back out.

The overwhelming aura sent Uchiha Itachi flying away in an instant!

The child lay half-prostrate on the ground, his eyes widening in surprise: "This kind of Chakra..."

Kitahara instinctively familiarized himself with the power in his body. His soul was extremely powerful, which allowed his spirit to easily control the body.

Although he didn't understand it, he knew what it meant for an animal to possess Chakra!

It, Kitahara, was no simple crow.

It was a... ninja crow that wanted to be a human again.

Kitahara pondered how his so-called good brother had managed to turn him into a ninja crow possessing Chakra and send him to the Naruto world.

For over a decade, that guy had seemed like the most ordinary person imaginable; Kitahara had no reason to doubt his identity.

Moreover, that honest and simple demeanor really didn't look like someone with status or power... Kitahara pondered bitterly...

"When I learn the Summoning Technique from Father, I'll come to you to sign a Summoning Contract, okay?"

Uchiha Itachi, who was gradually approaching, spoke cautiously. The mention of the Summoning Technique instantly revived a corner of Kitahara's memory.

Boar-Dog-Bird-Monkey-Ram!

What the hell!

Why did it know the hand seals for the Summoning Technique!

Kitahara's own wings even rapidly extended in front of his chest, overlapping to form the seals... and finally slammed onto the ground, with the ground even forming a summoning seal...

However, nothing appeared.

Kitahara had not signed a Summoning Contract; in fact, it was impossible for him to sign any Summoning Contract at all... he still wanted to be a human.

He thought about all the ninjutsu he could recall: Transformation Technique, Shadow Clone Technique...

The hand seals and Chakra circulation methods for various ninjutsu awakened, but Kitahara clearly felt that he couldn't use some of them.

He currently possessed all sorts of Chakra and ninjutsu knowledge, yet he couldn't use a single bit of ninjutsu... it was as if... they needed to be activated.

For example, the Summoning Technique... which Uchiha Itachi had just mentioned.

This kind of cheat could be considered top-tier! And a cheat that didn't require any effort to succeed so easily... other than the fact that he was a crow, there didn't seem to be anything to be dissatisfied with...

Uchiha Itachi watched in shock as the crow before him performed various hand seals, and of course, he quickly memorized them... but a crow performing hand seals... even for a ninja crow, it was just too surprising!

Kitahara stopped, and the little boy also stopped his movements. Their eyes met, and the bird's beak opened: "Caw?"

Uchiha Itachi clearly couldn't understand bird language. He could only tilt his head in confusion, his large eyes blinking: "Caw?"

It was one thing for you to learn ninjutsu... but have you gone stupid from learning to caw like a crow?

Noticing the look in Kitahara's eyes, the little boy Itachi's face turned noticeably red: "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imitate you."

Peeking at others learning ninjutsu, even at four years old, he knew that wasn't right.

Kitahara used his wing to make a gesture, signaling him to extend his arm, then took flight to land on it, pointing his wing toward the village in the distance.

"Caw!"

"..."