-Unknown Coordinates, Space-
There was no sound. No wind. No sense of direction. No up or down. Only an endless expanse of darkness, broken by countless points of distant light.
Entire worlds floated through the immeasurable void, each following familiar and unfamiliar stories that had no concern for the things moving around them. Some planets were little more than distant specks, while others were close enough to reveal swirling clouds and enormous oceans beneath their atmospheres.
Among them, a lone figure drifted through space.
The man appeared completely unaffected by his surroundings. There was no suit protecting him from the vacuum, nor any vessel carrying him between worlds. He simply floated there, observing the universe around him as if the impossible were nothing more than an ordinary walk.
His eyes wandered from one distant planet to another. He had seen countless worlds, countless civilizations, and countless lives. Yet even with such an immeasurable existence behind him, the unknown could still occasionally catch his attention.
Something had just done exactly that.
"Hm?"
The man's head tilted slightly as he noticed a tiny flicker moving through the darkness. It was almost impossible to distinguish from the countless stars around it, but something about it was different.
He changed direction, drifting toward the strange object without effort.
As he approached, the light became clearer.
It was a soul.
Or, more accurately, what remained of one.
A faint sphere floated through space, surrounded by a thin layer of spiritual energy. The soul flickered once, then again, and a small fragment of its form broke away before disappearing into the darkness.
The man stopped in front of it and examined the soul for several moments. There was no response. There couldn't be. The soul possessed no awareness of its surroundings, no thoughts, and no understanding of where it was or what was happening.
"Strange. It's not often you see a soul make it through the dimensional gap," he remarked, his eyes narrowing as another fracture appeared across the unstable soul. "Though it doesn't look like this one will make it much farther."
He could leave it alone. There was no reason he couldn't.
Souls passed through countless places. Some reached new worlds, some returned to the cycle of reincarnation, and others simply disappeared. Such things happened constantly.
Yet the man continued watching.
Perhaps it was curiosity. Perhaps he was simply interested in seeing what would happen. Or perhaps, after seeing so many lives come and go, he had developed a fondness for the occasional unexpected possibility.
A faint smile crossed his face as he raised one hand toward the soul. "I suppose I could give a little help."
A soft radiance gathered around his hand. He didn't force the soul back into shape. Instead, he gently reinforced it, strengthening the unstable spiritual structure before the cracks could spread any farther.
The soul brightened.
The fragments that had been breaking away stopped.
The man lowered his hand and gave a small nod. "There. That should do."
A strange voice suddenly echoed throughout the empty expanse.
The man's eyebrows rose.
"Predator?"
He glanced toward the soul, a faint smile returning to his face. "That's interesting."
The soul gave no response.
It couldn't.
It remained completely unaware that anything had changed.
The man turned away and began drifting toward one of the distant worlds. There was no dramatic farewell, no prophecy, and no declaration of destiny. Just a final glance toward the strange soul.
"Good luck... Yuuki"
The man continued onward.
The soul followed its own path through the darkness, completely unaware that its existence had just changed forever.
-Konohagakure, Nine Years Before Naruto is Born-
Sunlight slipped through a gap in the curtains and slowly spread across the bedroom floor.
A young boy shifted beneath his blankets, his breathing steady and undisturbed. For several seconds, he remained asleep before his eyes finally opened.
He stared at the ceiling.
His mind felt strangely empty.
There was a vague sensation that he had forgotten something important, but whenever he tried to grasp the thought, it slipped away before he could understand what he was even trying to remember.
His eyebrows furrowed. "...Huh?"
He blinked several times. The ceiling was unfamiliar. That realization took a few seconds to properly register. Then his eyes widened.
He shot upright. "What the- where am I?!"
His voice sounded wrong, he sounded younger. His heart began pounding as he looked down at himself. Small hands. Thin arms. A body that definitely wasn't his.
He threw the blankets aside and immediately stumbled out of bed, catching himself against the wall. "Okay. Okay, calm down."
His breathing was getting faster.
