It felt like a dream... Yami was losing consciousness, and his memories were flashing before him piece by piece, like shattered glass.
Until...
He opened his eyes... drenched in sweat... his face as if he had just seen a nightmare.
But the moment he opened his eyes, his expression changed — like someone who had been kidnapped to an unfamiliar place... yet at the same time, it felt strangely familiar and... surreal.
He was lying on a bed in the corner of a room with a dilapidated ceiling that looked as if it would collapse any moment.
"Where am I... What am I doing here?"
These questions echoed in his mind.
Then he looked at himself, raised his arm, and turned his eyes toward it.
What he saw was a very small... and thin arm.
"This arm... a c-child's?"
His anxiety increased... his heart rate quickened.
The shock of waking up in a room that wasn't his own still lingered, and to make matters worse, he had awakened in a different body.
"Am I dreaming?"
With that thought, he pinched his cheek and felt a slight pain.
"No, I'm not dreaming. I can feel pain, and I'm also hungry."
"So... did I reincarnate?"
Then he turned his eyes to the right and saw a door in front of him.
He assumed it was the bathroom.
He got up from the bed and headed toward the door.
Controlling his body wasn't difficult — upon noticing that it belonged to a child around four or five years old, and not a baby, he felt somewhat relieved.
He opened the door.
And just as he expected...
It was the bathroom, and in front of him was the object he wanted — the mirror.
He stepped closer, and his reflection gradually appeared until it was fully visible.
"Spiky blonde hair, ocean-blue eyes, and most importantly, whisker-like marks on each cheek... Is this... Naruto?"
"Yes, no doubt about it."
"So, I really did reincarnate... but why Naruto specifically? I'd be lying if I said I never wished for this or wanted to go back to my family, but... this situation is truly strange."
"Wait... I didn't lose my memories — that's good. But I can't rely on that; I might lose them later, so..."
Naruto left the bathroom and headed toward the shelves in the closet he had seen earlier.
He was looking for a pen and a notebook.
He opened the first drawer — nothing but a few clothes. The second drawer, however, had exactly what he needed.
"Got it."
"Now, I need to write down everything I remember from the anime."
Naruto began jotting down everything he recalled from the anime with no problem — he had rewatched it several times and loved it deeply.
"Done. Now I have to hide this in a safe place, away from the eyes of the ANBU who are watching."
He grabbed the notebook and examined the house thoroughly, searching for a spot that wouldn't be visible to ANBU from outside.
"So, the hallway leading to the kitchen is out of their line of sight. Good."
He lifted a floor tile and hid the notebook underneath it.
After finishing, he returned to the second drawer and took out another notebook.
"This won't be enough to fool the ANBU — especially if Kakashi is with them. I need a decoy."
He opened the new notebook and started drawing random scribbles and childish words like "Naruto" and "Hokage."
"This should do — it looks like a five-year-old's work."
"Now, time to evolve. It's been over four hours, and I've gotten used to this new body."
"But this body is malnourished. If it weren't for the chakra reserves of the Uzumaki clan, it wouldn't have lasted all these years."
Naruto turned to look at the clock on the wall. It was 10 PM.
"Time to sleep. Tomorrow, I'll see what I can do."
He headed to bed but paused for five seconds, eyeing the worn-out mattress.
"Hiruzen, you bastard, you want to take what's mine — in your dreams."
He closed his eyes and drifted into sleep.
---
Outside, the ANBU group speculated about Naruto's behavior.
"What do you think, captain? I think he's hiding something," whispered a man sitting on a tree branch.
"Hiding something? Impossible! He's a little kid — be reasonable at least," replied another man on the same branch.
The first man didn't respond, just sighed and turned toward the captain, who said:
"Yeah, I think so too. It's impossible for a child to hide anything... but to be cautious, let's go in and check. Code, go inspect."
"Yes, sir."
Code vanished and reappeared at the house's door.
He opened it silently, went to the second drawer, and found the notebook.
Outside, the ANBU saw him close the door and return.
"Captain, nothing suspicious — just a notebook with scribbles and incomprehensible drawings," Code reported.
"See? Told you," said the other man.
"Alright, alright, you were right... now stop already."
---
Morning
Naruto woke up to the sound of birds chirping and trees swaying in the wind.
Sunlight seeped through his room's window onto his bed, warming him up.
He got up and headed to the bathroom.
"Time to shower — but I'm 100% sure the water is cold."
He turned the tap — ice-cold water.
"Damn it... how did Naruto live like this? And how can grown-ups treat a child this way?"
He accepted his reality and took a cold shower, which didn't last long — around 5 minutes.
"Now, breakfast."
"I don't want ramen to start the day — hopefully, there's something in the fridge."
After getting dressed, he went to the kitchen and checked his hidden notebook.
"Thankfully, no changes — the trick worked. Good."
He opened the fridge.
"Nice, eggs. I can cook breakfast — my cooking skills are above average."
"I hope the ANBU don't get suspicious. Seeing Naruto cooking isn't normal... but they won't act unless ordered by the Hokage."
Naruto prepared and ate his breakfast, then sat on the couch and started planning.
"I'm five — just one year until the academy. I'm weaker than any civilian kid, let alone clan kids. I have to grow this year."
