Konoha Year 54.
Three-year-old Tetsuhara Akira was curled up in a corner of his home.
"Your parents… have sacrificed themselves." The orphanage director crouched in front of him, her voice hoarse. "Jonin Tetsuhara Naoto gave his life to protect his comrades and ensure the mission's success…"
Akira nodded silently. His aqua-blue hair clung to his forehead. He remembered his father's smile before leaving home, and his mother gently stroking his hair as she said, "Wait for Daddy to come back."
But what stood out even more vividly was another set of memories—those of his previous life.
He had once been a young man named Tetsu, sitting in front of his computer watching Naruto, grumbling, "There are too many regrets in Naruto. If it were me…"
The next thing he knew, a mud truck that made absolutely no sense had smashed into him—on the seventh floor—and sent him flying straight into the Naruto world.
The two sets of memories fused together in his mind.
"My name is Tetsuhara Akira," he whispered to himself. "This is ridiculous. Why would a mud truck appear on the seventh floor? But since I'm already in the Naruto world… I'll live well this time. I'll make up for as many regrets as I can."
---
Three years later.
On the day the Ninja Academy opened, sunlight bathed the training grounds.
"My name is Tetsuhara Akira, and my dream is to become the Hokage."
The blue-haired boy stood on the podium, smiling as warmly as the spring sun.
Below him, a blonde-haired girl stared wide-eyed. Those clear blue eyes were like the sky after rain, and they made her heart skip a beat.
"My name is Ino Yamanaka! And I'm going to open a flower shop someday!"
When it was her turn, Ino deliberately raised her voice, sneaking a glance at the blue-haired boy from the corner of her eye.
At lunchtime, Ino carried her tray and sat down across from Akira.
"Your hair color is really beautiful," she said, summoning her courage.
"Your blonde hair is pretty too," Akira replied with a smile. "It's like sunlight."
From that day on, the destinies of the two six-year-old children quietly began to intertwine.
---
After school, Akira didn't return to the orphanage. Instead, he walked toward the house preserved in his memories—the residence he had briefly returned to once, at the age of three, to help sort through his parents' belongings.
The former home of Konoha Jonin Tetsuhara Naoto had been designated a Home of Merit by the village due to his sacrifice. The village arranged for it to be cleaned monthly, and the stipend provided was enough for Akira to live on comfortably.
The key slid into the lock.
With a soft creak, the door—sealed for three years—slowly opened.
A family portrait hung on the living room wall: his blue-haired father, his brown-haired mother, and himself as an infant. Akira gently wiped the dust from the frame, a look of resolve flashing in his eyes—far too mature for a child his age.
"I will live well."
He began to search the house carefully.
In a hidden compartment in his father's study, he finally found what he was looking for—three ninjutsu scrolls.
Wind Release: Vacuum Serial Waves
Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique
Space-Time Ninjutsu: Flying Thunder God Technique — Introductory Chapter
When Akira saw the signature on the final scroll, his pupils shrank slightly.
To my dear friend Naoto:
If you possess talent in space-time ninjutsu, you may attempt to study this technique. But remember—its requirements for chakra control and reaction speed are extraordinarily high.
— Minato Namikaze
---
The next day, Akira went straight to the Hokage Office.
"You want to learn the Flying Thunder God Technique?"
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, set down his pipe and studied the six-year-old before him. "That is an S-rank space-time ninjutsu. Even jōnin struggle to master it."
"My father left it to me," Akira said calmly as he placed the scroll on the desk. "I want to try. And… my father taught me chakra refinement when I was younger. I can already condense chakra."
The Third Hokage exchanged a glance with the advisor beside him, Homura Mitokado.
After the Nine-Tails incident, Konoha's overall combat strength had been severely damaged. Cultivating new geniuses had become a priority. Still… learning the Flying Thunder God at the age of six?
"A test, then," the Third Hokage finally said.
On the training grounds, Akira gathered chakra at the soles of his feet and calmly walked straight up the trunk of a vertical tree—basic chakra control.
"A prodigy," Homura murmured.
"More than that," the Third Hokage said quietly. "Those eyes… they carry the resolve of an adult."
In the end, the Third Hokage agreed—but on one condition: Akira's progress had to be reported to the Hokage on a regular basis.
---
Over the next two months, Akira demonstrated astonishing talent.
He studied the fundamentals at the Ninja Academy in the mornings, immersed himself in space-time theory in the afternoons, and practiced chakra control on his own at home every evening.
The core of the Flying Thunder God Technique lay in two principles: marking and teleportation.
A special formula had to be inscribed onto a kunai or another object. By sensing the position of the mark and instantly resonating one's chakra with it, the user could perform an instantaneous spatial jump.
But time waits for no one.