When Kōki Itō returned home, he thought back to the Ninja Academy as it was now. That should be where the future destroyer of the shinobi world, Obito Uchiha, and the catalyst for the Fourth Shinobi World War, Rin Nohara, were currently staying.
Probably no one would have imagined that the future Fourth Shinobi World War would be caused by these two children who were still playing at romance in the Ninja Academy.
The reason Kōki Itō knew so much was that he was a transmigrator from Blue Star. At the time, he had been playing the Naruto mobile game, controlling the legendary 298-voucher ninja, the Rampaging Kid, when his vision suddenly went black. Then, for no apparent reason, he had arrived in this world and become a child named Kōki Itō.
When he first opened his eyes, he had no idea where he was. He could only tell from his surroundings that he was in a hospital, until an old man appeared before him wearing a red conical hat and the Hokage robes from Naruto, with a pipe in his mouth.
Then he understood that he had actually come to the world of Naruto, because this old man was the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, known as "Konoha's strongest Hokage," the Professor of Ninjutsu, and the teacher of the Sannin.
After realizing that he had come to the world of Naruto, Kōki had mixed feelings.
While watching Naruto, he had always hoped to transmigrate into its world, crush everyone in his path, and have beauties in both arms.
But when it actually happened, he wanted no part of it. He was like Lord Ye, who professed to love dragons but did not want a real one to appear before him.
Besides, although the people of this world could wield power far beyond ordinary humans, their lives were terribly short. Children barely into their teens had to fight for their lives on the battlefield.
Meanwhile, multiple masterminds lurked in the shadows. Obito manipulated Nagato, Madara Uchiha manipulated Obito, and Black Zetsu manipulated Madara Uchiha, like nesting dolls, one layer after another.
Anyone could unknowingly become someone else's pawn and lose their life on a ninja mission or to someone else's schemes.
How could Kōki, someone from a civilized world whose only fighting experience amounted to childhood scuffles with classmates, possibly survive in a world like this?
Besides, the world of Naruto was also known as the Legend of the Eyes: Five Villages' Armed Brawl. Anyone without some Ōtsutsuki blood would not even have a say in the future shinobi world. They would be nothing but cannon fodder.
The crucial problem was that he did not even have the golden finger every transmigrator needed. Heaven really wanted him dead.
Just as Kōki was feeling anxious and lost about his future, he discovered an unusual power inside him. It constantly nourished his body, giving him vitality and chakra far beyond those of ordinary people.
At first, he thought he belonged to the Uzumaki Clan. After all, every transmigrator knew that the Uzumaki Clan possessed powerful vitality and enormous reserves of chakra.
Then, once during training, he inadvertently grew a hard wooden spike from his hand. After he flung it out, more wooden spikes erupted from its stem.
Only then did he realize that he had used Wood Release-Cutting Technique. He finally understood that perhaps he had not inherited the Uzumaki Clan's constitution, but the power of Wood Release instead.
At the same time, he could clearly sense that his Wood Release was not a half-baked version like Yamato's. He had also inherited Hashirama Senju's Sage Body, which contained tremendous vitality.
Realizing that he had inherited Hashirama Senju's complete bloodline power, Kōki was overjoyed.
Previously, he had been worried that he only had the Uzumaki Clan's bloodline and lacked the talent and strength to face the future crises of the shinobi world. He had also worried about his own fate.
After all, the Uzumaki Clan members who appeared in the original story had all been in bad situations. Karin had been captured by Orochimaru and used as a test subject, Nagato had been made into a vessel for the Rinnegan by that scheming bastard Madara Uchiha, and our Child of Prophecy, Naruto Uzumaki, had been made the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki and suffered a miserable childhood.
If he really belonged to the Uzumaki Clan, he would have to live carefully, lest someone with ulterior motives discover him and capture him to use as a tool.
But what he possessed now was Hashirama Senju's Wood Release, the power with which the man known as the God of the Shinobi World had pacified a world of chaos. Even in Naruto, it was a top-tier kekkei genkai.
With such a first-rate power, even developing it normally would make becoming a Konoha Jonin a trivial matter. With a little effort, he could become a Kage-level ninja. In that case, he believed he would have no trouble keeping a low profile in the early shinobi world and surviving until the protagonist was born.
Then, once the plot reached its middle and later stages, he could play it even safer, build a good relationship with the protagonist, cling to his coattails, and coast all the way to the ending. Just like that, his life would be safe.
That had been Kōki's plan, but life was unpredictable, and people could not truly remain uninvolved.
As he gradually grew older, Kōki recalled how he had first arrived in the world of Naruto, all alone without a single relative in sight. Hiruzen Sarutobi had stayed by his side, keeping him company and teaching him. Because of that, he could not coldly watch the old man meet the same tragic end as in the original story.
In his previous life, many people had said that Hiruzen Sarutobi was a schemer through and through, and that many of his actions contradicted the Will of Fire he preached. Even Kōki himself had thought so in his previous life.
But after spending the past year with him, Kōki felt that most of the tragedies in the original story had resulted from Hiruzen Sarutobi's lack of strength.
If Hiruzen Sarutobi had possessed power like Hashirama Senju's or Madara Uchiha's, those tragedies would not have happened.
Of course, he also knew that the old man's concern served a purpose. If he did not possess the power of Wood Release, Hiruzen Sarutobi would not care so much about him.
But Kōki could clearly sense that Hiruzen Sarutobi bore him no ill will. Rather, he hoped Kōki could become part of Konoha and grow into a towering tree that would shelter the village and make it more prosperous.
So Kōki thought of the best way to repay Hiruzen Sarutobi: let him retire early and enjoy his twilight years in peace.
While Kōki was still lost in his wandering thoughts, knock, knock, knock-someone knocked on the door.
Hearing the knocking, Kōki hurried over and opened the door, revealing a young ninja in a green vest standing outside his home.
"Who are you? Did you need something?"
After the door opened and the young ninja heard Kōki's questions, he waved to Kōki Itō in greeting.
"Hello, you're Kōki Itō, right? I'm a teacher at the Ninja Academy. My name is Naoya Inoue, and I'll also be your homeroom teacher when you enroll tomorrow. Lord Hokage sent me to tell you to report to the Ninja Academy tomorrow."
So he's here to tell me about school. But isn't this a little rushed? We only talked about it this morning, and he's already sent someone to notify me.
"All right, sir. Thank you. I'll be there on time tomorrow."
"Good. Then I'll see you at school tomorrow morning." With that, Naoya Inoue turned and left.
After seeing Naoya Inoue leave, Itō closed the door as well and thought, Tomorrow, I'll be reporting to school. I wonder how many familiar faces I'll see. I really am a little curious.