Winter fades and spring arrives as all things awaken. Nature is constantly changing, but the only constant is war.
In the eastern part of the Land of Fire, within a coastal forest, despite the bright sun high above, the woods were filled with dense fog. A brutal slaughter was taking place within that thick mist.
"Unlucky. I hope I don't have to give it all up here today," Makiya sighed, pulling out a food pill and swallowing it whole. Feeling the bitterness spread through his mouth as his spirit lifted, he rushed into the battlefield once more.
Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!
A massive orange-red fireball erupted from the boy's mouth, carrying rolling heat waves as it flew forward, striking a figure leaping through the air with no leverage to dodge.
The person instantly screamed as the blazing flames quickly charred him to a crisp, his body falling to the ground and snapping in two.
The air blast dispersed the fog, causing Makiya's hair to sway. His handsome young face was full of seriousness.
Makiya Uchiha, male, 7 years old, a Genin of Konoha's Uchiha clan. Formerly known as Makiya, he was a 2024 graduate student from Blue Star.
He only remembered that as his research group party ended, the photographer hired by his tutor pressed the shutter. The blinding flash made him instinctively close his eyes. When he opened them again, he was in the Ninja World, a war orphan of the Uchiha clan at the age of 2.
The bad news: he was an orphan and an Uchiha. He wouldn't live long!
The good news: he hadn't started working before he died, so he should still have his status as a fresh graduate.
Konoha's food did not support idle people. With the outbreak of the Third Ninja World War, Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage and principal of the Ninja Academy, gave the order. Seven-year-old Makiya was forced to graduate early and head to the battlefield with his clansmen.
This was the way of Konoha; the youth only needed to carry out the Will of Fire on the battlefield, while the old timers in the back had more to consider.
Konoha had two main battlefields: one to the west fighting the Land of Wind, and one to the east clashing with the Land of Water. Makiya was stationed in the eastern theater.
It was currently the early stages of the war, and the intensity wasn't high. Makiya stayed close to Shisui Uchiha, who was just starting to make a name for himself, happily riding his coattails.
Unfortunately, fate was unpredictable. Makiya and Shisui's team were on a simple reconnaissance mission when they were suddenly ambushed by Kirigakure forces and suffered heavy losses instantly.
'Fortunately, I was positioned further back, or I'd be the one lying on the ground.'
Makiya removed a ninja tool pouch from a fallen clansman, looking at a girl whose internal organs were scattered across the ground, feeling both lucky and sad.
Suddenly, Makiya pulled out the short sword from his back and thrust it deep into the ground. A muffled groan came from beneath the level earth. When he pulled the sword out, blood surged continuously from the soil.
The ninja attempting to sneak attack from underground had his skull split open, buried right where he stood.
"Konoha trash, die!"
A Mist ninja rushed down from a tree, clutching a kunai and brushing past Makiya. The two stood back-to-back; a mist of blood erupted from the Mist ninja's neck, while a deep wound appeared on Makiya's arm.
Before Makiya could catch his breath, another enemy launched a surprise attack from behind. Makiya gripped his short sword and engaged him. The surrounding large trees were hit by collateral jutsu and collapsed one after another.
As time passed, Uchiha clansmen fell one by one. More and more enemies besieged Makiya. Outnumbered and exhausted, new wounds appeared on his body, and his defeat was imminent.
Makiya never saw a green Susanoo appear to crush everything. Shisui was only 7 years old this year, and facing enemies several times their number, he was equally powerless to turn the tide.
Boom!
Shisui, who was being focused on by the enemies, fell from a high place and slammed heavily in front of Makiya. The soft earth was instantly smashed into a large pit, soil splashing everywhere.
Makiya looked around and found that only he and Shisui were still alive; all other clansmen had died in battle. The bloodthirsty Mist ninja slowly closed in on him, their ninja tools glinting coldly.
Makiya propped up Shisui's arm with his left hand and pulled three smoke bombs from his tool pouch with his right, slamming them into the ground. Dense smoke instantly obscured their bodies.
Seeing this, the Mist ninja immediately performed Wind Style. A violent hurricane blew away the smoke, revealing that Makiya had taken the opportunity to run dozens of meters while supporting Shisui.
"Hmph, struggling at death's door."
A Mist ninja threw three senbon. The sharp steel needles sliced through the air, accurately hitting Makiya's back.
Like a bird with broken wings, Makiya tumbled to the ground along with Shisui. Before the Mist ninja could even smile, the two bodies transformed into two logs in a puff of white smoke.
"Substitution Jutsu? When?!"
The tricked Mist ninja was furious. He pulled out more senbon and gave chase toward the west. Konoha ninjas would only flee in that direction; to return to the village, they had to go west.
