It was a quiet night in Konoha.
In a house, Seki Kazuhiro was sleeping.
He was a prodigy and one of the village's most promising ninjas. Seki Kazuhiro hadn't even finished watching the Naruto anime, but now he was actually in it.
He sat up fast, breathing hard. A memory hit him hard.
"My name is Nagata Megumi. I was an office worker. One night, everything changed. I was walking home to see my grandmother when a truck sped down the road. The driver swerved. Hit me instead. I was broken on the ground, lying in a pool of my blood. My head. The world faded away."
Seki Kazuhiro clutched his temples.
"Ah... My head hurts like hell," he groaned. "What's happening? Wait, where am I?"
A lot of Seki Kazuhiro's memories rushed in. He saw flashes of the Academy and the day he became a ninja. He earned his headband at eight years old, partly because of the war but mostly because of his talent.
Then the memories stopped.
In the silence, he heard a footstep echoing through the empty house.
His body was on edge, ready to react to any threat. He sat frozen.
Soon, a figure in a mask and dark clothes appeared in his room. Seki Kazuhiro recognized that outfit. He remembered being at the training ground when a guy in that mask approached him.
The stranger talked about an organization called Root. Said his "Lord" wanted Seki Kazuhiro to join. Seki Kazuhiro had refused. Then he just went back to training and went to sleep, not knowing what would happen.
Out of habit, he had tucked a set of kunai under his blanket. That habit was about to save his life.
When Nagata Megumi—the Seki Kazuhiro—saw the masked figure, his body moved on its own. He reached for the hidden kunai. Threw them with lethal precision.
In a second, the Root agent was struck down.
Seki Kazuhiro's heart was racing. Panic set in. This was his kill.
The reality hit him: he was reincarnated in the world of Naruto.
There was no time to celebrate. He had been attacked by Root, Danzo's group. They were one of the threats in the Leaf. More agents would be coming.
He had to move.
He knew he couldn't stay in the village. The thought made him feel a wave of sadness. Konoha was where legends like Minato and Hiruzen were from. If he really was a prodigy, he could have been like them.
"Sigh... Why is it that whenever I get a chance, it has to be ruined?"
He tried to sound calm. He was hurting inside. He knew from all the web novels he'd read that there was no going. He already missed his grandmother very much.
" Right," he whispered. "I guess it's time to go."
He looked around the room, feeling bad for Seki Kazuhiro. The boy was. Now, Nagata Megumi had to abandon everything his parents had left him.
With a heart he prepared to vanish.
How do I get out? He paced around.
Wait, I have it. I'll sneak up on a guard, knock them out, and transform into them. He tested the Transformation Jutsu. Perfect. Then the Clone Jutsu. Flawless. The muscle memory from Seki Kazuhiro was still there.
"Okay, good. My basics are solid. Now let's go."
He made it to the outer wall and stayed in the shadows, looking for a target. It didn't take long to find a guard.
Kyochi Uchiha was having a night.
Earlier, he'd been eating a meal when a crow brought him a mission scroll. He had grinned, thinking he was finally going to prove himself as a Chunin.
When he got to the tower, they just told him to guard the wall. He headed to his post, annoyed, having no idea this was his night alive.
Seki Kazuhiro saw the white fan on the guard's back. An Uchiha.
Doubt flickered, knocking out an Uchiha wouldn't be easy.
He picked up two stones. Threw the first one away from him.
Kyochi heard a clack. Turned. Why did a rock just appear? He got suspicious.
Seki Kazuhiro took the opening. He threw the rock as a distraction and blurred through hand signs.
Substitution Jutsu. Seki Kazuhiro reappeared behind the Uchiha. Kyochi sensed him and spun around. He froze when he saw Seki Kazuhiro's face.
Wait, isn't this Seki Kazuhiro? Why is he attacking me? Seki Kazuhiro smiled. It was a trap.
Another Seki Kazuhiro appeared behind Kyochi. How does he know the Shadow Clone Jutsu? was Kyochi's thought.
The clone's kunai plunged deep. Kyochi fell silent.
Seki Kazuhiro felt like he was going to throw up. He forced it down.
'I will never get used to killing,' he thought. It hurt to take a life. He didn't have a choice.
He used the Transformation Jutsu to look like Kyochi and headed for the main gate. He saw two guys standing there—Izumo and Kotetsu.
Seki Kazuhiro walked up to them. Before they could ask why a wall guard was at the gate, Seki Kazuhiro yelled, "Code 17! Code 17!"
Izumo and Kotetsu snapped into alert. That code meant a disturbance was spotted and a chase was starting outside the walls.
They stood aside.
Seki Kazuhiro bolted through the gates. Vanished into the dark.
The plan worked. As he ran, more of Seki Kazuhiro's memories about village codes came to him. He was finally outside.
Safe, from Root.
He slowed down enough to breathe, already trying to figure out what to do next.
Chapter 1 End