He looked around the room. A wooden desk sat against one wall, a dresser occupied another, and clothes he didn't recognize were neatly folded nearby.
The room wasn't particularly strange, that made it all the more frightening.
If the room had been bizarre, he could have convinced himself this was some kind of nightmare. Instead, it looked completely ordinary.
He rushed toward the window, fumbling with the latch before finally managing to open it.
Morning air rushed into the room.
He froze.
A large village stretched out beneath him. Large buildings, many people walking on foot, shinobi hopping from roof to roof, market stalls with vendors selling various goods, and beyond the rooftops...
A massive stone mountain.
Three faces had been carved into the stone.
His mouth slowly opened.
"No..."
His eyes widened as the morning sun began touching the monument, painting the stone in shades of orange and red.
He knew that place.
He had seen it countless times, on a screen, in pictures, in anime.
His brain struggled to reconcile what his eyes were seeing with what he knew to be real.
"T-This is a dream, right?" he muttered, gripping the windowsill. "Yeah. Surely. I probably just stayed up marathoning Naruto again last night, so I'm having a really vivid dream."
Except he didn't believe it.
Not completely.
There was something about the air. The breeze moving across his face. The distant voices. The faint smell of food coming from somewhere in the village. The warmth of the sunlight against his skin.
Dreams weren't supposed to feel this real.
He slowly closed the window and returned to his bed. "I'll just lie back down, close my eyes, and when I wake up I'll be back home."
He pulled the blankets over himself and shut his eyes.
Nothing happened.
He opened one eye.
Still the same room.
He closed it again.
"Come on..."
Nothing.
Then
Knock. Knock. Knock.
He jumped, his eyes snapping open.
The sound had come from somewhere outside his room.
He sat completely still.
Another knock followed, louder this time.
"...Who?"
There was no response.
He slowly climbed out of bed.
Something strange happened as he stepped into the hallway.
He knew where he was going.
He didn't remember this house, not consciously, yet his feet seemed to know exactly where the front door was. He passed the living room, the small table, and the kitchen without hesitation.
Everything felt strangely familiar.
He didn't know why.
His hand hovered over the front door.
Another knock.
He took a breath and opened it.
A man stood outside.
He was tall and imposing, dressed in black from head to toe. A dog-shaped mask covered his face, while silver-gray hair protruded from beneath it.
The man looked down at him.
For a moment, neither said anything.
Then the man's deep voice broke the silence. "Yuuki?"
The name struck him strangely.
He knew it.
Not because he remembered being called it.
He simply knew.
"Yes?"
His answer came uncertainly.
The masked man seemed to notice. His posture changed slightly, the imposing presence softening as he regarded the young boy standing in front of him.
"I apologize for waking you. There is some news I need to give you."
The man paused.
For someone wearing a mask, his hesitation was surprisingly noticeable.
He took a quiet breath. "On a mission near the Hidden Stone..."
Yuuki's stomach tightened.
"...your parents were killed."
Silence.
Yuuki stared at him.
The world seemed to become strangely distant.
"What?"
The masked shinobi lowered his head. "There was an ambush, information regarding their mission was leaked, and they were attacked before they could properly respond."
Yuuki didn't move.
The words didn't seem to fit together.
Parents.
Mission.
Killed.
They were words he understood individually.
Together, they didn't make sense.
"My..." His voice caught. "My parents?"
The ANBU nodded. "I'm sorry."
Yuuki stared at him.
He waited for something.
For the scene to disappear.
For the dream to end.
Nothing happened.
The sunlight remained.
The breeze continued moving through the street.
Somewhere nearby, someone was talking.
A bird landed on a roof.
The world kept going as if nothing had happened.
The masked shinobi reached into his clothing and withdrew a crisp envelope. "These belong to you."
Yuuki slowly reached out.
His fingers closed around the envelope.
The paper was smooth.
Warm from the man's body.
Normal.
Far too normal.
"Inside are the assets that were left to you through their will. There is also information regarding the stipend provided to children of deceased shinobi."
