Naruto World, Konohagakure.
Within the Nara Clan compound, a young boy with dishevelled hair lay sprawled across a reclining chair, leisurely enjoying the breeze.
“Little bro, let’s go.
I’m taking you to the Academy today.”
Shikaku Nara yawned, rubbing his head with a helpless expression.
Shikatoki Nara opened his eyes and looked at him.
“Cousin, I can actually go by myself.”
“Come on.
If we don’t leave now, you’ll be late.”
Shikaku did not particularly want to take him either, but his mother had ordered him to do so.
He didn’t dare disobey.
“Fine, fine.”
Shikatoki got to his feet and casually tied up his hair.
Shikatoki Nara was a transmigrator from Earth.
While rewatching Naruto, an accident had somehow sent him straight into the Naruto world.
At first, Shikatoki had been incredibly excited.
After all, what boy could resist supernatural power?
Unfortunately, dreams were beautiful.
Reality was cruel.
He had been born into the Nara Clan, but perhaps because of his transmigration, he had received absolutely no boost to his intelligence.
Without exaggeration, Shikatoki’s intelligence within the Nara Clan ranked only slightly above that of an infant.
And that wasn’t even what made him despair the most.
As a transmigrator who had read countless stories, Shikatoki had excitedly begun refining chakra.
The result?
He discovered that his talent was completely average, and his chakra reserves weren’t particularly large either.
No problem!
He could just improve the Nara Clan’s secret techniques!
Heh.
Guess what happened?
After studying a massive amount of information, Shikatoki was left with only one thought.
Just who the hell would be insane enough to challenge secret techniques that an entire shinobi clan had spent thousands of years researching and perfecting?
The only thing he had going for him was probably his identity.
Shikatoki’s parents had died during the Shinobi World War, but his father had been the younger brother of the current Clan Head.
In other words, the Clan Head was his uncle.
For the time being, Shikatoki lived with his uncle’s family, so his life within the Nara Clan was actually quite comfortable.
Along the way, Shikaku and Shikatoki chatted intermittently.
Before long, they arrived at the Ninja Academy.
The grounds were already packed with people.
Shikatoki looked around.
It was currently Konoha Year 33.
That year alone probably didn’t give much sense of where they were in the timeline.
But put another way—
Konoha Year 33 was the year Minato Namikaze officially entered the Academy.
Now that put things into perspective.
Ever since Shikatoki realised he had no talent, he had immediately decided on a new strategy.
Find a powerful thigh to cling to.
“Shikatoki!”
A voice came from behind him.
Shikatoki turned around and saw a tiny blond boy running towards him, his face full of excitement.
“Yo, Minato.
Morning.”
“Good morning, Shikatoki.
Good morning, Senior Shikaku.”
Minato Namikaze greeted them politely.
Shikaku lazily replied before letting out an enormous yawn.
“I’ve delivered you safely.
If my mum asks, don’t say anything bad about me, alright?
I’m leaving.”
“Yeah, yeah.
Go.”
Shikatoki waved him off casually.
“Shikatoki, aren’t you excited?”
Minato looked left and right, curiosity written all over his face as he took in everything around him.
Shikatoki, meanwhile, found a shaded spot beneath a tree and sat down.
“Nope.”
“We’re about to see Lord Hokage!
My dream is to become Hokage someday!”
Minato’s face was practically glowing with excitement.
“That part is actually worth looking forward to.”
The person Shikatoki was looking forward to seeing, however, wasn’t Hiruzen Sarutobi.
At this point in time, the Hokage was still Tobirama Senju.
That alone made this worth anticipating.
“Quiet!”
An ANBU suddenly appeared.
The crowd below immediately fell silent.
With the Flying Thunder God Technique, Tobirama Senju instantly appeared on the Academy’s stage.
“Everyone, today marks the opening day of the Ninja Academy.
Please register and undergo your assessments in an orderly manner.
During your time at the Academy, study diligently.
That is all.”
The moment Tobirama finished speaking, he disappeared.
Simple.
Efficient.
Those were probably the best words to describe it.