"Then there's the Uchiha massacre. I doubt I can stop it, but I must befriend Sasuke before it happens, to at least give him a sense of security."
"Even though I dislike his personality, I doubt I can defeat the Otsutsuki alone. They're the biggest threat. Also, I can influence Sasuke's character if I reach him early enough."
"I must also retrieve Minato and Kushina's inheritance. I can't progress with the current funds and equipment. But to do that, I need to reveal I know who my father is — so I'll need a plan."
Naruto placed his hand on his chin and began thinking deeply.
After ten minutes, he smiled.
"Of course, how could I forget — I have Kurama. I'll use him in my plan."
"So, the best plan so far is to tell Hiruzen that I lost control from anger when a vendor hit me and knocked me down while I tried to buy food. Then, I found myself in a strange place, saw a giant beast behind bars, and passed out — only to wake up in front of the Fourth Hokage..."
"Yes, that's good. The plan can evolve too. But... it has requirements."
"First, since the ANBU are always watching, I can't say this directly to the Hokage now or they'll know I'm lying. So, I need a vendor to hit me while ensuring the ANBU are watching."
"Second, after I'm hit, I'll go home and fake passing out after crying and getting angry — this will make it more believable that I encountered the Nine-Tails."
"Now that I'm done planning, it's time for real work."
Naruto stood up, looked at the clock — 11 AM — and walked over to the windows, closing them.
"The ANBU might find this odd, but it's lunchtime. It should be obvious I'm eating and resting."
After closing the windows, he sat on his bed, assumed a meditative pose, and closed his eyes.
"First, I need to sense my chakra and move it through my body."
"This should be easy with my large chakra reserves."
He focused on his stomach — the chakra center — and felt it gradually being drawn inward.
He was right. After about three hours, Naruto's awareness appeared inside a part of his body.
He saw one of the most beautiful sights of his life — a vast ocean of warm, lively blue chakra moving chaotically.
"Now, I need to guide it... ugh, this will be tiring."
He sighed and approached the ocean, guiding and directing the chakra throughout his body — to the chest, head, right arm, left arm, left leg, right leg, and back to the stomach. There, he noticed something.
He saw what resembled a water purification plant — but it wasn't purifying water; it was purifying chakra.
Specifically, Kurama's chakra.
It was leaking from a giant gate into one side of this plant, processed, then released from the other end as chakra — but it looked different: pale white and somewhat silver.
This purified chakra flowed into Naruto's chakra ocean, turning into a sky-blue color.
"I know that Kurama's chakra is the same as human chakra but mixed with negative emotions. So, this 'plant' is stripping the negativity, turning it into pure chakra that blends with mine... so this is why Naruto's chakra grows significantly in the anime."
"It's also likely that this 'plant' is the seal that binds Kurama — for two reasons: first, the chakra comes from a gate, clearly the one that seals Kurama; and second, its location is the lower stomach — where the seal is."
"Now that I'm done, time to return."
Naruto ended his meditation and opened his eyes, regaining full awareness.
He checked the clock — he had spent over 12 hours in training. It was now 11 PM.
"What? How didn't I notice the time pass... and I didn't even feel hungry."
But the moment he thought about food, his stomach growled.
"I guess eggs won't cut it — I'll add ramen to tonight's dinner."
"But first, I need to check if the ANBU entered the house. Good thing I placed a shirt next to the door — if they opened it, it would've moved. Also, I have a much better memory than my peers in my past life, so I won't underestimate myself."
He got up, went to the door, and saw the shirt hadn't moved — they hadn't entered. Relieved, he headed to the kitchen.
"Now, dinner... then sleep."
---
Outside, at 11 AM, the ANBU team was talking again.
"Captain, why did Naruto close the windows earlier?"
"Ugh, Code, you overthink things — what could a five-year-old possibly do? Must I remind you every time?"
"I know, Yo, but think — why would a child do that?"
"Probably just to sleep. You know how lazy Naruto is — he probably had ramen and passed out again."
"Yeah, I think so too... but... why didn't he leave the house today? That's what seems suspicious."
The captain spoke, causing everyone — even Code and Yo, who were about to argue — to look at him.
"Yeah. Let's go in and check."
"No — last time we broke one of the Hokage's orders: do not interfere unless Naruto is in danger or loses control. I won't allow that again."
"Understood."
"You stay here — I'll go report to the Hokage."
"Yes, sir."
The captain vanished in a flash.
In front of the Hokage's office, the ANBU captain knocked.
"Come in," answered the Hokage.
The captain entered.
"Hokage-sama, here's today's report."
"Great, thanks, Kakashi. How's Naruto?"
"He's fine... but there have been some changes."
"Changes?"
"Well, I know it's not my place to judge, but... he didn't leave the house today. Likely due to how the villagers treat him. Also, he started cooking. And... he closed the windows today. I think... he's depressed."
"If he didn't leave, that's good for us — but it could be harmful for him. Still, it's okay. I plan to enroll him in the academy next year. Cooking is good — I've told him many times to cut down on ramen."
The Hokage continued:
"But closing the windows? Two explanations: either he's hiding something — unlikely — or he's sick or tired and needed rest. The latter is more logical."
"It's alright, Kakashi — continue monitoring him as usual."
"Understood."
Kakashi disappeared, leaving the Hokage deep in thought.
"Kushina, Minato... what am I to do..."