An age-old question: was there reincarnation after death?
He did not know about anyone else, but he had been reborn.
Shinsei looked at his small, pale, tender hands, then at the four enormous faces on the distant cliff, covered in white snow, and sighed inwardly.
Strictly speaking, he had reincarnated. In his previous life, he had died in an accident. He had never expected to open his eyes and see a nurse holding scissors.
Yet being reborn did not make him particularly happy.
Because this was the world of Naruto.
He had watched some of the anime on and off in his previous life. He could not remember the specific details, but he still knew the general plot. This was an extremely dangerous world! Saying that human lives were worth no more than grass was no exaggeration.
Looking at the distant police station bearing the Uchiha Clan Crest, he was glad he had not been born into the Uchiha Clan. He had no system to rely on. Otherwise, he would never escape the clan's extermination a few years later.
"Shinsei!"
A young woman's call came from a distance. That was his mother calling; it was probably time to eat.
"I'm here." Shinsei stood and waved to his mother.
His mother was a beautiful, gentle woman named Riya, with no surname. She had traditional virtues and good manners, and she was resting a hand on her lower abdomen as she bent forward and waved.
Shinsei jogged over, took his mother's hand, and headed home with her.
It was year 52 of Konoha. The demon fox's attack on the village had happened four years ago, and newly built two-story houses could still occasionally be seen on either side of the street.
Shinsei had only recently been born then and had muddled through the danger without knowing much about it.
His family in this life was reasonably well-off. They owned a three-story house and ran a general store downstairs. Though far from wealthy, they did not lack food or clothing.
Lunch consisted of one fried fish, three servings of sushi, a small plate of pork cutlets, and a serving of natto.
The pork cutlets were his. People here generally ate little meat, and having meat with all three meals was a privilege Shinsei had demanded by taking advantage of his young age.
Ever since discovering that this was the world of Naruto, he had strongly insisted on eating meat. Sufficient nutrition was the key to physical development, and the body's energy also affected how much chakra he would have in the future.
Across the dining table, his young father put down his newspaper, glanced at his son eagerly eyeing the food, and grinned.
His father in this life was called Nobita, a very ordinary name. Like his mother, he had no surname, though it was a little strange that a civilian couple had such good manners and a fairly substantial family property.
"Let's eat!" Shinjō grabbed his chopsticks, picked up a pork cutlet, and put it in his mouth.
His father shrugged, while his mother narrowed her pretty eyes and lightly tapped her son's little head with her chopsticks.
"You're being rude again. Your father hasn't said we can start yet."
It was not that Shinjō lacked manners. Of course he knew. But an adult's soul was stuffed inside his tiny body, and he did not want to be a good little baby who obeyed his parents in everything from childhood onward. So he deliberately showed that he was a mischievous child through small, unimportant details, making it less jarring when he truly made his own decisions.
A pair of chopsticks picked up a piece of fried fish and placed it on Shinjō's plate. Shinjō raised his little head and gave his mother a sweet smile, then picked up a piece of fried fish and put it on her plate too.
The beautiful young woman smiled until her eyes curved into crescents.
Ahem.
His father gave a deliberate little cough from across the table.
Shinjō took the hint, stood on his stool, and gave his father across from him a piece.
For a moment, the room seemed filled with warmth.
"Father."
"Hm?" His young father stopped smiling and looked at his adorable little child across the table.
"I want to be a ninja." Shinjō put down his pork cutlet, as though casually mentioning something trivial.
The room suddenly fell quiet, the warmth from a moment ago swept away.
The couple exchanged a glance, and Riya put down her chopsticks.
"Why do you want to be a ninja, Shinsei? Is someone bullying you?" Riya's voice was a little serious, though she tried to make her words sound gentle.
Shinsei picked up a piece of sushi and put it in his mouth, giving his parents a puzzled look. Isn't wanting to be a ninja perfectly normal in Konoha? But as a transmigrator, he quickly thought of an entirely respectable reason.
"I want to be a ninja and learn ninjutsu so I can protect Father and Mother in the future!"
Riya's eyes practically lit up. The look she gave her son was indescribably gentle, but then she thought of something and turned to her husband.
"Mommy and Daddy don't need your protection yet, Shinsei. If you don't become a ninja, Daddy will buy you a big toy!" Nobita was serious, yet a little helpless.
If I were really a four-year-old, I might agree. Unfortunately, this adorable little body has a grown old geezer inside. Shinsei was very surprised by his parents' reaction. He had waited until he was over four to bring up becoming a ninja, which was already quite restrained. Other transmigrators could already be punching jonin and kicking the Hokage around by this point.
If this were another world, I could just lie flat, copy some poems and songs, then chase beauties and show off. But this is Naruto. If I don't become a ninja, am I supposed to leave my fate in someone else's hands? The butterfly's wings had already begun changing things the moment he transmigrated. The longer it went on, the greater the changes would become. He did not want to gamble on luck. Konoha was a very dangerous place.