Yuuki looked down.
He couldn't make himself open it.
The ANBU didn't pressure him. Instead, he waited.
After several seconds, he spoke again. "You don't need to deal with everything today. If you don't understand something, or if you need help with the estate, go to the administrative building at the foot of the Hokage Monument and ask for Inu."
He paused.
"I'll assist you."
Yuuki nodded slowly. "...Okay."
The ANBU bowed.
Then he disappeared.
One moment he was standing there.
The next, the doorway was empty.
Yuuki stared.
He slowly closed the door and looked down at the envelope again. His hands felt strangely heavy.
He walked into the living room and dropped onto the couch, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees.
He stared at the floor.
"Parents..?"
He whispered the words.
Nothing followed.
He tried to remember them.
Their faces.
Their voices.
Something.
Anything.
His mind produced fragments.
A warm hand.
A voice telling him to eat.
The smell of food.
Someone laughing.
But every time he tried to pull the memories together, they slipped apart.
He couldn't tell if they were his memories or merely pieces of the life this body had once lived.
That realization made his chest feel strangely tight.
He rubbed his face. "...I guess my name is Yuuki."
He looked around the empty room.
No one answered.
He leaned backward.
"Now what?"
There was nothing else to do.
Eventually, exhaustion overtook him.
He fell asleep on the couch.
-Several Hours Later-
Yuuki opened his eyes.
For a few seconds, he didn't move.
Then he remembered.
His parents.
The masked shinobi.
The village.
He sighed. "Well... I suppose this is really happening."
He sat up.
His stomach growled.
He looked toward the kitchen.
"Apparently, being reincarnated doesn't remove the need to eat."
That thought almost made him laugh.
Almost.
He stood and wandered into the kitchen.
The cupboards were stocked.
He opened one.
Cereal.
He stared at it.
"Good enough."
He poured himself a bowl.
As he ate, his eyes wandered around the kitchen.
There were signs that other people lived here.
Three cups.
Three sets of utensils.
A few small scratches on the table.
A photograph sitting on a shelf.
Yuuki stopped chewing.
He looked at it.
A man and woman stood together.
His parents.
He knew that immediately.
The man had a smile on his face.
The woman stood beside him.
Both wore shinobi clothing.
Yuuki stared at the picture.
Something tugged at his chest.
Not a memory.
Not exactly.
Just a feeling.
He reached toward the photograph, his fingers stopping just short of touching it.
"...I wish I remembered you."
He lowered his hand. He finished breakfast, washed the bowl, and headed outside. The moment the door opened, sunlight flooded his vision.
He squinted.
The village was already alive. Konoha was nothing like watching it on television.
The anime had shown the important places, the Hokage Monument, the Academy, the main streets, and the shops, but it had never captured the little things.
The smell of freshly cooked food drifting from restaurants. The sound of merchants calling to customers. Children running through the streets. Shinobi moving across rooftops. An elderly man arguing with a shopkeeper over the price of vegetables. A cat sleeping beneath a bench while people walked past without noticing.
It was busy, very busy, it was lound, and alive
Yuuki couldn't stop himself from smiling. "This is actually Konoha."
He looked toward the Hokage Monument.
"I'm actually here."
He started walking.
The closer he got to the administrative building, the more surreal everything felt.
He passed people he knew absolutely nothing about. People who had never existed in his old world. People who would probably never know how impossible their existence was to him.
He reached the building and stepped inside.
The temperature dropped immediately.
Compared to the warm streets outside, the interior was surprisingly cool.
A young brunette woman sat behind the reception desk.
Yuuki approached. "Uhm..."
She looked up. "Yes?"
"I was told I could come here and ask for someone named Inu."
The woman's expression changed.
Only slightly.
But Yuuki noticed.
She looked at him for a moment longer than necessary before glancing at the paperwork in front of her. "You're Yuuki?"
He nodded. "Yeah."
Her expression softened.
"Of course."
She picked up a piece of paper and quickly wrote something. "He'll be with you shortly. You can sit over there for now."
