It took me a moment to come to my senses. I opened my eyes and looked around. I found myself in the middle of a rocky landscape. Piles of rocks and rubble were everywhere, and I wondered how I could get out of here and find the nearest settlement.
Suddenly, the blue pop-up window appeared again.
[Congratulations on your awakening, user! I am your personal guide to evolving in the Naruto world. This timeline is untraceable.]
"Where did I get this system? I don't remember it being among the rewards." I asked, confused.
[This is a gift for your reincarnation. Besides, I can only guide you on your path to power; I have no leveling features, quests, or rewards.]
"Oh, do you have a name?"
[The user can change the guide system's name at will.]
"Okay, I'll call you Kuro. Please tell me about my abilities and where I am right now?"
[The location and timeframe before the founding of Konoha are currently impossible to determine, but I assume you're still here before Kaguya's sealing, as the moon is missing.]
After this message, I looked up in confusion and saw no moon, although it's daytime, so that's not surprising. But with this message, I felt despair. Since I was reincarnated approximately a thousand years before the founding of the hidden villages, I likely won't be able to live that long.
[The user shouldn't worry. One of your rewards was an ether core, which is energy superior to chi from cultivation. Cultivators can live for several thousand years, but ether is much more difficult to master. Fortunately, you have a training room. By training and fighting various opponents, you will eventually master your power.]
I sighed with relief. I have so many plans for future events. Although I don't plan to interfere too much with the plot, I would still like to change the tragic fates of some people.
"Kuro, please tell me more about the training room's functions."
[The training room's function is a personal space within the spirit world for summoning opponents to fight, no matter who they are or what universe they come from. At this point, you can only challenge an average medieval knight. You'll retain all the experience from battles. If you lose, you won't truly die. However, the training room will go into sleep mode depending on the opponent's strength. An average knight lasts for a day, beings like Kaguya up to a month, and Son Goku or Meliodas up to a year. You will learn and comprehend everything yourself; my authority only extends to certain advice and instructions.]
"Thank you, Kuro. Now I just need to know where to start. As far as I remember, the ether core is located within me. How can I sense it?"
[You need to focus on the area where the core is and try not to rush the process. The ether is soft and docile, yet furious and unbridled. You need to find a fine line between subduing and taming it, and, let's say, "talking" to it as if it were a friend.]
I lay down on the hard stone and closed my eyes, concentrating on the spot where the core was. At the same time, I felt a soft, furious response. Surprised, I opened my eyes and sucked in a breath. Well, a start had already been made. Now I needed to get out of here, find food, and, ideally, a settlement for the night and training. After some thought, I decided to head south, because as far as I remembered, that's where the Land of Fire would be in the future. Currently, I was either in future Iwa or future Kumo.
I had been walking for about three hours when I suddenly heard the sound of waves. I walked in that direction, and as I approached the shore, a beautiful view of the ocean opened up before me, the end of which I couldn't see. Sensing I still had a long way to go, I rested a bit and enjoyed the sea breeze with a smile on my face. After all, I'd never been to the sea in my past life. Mustering up my courage, I headed in the direction I remembered would be the land of frost.
It was already getting dark when I spotted a small fishing village, delighted to finally have found someone I could talk to, a living person. As I approached, the houses became more visible, along with the people scurrying about their business.
The people here resembled simple inhabitants of the Middle Ages, where it was difficult to wash, let alone brush your teeth. As a modern person, this would be difficult to cope with, but I knew that by mastering the ether, I could create a modern home for myself with all the amenities.
As I approached the village, I realized everyone was looking at me strangely. It finally dawned on me that I still didn't know what I looked like. After about 10 minutes of searching, I finally found some kind of reflective surface.
I looked to be about 19 or 20 years old, with white hair hanging down to my waist. I had a cross-shaped earring in my left ear, purple eyes, and wore black clothes like a 19th-century aristocrat. I was about 180 centimeters tall.
After carefully examining my new appearance, I realized why they were looking at me so strangely. Judging by my outfit, I thought I was quickly
She was simply mistaken for an important person, but I didn't bother to clear up the misunderstanding. I asked an old woman passing by for a place to stay and something to eat. After everything that had happened, I definitely needed a good rest to gather my thoughts and continue my practice in the morning.
Besides, since Kaguya hadn't yet been sealed, and I hadn't heard anything about the divine tree, that meant she and Isshiki hadn't arrived yet, or I was too far away, and the villagers simply didn't know what was going on in the world.
After paying the groom for a place in the stable, I lay down on the fresh straw and sank into a world of dreams.