Ninja World — Frontline of the Konohagakure camp at the Hidden Rain Village.
Medical tents stretched across the muddy ground. The air smelled of blood and antiseptic. Medical-nin rushed from one stretcher to another, hands glowing with green chakra.
"Ahhh—!"
"Move him here, quickly!"
"Pressure on the wound—don't let him bleed out!"
Injured shinobi kept arriving, and the camp was filled with screaming and urgent shouts.
At one corner, a boy around fourteen or fifteen lay on a cot, wearing a Chūnin jacket. A mature-looking medical ninja carefully treated the deep cut along his side.
The boy had rare silver hair. His face was handsome but still somewhat immature. Yet his eyes were calm — unusually calm for someone being stitched up.
His name was Tokiya Raiden.
After finishing the treatment, the medical ninja straightened up and said,
"Your injuries aren't light, but they're not severe either. You can return to the front line in three days. For now, rest."
Without waiting for a reply, the doctor moved on to the next injured shinobi.
Raiden closed his eyes. But he didn't sleep.
He was thinking about his past.
He wasn't originally from this world. Sixteen years ago, he had arrived here as an infant. He grew up in an orphanage, confused at first, but once he gained consciousness, he realized the truth — he had been reborn into the world of Naruto.
He stayed in the orphanage for six years before entering the Ninja Academy. After enrolling, he moved into his late parents' house. It was said they had been Jonin who died during a mission. They left him some money, a few jutsu scrolls, and the village provided a small monthly allowance.
His talent wasn't bad. After the fusion of two souls, it became even stronger. By thirteen, he became a Chūnin. After all, not everyone could become Kage-level at thirteen, or Jonin at twelve.
With his talent, Raiden believed he could reach low or mid-Kage level in the future. With knowledge from his previous life, maybe even high Kage level.
But that was all.
A genius still needed time to grow. Even Chūnin, Jonin, and Kage could die at any moment. Not to mention the countless bloodline users with unpredictable abilities. In later years, even the title of Kage seemed less absolute. With techniques like Susanoo and Tailed Beast transformations, mountains and rivers could be destroyed by a single person. A Kage could still be helpless.
So Raiden was always cautious.
But after becoming a Chūnin, the Second Ninja War began, and he was sent to the battlefield. In two years, he had faced many life-and-death situations — and survived them all.
However, the most dangerous one had happened just recently.
His team was ambushed by an elite Rain squad: two Jonin and six Chūnin. Their own side had only one Jonin and three Chūnin.
Because Raiden could sense chakra, he warned his teammates in advance. But his sensing range was only about one hundred meters — something that could be crossed in seconds.
Even so, their sneak attack killed two enemy Chūnin.
But the battle was far from over.
One of his teammates died. The others were seriously injured. They managed to kill four more Chūnin and heavily injure one Jonin — but that Jonin still had combat power.
Then, in desperation, something inside Raiden awakened.
Whether it was hidden potential or something else, he didn't know — but he awakened a time-stop ability.
For now, he could only stop time for 0.1 seconds, with a cooldown of another 0.1 seconds.
But that was enough.
To Raiden, the world seemed to freeze. During that instant, his movements appeared impossibly fast. Using that brief advantage, he and his captain caught the enemies off guard and killed both Jonin.
His captain was badly injured, but they survived.
Not long after, reinforcements arrived. They received first aid and were transported back to the main camp.
Lying on the cot now, Raiden slowly opened his eyes.
The war wasn't over.
And neither was his path.