"Thank you."
Yuuki walked over.
As he passed the desk, he noticed the receptionist watching him.
It wasn't curiosity, it was pity.
He sat down.
He didn't like it, he didn't want strangers looking at him like he was something fragile. He was still trying to figure out how he had gone from being a normal person on Earth to a kid in Konoha. The last thing he needed was everyone reminding him that his parents were dead.
Several minutes passed.
Then footsteps approached.
Yuuki looked up.
The familiar dog-masked ANBU from that morning entered the room.
"Inu."
The man nodded. "Yuuki."
He gestured for Yuuki to follow.
They began walking.
Yuuki glanced around the building. "You sure you aren't busy?"
"I have some time."
"Really?"
"Yes. Unless there is an emergency, I am currently on rest."
Yuuki frowned.
"Rest?"
"Several days."
The man was quiet for a moment.
"The mission your parents died on..."
His voice became slightly heavier.
"I was part of it."
Yuuki stopped for half a second.
The ANBU noticed.
"I wasn't with them when the ambush occurred."
Yuuki started walking again.
"Oh."
He wasn't sure what else to say.
The man continued. "After a mission like that, the village gives the surviving shinobi time to recover."
Yuuki glanced at him.
"You knew them well?"
There was a pause.
"Yes."
The answer was simple.
"My friends."
Something in his voice made Yuuki stop asking questions.
They continued walking.
Eventually, they reached a door.
A sign above it read:
Estate Administration
Inu opened the door.
"After you."
Yuuki entered.
A short, bald man sat behind a desk.
The moment he saw Inu, he smiled.
"Ah, Inu."
Then he looked at Yuuki.
His expression immediately became more sympathetic.
"I see."
The man straightened.
"It's always unfortunate when our shinobi leave behind orph-"
A low grunt came from Inu.
The bald man stopped.
"...Yes."
He cleared his throat.
"I suppose we should begin."
Yuuki sat across from the desk, the man introduced himself as Aoto.
The process began, and continued, and continued.
Yuuki stared at another document. "How many of these are there?"
Aoto adjusted his glasses. "Quite a few."
"That's not a number."
Aoto glanced at the stack.
"No."
Yuuki sighed.
He signed another paper, then another, and another.
The process was painfully mundane. Which, strangely, Yuuki appreciated.
It gave him something to focus on.
He learned what had been left to him.
The house was fully paid for. His parents had left behind savings. There were mission payments that hadn't yet been collected. There was also a stipend for children whose parents had died while serving Konoha.
It wasn't enough to make him wealthy. But it meant he wouldn't immediately be homeless.
Yuuki leaned back. "At least they paid off the house."
Aoto looked at him. "Your parents were responsible people."
Yuuki smiled faintly. "Yeah."
He looked down at the documents.
"I wish I could remember more about them."
The room became quiet.
Aoto looked away.
Inu remained standing near the wall.
He didn't offer some hollow statement about how everything would be okay. He simply stayed there. That somehow helped more.
Hours passed.
Eventually, the final document was signed.
Yuuki stood and stretched his arms. "My hand hurts."
Aoto chuckled. "You'll survive."
"I don't know. That was a lot of writing."
Inu made a quiet sound.
Yuuki looked at him. "Was that a laugh?"
"No."
"You laughed."
"I didn't."
"You're a terrible liar."
The dog mask stared at him.
Yuuki smiled.
For the first time that day, the conversation felt almost normal.
They left the administrative building together, the sun was already lowering. Golden lights stretched across Konoha's streets, the air had cooled.
Yuuki walked beside Inu. Neither spoke for several moments, then Inu finally broke the silence.
"Yuuki."
"Hm?"
"What are you planning to do now?"
Yuuki glanced over. "What do you mean?"
"Your future."
The ANBU's gaze remained ahead.
"Your parents spoke about you often."
Yuuki slowed slightly.
"They did?"
"Yes."
The answer came without hesitation.
"They were proud of you."