Even so, merely seeing Tobirama Senju was enough to make the surrounding crowd erupt into cheers.
That was the status the Hokage held within Konohagakure.
“So cool!”
Minato stared in admiration.
“What?
Tobirama Senju?”
To be fair, Tobirama really was handsome.
But for some reason, the instant Shikatoki looked at him, a tune automatically started playing in his head.
Thinking back on those days, my tears still haven’t dried—
From the decorated tower, an embroidered ball chose a destined match~
And just like that, Shikatoki could no longer look at Tobirama properly.
“Of course!
The Flying Thunder God Technique!
He can flash around everywhere!
How is that not cool?”
Minato excitedly gestured back and forth with his hands.
Shikatoki suddenly looked as though he understood.
Then, with a meaningful expression, he said,
“Don’t worry.
You’ll learn the Flying Thunder God Technique someday too.”
“Hahaha!
That would be amazing!”
The two of them eventually joined the queue.
The entrance assessment was actually quite simple.
Its primary purpose was class placement.
Those with strong talent would be placed together.
Those with weaker talent would be grouped together as well.
It was essentially a form of screening.
After receiving his admission notice, Shikatoki was just about to head home when he suddenly froze in place.
[Host occupation detected.
Skill Editor officially activated.]
“What the hell?!”
Shikatoki’s heart instantly began pounding with excitement.
“It’s here!
The standard equipment of every transmigrator!”
“Shikatoki, what’s wrong?
Why’d you suddenly stop?”
Minato looked at him in confusion when he saw Shikatoki halt halfway through leaving.
“Haha, nothing.
Something came up, so I’m heading home first.
Let’s get ramen together tonight!”
After hurriedly saying goodbye, Shikatoki sprinted away.
Minato scratched his head.
“Why does Shikatoki have so much energy today?
Whatever.
I should go home too.”
Shikatoki jogged all the way back home.
The moment he arrived, he shut himself inside his room.
Without even bothering to wipe away his sweat, he eagerly called out in his mind,
“System?”
A pale blue screen appeared before him.
[Edit]
[Templates]
“That’s it?”
Shikatoki froze for a moment before quickly adjusting his mindset.
“Whatever.
A cheat is a cheat.
I’m not picky.”
He opened [Edit] and [Templates].
[Edit Description: Allows the host to reasonably modify skills already possessed by the host.]
[Template Description: Converts complete skill manuals into templates that can be incorporated into skills, increasing their versatility.]
[Current Skills: None]
[Current Templates: None]
“Now this is interesting.”
A smile appeared on Shikatoki’s face.
Without the slightest hesitation, he quickly left his room and headed straight for the room belonging to his uncle, Shikaomi Nara.
“Uncle~!”
Shikaomi looked over at him.
“Little Shikatoki?
What brings you here?
Sorry I couldn’t take you to the Academy this morning.
I had something to handle.
Did you meet any friends today?”
“It’s fine.
I could’ve gone by myself anyway.
Big Bro Shikaku took me, and I ran into Minato.”
Shikatoki stretched out his right hand, his eyes filled with anticipation.
“Uncle, I want to see our clan’s secret techniques.”
Shikaomi gave his young nephew a strange look.
If he remembered correctly, this child had never seemed particularly enthusiastic about the clan’s secret techniques before.
Still, forget it.
Maybe he had simply grown up.
That was a good thing.
“Alright.
But I can only give you the Shadow Imitation Technique for now.
As for the more advanced techniques, you’ll have to become proficient with the Shadow Imitation Technique first.”
Shikaomi took a scroll from a cabinet and handed it to him.
Shikatoki immediately accepted it.
“Thanks, Uncle.
Do we have any other ninjutsu?”
“Biting off more than you can chew will only hurt you.”
Shikaomi smiled helplessly.
“These are the Three Basic Techniques every ninja learns.
You can study them first.
We’ll talk about anything else later.”
Shikatoki wasn’t picky.
He took the scrolls and left.
Back inside his room, Shikatoki activated the system again.
