In the world of Naruto, within the Hidden Leaf Village.
The glow of the setting sun filtered into the ninja academy, enveloping the place in a serene and elegant atmosphere.
Yet amidst this tranquility, one child stood out like a sore thumb.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Puff!
A cloud of white smoke erupted, but no clones appeared.
"Failed again…"
A faint smile of bitterness crossed Yuya's face.
He had been in this world for several years now.
This was a world of ninjas, and Yuya had once fantasized about becoming a genius, making a name for himself, and looking down upon the ninja world.
However, the reality was that his body struggled to refine chakra, let alone practice ninjutsu.
His chakra capacity was only a fraction of that of his peers, and he couldn't even master the most basic techniques, no matter how hard he tried.
"While it's true that training in taijutsu can lead to powerful forbidden techniques like the Eight Gates, which can even overpower the likes of Madara, what I want isn't fleeting glory, but everlasting brilliance," Yuya gazed at the sky with a hint of melancholy.
Oh heavens, could you not toy with him like this?
"Sigh, in just two years, the Second Great Ninja War will erupt. By then, not even a genin will have the strength to protect themselves, let alone a chūnin or jōnin."
Yuya sighed again. He had arrived in this world on the eve of the Second Great Ninja War, a truly unfortunate timing.
He was only eight years old.
But the time left for him was running out.
In two years, without sufficient self-defense capabilities, he would almost certainly meet a fate as cannon fodder in the upcoming war.
Yuya had no desire to be cannon fodder.
"Forget it, no more overthinking. I should head to the back mountain and continue training my taijutsu. Even if I struggle with ninjutsu, I can't give up easily."
Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Yuya stood up and walked toward the woods behind the school.
As he walked, he occasionally caught the odd glances of other students from the ninja academy.
"I heard that guy hasn't mastered a single ninjutsu yet."
"He probably won't even pass the graduation exam."
"Of course, someone from a small ninja village can never compare to us geniuses born in the Leaf."
Whispers filled the air, accompanied by disdainful looks.
Yuya chose to ignore them.
A bunch of kids, once the Second Great Ninja War starts in two years, they'll know what it means to cry.
But speaking of it, his luck really wasn't great.
Coming to this world was one thing; becoming a standard ninja in Konoha would have sufficed. Yuya didn't even aspire to be from a prestigious clan like the Senju or Uchiha... even having a normal family would have been nice.
Yet the reality was, he didn't even have a family!
Yuya wasn't born in Konoha; he hailed from a small ninja village.
That village had been destroyed by one of the five great ninja villages, Sunagakure. Yuya was likely the only survivor, discovered by a Konoha ninja and brought back to the Leaf.
Outsiders, even as children, were not well-received in Konoha, facing cold stares everywhere.
And Yuya had long since grown accustomed to it.
Arriving at a small grove behind the school, Yuya approached a wooden post.
At the top of the post was a noticeable dent, a result of countless side kicks and punches he had inflicted upon it, bit by bit!
Even without any talent for ninjutsu, Yuya had never entertained the thought of giving up.
Looking at the bandages on his hands and feet, Yuya took a deep breath and suddenly kicked out, landing precisely in the dent of the post.
"One, two, three... thirty-five, thirty-six…"
Sweat poured down like rain.
Soon, a wave of fatigue washed over him, especially in his ankles, which began to throb and ache.
But Yuya didn't stop; he gritted his teeth and continued.
In this place, where darkness was creeping in and no one was around, Yuya was diligently training his taijutsu. If he couldn't master ninjutsu, then the only path left for him was taijutsu, and he had to put in far more effort than his peers—perhaps even several times or dozens of times more.
Huff! Huff!!
Gradually, Yuya began to breathe heavily, his clothes completely soaked with sweat, droplets falling to the ground.
Finally, when his legs felt numb and he was struggling to stand, Yuya stopped.
"Time for a break. Next up is five hundred straight punches, then two hundred side kicks…"
Yuya sat down for a moment, glancing at the last rays of the setting sun on the horizon, a slight relaxation appearing on his face.
If only he could do this every day, enjoying the beautiful scenery while training. But alas, with the Second Great Ninja War, the Third Great Ninja War, the Fourth Great Ninja War... so many crises looming overhead, it was impossible to relax.
Just as Yuya was about to rest a bit longer and prepare to train again, he suddenly let out a surprised gasp.
He noticed that as the last rays of sunlight faded, they seemed to cast a strange shadow in a certain direction within the grove.
What was that?!
A hint of curiosity appeared on Yuya's face.
The shadow he had just seen was small, resembling an apple. Was there some kind of edible fruit in this grove?
Driven by curiosity, Yuya slowly walked toward that direction.
As the sky gradually darkened, Yuya pulled out a ninja tool to illuminate his path and continued forward. After a while, he stopped in front of a patch of grass, his expression suddenly turning blank, as if he had seen a ghost.
Clang!!
In shock, he dropped the light he was holding.
The light vanished, plunging the surroundings into darkness.
"What... is this…"
Yuya quickly crouched down, feeling around before picking up the light again and shining it toward the object in the grass.
His expression remained dazed.
Finally, Yuya cautiously reached out and picked up the object from the grass.
It was a strangely shaped fruit, and anyone from the Naruto world would have no idea what it was; they would probably assume it was poisonous and throw it away. But Yuya was different; as an anime enthusiast, he recognized it almost instantly.
A Devil Fruit!
"How could this thing possibly appear in the Naruto world?!"
Staring at the exquisitely crafted Devil Fruit in his hand, which looked nothing like a fake, Yuya's face was blank.
It didn't make sense!
Could it really just be some kind of poisonous fruit that happened to grow in this shape?
This thought flashed through his mind.
But Yuya quickly shook his head.
No, it was simply too similar, too much so to be anything but real.