Yuuki looked away.
A strange warmth settled in his chest.
"What did they say?"
Inu was quiet for a moment.
"That you were intelligent."
Yuuki smiled.
"Really?"
"Yes."
A pause.
"They also said you could be stubborn."
Yuuki laughed softly. "That's definitely me."
The ANBU's voice carried a faint warmth.
"They wanted you to have the opportunity to choose your own path."
Yuuki looked at the road ahead.
Then he answered.
"I already know what I want."
Inu looked at him.
"Shinobi."
The word came out more confidently than Yuuki expected.
"I want to become a shinobi, more than anything I've ever wanted"
He stopped walking.
Inu stopped as well.
For several seconds, the masked man simply looked at him.
Then his voice softened.
"Your father said the exact same thing when he was your age."
Yuuki's eyes widened. "He did?"
Inu nodded.
"He wanted to become strong."
A pause.
"Not simply for himself."
Yuuki listened.
"He wanted to protect the people he cared about."
Yuuki looked down.
The words settled somewhere inside him.
"In one week," Inu continued, "the Academy will hold its entrance examinations."
Yuuki looked up.
"One week?"
"If you intend to become a shinobi, you'll need to register before then."
Yuuki's expression became determined.
"I will."
Inu nodded.
"I expected you would."
Yuuki smiled.
"Thanks, Inu."
He turned and began walking home.
After several steps, Inu spoke again.
"Yuuki."
Yuuki looked back.
The masked shinobi stood beneath the orange evening sky.
"I know you can do it."
His voice was quiet.
"Become a shinobi your parents would be proud of."
Yuuki smiled.
"I will."
He turned around.
A second later, he heard nothing.
Yuuki looked back.
Inu was gone.
He stared at the empty street.
"...Body Flicker."
A grin slowly spread across his face.
"A shinobi, huh?"
He looked at his hands.
"Yeah."
-The Next Day, Sunrise-
Sunlight slipped through the curtains.
Yuuki opened his eyes. He stared at the ceiling for several seconds before sitting upright.
"Alright."
Today was the first day of training. He made himself breakfast, nothing special, just enough to keep himself from starving.
Then he left the house. If he was going to become a shinobi, he needed to start preparing. The first thing that came to mind was physical conditioning.
He found a small clearing near his house.
It wasn't much, a decently sized patch of grass surrounded by trees, it was enough.
Yuuki walked around the perimeter.
"Okay. One lap."
He started running. The first lap was easy, the second was manageable, by the fifth, his breathing was noticeably heavier, by the tenth, his legs were beginning to ache.
Yuuki gritted his teeth. "Why..."
He gasped.
"...does this suck so much?"
He kept running.
The anime had made shinobi training look cool.
Apparently, nobody had bothered to show the part where your lungs felt like they were trying to escape your body.
Eventually, he stumbled to a stop.
He bent forward, hands on his knees.
His chest rose and fell rapidly.
"Kami..." He collapsed onto the grass. "Haa..." He stared at the sky. "I hate this."
He remained there for several minutes. His breathing gradually slowed, his heartbeat settled, then he noticed something. An ant was crawling across the ground.
Yuuki watched it. It moved around a blade of grass, stopped, changed direction, then continued.
Yuuki reached down and placed his hand in front of it.
The ant stopped, it moved left, Yuuki moved his hand, it moved right, Yuuki followed.
"Persistent little thing."
The ant tried again.
Yuuki smiled.
"You know, I've had this weird feeling since I woke up."
He touched his chest.
"Like something's under my skin."
He frowned.
"I thought it was chakra."
That would make sense, he was in the Naruto world, he should have chakra, but the feeling didn't behave the way he expected chakra to.
It was stranger, almost hungry.
"Maybe I just don't know what chakra feels like yet."
He closed his eyes, focused, the strange sensation stirred, his eyebrows tightened.
"Come on."
The feeling grew stronger, his skin tingled, something inside him moved.
"Come out."
The moment he said it, black smoke erupted from his body.
