Ishiki awoke slowly, a dull, throbbing pain in his head anchoring him to reality.
His eyelids fluttered open, revealing a boundless expanse of brilliant blue sky.
He lay on a soft bed of tall, swaying grass, the gentle rustle a stark contrast to the chaotic moments he vaguely recalled.
He pushed himself up onto an elbow, surveying his surroundings. A field stretched out in all directions, peaceful and green.
A heavy weariness weighed him down, a profound depletion that felt more than just physical exhaustion.
The calm of the field was quickly shattered as fragmented memories assaulted him.
What exactly happened? The last coherent thought was a terrifying, blinding ball of fire hurtling toward him. Why did I faint? How did I manage to bounce back that fireball? And what was that sudden flash of red cape at the critical moment? The questions tumbled over one another in his mind, demanding an answer he didn't possess.
As he was lost in this bewildered contemplation, a shimmering, translucent blue panel materialised directly in front of his eyes, an impossible holographic projection that pulsed with a faint, steady glow.
A genuine, wide grin stretched across his face. Finally! He thought, a wave of relief washing over him. The golden finger. The cheat. God really is looking out for me.
This system panel, a staple of countless novels he had read, confirmed his suspicions about the extraordinary circumstances he found himself in.
He eagerly focused on the panel, his mind automatically processing the displayed data:
Status
Name: Ishiki
Age: 12
Chakra: 1 / 5
Strength: 3
Ishiki let out a long, deflated sigh. His initial excitement dimmed slightly. "Very weak," he muttered to himself, the stats confirming his poor physical and energetic state.
He was little more than a sickly child, especially in what he suspected was a world of powerful ninja. His eyes then caught a clickable tab at the bottom of the main page: PROPS.
He tapped the tab mentally, and the display shifted to a new inventory screen. It was a grid filled with silhouettes of various items, nearly all of them greyed out and marked 'LOCKED.' Only one item was brightly illuminated and available for interaction: the Red Cape.
He immediately clicked on the Red Cape icon, his curiosity spiking. A pop-up message appeared: INSUFFICIENT CHAKRA. Requires 5 Chakra to activate.
The pieces clicked into place. "So that's it," he realized, his voice low.
The sudden, desperate expenditure of his entire meager energy reserve to power the mysterious cape must have been the reason he passed out so thoroughly.
He read the full description for the item:Red Cape
A gadget from the 22nd-century future cat, Doraemon. When held and waved in front of any projectile, be it a thrown object, a natural disaster, or an energy attack, it instantly reverses the object's momentum, sending the attack back to its source, often with an amplified force.
A flicker of recognition passed through him. "Doraemon!"
He understood now. All his 'props' were likely incredible futuristic tools from that seemingly childish anime.
Although he didn't recall the specific function of most of the props, he knew with absolute certainty that while they looked like toys, Doraemon's gadgets were phenomenally powerful and versatile tools, capable of warping reality on a cosmic scale.
He looked back at the simple, blue system panel, a fire lighting up in his eyes, and clenched his fist in the grass. "With this," he thought, a sense of destiny settling over him, "I won't just survive; I will be stronger than anyone.
I will use this power to stop the endless conflict, protect the innocent, and finally create the happy, peaceful village I always dreamed of."
His focused determination was abruptly broken by the sound of approaching footsteps and voices.
"Oh! You're finally awake!"
Ishiki looked up to see the two figures responsible for his near-death experience, the two boys who had been carelessly sparring with techniques far beyond their control.
He glared at them, his eyes narrowed with justifiable fury. He pushed himself fully upright, ignoring the ache in his muscles, and shouted, his voice rough with emotion.
"Do you two have any idea what you did?! You nearly killed me with your reckless fighting!"
The two boys stood before him. Both had jet-black hair and intense, dark eyes. One had his hair cut short in a stark bowl style, while the other wore his hair long and somewhat wild.
The bowl-cut boy immediately bowed low, his expression contrite. "We are so sorry! We didn't see you lying there in the bushes. Please forgive us."
The long-haired boy, however, merely crossed his arms, his posture radiating an arrogant disdain.
"Relax, Hashirama," he scoffed, then looked at Ishiki with a dismissive shrug.
"You didn't die, did you? What's the big deal?"
The bowl-cut boy Hashirama whipped his head around, his eyes wide in disbelief and frustration.
"Madara! How can you say that? We nearly killed a civilian! Apologise immediately!"
Ishiki froze, the system, the cape, the pain, everything fading into the background. His body went rigid as he processed the names spoken by the contrite boy.
Hashirama... Madara...
A cold wave of shock and disbelief washed over him, quickly followed by a terrifying realization.
The two arrogant, powerful, yet currently immature boys standing before him were not just any random children.
They were the two future pillars of the entire ninja world, the First Hokage and the legendary revolutionary, the two future 'Gods of the Shinobi'.