Fujin learned to walk at six months.
Not stumble. Walk.
His mother found him standing by the window one morning, staring at the moon like he was counting the craters.
She screamed.
His father laughed.
"That's my boy."
Fujin didn't say much after that. Babies who talk early attract attention. Attention meant questions. Questions meant exposure.
He kept his mouth shut and watched.
The system helped. Every time he moved, every time he breathed, a small notification tracked it.
[Skill: Locomotion – Level 5]
[Coordination increased]
He ignored most of them.
By age one, he could form basic hand seals. Not for jutsu. Just the movements. Muscle memory.
His father caught him once.
"What was that?"
Fujin blinked slowly, the way babies do.
His father stared for a long moment, then let it go.
"Strange child."
---
The village they lived in was small. A collection of houses near a forest that bled curses.
Not big ones. Small fry. Grade fours. Occasionally a three.
Fujin started sneaking out at night when he was two.
Climbing the window was hard. His legs were short. He fell twice. Almost broke his arm.
But he had Uzumaki blood. He healed by morning.
The first curse he killed was a twisted thing. Four legs, too many eyes, crawling through the rice paddies.
Fujin watched it from behind a rock for ten minutes.
Then he ran at it.
No jutsu. No technique. Just a rock in his hand and anger in his chest.
He smashed it over the head until it stopped moving.
[Defeated: Grade 4 Cursed Spirit]
[XP Gained: 50]
[Level Up: Level 2]
He sat there breathing hard, covered in black blood, and smiled.
---
By age three, he had a routine.
Nap in the afternoon. Pretend to sleep by midnight. Slip out. Hunt until dawn. Come back. Wash off in the river. Climb back in.
His parents never knew.
Or maybe they did. His father had a way of looking at him sometimes. Not angry. Curious.
Fujin didn't ask.
He was too busy.
At level eight, he bought the three basic jutsu. Clone. Substitution. Transformation.
The clone was useless at first. Couldn't move. Just stood there.
He practiced until it could wave.
The substitution saved his life twice. Once against a curse that almost bit his head off. Once against a fall from a tree.
Transformation he used to look older. Just in case.
At level ten, he bought the Shadow Clone jutsu.
That changed everything.
Suddenly he could be in two places at once. Training while sleeping. Hunting while eating. Learning while hiding.
His father noticed him getting tired.
"You look worn out."
Fujin shrugged.
"Growing."
His father didn't push.
---
The Sharingan awakened when he was four.
It happened during a hunt. A grade two curse. Bigger than anything he had faced before. Eight feet tall. Arms like tree trunks.
It caught him off guard.
Slammed him into a wall. Broke three ribs.
Fujin felt his eyes burn.
When he opened them, the world was different. Slower. Clearer. He could see the curse's cursed energy flowing like water through a pipe.
He dodged the next swing.
Then the next.
Then he put a kunai through its skull.
[Defeated: Grade 2 Cursed Spirit]
[XP Gained: 300]
[Ability Unlocked: Sharingan (1 Tomoe)]
He sat against the wall for an hour, letting his ribs heal, watching the system screen glow.
By the end of the month, he had three tomoe.
The village had no idea.
---
His father was a grade one sorcerer. A quiet man. Strong in a grounded way. No flashy techniques. Just solid reinforcement and a sharp blade.
He never took Fujin on missions.
But he trained him at home. Basic stuff. Stances. Breathing. How to feel cursed energy.
"You have a lot of it," his father said one evening.
Fujin said nothing.
"More than me."
Still nothing.
"Don't tell anyone."
Fujin looked up.
His father's face was hard.
"The world eats gifted children. Keep your head down until you're strong enough to lift it."
Fujin nodded.
From that day, his father made sure no one outside the house knew about his son's talent. The neighbors thought Fujin was quiet. Maybe slow.
They had no idea.
---
The system had changed by his fifth year.
At first it felt like a game. Numbers. Screens. Quests.
But as he grew, it became part of him. The same way breathing did. The same way his heartbeat did.
Then one day, a notification appeared.
[System Integration Complete]
[Cursed Technique Registered: Script of Another Tale]
He read it three times.
So that was his technique now. Not a game. Not a cheat. Just... his. The ability to pull power from another world's stories. To make them real.
He didn't tell anyone.
Some secrets are worth keeping.