Yuuki's eyes snapped open.
"What the hell?!"
The smoke surged across the ground, the ant disappeared inside it, the dirt beneath the smoke cracked, grass vanished, the black mass seemed to consume everything it touched.
Yuuki jumped backward.
"What is that?!"
The smoke lasted only a few seconds, then it vanished, and silence returned.
Yuuki stared at the ground. A small crater remained. The ant was gone. He slowly crouched.
"...Where did it go?"
He touched the dirt, nothing, no ant, no remains. just nothing.
Yuuki's expression became confused.
"Did that thing just..."
He swallowed.
"...eat it?"
The thought sounded ridiculous.
Yet there was no other explanation.
He looked at his hands.
"Okay."
He stood.
"That's new."
He probably should have been more concerned. Instead, curiosity won. He looked around the clearing, nothing else had been damaged.
"Maybe I should figure out what that was."
But his body was still tired, but he decided to continue exercising. At least until he figured out what was happening.
He started jogging.
One lap.
Two.
Then something strange happened.
He noticed his breathing wasn't as difficult as before, his legs felt lighter., his stride felt more efficient.
He frowned.
"Wait."
He sped up, nothing hurt, he accelerated again. His body responded, he was moving faster.
"How?"
He glanced down at himself.
He hadn't suddenly become an athlete, he'd been struggling only minutes earlier, yet now he could run faster than before.
"That's not normal."
He continued. his endurance improved, his stride lengthened, his muscles seemed to respond with more force than they had previously possessed.
Yuuki's eyes widened.
"Did that thing..."
He looked back toward the small crater.
"...actually do something to me?"
He didn't know, but the answer seemed increasingly obvious.
He ran another lap, then another, he should have been exhausted, instead, something inside him felt strangely full. Not his muscles, something deeper.
A huge reservoir of energy seemed to sit somewhere inside him.
Yuuki slowed.
He closed his eyes while continuing to walk.
He tried to feel it, the sensation was overwhelming, there was so much.
Yuuki's eyes opened.
"...How much chakra do I have?"
He didn't know, but if what he was sensing really was chakra, it was far beyond what he expected a child to possess, he frowned.
"Maybe it's because I'm..."
He searched for an explanation.
"Reincarnated?"
He immediately shook his head.
"That sounds stupid."
He sighed.
"I don't know enough about chakra to say."
He continued running, this time, he paid attention.
His physical body became increasingly tired, his legs burned, his breathing became rough, his muscles begged him to stop.
The strange energy inside him seemed to diminish. It was like having a massive battery connected to a machine that could only draw power through a tiny cable. He had energy, but his body simply wasn't capable of using all of it efficiently. Yuuki didn't understand it yet.
By the time the sun reached its highest point, he had been running far longer than he expected.
He stopped, he dropped onto the grass.
"Haa..."
He stared at the sky.
"I definitely improved."
His stomach growled, he ignored it. He looked toward his hand.
"The smoke..."
He still couldn't explain it.
And the ant...
He couldn't explain that either.
But whatever had happened, it had changed something.
Eventually, he stood, and started running again.
Hours passed, the sunlight began disappearing beyond the horizon.
Orange turned to red, red turned to purple, then the first stars appeared.
Yuuki was still running, his body was exhausted, every step required effort, his muscles trembled, hs breathing was ragged, his legs felt like they were made of lead.
Yet somehow...
He didn't want to stop. There was still energy inside him, a ridiculous amount.
He finally came to a stop and bent forward.
"Haa..."
He placed both hands on his knees.
"...I'm dead."
He straightened, his body immediately protested.
"Definitely dead."
He sat down, yet despite the exhaustion, he couldn't help feeling energized. It was contradictory, his body wanted sleep, but something inside him wanted to keep moving.
Yuuki rubbed his chest.
"What is this?"
He looked toward the darkening sky.
"I ran for basically the entire day."
His stomach growled loudly.
He froze.
"...Oh."
He hadn't eaten lunch.
