“I’m happy I got to live a second life, but why did I have to transmigrate into the world of Naruto of all places?”
Natsuki glanced at the Root ninja not far away, the one wearing a green striped mask, and could not help letting out a deep sigh.
In this dangerous world where bloodlines meant everything, he was neither a Senju, an Uchiha, nor a Hyuga, and his talent was utterly ordinary.
Worst of all, his parents had both died on a mission in the third year after he was born, and he had been sent to the Konoha Orphanage.
The Konoha Orphanage had long since been secretly taken over by Shimura Danzo, the leader of Root, and turned into a training camp for future Root recruits.
But what could he do?
Kill himself and gamble on getting a third life?
The odds of that were slimmer than common sense in the comments section.
“Hehe, I’m definitely going to survive!”
Natsuki turned to look at the little girl standing beside him.
She was six this year, also a war orphan.
The difference was that she was extremely talented, and in the future, she would become one of Konoha’s finest medical ninja.
She would even have a famous adopted son: Yakushi Kabuto.
“Nono, during the test just now, did you do what I told you?”
Natsuki asked in a low voice.
“Mhm.”
Yakushi Nono obediently nodded.
After three years of getting along with him, she had already gotten used to listening to Natsuki.
“That’s good.”
A smile appeared on Natsuki’s face.
Just then, the Root ninja walked up to Mayu, the director of the Konoha Orphanage.
“All the children in this batch failed the test.
Send them to the Ninja Academy and keep observing their performance at all times,” the Root ninja said coldly.
“If any of them show exceptional ability later, report it immediately.”
“I understand.”
Mayu answered helplessly.
The Konoha Orphanage had originally been established to raise children who had lost their families.
But Danzo, the leader of Root, had set his sights on these orphans.
He had taken control of the orphanage’s funding and forced Mayu to select the geniuses among the orphans and send them to Root for training.
Root was an organization buried deep in Konoha’s darkness, infamous for its ruthless methods.
Ninja who entered Root were brainwashed, thrown into training where survival was never guaranteed, and in the end stripped of their humanity, becoming nothing more than Danzo’s hounds.
Mayu did not want these orphans joining Root, but Danzo’s power in Konoha was at its peak.
He and the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, were the two most powerful shinobi in the village, one operating in the shadows and the other in the open.
Even the great ninja clans could not refuse his orders.
The Aburame and Yamanaka clans, for example, had both been forced to hand over their talented children.
If even clan geniuses had no choice, then civilian prodigies had even less.
Just like Yakushi Nono in the original story, she had joined Root from childhood.
And in the end, Danzo killed her under the excuse of “You know too much.”
Natsuki was the same age as Yakushi Nono.
After entering the Konoha Orphanage, the two of them had quickly become close.
During the Root recruitment test just now, he had specifically told her to hide her talent, and that was the only reason she had not been chosen by the Root ninja.
As for him, there was no need to hide anything.
He was naturally mediocre to begin with.
Even if he performed normally, he would not qualify for Root anyway.
Root belonged to the Anbu and was an elite force among elites.
The standards for joining were extremely high.
Watching the departing Root ninja, Natsuki frowned.
Hiding her talent forever was not a real solution.
His dad had once said: use magic to fight magic.
The only way for Yakushi Nono to escape Danzo was to earn Hiruzen’s recognition.
More precisely, she had to become part of the Hokage’s side.
With her gift for medical ninjutsu, that was absolutely possible.
And once she became a shinobi under the Hokage’s side, she would also be in a better position to help Natsuki survive.
The only unfortunate thing was that the medical ninja training program did not exist yet.
In the original story, Tsunade, Hiruzen’s student, proposed building a formal medical ninja training system during the Second Great Ninja War.
The two most important parts of that plan were assigning a medical ninja to every standard shinobi squad and opening specialized medical ninja training classes.
But the Second Great Ninja War was still four or five years away.
If Yakushi Nono wanted to catch Hiruzen’s or Tsunade’s attention, she could only rely on her performance at the Ninja Academy.
