The smell of wood and faint tatami lingered in the air.
Kaizen's eyes fluttered open, the early morning sun slipping through paper-paneled windows. The ceiling above him was unfamiliar—aged timber beams crossing a pale plaster surface. He blinked slowly, the world spinning just enough to make his stomach turn.
His head throbbed.
"Where… am I?"
He sat up too quickly, a dull pain shooting behind his eyes. His vision blurred for a moment, before realigning with sharp clarity—too sharp. Colors felt deeper. Shadows bent unnaturally. He could hear faint footsteps outside the house, the creak of a distant gate, even a bird's feathers rustling mid-flight.
*This isn't normal.*
That's when it hit him. Not just the pain—but the memories. All of them. The life he lived before. The ordinary world, the people he once loved, and the moment everything went black. His chest tightened. He clutched the bedsheet with trembling hands.
"...I died."
No scream. No dramatic collapse. Just silence, like the calm after a storm.
Then, a sound echoed inside his head—not from the outside world, but from somewhere deeper.
> **\[System Activated]**
> *Welcome, Kaizen Kurohane.*
> *Initialization complete. Three starter gifts successfully integrated.*
His breath caught in his throat. Words floated in his mind like a mental display—clean, structured, and strangely soothing. A subtle ring hummed as the message faded, replaced by a simple interface.
> **Status: Stable**
> **Chakra Core: Awakened**
> **Physical Condition: Underdeveloped – Child Body (Age: 4)**
> **Memory Sync: 100%**
>
> ***Mission Log available.***
Kaizen closed his eyes, letting the silence settle again. His name was Kaizen. It still was. But everything else had changed. This wasn't the world he knew—this was a world of shinobi.
The moment he looked down at his small hands, he knew.
*Konoha. Hidden Leaf Village. This is the Naruto world.*
And somehow, he'd been reborn in it.