He laughed weakly.
"That's probably why."
He stood.
"Food first."
-Ichiraku Ramen-
The warm glow of the ramen stand stood out against the evening streets.
Yuuki stopped in front of it.
His eyes widened.
"No way."
He looked at the sign, then at the shop, then back at the sign.
"This is actually Ichiraku."
He pushed aside the curtain, warm air surrounded him, the rich smell of broth filled his nose. Steam rose from the cooking area. An older man looked toward him, a warm smile crossed his face.
"Welcome to Ichiraku Ramen."
Yuuki sat on one of the stools.
"What can I get you?"
Yuuki practically vibrated with excitement.
"A miso ramen!"
He raised one finger.
"And extra naruto!"
The old man chuckled.
"Alright, young man. One miso ramen with extra naruto coming up."
Yuuki waited, the bowl arrived, steam curled upward, the smell was incredible.
Yuuki stared at it for a moment, then he picked up his chopsticks, he took the first bite and his eyes widened.
"Oh."
He immediately took another, and another. The warmth spread through his stomach, it was exactly what he needed.
The fatigue that had been weighing on him seemed to loosen, his shoulders relaxed, muscles stopped feeling quite so heavy.
He finished the bowl, then ordered another, then another. He didn't really think about it, he simply kept eating.
The seats around him gradually filled, people began looking at him.
Yuuki didn't notice. He was too busy eating.
"Wow."
"Look at him go."
"How is he possibly eating that much?"
Yuuki continued.
Bowl after bowl, his hunger seemed almost endless, more importantly, the strange exhaustion he had felt earlier continued fading. By the time he finally stopped, the counter beside him was covered in empty bowls.
Yuuki leaned backward and placed a hand on his stomach.
"Ahhh..."
He closed his eyes.
"That was good."
He opened them, silence. Everyone was staring.
Yuuki slowly turned his head, the patrons were looking at him, the old man was looking at him, he looked down at the mountain of bowls, his eyes widened.
"...Oh."
He looked back at everyone.
"Ehehe..."
He scratched his cheek.
"Sorry?"
The old man laughed.
"Don't worry about it. Growing boys can have a big appetite."
He glanced at the pile.
"Although I'm not sure where you put all of that."
Yuuki laughed nervously.
"Yeah..."
He paid then headed home.
-Yuuki's House-
Closing the door behind him, Yuuki sat cross-legged in his living room and leaned back against the couch, his mind already racing. Something was definitely up. He had spent most of the day trying to ignore the strange things that had happened, but now that he was finally alone, there was nothing distracting him from putting the pieces together.
"Okay, something's definitely up. First, what was that black smoke? It consumed the ant, and part of the dirt, and suddenly I could run faster? And second, that strange state of exhaustion and non-exhaustion? Wait..." Yuuki's eyebrows furrowed as he replayed the day in his head. "Now that I think about it, after eating all the ramen, that state seemed to steadily disappear."
He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees while tapping a finger against his chin. "Maybe, just like how I instinctively knew how to release the black smoke, the ant taught me something..." His eyes wandered toward the kitchen as another thought connected with the first. "Black smoke? Then at the ramen shop, I ate all the ramen and I felt better..."
Yuuki suddenly froze.
His eyes widened.
A second later, his palm smacked against his forehead. "Ugh, I'm so dumb. How did I not realize?" He jumped to his feet and hurried into the kitchen, grabbed one of the empty bowls, and placed it on the floor. "I should have realized when I first saw the smoke."
Yuuki held his hand out toward the bowl and concentrated. He didn't know how he knew what to do. There was no technique he had learned and no hand sign he needed to perform. It was simply an instinctive understanding that had been sitting somewhere inside him since the moment he woke up.
Black smoke seeped from his palm.
It spread across the floor and wrapped itself around the bowl. The object vanished without resistance, leaving nothing behind but an empty patch of floor.
Yuuki stared at it.
"I have [Predator]."
The words sounded ridiculous even after he said them aloud.
