Morning arrived quietly over Konohagakure.
Golden sunlight pierced through the paper windows, illuminating the modest wooden house.
Birds chirped outside.
The village slowly came to life.
Inside the bedroom, a tiny infant slept peacefully, wrapped in a warm blanket.
His breathing was calm.
Steady.
As if nothing in the world could disturb his sleep.
Yet beneath those closed eyelids...
His mind was anything but peaceful.
...
This isn't a dream.
That realization echoed through his mind countless times.
He had expected to wake up.
To find himself back in his apartment.
To dismiss everything as some strange hallucination.
But every time he opened his eyes...
He was still here.
A newborn.
In another world.
'Or...'
'More accurately...'
'The Naruto world.'
The thought alone was unbelievable.
He had spent years reading the manga and watching the anime.
The Hidden Leaf Village.
Chakra.
Ninjas.
The Five Great Nations.
Everything should have existed only in fiction.
Yet...
The warm embrace of the woman sleeping beside him.
The scent of fresh wood filling the room.
The distant voices of shinobi outside.
All of it felt painfully real.
This wasn't a story.
It was now his life.
...
The paper door slid open with a soft sound.
His mother stepped inside carrying a small bowl of warm milk.
Her long black hair was tied behind her back, and although traces of exhaustion remained on her face, her gentle smile never faded.
"Oh?"
She noticed his eyes were already open.
"So you're awake."
Her voice carried warmth that naturally calmed his restless thoughts.
She carefully picked him up.
"So quiet today."
"Most babies would already be crying."
She chuckled softly.
"I suppose you're a good boy."
Ryuu stared at her.
His vision was still blurry, but it had improved compared to yesterday.
He could now distinguish her facial features.
Kind blue eyes.
Soft smile.
Gentle hands.
She looked young.
Perhaps in her early twenties.
Not a single trace of hostility could be found in her expression.
Only affection.
A feeling unfamiliar to the man he once was.
Without realizing it...
His tiny fingers wrapped around one of hers.
His mother blinked before smiling even brighter.
"You already have such a strong grip."
"I wonder..."
"Will you become as stubborn as your father?"
The smile on her face slowly faded.
A trace of loneliness appeared within her eyes.
Ryuu noticed it immediately.
'Father...?'
The word lingered in his mind.
She gently looked toward the window.
"...He would've been so happy to meet you."
There was silence.
She said nothing more.
But those few words were enough.
Ryuu understood.
His father...
Was gone.
Whether he had died before Ryuu's birth or during the war, he didn't know.
But one thing became clear.
His mother was raising him alone.
...
Days turned into weeks.
Weeks became months.
Ryuu gradually adapted to his new life.
Although trapped within the body of an infant, his mind remained that of an adult.
He observed.
He listened.
He learned.
Every conversation became valuable information.
Little by little...
He began piecing together his surroundings.
The village truly was Konohagakure.
However...
Something puzzled him.
The Hokage Monument contained only a single face.
'The First Hokage...'
Hashirama Senju.
That meant history hadn't progressed very far.
This wasn't Naruto's era.
It wasn't even Minato's era.
He had been born decades before the original story.
Far enough in the past that countless future legends had yet to leave their mark on history.
The realization filled him with both excitement and caution.
Everything he knew about the future could become an advantage.
But...
Only if he survived long enough to use it.
...
One evening...
His mother carried him outside.
The air was cool.
Children laughed as they chased one another through the streets.
Shinobi wearing flak jackets walked past while discussing missions.
Merchants greeted customers with cheerful smiles.
For a brief moment...
It looked like an ordinary village.
Peaceful.
Warm.
Alive.
Then...
His mother's footsteps slowed.
She stopped before an abandoned district near the edge of the village.
Broken wooden fences.
Empty homes.
Overgrown gardens.
Everything here had been swallowed by silence.
"This..."
She whispered.
"...was once our home."
Ryuu quietly followed her gaze.
Dozens of traditional houses stretched before them.
Some had collapsed.
Others stood empty.
Nature had slowly reclaimed the training grounds.
At the very center stood a large dojo.
Its doors remained tightly shut.
Dust covered the entrance.
No laughter echoed from within.
No sound of clashing swords.
Nothing.
His mother gently hugged him closer.
"One day..."
"When you're older..."
"I'll tell you everything."
"For now..."
"Just remember this place."
"It is where you belong."
Ryuu looked toward the silent dojo.
For reasons he couldn't explain...
A strange feeling stirred deep within his heart.
It wasn't sadness.
Nor anger.
It was...
Longing.
As though something inside those old walls was waiting for him.
Watching.
Patiently.
The evening breeze swept across the abandoned estate.
The worn banner hanging above the dojo fluttered once.
Upon it...
The faded emblem of a sword surrounded by five dragons remained visible despite the passage of time.
The symbol of a clan history had nearly erased.
The symbol of the Kensei Clan.
Ryuu quietly stared at it.
Unaware that one day...
He would carry that crest back onto battlefields across the shinobi world.
End of Chapter 2