Outside the gates of Konoha, bathed in the afterglow of the setting sun, Uesugi Kyosuke ran with all his might.
Sweat soaked entirely through his grey short-sleeved shirt. His limbs ached with a dull fire, and though he felt as if he might collapse at any second, he gritted his teeth and pushed through to complete his daily training goal.
The towering gates of the hidden village finally came into view. Kyosuke gradually slowed to a halt, drawing in greedy gulps of air to calm his hammering heart. He didn't stop to rest, choosing instead to keep his heavy legs moving as he walked into the village.
Just then, a vibrant shout echoed from down the road.
Someone was calling his name. Kyosuke turned around to see a familiar flash of green racing toward him. It was Might Guy.
"Kyosuke, wait for me!" Guy yelled, flashing a bright, enthusiastic smile. "Yesterday my mom gave me some pocket money. Let's go get some barbecue together!"
Seeing Guy's hearty grin, Kyosuke couldn't help but feel infected by his energy. His mood lifted instantly, and even the deep exhaustion in his muscles seemed to fade. He offered a warm smile in return.
"Haha, I certainly won't turn down a chance for barbecue. Remember to thank your mother for me."
Kyosuke was an orphan. He didn't come from a proud shinobi clan; his parents had been ordinary civilians of Konoha who tragically lost their lives in the war. Aside from a small house, they had left him no legacy.
Fortunately, Konoha provided a monthly relief fund to war orphans. Without it, Kyosuke would have starved to death long ago.
While Guy's father was only a Genin with a modest income, his situation was still miles better than Kyosuke's life on the edge of subsistence. Occasionally, Guy even had a little pocket money to spare.
As the two boys walked through the village gates, the shinobi on guard duty cast them a brief, scrutinizing look.
Although the Second Shinobi World War had officially ended, the ninja world remained a turbulent place. Small-scale border conflicts were too numerous to count, so the village security maintained absolute vigilance.
Still, Konoha itself had not seen large-scale conflict within its walls for years. Thanks to the abundant resources of the Land of Fire, the village had largely recovered from the scars of war. The streets were bustling with life and commerce.
Inside the bustling barbecue restaurant, Kyosuke stared down a plate of sizzling, freshly grilled meat. He wasted no time standing on ceremony, immediately crossing chopsticks with Guy to fight for the best cuts.
The plate was devoured by the two growing boys in record time, entirely wiping out Guy's pocket money.
Licking his lips, Kyosuke still felt a hollow ache in his stomach. He desperately wanted another plate. It wasn't that he was greedy; his daily physical training consumed massive amounts of energy. His growing body screamed for protein and nutrients, and surviving on cheap vegetables every day was becoming unbearable.
Guy patted his stomach in satisfaction, letting out a booming laugh.
"Hahaha! Tomorrow is the day the Academy starts. Let's go report together. Once we're officially classmates, we can train together too!"
Hearing the sincere invitation, Kyosuke offered a bitter smile and shook his head.
"Guy, it's not like we haven't tried training together before. Your routine is just too intense. I can't keep up with your rhythm at all, and to be honest, I wouldn't dare try. I don't have the money to buy those medicinal supplements for recovery. Forcing myself to match your training might just leave me crippled."
Guy had received systematic physical conditioning from his father since childhood. This included not only secret techniques but also the expensive medicinal baths and supplements required to heal torn muscles. Without them, Guy's sheer volume of training would have ruined his body at a young age.
Simply put, raising a shinobi was infinitely more expensive than training a regular soldier.
Kyosuke had no ninja heritage to fall back on. When he had first met Guy a year ago, he had secretly coveted the Eight Gates technique, but harsh reality had quickly deterred him. Without a special bloodline, a unique talent, or deep pockets, even if Guy handed him the scroll for the Eight Gates, Kyosuke couldn't safely practice it.
After thanking Guy for the meal and parting ways, Kyosuke took a slow walk back to his empty house.
He passed many shinobi along the way. He saw the arrogant crest of the Uchiha Clan, the pale-eyed members of the Hyuga Clan, the low-profile Aburame, and the burly figures of the Akimichi.
Of course, the vast majority were ordinary civilian ninja. During the first two Shinobi World Wars, the noble clans had suffered heavy casualties. With the scale of war only growing, the village had no choice but to pour resources into cultivating civilian talent.
