Rooftop of the Academy Building,
"Let me introduce myself first. I'm Hatake Kakashi, Jonin of the Hidden Leaf. As for my age, hobbies, dreams, and things I dislike… they're all secret. I don't really feel like talking about them either."
"Now it's your turn."
Leaning lazily against the rooftop railing, Kakashi barely looked at them. His gaze drifted upward, watching the clouds with a vacant expression.
'This guy is way too perfunctory...' Ishikawa internally groaned, his vision going a bit dark with exasperation.
He knew Kakashi was unreliable at this stage, but this was just blatant indifference.
"Um… my name is Yamada Taro. I'm 12 years old. I don't really have any hobbies or dislikes yet. My dream is… to become a Jonin like you and protect the village." Taro said nervously, unsure what he'd done to offend their future sensei.
"I'm Jiro, also 12. I don't like eating fish—it's full of bones. I don't really have hobbies. My dream… I just want to have a home," Jiro said quietly, his voice trembling slightly as his eyes reddened.
Kakashi paused for a moment, glancing at Jiro with unreadable eyes.
A war orphan, huh… I see, he thought silently, recalling Jiro's profile.
"I'm Mitarai Ishikawa, 12 years old. My hobby is practicing ninjutsu. I hate being weak, and my dream is… to become Hokage and protect the village!" Ishikawa declared firmly, voice full of conviction.
The louder you shout, the more people notice! No harm in playing the role, besides, if crying gets you milk, shouting should at least get you a good image.
Of course, the "Hokage dream" was complete nonsense. In his heart, Ishikawa knew he wasn't qualified to dream that big.
He had no intention of being a gutsy fool like Naruto. His dream was simple: survive the Fourth Great Ninja War, then shamelessly enjoy life in the ninja world. Maybe find a few beautiful kunoichi along the way. Why else transmigrate if not to live freely? Pretending to be pure-hearted at this point is just mental illness.
"Hokage, huh?" Kakashi muttered with a dull stare, then stood up.
"Well, that's it for introductions. Bring your ninja tools and meet me at Training Ground 3 at 5 a.m. tomorrow. We'll be doing a survival drill."
"Remember—don't eat breakfast."
Without waiting for a reply, Kakashi vanished in a poof, leaving the trio blinking in stunned silence.
"...Don't eat?" Taro echoed, confused.
Then his eyes lit up as he turned toward the others. "I didn't expect the three of us to end up as teammates. That's awesome, right, Jiro?"
"Yeah," Jiro said, his eyes full of excitement. He looked at Ishikawa with admiration. "From now on, we'll listen to you, Senapi!"
Ishikawa wasn't surprised by their reactions and nodded with a calm smile.
From his memory, he knew that the three of them had grown up together. Being a few months older, Ishikawa had always looked out for them, and they respected him like a big brother.
Maybe… this is why the Third Hokage grouped us together. After all, the last Team 7 fell apart internally, resulting in Kakashi angrily sending all three back to the Academy for retraining.
This time, a cohesive team was clearly the goal.
Ishikawa smiled slightly. This is good. With two loyal teammates, tomorrow's survival exercise will go a lot smoother.
"Taro, Jiro, dinner's on me tonight," he grinned, leading them out of the Academy.
---
"Haaah… haaah…"
Ishikawa stumbled into his home, drenched in sweat, and collapsed onto the couch like a dead fish. His face was filled with fatigue after training and exhausting his chakra.
"It's been six days since I started tree climbing… and it's still a nightmare." He looked up at the ceiling with a bitter smile, every muscle in his body aching from chakra exhaustion.
Ever since transmigrating, he'd drawn up a basic training plan using knowledge from the plot: Tree Climbing → Water Walking → Rasengan
But reality? Reality hit harder than he thought. He was still stuck on tree climbing.
After a week of pushing himself to the limit, Ishikawa fully understood the brutal gap between geniuses and ordinary people in the Naruto world. Just refining the chakra was a wall in itself.
If Naruto had enough chakra to equal one hundred Kakashi, Ishikawa had maybe five percent of Kakashi's at best.
The difference? Night and day. Naturally, having such a small chakra reserve made Ishikawa's training exponentially more difficult.
Even though he knew the exact steps to train the Rasengan, he couldn't even attempt it—he simply didn't have the chakra to spare.
This… this is the helplessness of ordinary people.
It was like his past life—people knew how to make money, but without start-up capital or room for trial and error, knowledge alone wasn't enough.
That's why, on the second day after transmigrating, Ishikawa gave up the ridiculous fantasy that he was the story's protagonist.
"But still... my luck isn't all bad." He thought of Kakashi and let out a small smile before heading into the bathroom.
As he turned on the water for a much-needed shower, his modest small apartment suddenly… shifted.
Without warning, the walls stretched. The furniture expanded. The entire space doubled in size—almost like another room had seamlessly merged with his.
Even the bathroom he stood in widened—new tiles appeared, and a second showerhead formed on the opposite wall.
A door that hadn't existed a moment ago now sat embedded in the interior wall, facing the front entrance of his apartment.
And then…
Click.
The new door opened.
A girl stepped through, rubbing her eyes sleepily, dressed in a thin nightgown. She was completely unaware of the surreal transformation that had just taken place.
"...Crack." The bathroom door creaked open.
Ishikawa, mid-shower, wiped water from his face and turned around casually. Then his brain short-circuited.
A brown-haired girl stood frozen in the doorway, her dazed eyes locking onto his wet, naked form.
"Ahhhhh!!"
"AHHH?!"
The screams overlapped in perfect harmony.
The girl spun around with a squeal and slammed the door shut with a loud bang.
Ishikawa stood frozen in place, water still running, heart racing. He quickly grabbed a towel and wrapped it around himself, his face a mix of shame, confusion, and growing rage.
What the hell was that?! Even if he was just a background character… he had dignity too!
But as he prepared to storm out and reclaim his honor, something stopped him cold.
Wait a minute…
He looked around. The bathroom was much bigger than before. There were two sinks. New, girlish toiletries lined the shelves. Lavender-scented shampoo. A pink toothbrush.
What the hell...? Did the whole room transmigrate with me? Or…
His eyes widened. Did my golden finger just arrive a week late?!
Swallowing hard, Ishikawa yanked open the door and stepped out—only to feel cold steel press against his throat.
His breath stopped for a second! A kunai! A razor-sharp kunai.
And behind it… a girl. Brown hair. Gentle eyes, now frozen into a cold, frosty stare.
"...No... Nohara Rin?" The name slipped from Ishikawa's lips before he could stop it.
That face—he knew it too well. Every Naruto fan did.
How?!
This was the 59th year of Konoha. Rin had died decades ago. Her death was a pivotal part of the canon timeline!
So how could she be here—alive—and standing in his apartment?!
His legs nearly gave out. What the hell is going on…? Is my cheat a ghost?