It was a moonlit night, with only a scattering of stars in the sky.
Lying in bed, Shiranui Rei realized for the first time just how enormous the moon in the shinobi world was.
A moon made by the Sage of Six Paths was truly something else.
“Fourteen years have passed before I even realized it…”
Shiranui Rei hugged a scroll to his chest, his distant gaze fixed on the full moon hanging in the night sky outside his window.
He had not been born in this world.
In his previous life, he had lived on Earth.
Then, in the blink of an eye, he had somehow gone from Earth to the Hidden Leaf Village.
His parents had been shinobi, but they died on a mission when he was only a few years old.
As a result, he was sent to the Konoha orphanage when he was barely two or three.
That was where he met someone who was both familiar and unfamiliar to him—a boy his age named Minato Namikaze.
Shiranui Rei quickly became good friends with the gentle and friendly Minato.
Later, just like most of Konoha’s shinobi, the two enrolled in the Ninja Academy.
Then they graduated early and became students of Jiraiya.
Unfortunately, the Second Shinobi World War broke out just as they graduated.
They had barely put their forehead protectors on before they were packing their bags and heading for the battlefield.
Time and time again, they brushed shoulders with the god of death.
They crawled out of piles of corpses, only to charge straight into another one…
After the Second Shinobi World War ended, Shiranui Rei and Minato Namikaze were promoted to jonin at the same time.
Their battlefield achievements and the strength they had forged through countless brushes with death had earned them both the rank.
“Phew…”
Shiranui Rei let out a long breath and shifted onto his side.
That was where his first fourteen years of life could be summed up.
More importantly, today seemed to mark an important turning point in his life in the shinobi world.
And everything had started yesterday.
It was the forty-first year of Konoha.
Yesterday, a group of Cloud shinobi had infiltrated Konoha and kidnapped Kushina Uzumaki.
Shiranui Rei and Minato Namikaze had noticed the sudden incident in time.
Working together, they captured the Cloud shinobi responsible for the kidnapping and rescued Kushina.
The very next day—today—the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, decided to reward them.
He allowed each of them to choose a ninjutsu from the Scroll of Seals.
Coincidentally, both Shiranui Rei and Minato Namikaze chose the same technique—
Flying Thunder God!
“The key to reaching the Kage level.”
Shiranui Rei gave the scroll in his arms a simple definition.
He considered himself to lack the kind of talent Minato Namikaze possessed as a shinobi.
Shiranui Rei had survived countless battles and climbed his way to the rank of jonin through sheer ruthlessness and good luck.
His parents had left him no bloodline limit, nor had they passed down any forbidden techniques.
He had danced on the edge of death countless times, yet not once had some miraculous system appeared and said, “Please use me to your heart’s content, Master.”
Without some extraordinary opportunity, elite jonin would probably be the limit of his life.
And this copied scroll containing the Flying Thunder God Technique might just be his best chance to break through the limitations of his natural talent.
Of course, Flying Thunder God was not an easy technique to learn.
First, it placed extremely high demands on one’s talent for sensing and perceiving space—something so mysterious that it was difficult to put into words.
Second, even a naturally gifted shinobi could face an extremely high risk of death if they were even slightly careless while learning Flying Thunder God.
By the time of the Fourth Shinobi World War, only two people had been known to use the technique: the Second Hokage and the Fourth Hokage.
That alone said a lot.
“The danger of Flying Thunder God is definitely a problem.”
Shiranui Rei frowned as the slender scroll slowly spun between his fingers.
Could it be possible that the reason he had never appeared in the original story was because he had accidentally died while learning Flying Thunder God?
But if he did not possess at least one special skill, there was no guarantee that an ordinary jonin like him would survive the crises that awaited him in the future.
“The Flying Thunder God Technique is great. I have to learn it!”
Shiranui Rei finally made up his mind.
His handsome face twisted into a somewhat fierce expression.
He was conflicted.
He wanted to live longer in the shinobi world, but he was not someone who was afraid of death.
What he did not want was to die pointlessly in some future crisis.
In a few years, the Third Shinobi World War would erupt.
Not long after that, the Nine-Tails would attack Konoha.
And if the timeline were stretched a little further, there would be the Konoha Crush, Pain’s assault on Konoha, and the Fourth Shinobi World War.
The most unfortunate part was that during all these life-threatening events, he would be in the prime of his life.
He would inevitably have to charge onto the front lines.
Without some special ability to protect himself, even a jonin would be nothing more than cannon fodder!
Shiranui Rei quickly climbed out of bed and sat down at the desk in his bedroom.
He switched on the lamp and slowly unrolled the scroll.
Profound and obscure characters once again entered his field of vision.
He had already taken a rough look at the contents while copying the scroll.
After reading it, however, he had not felt enlightened in the slightest.
All he had felt was a throbbing headache.
“No wonder hardly anyone besides the Second Hokage and Minato could learn this. Anyone who can actually understand this thing must be a genius…”
Shiranui Rei sucked in a cold breath and ran his right hand through his dark-purple hair, which was slightly disheveled from sleep.
He rubbed the space between his eyebrows with his fingers and continued to calm his mind, trying to comprehend the contents of the scroll.
After some time, he turned off the lamp.
It was not because he had mastered the technique.
It was because dawn had arrived.
Shiranui Rei rolled up the scroll and put it away.
After stretching, he stood up, opened the bedroom door, and walked into the living room.
There was much more space here.
It would be easier to practice.
“First, I need to complete the inscription of the Flying Thunder God seal.”
Shiranui Rei raised his right hand and pressed his palm against the living-room wall.
The chakra within his body underwent precise manipulation within a matter of seconds.
When he pulled his hand away, a Flying Thunder God formula had already appeared on the wall.
For now, his priority was simply to learn the technique.
Once he became proficient, there would be plenty of time to design his own unique formula using his preferred patterns or characters.
He took several steps backward, increasing the distance between himself and the chakra seal on the wall.
Then he once again calmed his mind and began sensing the location of the seal.
Visual input could interfere with spatial perception.
As a beginner, blocking out that interference was necessary.
So he closed his eyes.
One second passed after another.
Shiranui Rei stood motionless like a statue.
Knock, knock, knock.
Three soft knocks came from the entrance.
They snapped Shiranui Rei out of his attempt to sense the Flying Thunder God seal.
He opened his eyes.
Looking up at the clock hanging on the wall, he realized that it was already eight in the morning.
“Who would come to my house this early?”
Shiranui Rei walked toward the entrance in confusion.
He turned the doorknob and opened the brown wooden door.
Sunlight poured through the doorway and spilled across the floor, stretching the shadows of the two people inside.
The first thing that caught his eye was a graceful figure dressed in purple.
A beautiful young woman stood at the entrance with her hands behind her back.
Her long black hair fell past her shoulders.
She wore a light-purple kimono, and under the sunlight, her fair skin seemed as smooth and lustrous as polished white jade.
The moment she saw the young man open the door, the corners of her lips curved upward with delight.
“Good morning, Rei-kun~”
The girl greeted him in a gentle, warm voice.
“…Mikoto-san?”
When Shiranui Rei finally recognized who was standing before him, he was momentarily surprised.
The girl’s completely unrestrained charm was even more overwhelming at such close range.
A flicker of amazement crossed his eyes, and his mind went blank for several seconds.