Perhaps it was precisely because of this rise in civilian power that Minato Namikaze, a man with no clan backing, was destined to become the Fourth Hokage.
As a transmigrator, Kyosuke possessed the memories of two lives, giving him a much deeper perspective on this world's hidden currents.
Right on cue, as he thought of the future Hokage, Kyosuke spotted a young man with bright blond hair at a street corner. He was smiling apologetically at a beautiful red-haired girl pacing beside him.
It was Minato Namikaze and Uzumaki Kushina.
Kyosuke walked right past them, his face a mask of calm, treating them as complete strangers. He had no choice. Uzumaki Kushina was the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. She was constantly monitored by Anbu and the village higher-ups.
To Kyosuke, she was a walking hazard. He didn't dare make eye contact or show any unusual interest, lest he be dragged in for an interrogation or handled as a spy.
Returning to his tiny, dark home, Kyosuke washed up quickly with cold water and collapsed onto his bed, letting the exhaustion drag him into sleep.
He wasn't jealous of the powerful Bloodline Limits he had seen today. Life was inherently unequal. If you lost the reincarnation lottery, you had no one to blame but yourself.
Besides, he had a cheat of his own.
As he fell asleep, Kyosuke felt his body become light and airy. His consciousness floated upward, soon arriving in a hazy, grey dimension.
The space was entirely filled with swirling mist, save for a single, pristine patch of green grass in the center.
Four other young boys were already standing on the grass, chatting animatedly. Kyosuke walked up and greeted them.
"Sorry, I grabbed barbecue with Guy today. It delayed me a bit."
Though he apologized, Kyosuke didn't feel much regret.
Years ago, when his soul had mysteriously crossed over into the ninja world, something strange had occurred. For an unknown reason, his soul had splintered into five fragments, reincarnating into five independent yet mysteriously linked lives.
They were Uesugi Kyosuke of Konoha, Mishu of Kirigakure, Tasaka Sensuke of Sunagakure, Kurasaka Kiichiro in the Land of Lightning, and Ooka Shin in the war-torn Land of Rain.
Whenever they fell asleep, they could choose to pull their consciousness into this Dream Space to exchange information, share insights, and plot their survival.
After years of communicating, they had discovered their greatest advantage. Last year, when Tasaka Sensuke entered the Sunagakure Ninja Academy, they realized their abilities were perfectly shared.
If one person learned the Transformation Jutsu, the other four could perform it perfectly on their first try—as if their bodies possessed the muscle memory.
If one person trained their physical strength, the baseline strength of the others automatically increased.
If one person practiced their hand seal speed, the others' fingers grew faster and more nimble.
If one person expanded their Chakra reserves, all five of them gained larger capacities.
They were five distinct people, yet in terms of growth and potential, they were one entity.
Kyosuke and his counterparts had no idea how this worked, but they absolutely planned to exploit it. They had immediately divided their labor to maximize their shared gains.
Tasaka Sensuke's father was an active Chunin, and Sensuke was already in the Academy. Therefore, he was strictly responsible for learning and practicing Ninjutsu.
Kyosuke was a civilian orphan with no access to jutsu scrolls. However, Konoha was relatively safe, and he received enough food to survive. His job was pure physical conditioning to boost their shared bodily strength. He didn't dare refine Chakra or practice hand seals in the waking world; an orphan suddenly using ninjutsu would immediately invite a terrifying "chat" with Konoha's Anbu.
Kirigakure was currently chaotic, plagued by poor security and low living standards. Mishu didn't dare run around outside. Instead, he hid in the safety of his home to relentlessly practice hand seal speed. Because his late father had been a Genin, a bit of ninja training wouldn't draw the Bloody Mist's suspicion.
Kurasaka Kiichiro lived in a civilian town in the Land of Lightning, far from Kumogakure. His parents were wealthy merchants, providing him with endless meat and rich nutrition. His assigned role was high-intensity Taijutsu and brutal swordsmanship training.
Finally, there was the Land of Rain. The country was a meat grinder. Ooka Shin's village had been slaughtered by rogue ninjas years ago. He was a starving wanderer, living a precarious life on the run. He had no energy or safety to train. However, his environment provided something the others lacked: life-or-death combat. Shin constantly fought for his life, perfectly sharpening their shared killing intent, combat reflexes, and battle instincts.
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