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Chapter 1 — I Turned into Paper?! Where's My Big Body?!
"Ah… so soft… so warm…"
Half-conscious, Alex felt himself wrapped in a tender warmth, as if he had returned to a mother's embrace from his childhood.
Every cell in his body relaxed to the extreme—it was pure bliss.
He slowly opened his eyes.
Whoa!
All that filled his vision was white—endless, flawless white that occupied his entire sight.
It was purer than any white he had ever seen before—even pure milk couldn't compare.
It was soft, smooth, and faintly carried a sweet, comforting fragrance.
Before Alex could savor the sensation, he suddenly noticed something wrong with his own body.
It was light. Thin. Almost like… paper. And there was no heartbeat.
A chill ran through him.
"What the—? I turned into paper?! Where's my big, solid body?!"
He didn't know what was happening, but oddly, his field of vision wasn't affected. He could still see himself clearly.
A single sheet of white paper—no bigger than an adult's palm.
When he moved, the paper rippled slightly.
He could control it as easily as his old body, without a hint of stiffness.
But the absurdity of the situation made it hard to accept.
He had only taken a nap in his university classroom. How did opening his eyes turn him into a sheet of paper?!
Then, he realized what was underneath him.
Soft white mounds—smooth as porcelain snow.
The real deal—something countless men dreamed of but could never touch.
And right now, he was perfectly plastered against it.
"Wait… am I being used as a bra?" Alex's emotions tangled in an indescribable mess.
At the same time, he sensed a strange power within his paper-thin body.
It was this very power that allowed him to exist.
Instinct told him that if this energy ran out, his end would not be pretty.
The thought made him panic.
He didn't know why he had turned into paper, but at least he was alive. He didn't want to vanish just because he ran out of energy.
That energy seemed to come from the woman beneath him—so he instinctively tried absorbing it.
"Hey… it's working!"
A steady stream of the same energy flowed from her body into his.
He dared not absorb too much, afraid of being discovered, but even a trickle would add up over time.
"Huh?"
Before he could continue, a faint will suddenly brushed against his body.
It wasn't conscious—just a mechanical command.
He could easily block it out.
But to avoid exposure—and to figure out where he was—Alex let it take control.
The next moment, his paper body lifted from the soft white curves beneath him.
More sheets of white paper floated up beside him, identical in size and thickness.
Alex watched them carefully, wondering if any others were self-aware like him.
Unfortunately, there was no way to tell from appearances alone.
More and more sheets drifted into the air, peeling off the woman's body.
Even the soft white mounds he had rested on were no longer whole—tiny seams appeared across the surface as countless sheets separated.
Sheet after sheet rose and fluttered.
"What the—?! Don't tell me this person's entire body is made of paper? And I'm just one of them?!"
Alex was stunned.
The scene unfolding before him shattered his understanding of reality.
But before he could dwell on it, his paper body fully detached and drifted upward.
The owner of those snow-white mounds finally came into view.
That iconic short blue hair. The black cloak with red clouds. And that cold, expressionless face.
The White Tiger of Akatsuki—Konan.
She stood quietly atop the ocean, her body swaying slightly with the rhythm of the waves.
In the distance, Amegakure's outline blurred under a curtain of mist and rain.
Konan tilted her head upward, blankly gazing at the dark clouds above, letting the rain fall freely over her.
Her eyes brimmed with sorrow.
Sheets of white paper swirled around her, moving unconsciously under her control.
"So… I've crossed into the world of Naruto." Alex exhaled in relief.
It was a bizarre situation, sure, but at least he was in a world he knew.
He cautiously drifted to face Konan, studying her closely.
He didn't know how long she had been standing there in the rain, but her entire body was soaked through.
The Akatsuki cloak that usually hung loosely now clung tightly to her figure, outlining every curve in perfect detail.
Combined with her cold expression, the sight was almost dangerously alluring—a forbidden mix of beauty and sorrow.
Raindrops slid down her face, gathered at her chin, and dripped along her slender neck… before disappearing into the shadowed valley below.
Alex forced his gaze away from the droplets sliding down her skin.
Now was not the time for that kind of thought. He didn't even have a real body right now.
This world was far from friendly—he needed to focus on survival and finding a way to become human again.
As he thought, the paper he inhabited slowly drifted downward.
"Judging from Konan's appearance, this must be around the start of Shippuden… but I'm not sure how far along the timeline it is."
"Has Akatsuki started capturing the Tailed Beasts yet? And if so, how many?"
Splash!
The paper landed on the surface of the sea, instantly soaking part of his body.
Alex instinctively looked up—
—and froze.
From his low vantage point, all he could see were two magnificent peaks rising into the heavens.
For the first time in his life, he truly understood the phrase "gazing up at towering mountains."
High. Majestic. Imposing.
The waves carried him away, and he didn't resist—just let the current drift him farther.
His mind blanked as his eyes unconsciously followed those twin peaks.
So… this was his situation.
He had become one of the sheets of paper created by Konan's Paper Release.
The power sustaining his existence was likely her chakra. Without it, he'd cease to exist.
They were now in a symbiotic relationship—if she thrived, he thrived; if she perished, so would he.
He didn't have a "system" like those lucky protagonists, but he did awaken a special ability not long after regaining consciousness.
Replication.
If he covered any written surface—a book, scroll, or even a tag—he could instantly absorb and learn the information recorded on it.
If he touched a ninjutsu scroll, he could master the jutsu within almost instantly.
He hadn't tested it yet, but just having that ability was reassuring. It was far better than having nothing.
What troubled him now was how to approach Konan.
This world was filled with schemes and betrayal, and someone of her level—a Kage-tier shinobi—was bound to be cautious.
As a sentient scrap of her paper, how could he possibly earn her trust?
And even if he could, restoring his human body would require her help.
"At the very least, I'll need a power on the level of a Kekkei Mōra…"
He wasn't entirely sure.
But Kaguya Ōtsutsuki had birthed Hagoromo and Hamura, and even created Black Zetsu before being sealed. That proved a Kekkei Mōra could indeed create life.
He didn't need to create life from scratch—just rebuild his body. That should be easier… hopefully.
Before he realized it, the paper had drifted toward a nearby reef.
He could still faintly see Konan's silhouette in the distance.
"Wait… there's something there."
He examined a withered branch on the reef—it looked ordinary, but something about it felt wrong.
He didn't move or fly closer, pretending to just be another floating sheet of paper.
"Yeah, let's leave the dangerous stuff to the Kage-tier kunoichi. I'm just a fragile little piece of paper…"
Alex quietly transmitted the anomaly he sensed through the faint chakra link embedded in his body.
Every sheet of paper Konan created carried her chakra and perception—it served as her eyes and ears.
Swish!
The moment his signal reached her, Konan instantly appeared before him, landing atop the reef.
Her cold eyes fixed sharply on the withered branch ahead.