The other Mist ninja shared a glance, hastily gouged out the eyes from the corpses of the Uchiha clansmen, and pursued in a fan formation toward the west.
After everyone left, the forest returned to silence, leaving only a ground full of corpses missing their eyes. Blood flowed from the gruesome holes, slowly seeping into the ground. The vegetation next year would surely be exceptionally lush.
Poof! Poof!
White smoke erupted from the two logs. As the smoke cleared, Makiya and Shisui appeared where they had been.
"Cough, cough... Makiya, your Transformation Jutsu... cough, it's really impressive to be able to fool them." Shisui coughed up a pool of blood, his nose covered in dust.
"It's the jutsu I'm most proficient in, and it won't fool them for long. Hiss..." Makiya grimaced and pulled the three senbon from his back, then pulled out a pile of blood-coagulating pills, detox pills, and food pills and swallowed them whole.
The Mist ninja were somewhat honorable; there was no poison on the senbon. But who knew if that guy had washed his hands after using the bathroom? It was better to be safe than sorry.
"Shisui, give me your hand. Let's go. The Mist ninja will be back soon."
Makiya lowered his head and reached a hand toward Shisui, signaling for him to put his arm over his shoulder.
Shisui shook his head. "Makiya, you go. My leg is broken. Taking me will only slow you down."
"Are you kidding me?" Makiya pulled Shisui's arm without listening. "To not abandon and not give up is my ninja way."
"Wasn't your ninja way to enjoy life while you can?"
"...That was just talk. This time it's for real, trust me."
The two disappeared from the spot. Makiya carried Shisui through the forest, speeding toward... the East.
A moment later, the Mist ninja who couldn't find anyone returned to the original spot. After searching carefully, they found the three bloodstained senbon on the ground and finally confirmed they had been played. They immediately expanded their search area.
Two Uchiha boys covered in injuries certainly couldn't have run far. The hunting game had only just begun.
The Mist ninja captain rested on a tree trunk, counting the Sharingan sealed in the scroll in his arms, the corners of his mouth curling slightly.
This ambush was quite a harvest!
As long as he caught those two escaping rats and brought this mission to a perfect conclusion, his promotion within the village would be set in stone.
Ever since the war with Konoha began, Kirigakure had been suppressed everywhere. The ninja force led by the Uchiha clan was powerful, and only the Seven Ninja Swordsmen could go head-to-head with them.
This ambush originated from an unexpected piece of intelligence. A scroll had appeared mysteriously in a Mist ninja base, clearly marking the reconnaissance routes of two Uchiha squads, even including high-level secrets like emergency contact codes.
'It seems there's a traitor within Konoha. Who could it be? I wonder if it's our mole or one from the Hidden Sand?' the Mist ninja captain's thoughts wandered.
"There is a traitor among us!"
Two hours later, in a cave, Makiya looked at Shisui with a serious face.
Shisui shook his head. "The only ones who knew our reconnaissance route besides the clan elders were the Anbu. None of them have a reason to defect."
The two discussed it for a long while but couldn't figure out who leaked the information. Although Makiya suspected Danzo was behind it, without evidence, it was useless.
Makiya was the medical ninja of the squad. He used two branches and strips of cloth torn from his clothes to simply set Shisui's broken leg, then performed the Mystical Palm Technique to accelerate cell division.
Once Shisui could barely move independently, Makiya stopped the Mystical Palm Technique and let out a long breath. His chakra was nearly exhausted, and he felt drained.
"Makiya, you rest first. I'll take the watch," Shisui said.
"Okay."
Makiya didn't act formal. He immediately swallowed two food pills and lay down against the stone wall. The excessive physical exertion made his head spin, and soon his eyelids began to grow heavy, and he gradually fell asleep.
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in a pitch-black space.
Looking around, the quiet, dark space didn't frighten him. Instead, it made him feel incredibly safe, as if he had returned to the womb—encompassing and gentle.
A small gray path at his feet emitted a faint glow. Makiya walked forward, the panic of suddenly being in a strange place gradually disappearing, and his mind grew calmer.
'Huh? Such a familiar sense of deja vu.'
Looking at everything before him, Makiya felt it more and more familiar. He quickened his pace and ran forward. After an unknown amount of time, the view suddenly opened up, and the narrow path beneath his feet turned into a vast, misty gray land.
'This scene... it looks a lot like the description in a novel I read in my past life.'
Makiya finally remembered. He had read a multiverse-travel novel before, and the protagonist's cheat seemed to look exactly like this.
In the end, that protagonist successfully transcended the world, roaming freely across the heavens.
Could it be that he was about to make it big?!
"That's right, it's exactly what you're thinking."
The voice coming from behind was exceptionally familiar.
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