[Current Skills: None]
[Current Templates: Substitution Technique, Transformation Technique, Clone Technique, Shadow Imitation Technique]
“So that’s how it works.”
Shikatoki quickly analysed the difference between skills and templates.
“Skills are techniques I’ve actually learned, while templates represent complete knowledge of a technique.
I don’t need to learn them first for them to become templates.”
“Then I’ll start with the clan’s secret technique.”
Without hesitation, Shikatoki opened the scroll containing the Shadow Imitation Technique.
The Nara Clan specialised in secret Yin Release techniques passed down through the family.
They fought using techniques such as the Shadow Imitation Technique, Shadow–Neck Binding Technique, and Shadow Sewing Technique.
In battle, they often cooperated with the Yamanaka and Akimichi Clans.
The Nara Clan handled tactical planning and battlefield control.
The Yamanaka Clan handled reconnaissance and intelligence gathering.
The Akimichi Clan served as the primary attackers, delivering the decisive blow.
Together, the three clans formed what was known as the Ino–Shika–Chō formation.
Generally speaking, members of the three clans would be assigned to the same team after graduation.
Incidentally, the “Chō” in Ino–Shika–Chō referred to the Akimichi Clan.
Shikatoki had a very simple reason for choosing the clan’s secret technique first.
He had researched it before.
He had only given up after realising how mediocre his talent was.
Now that he was picking it up again, getting started would naturally be much easier.
Shikatoki spent the entire afternoon practising.
The person who found this most unbearable was undoubtedly Shikaku Nara.
After watching Shikatoki train for an entire afternoon, Shikaku felt utterly betrayed.
Bro!
You weren’t like this before!
If you suddenly start working this hard, you’re making me look lazy!
You know that?!
Seeing his nephew working so diligently, Shikaomi nodded in satisfaction and offered him a few pointers.
With that guidance, Shikatoki finally managed to extend his shadow for a brief instant.
It didn’t last long.
But it was still a good beginning.
“Not bad.
You’re still young, so your chakra reserves are limited.
You won’t be able to maintain your shadow for very long.”
Shikaomi assessed his progress.
“Focus on refining more chakra and keep practising.
You should be able to properly get started within the next few days.”
“Mm!
Thanks, Uncle.
I’m going to take a bath.
I promised Minato we’d get ramen tonight.”
“Go ahead.”
Shikatoki quickly left.
Shikaomi turned towards his son.
“Shikaku…”
“Don’t say it, Dad.
I’ll start working hard tomorrow!”
“Good.
A teachable child indeed.”
That evening, a freshly cleaned-up Shikatoki arrived at one of the most famous pilgrimage sites for transmigrators in all of Konoha—
Ichiraku Ramen.
At this point in time, the shop was still being run by Teuchi’s father.
“Shikatoki, you’re here!
I already ordered.
Come eat!”
Minato waved at him.
Shikatoki didn’t stand on ceremony.
“Thanks.
Next time, it’s my treat.”
Minato smiled shyly.
“It’s fine.
You’ve already treated me several times.
It’s only right that I pay this time.”
“Minato, how about we train together tomorrow?”
Shikatoki suddenly asked.
Minato froze.
Then he stared straight at Shikatoki.
The intensity of his gaze made Shikatoki shift slightly to the right.
“What?
My sexual orientation is perfectly normal!”
Minato laughed awkwardly.
“Mine is too!
It’s just… you seem different somehow, Shikatoki.”
“How am I different?
I still have two eyes and one nose.”
“It’s more like… your mindset?”
Minato sounded uncertain.
“You always seemed really lazy before, but somehow, it also felt like you were constantly anxious.
Like you were afraid something could go wrong at any moment.”
“But now…”
“I feel like you’ve finally calmed down.”
Shikatoki paused with his noodles halfway to his mouth.
What could he even say?
As expected of the future Little Sun.
He had already been this perceptive even as a child.
“Because I found hope.”
“Hope?
What kind of hope?”
“You wouldn’t understand even if I told you.
Anyway, we’re training together tomorrow.”
“Oh!”