Chapter 1 — Rebirth
(??? POV)
"Uh…. Uhm…"
I slowly opened my eyes.
Darkness.
Absolute darkness.
"Where am I?"
I looked around, but there was literally nothing to see.
"Wait…"
I tried to remember what happened.
I was returning to college after vacation.
I was sitting inside the plane, watching Naruto on my phone when suddenly—
"The plane craaaaas—"
I stopped.
"…Oh shit."
I blinked a few times.
"I died."
I looked around again.
"Hmm…"
For some reason, I was surprisingly calm about the whole situation.
Maybe because I had already accepted it.
Or maybe because this place looked exactly like the void I had read about in all those reincarnation novels.
"If this really is the void, then…"
I looked around.
"Where's the God?"
Silence.
"…"
I waited.
Nothing.
"Seriously?"
Just as I was about to complain—
"Ahem."
I nearly jumped.
"Hello, child."
I immediately turned around.
An old man was standing a few meters away from me.
He had long white hair, a long beard and a warm smile.
Yep.
Definitely God.
I stared at him for a few seconds.
"You're God?"
He smiled.
"Indeed."
I nodded seriously.
"Then I have a question."
"You may ask."
"Can I reincarnate?"
The old man laughed.
"Hahaha! Straight to the point, I see."
He raised his hand before I could start asking more questions.
"Yes. You have died before your destined time. Therefore, you have been given another opportunity at life."
"So I get to live again?"
"Yes."
"Where?"
"That is for you to decide."
My eyes widened.
"Wait."
I stepped closer.
"Any world?"
"Any world."
"Anime worlds?"
"Yes."
"Manga?"
"Yes."
"Movies?"
"Yes."
"Fictional worlds?"
"Yes."
I stared at him.
Then a huge grin appeared on my face.
"God, I love you."
He chuckled.
"There is more. You will retain your memories from your previous life. You may also choose your appearance and general background."
I immediately sat down.
"Okay…"
Three wishes.
I had read enough fanfiction to know that this was the most important part.
One bad wish and I'd regret it for the rest of my second life.
I thought carefully.
Very carefully.
After several minutes, I finally looked up.
"I've decided."
God nodded.
"My first wish is to have an extremely high talent for everything required to become a shinobi."
"Explain."
"I want talent in chakra control, ninjutsu, genjutsu, taijutsu, physical development, intelligence, learning ability and combat instincts."
God thought for a moment.
"That is acceptable."
Good.
"My second wish…"
I smiled.
"I want a template based on Shanks from One Piece."
The old man raised an eyebrow.
"Shanks?"
"Yes. I want his swordsmanship memories and potential, as well as the potential to develop Haki."
"Do you wish to receive his current power?"
I immediately shook my head.
"No."
God looked slightly surprised.
"I want his memories and potential. I'll develop the actual strength myself."
If I simply received Shanks' complete power, then there would be no fun in training.
Besides, I wanted to become strong myself.
"Very well."
I took a deep breath.
"And my third wish…"
This one was the most important.
"I want a special dojutsu with two abilities."
"Which abilities?"
"The first should be related to space-time."
God nodded.
"And the second?"
"Kanzen Saimin."
He stared at me.
"The complete hypnosis ability of Aizen?"
"Exactly."
I grinned.
"However, I don't want them to be ridiculously powerful from the beginning. Let them develop alongside me."
God stroked his beard.
"Interesting."
"And eventually, I want both abilities to reach a level where they can affect even the Otsutsuki."
He remained silent for a few moments before nodding.
"Accepted."
I sighed in relief.
Perfect.
"Now, what about your appearance and background?"
I thought for a moment.
"I want scarlet-red hair, golden eyes and an extremely handsome face."
God smiled.
"Anything else?"
"I want a body with the potential to become like that of the Greek gods."
"Very well."
"As for my background…"
I paused.
"I want to be born as an orphan in the Hidden Leaf Village during the era of Hashirama Senju."
God's expression became slightly serious.
"That is a dangerous era."
"I know."
"And you still choose it?"
"Of course."
