(No headings in the middle; unchanged content)
Makoto woke up with a jerk.
His eyes snapped open, his lungs pulled in a sharp breath, and for a moment he didn't know where he was.
Wooden ceiling. Faint smell of cooked rice from the inn's kitchen. Thin blanket.
A small room.
Then it hit him.
Right… this isn't Earth. This is… the shinobi world. A place where one wrong step and boom—dead.
A heavy feeling pushed down on his chest. He rubbed his forehead, trying to calm the uncomfortable twist in his stomach.
"…Man… seriously? This kind of place?" he muttered.
He wasn't screaming or trembling—just tired, worried, mentally drained in a "why is my life like this" way.
I'm the youngest son of a destroyed clan. I barely survived. If anyone figures out who I am, I'm toast. A kid in a war-torn world… great.
He let out a long sigh.
Not panic.
Just pure tiredness.
"…Alright… at least I still have my head. I can think. I can breathe. Nothing exploded yet."
He sat up slowly and stretched, trying to shake off the uneasiness.
Then—
A thought struck him.
Wait. If I got reincarnated… shouldn't I have a cheat? A gold finger? A system? Something? At least give me a menu button or a starter pack…
His expression lit up a little.
He cleared his throat.
"…System?"
Silence.
"…Cheat? Gold finger?"
Silence.
"…Uhh… Grandpa system?"
The room remained quiet.
He tried again, voice a little louder but still casual.
"Status panel?"
DING!
A translucent blue screen appeared in front of him.
Makoto froze.
"…Oh. So it works like that," he whispered, blinking rapidly.
He leaned closer to read it.
---
THE STATUS PANEL (unchanged exactly as ordered)
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[STATUS]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Name: Tamashira Makato
Age: 11 (Will stop aging at peak)
Lifespan: Infinite
Strength: 23 (Genin)
Agility: 34 (Genin)
Stamina: 27 (Genin)
Physique: 25 (Genin)
Chakra Capacity: 22 (Genin)
Chakra Control: 44 (Genin)
Elemental Affinity:
• Wind Release
• Lightning Release
Special Abilities:
• Infinite Storage
• Infinite Replication
• Eternal Youth
Skills:
• Fūton: Gale Palm — Mastery (423/1000)
• Fūton: Wind Cutter — Beginner (19/10)
• Clone Technique — Proficient (47/100)
• Transformation Technique — Beginner (8/10)
• Replacement Technique — Proficient (36/100)
• Taijutsu — Proficient (42/100)
• Shurikenjutsu — Proficient (55/100)
• Kenjutsu — Beginner (6/10)
Overall Rank: Genin
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
---
Makoto's lips slowly curved up.
"…Holy… this is actually real."
His heartbeat quickened with excitement.
Infinite storage. Infinite replication. Eternal youth.
Wind and lightning affinity.
Skills with proficiency bars.
Even his body stats had numbers!
"YES—!"
His stomach growled loudly.
"…Okay fine, food first," he muttered, defeated.
He washed his face quickly, fixed his messy black hair, and stepped out of his room.
His blue eyes still sparkled from excitement.
He walked toward the inn's reception area—and immediately froze.
A whole group of kids around his age were already standing there.
His former mission companions.
Some looked serious. Some looked sad. Some looked lost.
But at the front of the group…
A blonde girl with yellow eyes stood tall, arms crossed, cold expression like winter frost.
Until she saw him.
Her eyes softened. Slightly. Just a little.
But for Yuna, that was equal to a warm smile.
"Makato," she called. "Come here. We were waiting for you."
Makoto walked over.
He wasn't nervous around her—they grew up together after she was taken in by his parents.
But he still felt a bit tiny next to her.
She was two years older, taller, and way stronger.
She was basically elite Chunin level at age 13.
He stopped beside her.
The others glanced at him respectfully, but their faces were troubled.
One boy stepped forward.
"Makato… what should we do now? Our clan is gone. We don't have a leader anymore."
Another girl added, "I want to search for my brother. Maybe he's still alive."
A third kid said quietly, "I think I'll go to the merchant guild… maybe I can work there."
One by one they spoke up.
Some wanted revenge.
Some wanted a safer life.
Some wanted money.
Some wanted to return to their villages.
Makoto listened silently.
He wasn't their leader. He was just the youngest survivor. And honestly, they all had their own dreams and fears.
In the end, they all bowed slightly.
"Thank you for everything. Stay alive, Makato."
Just like that, they turned and left.
Except one.
Yuna.
She remained beside him like a pillar.
Her cold aura returned for everyone else—but around Makato, warmth seeped through.
"…You're staying?" Makoto asked quietly.
Yuna nodded.
Her voice softened for him alone.
"I told your mother I'd protect you. So I will."
Makoto smiled lightly.
"You don't have to force yourself, Sister Yuna."
She flicked his forehead.
"Idiot. I'm not forcing anything."
He rubbed his forehead with a small pout, which made her lips twitch into a tiny smile.
"Come on," she said. "Let's eat. You look like you'll faint."
They sat in the corner of the inn's dining area.
Steamed rice, miso soup, grilled fish.
Makoto attacked the food like a starving fox.
Yuna watched him with a faint smile before eating too.
"You look happier than usual," she said.
"…Just glad to be alive," Makoto said honestly.
Yuna gave a tiny nod and continued eating.
When they finished, Makato leaned back with a relaxed sigh.
"This place is pretty safe. Nobody would expect the youngest son of the Tamashira clan to hide in an inn in some small town, right? So I'm thinking of staying here temporarily."
Yuna nodded.
"That's fine. I'll stay too."
He blinked.
"Thank you, Sister Yuna."
"Hm."
They stood up and walked toward the stairs leading to their rooms.
And then—
Yuna suddenly stopped and turned to him.
"Makato."
"Hmm?"
"…Let's share one room."
Makoto froze.
Yuna continued calmly, "It's safer. And it saves money. It's not like we never slept together when we were kids."
Makoto's face exploded into red instantly.
"That—that was when we were kids!! Sister Yuna, w-we're older now!"
Yuna tilted her head.
"So? I don't mind."
Makoto panicked inside.
NO NO NO NO—!
He wasn't mentally prepared!
She was tall, strong, beautiful, and way too calm about it!
He looked away quickly.
"I-I'm a little tired! Really tired! I think I'll sleep better alone! O-okay bye!!"
Before she could reply, he practically ran down the hallway, turning sharply and disappearing into his room.
SLAM.
Silence.
Yuna stared at the closed door.
"…He ran," she said flatly.
But her lips curled into a tiny amused smile.
Makoto leaned his back against the closed door and let out a long sigh of relief.
"…I escaped. Barely."
He pressed his palms to his warm cheeks.
"Sister Yuna is scary sometimes…"
He walked to his bed and sat down.
His heartbeat steadied.
Now that he was alone, reality settled again.
He had a system. He had abilities. He had a chance to survive.
And he needed a plan.
Makoto clenched his fists lightly.
"…Alright. First, I need to test Infinite Storage and Infinite Replication. Then I plan long-term. Until I'm strong enough to live without fear."
He nodded to himself.
"Let's get to work."