Besides, having transmigrated, who would not want to wield supernatural power? In his previous life, he had even studied immortal cultivation under a Quanzhen Taoist priest.
"I don't want toys. I want to be a ninja!"
"No!" Riya shook her head in refusal and placed another piece of fried fish on Shinsei's plate.
Shinsei said nothing more and obediently began eating. He was no longer a three-year-old and would not argue with his parents here. Though he did not know why they refused to let him become a ninja, this was Konoha, where ninjas were everywhere. As long as he made the effort, opportunities to get started were all around him. Once he learned to extract chakra, it would be a done deal. Besides, the Ninja Academy's gates were open. Children could run inside to play, and no one would pay attention to a four- or five-year-old secretly learning from them. At most, he would be hauled out.
"I'm full!" Shinjō put down his chopsticks, climbed off his stool, wiped his mouth, and pattered downstairs.
"Slow down, and don't go too far," his mother, Riya, could not help reminding him.
"Got it!"
Not having to wash the dishes is great!
Getting to live another life felt pretty good, though he had already forgotten why he had transmigrated. His body in this life was especially good, seemingly brimming with endless energy, and his vision was particularly clear. By comparison, his eyes in his previous life had been like a thin veil laid over the world, even though his visual acuity back then had been 5.1.
People in the Naruto world had 130 trillion cells, while people in his previous life had only 40 to 60 trillion. He wondered if that was the reason.
Pedestrians walked the streets in twos and threes, and a pack of little brats rushed past, having a snowball fight.
Shinsei wandered aimlessly like this. He was not wearing much, but he did not feel cold.
He simply did not want to stay home. There was nothing fun to do, and he did not want to go to the trouble of pretending to be a child.
Thud, thud, thud!
Several sounds rang out as metal struck wood.
Shinsei quickly raised his head and saw two boys in the woods ahead. The older one was eleven or twelve, and the younger one was four or five.
The older boy wore a blue robe with a conspicuous table tennis paddle embroidered on the back.
Heh, the Uchiha Clan.
He had been lost in random thoughts and had not paid attention to where he was going.
"Hey! Why are you spying on my brother's training?" The younger boy ran up to Shinjō, his childish little face utterly serious.
"Huh? I was just wandering around. I wasn't paying attention!" Shinsei smiled and rubbed his head, looking innocent.
"That's enough, Sasuke! This is a public place. Anyone can come here." Smiling, the older boy walked over and patted Sasuke's head.
Sasuke Uchiha, huh? Then this one must be Uchiha Itachi. He was handsome and all smiles, with no sign at all of the deranged person he would become.
"But Big Brother, you can only teach me!" Sasuke tilted his head up, grabbed Uchiha Itachi's clothes, and shook them from side to side.
Ugh, Sasuke Uchiha, you're not a three-year-old anymore. Why are you still acting so spoiled? A little girly.
"Big Brother, you're amazing. Can I watch you train?" Shinsei tried to make his tone as sincere as possible.
Sasuke turned and glared at Shinsei. Shinsei plastered a smile on his face, looking somewhat simple and honest.
Uchiha Itachi was slightly surprised, then immediately smiled again.
"Of course."
"Hmph!" Sasuke turned his face away, trying not to get angry, but his brother's figure soon drew his attention, filling his face with admiration.
Thud, thud!
Uchiha Itachi resumed his training. He threw shuriken from every angle, sometimes with his feet planted against a tree, sometimes tumbling through the air. Sometimes two shuriken collided in midair to change direction, yet they always struck the bull's-eyes of the various wooden targets.
He had to admit that even at this age, Uchiha Itachi's shuriken skills were an art.
Not far away, Sasuke took advantage of a break in Uchiha Itachi's training to help wipe away his sweat. One face was full of smiles, the other full of doting affection.
Shinjō worked hard to keep any unpleasant expression off his face. He was still counting on watching more. Whether or not he could learn it, gaining more understanding was good.
Before he knew it, the sky gradually darkened.
Seeing Uchiha Itachi hoist Sasuke onto his back and prepare to leave, Shinsei hurried over and bowed slightly.
"Thank you for letting me watch your training, Big Brother. May I know your names?"
Uchiha Itachi smiled, and Sasuke hurriedly slapped his brother's shoulder.
"Big Brother, don't tell him!"
Uchiha Itachi lightly bounced the younger brother on his back to settle him more comfortably, then pressed the back of his head against his brother's temple.
"Uchiha Itachi. His name is Sasuke Uchiha."
Sasuke snorted and buried his head in his brother's back.
"That's enough, Sasuke. You should make some friends."
"Hmph!"
"My name is Shinsei!"
"Hmph!"