His mind immediately jumped to the knowledge from his previous life. The anime, the light novels, Rimuru Tempes, the unique skill that had become one of the foundations of his absurd growth.
"But how?" Yuuki paced across the room, running a hand through his hair. "Wasn't Rimuru supposed to get it after he reincarnated? So why do I have it?"
He stopped.
"Wait."
His excitement began to overtake his confusion.
"Who cares?"
Yuuki's eyes lit up.
"I have [Predator]!"
He stared at his hand as though expecting the answer to suddenly appear there. Instead, the familiar black smoke curled lazily around his fingers before disappearing again.
His excitement slowly gave way to curiosity.
"Okay, whatever. I have [Predator]. Now what?"
Yuuki looked back toward the empty space where the bowl had disappeared.
"I guess when I consumed that ant, it gave me some sort of strength that I instinctively knew how to use." He frowned as he thought back to the run. "That would explain why I suddenly got stronger, but if that's the case, then using that strength must have depleted my chakra supply."
He paused.
"Except..."
Yuuki looked toward his chest.
"I still had a ridiculous amount of energy left."
That was the part that bothered him.
He had pushed his body far beyond what he expected, yet the chakra inside him had barely seemed to diminish. His physical stamina and chakra reserves didn't feel like they belonged to the same body. His muscles could be exhausted to the point of collapse while the energy inside him remained almost untouched.
Yuuki rubbed his chin.
"Maybe due to my reincarnation my Yin chakra is abnormally high? I think I remember something about combining your spiritual and physical attributes to create chakra... or something along those lines"
He wasn't certain.
He knew enough about Naruto's chakra system to understand that chakra was created from physical and spiritual energy, and Yin Release was associated with spiritual energy. But knowing something from a fictional series and actually understanding how it worked inside a real human body were two very different things.
"That would explain the giant reserve..." Yuuki muttered, before immediately shaking his head. "Except I don't actually know enough to be sure."
He sighed and dropped onto the couch.
"Great. So I'm basically guessing."
For a moment, he simply stared at the ceiling.
Then his eyes slowly drifted toward the bowl he had just consumed.
"And [Predator] is somehow converting what it consumes into something useful."
Yuuki's expression changed.
"Wait."
He sat upright.
His thoughts returned to the ramen shop.
The exhaustion, the hunger, the ridiculous number of bowls and how much better he had felt afterward.
Then he remembered the ant and how it gave him a sudden increase in strength.
His eyes widened.
"If [Predator] has [Predation], [Stomach], and [Isolation]..."
Yuuki raised one finger.
"[Predation] consumes."
He raised a second.
"[Stomach] stores."
A third finger followed.
"And [Isolation] separates the contents."
He stared at his hands.
"And the chakra I used, was restored by eating."
Yuuki went completely still.
Then a grin slowly spread across his face.
"Hehehe..."
He leaned back against the couch, unable to contain his excitement.
"I'm so busted."
The realization sent a rush of excitement through him. He had spent the entire day trying to figure out what was wrong with his body, only to discover that the answer was something he had already known about from his previous life.
He didn't understand everything yet.
He didn't know why he had been given [Predator]. He didn't know exactly how the skill had adapted to this world, or whether chakra truly was replacing magicules. He didn't know why his chakra reserves were so enormous, and he certainly didn't know what other abilities he might gain by consuming different creatures.
But he had [Predator].
And that alone changed everything.
Yuuki suddenly stood, the excitement returning to his face as he pointed his thumb toward himself.
"Hehehe, I'm so busted..."
He clenched his fist and grinned.
"I will devour this shinobi world and become the strongest. Just wait!"
--
AN
For those of you who read the previous version of this... I'm so sorry how bad it was :crying: not like this is much better though. I decided to re write it because I didn't like how it was developing and figured since it wasn't too long to just completely rework it. Sorry to those who already read this chapter but I wanted to update it and make it flow better
5877 Words
Anyways leave any reviews/criticism in the comments so I know what to improve, thanks for reading!