The moon was bright and the breeze gentle. With no thick clouds to block the stars, the sky was incredibly beautiful. Under the shroud of night, a tiny figure wobbled out of a small building and walked in a certain direction. She had barely made it a hundred meters when a tall figure suddenly appeared in front of her. The towering person looked down at the little girl, who immediately stepped back in fear.
"What are you doing?"
"I have to pee, really badly!" The little girl's voice was full of childish innocence, her body already fidgeting with urgency.
"The latrine is to the west. This is the east. I've told you more than five times already. If you still can't remember where it is, you might as well just live there—eat, drink, sleep, and do your business all in one place."
The child looked genuinely confused, as if she had no idea what he was talking about. Then her eyes lit up as she turned and ran off in the correct direction, diving straight into the latrine and not coming out for a long while. The adult stood there a moment, then disappeared.
Inside the latrine, the little girl pinched her nose and wore a pained expression. Her big black eyes blinked as she muttered, "Ugh, this is the worst!"
She had been transported to this bizarre place for over a month now. Despite countless attempts to escape, all had failed, usually ending with her being caught. If it weren't for her cleverness and ability to adapt, she probably wouldn't have survived to see the next sunrise.
Why had she crossed over to this world? She didn't know. There had been no warning, no signs—one moment she was an adult in the working world, the next, she was a five-year-old girl.
And that wasn't even the worst part. The truly horrible thing was where she had ended up: a strange, brutal place where kids between the ages of four and seven were subjected to training that could only be described as abuse. There was no adjustment period, no buffer time. From the moment she arrived, she was forced into grueling, terrifying drills.
No one cared about hidden injuries or long-term harm. The training was all about pushing limits. Unless every ounce of strength was wrung out of your body, you didn't get to eat, drink, or sleep.
"Sigh…" muttered the girl.
Her name here was Yui Amagiri, the name this body had always had. After merging with the child's memories, she had quickly adapted—not because she had forgotten her past life, but because she had to. If she didn't respond when someone called her name, they might notice something was off. If they used genjutsu to interrogate her, she'd be doomed.
In a place where life was so fragile, hesitation or emotional attachment could be fatal. She had arrived in this world by some strange twist of fate and wasn't keen on leaving it just as mysteriously.
Oh, and by the way, this body was female. Before, she had been a man. But in the face of life and death, things like gender changes and physical discomfort from shrinking down into a child's body no longer mattered. Those were issues to deal with after surviving.
On the way back from the latrine to the shared dormitory, Yui kept her head down and eyes alert. They were halfway up a mountain surrounded by other mountains. Though the place seemed unguarded, every escape attempt she made had ended with a ninja appearing out of nowhere and forcing her back. Clearly, the place was much more secure than it looked.
To avoid suspicion, she pretended to be directionally challenged—constantly getting lost in hopes of using it as an excuse to wander off. But no matter how clever her schemes, raw power always won.
Back in the dorm, dozens of kids her age lay sleeping. They didn't separate boys and girls at this age; everyone just slept together after a day of forced training. It was so exhausting that they all passed out as soon as they hit their mats.
Yui was tired too, but fear kept her alert. Here, life was as cheap as grass. The ninjas didn't flinch at killing four-, five-, or six-year-olds. During her first days here, she too had collapsed and slept out of sheer exhaustion. But after a month, her mind had adjusted, and she no longer wanted to waste even a second.
Night was the only time she could act safely. During the day, under intense ninja supervision, even the slightest suspicious expression could mean death. At night, attention to the dorm was minimal—or maybe the ninjas were just so skilled at hiding that she couldn't sense them.
Pulling a small blanket over her body—it was so tiny it barely covered half of her even as a child—she lay on her side and slowed her breathing to pretend she was asleep. Fighting off sleepiness, she waited for about thirty minutes without hearing anything unusual.
Then, she slowly opened her right hand. Supported by her head and left arm, her subtle movement didn't disturb the blanket. With a thought, an object the size of a playing card appeared in her palm—a thin, palm-sized item.
It was the only mysterious object that had come with her during the crossover. She had tried everything: focusing, dripping blood on it, holding it to her heart—nothing had worked. Tonight was no different.
She tried murmuring phrases like "Open Sesame," "You're the best," "Number One in the World," but slowly drifted off into sleep. The card vanished from her hand on its own.
The next morning, before dawn, everyone was awakened by shouting and forced to begin training: balance beams, obstacle courses, dodgeball, and one-on-one sparring.
Yui blended into the crowd—never too fast, never too slow—staying right in the middle.
Everyone here was a war orphan. They didn't just suffer; they starved. From what she could gather from this body's memories and from observing the ninjas, she was pretty sure this was the Naruto world. But which country was this? And what part of the storyline were they in?
Every child worked like their life depended on it—because it did. Good performance meant a full meal. Bad performance might mean death. Boy or girl, everyone gave it their all. If they fell, they got up. Scraped knees and hands? No excuse. No stopping until every drop of strength was gone.
After that day's training, Yui and a few others were called aside by a ninja, who opened a scroll and began explaining its contents. The other kids looked lost, but Yui's heart skipped a beat.
This is the chakra refining technique!
For several days, the ninja taught them how to refine chakra, repeating the lesson until they had it memorized. Yui understood the theory, but understanding didn't mean mastery. Chakra was mysterious. If you didn't have it, it was like trying to read a book with no letters.
She kept quiet, afraid that showing too much ability would draw attention. In this deadly world, standing out too much was dangerous.
Each day, the same lessons repeated. When others were stuffing their faces, Yui used her rare free moments to experiment with chakra refining. While others devoured every scrap of food, she ate just enough to keep going and spent the rest of her time practicing.
She was seeking peace of mind. She wasn't truly five—her adult mind overthought things, and too much overthinking could spiral into depression.
After about half a month of trial and error, she succeeded. Chakra! It finally worked. It felt so easy once she found the right method.
But when she opened her eyes, two ninjas were already surrounding her—one in front, one behind. The smile forming on her face froze.
"You… you're quite different, aren't you?" said the one in front, eyeing her closely.
"No formal education, no signs of physical training, yet you figured out how to refine chakra on your own? Even kids from big clans can't always manage that," added the one behind.
"Since you've refined chakra, there's no need for you to stay here. Come with us."
Their decision was final—no room for her opinion. The one behind her knocked her out with a quick chop to the neck. Her world went dark.
When she woke up, she was lying on a tatami mat. It was night. Everything around her was silent.
Her expression shifted between shock and caution. She hadn't expected refining chakra would get her special treatment. Did that mean all the other kids were stuck here because they couldn't refine it?
Still unsure whether this was good or bad, Yui took a deep breath to calm herself. She checked her body—no changes. After some hesitation, she stepped out of the building, only to be stunned by the view.
A massive basin filled her vision. Towering trees surrounded it, and the steep, nearly vertical rock walls around the basin were wet and slippery. Countless colorful flowers bloomed in the moonlight, a vibrant spectacle.
Because her life had been constantly at risk from the start, she had never taken the time to really see this world. Now, facing this scene, emotions surged within her.
"What's your name?" a voice asked.
Swallowing nervously, Yui turned toward the sound and replied, "Yui. My name is Yui Amagiri."
"Yui, huh? How fitting. You are now the only one here. There were sixteen before you, but none remain. Whether you become the true 'only one' depends on your fate. I'm Sachiko Yamamura. Pleased to meet you."