Reiran once again found himself lying in darkness, just this time, he could feel his body.
It hurt all over, with many injuries and bruises scattered throughout.
Still, he tried his best to open his eyes, and eventually, he was able to.
He found himself in a run-down cabin, with the smell of blood vividly lingering in the air.
It was dark, which meant it was nighttime. Yet the moment thunder struck, rain began pouring down rapidly, slamming against the cabin window fiercely.
To the side, he heard low snores, but because of his current condition, he wasn't able to turn his head to see who it was.
Well... at least I'm not dead, Reiran thought with a sigh.
The moment he had those thoughts, he saw the blue system interface appear in front of him.
He focused on it, his eyes widening.
[Congratulations!]
[You have successfully transmigrated into the world of Naruto!]
[Current timeline: Year Four of the Second Ninja World War]
[Location: Outskirts of Amegakure, Rain Country]
Amegakure, huh? I guess that's to be expected. Reiran nodded to himself. I did see a young Konan earlier. Unless I was just hallucinating.
Probably not. His photographic memory made sure of that.
But as those thoughts faded, he suddenly spotted a "+" symbol at the very top of his vision. Focusing on it, he suddenly opened another interface.
And this time, it was a bit more intriguing.
[Status]
Name: Reiran Yozora
Age: 10
Chakra Points (CP): 100 / 100 (Low-Genin)
Affiliation: None
Rank: Unaffiliated
Condition: Injured (Severe) | Full Recovery time: 6 months
—Perks:
Eclipse Eye (Progressive) (☆ — Mastery: 0% → 1%)
Photographic Memory (☆ — Mastery: 0%)
Chakra Control (Beginner+) (☆ — Mastery: 0%)
—Techniques:
Taijutsu (☆ — Mastery: 34%)
Kenjutsu (☆ — Mastery: 2%)
An actual status screen... Reiran thought with a smile.
But when his gaze landed on the condition part, he froze, his brows furrowing.
No fucking way am I going to lie in bed for 6 months. Are you serious? I was bruised... a few bones were broken too... yeah, I can kind of see why the recovery time is 6 months.
In the end, he realized there wasn't much he could do.
Therefore, he turned to doing something productive, or tried to at least.
He closed his eyes and began sorting through his memories. Specifically, the memories of the previous Reiran.
And what he found was just as expected.
He had been friends with Konan, Yahiko, and Nagato for nearly 4 years. Practically since they were babies.
As it turned out, Reiran wasn't always an orphan. He had a family up to the day the Second Ninja World War began.
The neighboring land, Iwagakure, also known as the Hidden Stone Village, decided it was a great idea to start their expansion. But they didn't choose the peace route. Instead, they killed every single person in Reiran's little village and took it for themselves as some sort of trophy.
The only reason he had managed to survive was because he was skinny enough to fit inside a small hole in the floorboards of their home.
His mother had shoved him inside it the moment the first kunai shattered their front window. She kissed his forehead, whispered something he couldn't hear through the panic.
It was a cellar for food storage, and because it perfectly blended in with the flooring, no one was able to notice a thing. But he had his parents to thank for his survival... since they were the ones who led the Hidden Stone soldiers out of their home.
And after that, Reiran didn't remember how long he had remained in silence, waiting for the soldiers to leave, and after a few days, they did.
That was around the time when he finally got out of his hiding place and searched for someone, anyone.
But what he found instead were three kids dressed in shabby clothes. They looked just as malnourished as him, and of course, those kids were none other than the trio of friends: Konan, Yahiko, and Nagato.
Due to their circumstances, they got along pretty easily.
Reiran let out a sigh and put those memories aside for the time being as he opened his eyes.
The moment he did, he noticed it was already sunny outside, and to his surprise, there was a single girl caring for him, putting a warm piece of cloth on his forehead.
"Huh?" Konan's eyes widened. "You're awake! Hey! Reiran is awake!"
Reiran's ears rang as she kept pacing around the room. Eventually, the door swung open and two more boys ran inside.
The first had short, spiky orange hair and sharp blue eyes. His clothes were torn, and he looked like he hadn't slept in days.
That's Yahiko... Reiran thought, then turned to the other boy.
The second boy stood behind Yahiko quietly. He had long red hair and pale skin. Even more so, he watched Reiran carefully with his Rinnegan eyes.
"Reiran, you're alright!" Yahiko ran in, and just as he was about to jump on top of Reiran, Konan grabbed him by the ear, stopping him.
"Ow! Stop it!" he protested. "I won't jump on him, I promise. Let me just talk to him!"
Konan turned around with a pout. "Fine, just don't be too loud."
Yahiko rolled his eyes and approached Reiran, then sat down on the bed beside him.
"Idiot, do you know how scared we were?" Yahiko asked.
He flicked Reiran's forehead, then continued.
"Konan came running back with you hunched over her shoulder. You had blood spurting from everywhere! Really, I thought you wouldn't make it."
"Well, I'm here now, aren't I?" Reiran replied with a pained chuckle. "I'm fine. I just... I just need to recover a bit and then I'll treat you to some food. How does that sound?"
Yahiko chuckled and patted his shoulder. "Good one. Too bad we're all broke."
"..." Reiran rolled his eyes, then turned toward Nagato, who seemed to be holding a basket of fruit.
"Is that for me?" Reiran asked, amused.
Nagato stared at him for a few moments, then approached and set the basket of fruit down on the bed.
After urging Nagato to move, he sat down in his stead and spoke.
"I treated your injuries. They were... severe." He sighed. "But I'm sure that with time, you will recover."
"Thanks, Nagato," Reiran expressed warmly, but his expression soon turned solemn. "By the way... where is this place? There were a couple of Genin earlier, so that means we're pretty close to a battle zone, aren't we?"
Nagato shook his head. "You've been out for a little over a week. No one has found us yet."
I really doubt that, Reiran thought inwardly. Those Genin bastards usually travel with a Jounin.
But since it was wartime, Reiran really hoped that wasn't the case.
"Hey, is it true that you killed three Genin?" Yahiko chimed in. "There's no way, right? I mean, I have never even seen you practice Ninjutsu, and yet Konan told me you blew those Genin up? I don't buy it."
Nosy kid.
"About that, I—"
Before he could finish his words, someone suddenly knocked on the door.
His eyes widened as he slowly got out of bed. His body was screaming at him to lie down, to rest.
However, he simply pushed the trio aside and grabbed a kunai off the desk.
He wobbled slightly, then turned to face the door.
But not before instructing the trio.
"Stay behind me."