---
The night before Sukuna was born, Fujin sat in his room and opened his status page.
[Status: Ryomen Fujin]
[Age: 5]
[Level: 15]
[XP: 2,450/3,000]
[SP: 780]
[Titles: Special Grade Sorcerer (Unofficial), The Hidden Prodigy]
[Bloodlines: Uzumaki (Pure), Uchiha (Pure)]
[Jinchuriki: Shukaku (One-Tail) – Dormant]
---
[Skills & Mastery]
Chakra/CE Control: B+
Sharingan: 3 Tomoe (Mastered)
Uzumaki Chakra Chains: A
Uzumaki Sealing Arts: A-
Basic Taijutsu: B
Weapon Proficiency (Kunai/Shuriken): B
Weapon Proficiency (Sword): D
Stealth: B
Hand Seals: A
---
[Jutsu Owned]
E-Rank:
· Clone Jutsu (Mastered)
· Substitution Jutsu (Mastered)
· Transformation Jutsu (Mastered)
D-Rank:
· Body Flicker (Shunshin) – Level 4/10
B-Rank:
· Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu – Level 3/10
Uzumaki Inherited:
· Adamantine Sealing Chains (Mastered)
· Healing Bite (Learned)
· Mind's Eye of Kagura (Level 2/10)
---
[Weapon Proficiency]
Kunai: Skilled
Shuriken: Skilled
Sword: Basic
Improvised Weapons: Adept
---
[Special Notes]
· Chakra converted to Cursed Energy at 1:1 ratio
· Chakra control directly improves Cursed Energy manipulation
· All Naruto-world items available in shop
· Bijuu integration: Stable. No rampage risk.
---
Fujin closed the screen.
Five years old. Level fifteen. Special grade, according to the system's internal ranking. Not that anyone outside knew.
He had spent years hiding. Sneaking. Hunting in the dark.
Tomorrow, his brother would be born.
He didn't know what Sukuna would look like. The manga never showed it. Just described him as deformed. Two faces. Four arms.
A monster from birth.
Fujin lay back on his futon and stared at the ceiling.
Shukaku stirred in his mind.
"Nervous?"
"No."
"Liar."
Fujin didn't answer.
The tanuki laughed softly.
"Five years old and already lying like a grown man. You'll fit right in."
Fujin closed his eyes.
Tomorrow, everything changed.
He could feel it.
---
The labor started at midnight.
Fujin heard the screams from his room. His mother. Loud. Then quiet. Then loud again.
His father paced the hallway.
A midwife rushed past with towels.
Fujin sat in the corner of his room, knees to his chest, listening.
He didn't go out. He wasn't supposed to be there for this. A child in the way. That's what his father would say.
So he waited.
The hours passed.
Then, just before dawn, a new sound.
A baby crying.
But different. Deeper. Wrong.
Fujin stood up.
The crying stopped.
Then a woman screamed. Not in pain. In fear.
Then his father's voice. Low. Shaking.
"What is that?"
Fujin walked to the door.
Pushed it open.
The hallway was dark. The door to his mother's room was cracked open. Light spilled through.
He walked closer.
Peeked inside.
His mother lay on the bed, pale, exhausted. Tears running down her face. Not happy tears.
The midwife had backed against the wall. Hands over her mouth.
His father stood frozen.
And in the center of the room, on a bloodstained cloth, lay a baby.
Two faces.
Four arms.
One pair of eyes open. Red. Watching.
Sukuna.
Fujin stepped into the room.
His father turned. "Fujin. Get back."
He didn't.
He walked to the baby. Looked down.
Sukuna stared up at him. Not crying. Just watching.
Fujin knelt.
"Hey," he said quietly. "I'm your brother."
The baby's mouth twitched. Not a smile. Something else.
Fujin reached out. Touched one of the small, extra arms.
Sukuna didn't pull away.
From somewhere deep in his chest, Fujin felt the system pulse.
[New Objective Added]
[Objective: Brother]
[Description: He is yours now. What you do with him is your choice.]
[Reward: Unknown]
Fujin looked at the screen. Then at Sukuna.
Then he smiled.
It was a sad smile.
"You're going to be trouble," he whispered.
Sukuna blinked.
And for just a moment, something soft passed between them.
Then the baby closed his eyes and went to sleep.
Fujin stayed there until the sun came up.