The facts I had gathered over the past several days gradually began to fit together, making that suspicion increasingly difficult to deny.
From Konoha still being a very young village, the First Great Ninja War not having begun yet, to the seemingly unbroken relationship between Madara and Hashirama, everything pointed toward the same conclusion.
The more information I learned, the less likely it seemed that my assumption was wrong.
However, that was precisely why I couldn't let my guard down. The knowledge I possessed came from the Naruto anime and manga I had known in my previous life, but there was no guarantee that this world was truly identical to the story I remembered.
Those memories certainly gave me an advantage, but they could also become a trap if I relied on them too much.
Knowledge that had never been verified would only breed overconfidence, and in the world of ninja, even the smallest mistake could lead to death.
There could be countless subtle differences that would eventually grow into major changes, or perhaps this world belonged to an entirely different timeline.
In a world like this, even a single minor change was enough to alter the entire course of history I thought I knew.
The mere existence of someone who wasn't supposed to exist could trigger a chain of events that would be impossible to stop.
That thought lingered in my mind every time I trained alone. While practicing Chakra control, countless possibilities continued to surface in my thoughts without end.
After all, my Mangekyo Sharingan possessed an unusual ability. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that its power far surpassed any Mangekyo Sharingan ability that had ever appeared in the Naruto series.
I couldn't recall a single ability remotely similar to it, making me even more convinced that these eyes concealed secrets I had yet to fully understand.
Its power allowed me to travel to an alternate Naruto world, or perhaps even to an entirely different world altogether.
The more I thought about it, the more it made sense that this ability wasn't merely transporting me from one place to another, but moving me into a completely different reality.
If that were true, then the concepts of space and time I had once understood might not apply to my Mangekyo Sharingan's ability at all.
If this ability truly worked the way I suspected, then the world I had entered was most likely not the original Naruto world I had always known.
Perhaps this world was merely one of countless possibilities—a world with a similar history, yet not exactly the same.
The smallest difference that seemed insignificant now might eventually become the deciding factor in the future.
If that was the case, then I couldn't afford to act recklessly. An alternate world might harbor dangers that had never existed in the original story.
The knowledge I had always considered an advantage could instead become something dangerously misleading if I depended on it too heavily.
Enemies who were supposed to be weak might become incredibly powerful. History itself could change completely, and even the most important figures might possess personalities vastly different from those I remembered.
Alliances that were meant to happen might never come to pass, while enemies who should have hated each other could instead join forces for a common purpose.
Even the abilities I remembered might evolve in ways entirely different from what I had seen before.
If I let my guard down for even a moment, I could lose my life before I even understood the true situation.
Dying because of overconfidence was the last thing I wanted in this unfamiliar world.
I had to keep reminding myself that the world I now lived in might have rules, history, and possibilities that were completely different from the one I had once read about.
Unfortunately, despite considering every possibility I could think of, I still couldn't leave this village.
My Chakra control was still far from perfect, and I wasn't even capable of using that energy efficiently in every movement.
There were still many weaknesses I needed to overcome before I was truly ready to face the outside world.
Forcing myself to travel without sufficient ability would be no different from asking for trouble.
The ninja world was not a place that showed mercy to the weak, especially not to someone who didn't understand the situation around them.
Therefore, I decided to remain here for the time being. Until I could control my Chakra steadily and use my abilities with confidence, I had no intention of taking the risk of leaving this place.
I constantly reminded myself that acting in haste would only increase the chances of making mistakes.
As long as I still had a safe place to train, there was no reason to force myself into a world I had yet to fully understand.
Patience might be boring, but it was far better than acting recklessly and ending up with regrets.
Every night, I repeated the same training, correcting mistake after mistake that I had previously made time and time again.
Although my progress sometimes felt slow, I could at least tell that my Chakra control was gradually improving compared to the day before.
...
...
...
Before I knew it, time had passed once again. It had now been more than half a year since I first set foot in this world.
The days that had once been filled with uncertainty gradually turned into a routine. Many things had changed since my arrival, especially my Chakra control, which had improved tremendously thanks to my relentless training. Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
As soon as the third month arrived, after countless nights of training had finally paid off and my Chakra control had improved dramatically, I decided it was time to leave the small village.
It wasn't a decision I made on impulse. For several days, I carefully considered every possibility before finally convincing myself that my abilities were sufficient to protect myself should I encounter any unexpected situations.
Before departing, I also said my farewells to the villagers who had helped me so much during my stay.
They accepted my decision with warm smiles and a few simple words of advice, reminding me to stay safe on my journey.
Even though it was only a small village, it was still the first place that had given me a chance to survive in this world.
I then began traveling throughout the Land of Fire. The journey lasted for several months, taking me through many places I had previously only heard about from wandering merchants.
Every region had its own unique atmosphere. Some villages were bustling with merchants and travelers, while others were so quiet that outsiders rarely ever visited them.
Each of those experiences gradually broadened my understanding of the world I now lived in.
From one village to another, from small settlements to larger and livelier towns, I continued gathering information.
I deliberately visited inns, marketplaces, and restaurants because those were the places where the latest news usually spread the fastest.
People tended to speak more openly while eating or resting, making it easy for me to gather all kinds of information without attracting unwanted attention.
The farther I traveled, the more important facts I managed to uncover.
Little by little, the veil shrouding this world's mysteries began to lift. Yet every answer I found only gave rise to even more questions in my mind.
There were times when information from one region contradicted what I had heard elsewhere, forcing me to carefully sort through everything before drawing any conclusions.
However, most of what I learned only made reality even harder to believe.
Because it turned out... this really was a gender-reversed Naruto world.
[Note: This is my other novel: As a Blacksmith in the World of Jujutsu Kaisen. As the White Spider-Man in Earth-76 with the Spider-Man System]