I grinned.
"I'll have decades before the events of the original story. That's more than enough time to change things."
God nodded.
"Very well."
He raised his hand.
"There is only one thing left."
"What?"
"Your name."
I looked at him curiously.
"You shall be called Karma."
"Karma?"
"Yes. It suits the life you are about to live."
I thought about it for a moment.
"Karma …"
I smiled.
"I like it."
God smiled back.
"Then good luck, Karma."
A strange light surrounded me.
"Wait!"
My consciousness began fading.
"One last thing!"
God looked at me.
"Please don't make my second life boring."
He laughed.
"I don't think you have to worry about that."
Then everything went dark.
(4 Years Later)
Hidden Leaf Village
"So this is Konoha…"
I stood beside my bedroom window and looked outside.
The village looked completely different from what I remembered.
There were no massive buildings.
No giant Hokage Rock.
No enormous walls surrounding the village.
Just a small settlement surrounded by forests, with construction happening everywhere.
It was still incredibly new.
Obviously.
This was the era when everything had just begun.
The Hidden Leaf Village.
The village founded by Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha.
And the thought that those two monsters were actually somewhere in this village made me excited.
I had spent the last four years trying to understand my situation.
The first few years were pretty much useless.
I was a baby.
What exactly was I supposed to do?
"Hey, I'm reincarnated!"
Then crawl around and start doing push-ups?
Yeah, no.
My body simply wasn't capable of serious training.
So I mostly observed.
I learned to walk.
I learned to speak.
I learned about this world.
And most importantly, I experimented with chakra.
By the time I was around three, I had started doing very basic chakra-control exercises.
Nothing impressive.
I couldn't suddenly perform some giant Fire Release technique.
I was still a little kid.
My body had limits.
Even my incredible talent couldn't change that.
Over the past year, however, I had started doing some age-appropriate physical training.
Running.
Stretching.
Balance exercises.
Simple coordination drills.
Throwing small objects at targets.
And occasionally practicing the basic movements contained within the swordsmanship memories from my Shanks template.
Even then, I had to be careful.
I might have the memories of an incredibly powerful swordsman, but my body was still that of a four-year-old.
Trying to swing a sword like an adult would be a great way to break my own arm.
So for now, I was building a foundation.
Slowly.
There was plenty of time.
I looked at myself in the mirror.
Scarlet-red hair.
Golden eyes.
A small face.
I stared for a few seconds.
"…Not bad."
I poked my cheek.
"I'm actually pretty cute."
I smiled.
'Well, according to my wish, once I grew up I was going to be ridiculously handsome.'
For now…
I'd have to settle for being an adorable little kid.
I was perfectly fine with that.
Suddenly, I heard a voice from outside.
"Karma! Come eat!"
"Coming!"
I ran out of my room.
As I walked toward the dining room, I couldn't stop myself from smiling.
Tomorrow.
Tomorrow was the day.
The Ninja Academy would officially open.
The first Ninja Academy in the history of the Hidden Leaf Village.
And I was going to be one of its first students.
I couldn't wait.
Because tomorrow, I would finally meet them.
Hashirama Senju.
Madara Uchiha.
Tobirama Senju.
And the children who would eventually become some of the most important shinobi in history.
Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Kagami Uchiha.
Danzo Shimura.
I knew what the future held.
Wars.
Death.
The Uchiha tragedy.
The Akatsuki.
The Nine-Tails attack.
The Otsutsuki.
But this time…
There was someone else in the equation.
Me.
I wasn't strong enough to change everything yet.
I wasn't even strong enough to call myself a proper shinobi.
But I had something the people of this era didn't.
Knowledge of the future.
And more importantly…
Time.
A ridiculous amount of time.
I clenched my tiny fist.
"I'll become strong."
I smiled.
"Really strong."
And someday…
"I'll become Hokage."
I looked out of the window one last time.
The sun was slowly setting over the newly founded village.
Tomorrow would be the beginning.
The beginning of my journey.
And without knowing it…
The shinobi world was about to gain its first anomaly.
Karma Akabane.