The problem was how to stand out.
Anything that caught Hiruzen’s or Tsunade’s eye could also catch Danzo’s.
“You’ve all worked hard today.
Get some good rest.
The day after tomorrow, I’ll take you to the Ninja Academy to register.”
Mayu let out a breath as she spoke.
“Yes, Director.”
Natsuki and the others answered in unison.
Two days later, at the Ninja Academy—
Natsuki looked around and saw many children his age, along with the parents who had come to enroll them.
Yakushi Nono stood beside him, also looking around.
Her fair little face was full of curiosity.
“You didn’t need to come take me to school.
I’m not a three-year-old anymore.
I’m already eight!”
A sudden voice came from not far away.
Natsuki turned around on instinct.
The speaker was a little boy with short dark brown hair.
Behind him stood a young woman.
She wore a jonin flak jacket, fully covered up, with a distinctly sharp and heroic air about her.
It was Tsunade.
The granddaughter of the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, and a student of the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen.
In the future, she would become one of Konoha’s legendary Sannin alongside Orochimaru and Jiraiya.
Natsuki had not recognized her at first glance.
Because compared to her look in the original story, this version of her was not iconic enough yet.
Most notably, she was missing that tea-green haori with the kanji for “gamble” on the back, as well as the diamond-shaped Strength of a Hundred Seal on her forehead.
Most importantly, she was not nearly as ‘bountiful’ yet.
But as one of her biggest fans, Natsuki knew very well just how impressive her future “growth curve” would be.
“Why are you talking so much?”
Tsunade raised a hand and flicked Nawaki on the forehead.
“I came all the way here to see you off.
You should be grateful!”
“Ow!”
Nawaki immediately clutched his forehead.
“Quit faking it.
I barely used any strength.”
A smile appeared on Tsunade’s face.
“I’m only seeing you off this far.
I still have a mission.”
With that, she turned and left.
Nawaki withdrew his gaze, then quickly noticed Natsuki and Yakushi Nono.
There was no helping it.
The two of them stood out in the crowd thanks to their looks.
“You two look unfamiliar.
Are you new students?”
Nawaki walked over to them on his own initiative.
“I’m Nawaki, a third-year student.
Nice to meet you.”
Pretty friendly.
Natsuki was not surprised.
In the original story, Nawaki did not get much screen time, but his personality was clear enough: a bright, cheerful boy.
Natsuki nodded and said, “My name is Natsuki.
Nice to meet you, Nawaki-senpao.”
The moment Nawaki heard the word “senpai,” his eyes lit up.
Clearly pleased, he grabbed Natsuki’s hand and said, “If you run into any problems at school, you can come to me.”
“Thanks.”
Natsuki recalled Nawaki’s background.
He was Tsunade’s younger brother, meaning he was also the grandson of the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, and later the student of Orochimaru.
In Konoha, he could practically be called Hokage royalty.
But this world was too cruel.
Even someone with a background like Nawaki’s still died during the Second Great Ninja War.
He was only twelve at the time.
After chatting with them for a bit, Nawaki went his own way.
They were not in the same grade, so of course they were not in the same class.
Natsuki and Yakushi Nono were assigned to Class A, first year.
The two of them headed toward the classroom.
The moment he stepped inside, Natsuki’s whole body jolted.
[Congratulations, Host.
You have become a student of the Ninja Academy.
The Lord of Myriad Worlds System has been activated.]
Six years.
Do you have any idea how I survived these six years?!
After confirming that the text before his eyes was not a hallucination, Natsuki could not help letting out a low hum.
In the world of Naruto, how were you supposed to survive without cheats?
The two male leads, Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto, were the biggest cheaters of them all.
In his previous life, when Natsuki saw the Sage of Six Paths forcibly dump chakra straight into them, he had been completely dumbfounded.
Kaguya Otsutsuki: I demand a bag check!
But then again… who could say no to cheats?
Come on, give me the hack!