Darkness.
That was all he knew at the end.
Bruce Wayne—no, Batman—had died. Not in a blaze of glory. Not to some cosmic threat. Just... old age. Decades of war on crime, of sleepless nights, broken bones, relentless focus, and a body pushed beyond its limit. The world called him a hero. He called himself a soldier with a mission. But now, there was nothing but the void.
Until he opened his eyes again.
The smell hit him first—iron, dust, antiseptic. Then the pain, raw and burning in his abdomen. He was screaming, but it wasn't his voice. It was high-pitched, young. Too young. Weak.
Where was the Batcave? Alfred? The suit?
He tried to move but couldn't. Small limbs. A child's body. A bright light overhead. Shadows of faces.
"Congratulations, Kushina. It's a boy."
That name meant nothing to him. But the red-haired woman, bloodied and tired, smiled down at him with a fierce gentleness. The man beside her, blond and calm despite the chaos, placed a hand on her shoulder.
"His name is Naruto."
Naruto?
Bruce Wayne was reborn as an infant. Not in Gotham. Not even in his own world. And he knew it immediately—this wasn't Earth.
---
Six Years Later – Hidden Leaf Village
Naruto sat alone on the swing beside the academy, eyes closed, listening to the cadence of the wind, the hush of the leaves, and the murmurs of parents dragging their children away from him.
The villagers hated him. That much he'd learned early. But their hatred wasn't born of crime or fear like it was in Gotham. This was different. It was ignorance, pain, something deeper.
He had no idea why he was here or how. No bat signal. No allies. Just the muscle memory of a thousand martial arts styles, tactical genius honed over lifetimes, and a dark, clinical mind that had long abandoned childish things like comfort or love.
Naruto—the name given to him—wasn't the fool others thought he was. He was Batman. And Batman adapted.
---
That Night
In the forest outside the village, Naruto trained. Not like the others. Not with chakra scrolls or jutsu manuals. He had learned basic chakra control by observing others, by stealing into the library at night, and by meditating to feel its flow.
But his body—his true weapon—was sharpened through grit. No jutsu, no trickery. Only strikes, pressure points, stealth, and endurance. He reconstructed every form: Jeet Kune Do, Krav Maga, Ninjutsu (his kind), Sambo, Muay Thai. All applied through a child's frame. Adapted. Rebuilt.
His hands were bloodied from striking the trees.
"Again," he growled.
The fox inside him stirred, sensing something alien. This boy—this vessel—was not normal. Not just a host. There was something cold. Unrelenting. Predatory.
"You have darkness in you," the voice whispered through the bars of his subconscious.
Naruto responded in his mind, clear and calm.
"Good. I plan to use it."
---
To Be Continued...
Next Chapter: The Academy Begins – Shadows in the Light
---