Inside a shabby wooden house.
A boy suddenly sat up, threw off the blanket beside him, and looked around in a daze.
Next to him lay several children around three to five years old, all sleeping soundly. It looked like a nursery—except this "nursery" was far too run-down.
It was nothing more than a broken wooden shack.
Less than thirty square meters in total.
Yet more than twenty children were crammed inside, sleeping shoulder to shoulder.
After a brief pause, the boy looked down at his own body—his small arms and legs—and shook his head repeatedly.
"No… this isn't right. I'm an adult. How did I suddenly turn into a kid?!"
Rebirth?
Transmigration?
Soul transfer?
Countless thoughts flooded his mind.
After a moment of frantic thinking, his expression steadied. As someone who had read countless web novels in his previous life, he quickly calmed down and decided to step outside to figure out where he was.
He climbed out of bed and walked toward the door.
But before he could take more than two steps, the door suddenly opened.
A man wearing a black vest stood there, glaring at him.
"Kanda Rokuro, what do you think you're doing, getting up this late?"
The boy froze.
Because the man was clearly speaking Japanese.
And yet, somehow—even though he had never learned Japanese—he understood every word.
No.
No, that wasn't the important part.
The important part was the forehead protector on the man's head.
The Leaf Village headband.
The symbol of Konohagakure from Naruto.
What was going on?!
Was this some hardcore Naruto cosplayer?!
Before he could process his confusion, the man strode forward, grabbed him like a chick, and unceremoniously tossed him back onto his bed.
"Go to sleep. Starting tomorrow, you'll begin training."
With that, the man turned and left.
The room fell dark once more.
The boy lay there, completely awake now.
At that moment—
Memories that did not belong to him surged into his mind.
They sent a chill down his spine.
They were miserable.
Truly tragic.
After absorbing those memories, the boy finally understood his situation.
He had transmigrated.
His soul had entered the world of Naruto.
This body originally belonged to a child named Kanda Rokuro.
Rokuro was born to a poor civilian family in the Land of Rice Fields and had five older brothers.
However—
All five of those brothers had starved to death.
Rokuro himself would likely have met the same fate.
But his luck had been slightly better.
He had been noticed by a ninja, purchased, and brought here.
According to the memories, that ninja believed Rokuro had the aptitude to become a ninja.
A ninja!
Just thinking about it made his heart race.
The Naruto world was dangerous, yes—but if he could become a ninja, even the lowest-ranked genin, he'd never have to worry about food again. And with his knowledge of the Naruto storyline, surely he could at least make it to chūnin, right?
With that thought, his heart finally relaxed.
No matter what the future held, surviving came first.
Naruto…
What an insanely dangerous world.
How was he supposed to live all the way to the end?
Judging by the environment, this place was likely an orphanage under Konoha's control. These children were probably being prepared as reserves for war. One day, a battlefield might call—and he'd be sent off to die.
What a scam.
In his previous life, he'd drifted aimlessly until his thirties without accomplishing anything.
Now that he had the chance to become a ninja, dying young was unacceptable.
That would be a complete waste.
He had finally arrived in the Naruto world—how could he not see it through? After all, he was very interested in the girls of this world.
"Huh?"
"What's this?"
As he was lost in thought, something strange appeared in his mind.
It wasn't Rokuro's memory.
It was a long block of text that had appeared out of nowhere.
He focused on it.
And the moment he read it—
His eyes lit up.
---
Cultivation System Activated
Host: Kanda Rokuro
Taijutsu Level 1 — EXP: 0 / 10,000
Ninjutsu Level 1 — EXP: 0 / 10,000
Genjutsu Level 1 — EXP: 0 / 10,000
Training Missions and Random Missions Activated
Complete daily training missions to receive 500 fixed EXP
Complete daily random missions to receive variable EXP, based on difficulty
Today's Training Mission:
→ 1,000 push-ups
Today's Random Mission:
→ Tease Asayama Masaru
---
A system?!
This was the legendary "golden finger" every transmigrator dreamed of!
He had just been thinking about reaching chūnin—now, with this system, if he didn't end up surpassing Uchiha Madara and even the Sage of Six Paths, he'd be letting down both this system and every transmigrator before him.
The more he thought about it, the more excited he became.
Strength had to come first.
Looking at today's missions, only one was possible right now.
The random mission—teasing Asayama Masaru—was out of the question.
According to Rokuro's memories, Asayama Masaru was in the next room over. That room housed children aged five to seven, while this one was for newcomers aged three to five.
Kanda Rokuro himself was four years and two months old.
He had only been here for half a month and hadn't begun formal ninja training yet.
As for what he'd done during those two weeks?
Eat.
And eat some more.
His body had been too frail. Without recovering first, real training would've left him collapsing in ten minutes.
The random mission was impossible.
That left only the training mission.
He quietly got out of bed and looked around. All the other children were fast asleep.
If he wanted to grow stronger—
He had to finish those 1,000 push-ups.
He slipped down to the floor beside his bed and began.
With his small body, speed was out of the question.
At most, he could manage thirty push-ups a minute. After that, he needed a full minute of rest—or his arms would completely give out.
Thirty push-ups every two minutes.
Six hundred per hour.
At least two hours for a thousand.
But—
That was just theory.
Reality was harsher.
After five hundred push-ups, his arms were shaking so badly that he needed two or three minutes of rest just to continue.
In the end, it took him nearly three hours to finish all 1,000.
Ding—
Training mission completed. Reward: 500 EXP.
Hearing the sound, he smiled faintly.
Then—
He collapsed onto the floor and fell into a deep sleep.
---
Not long after Kanda Rokuro passed out, the door quietly opened.
A figure stepped inside.
He walked up to Rokuro, nodded in satisfaction, lifted the unconscious boy, and gently placed him back onto the bed, covering him with the blanket before leaving.
As a Root ninja, his vigilance was extremely high.
When Rokuro had gotten up the second time, he'd heard it.
He had been ready to burst in and scold him—
Only to discover that the child was doing push-ups beneath the bed.
So he watched silently through the window.
He didn't enter until Rokuro had trained himself into complete exhaustion.
All ninja were forged through brutal training.
And Kanda Rokuro's performance pleased him greatly.
In his eyes, this child had potential.
If Rokuro could grow into a jōnin—or even a special jōnin—the reward for recommending him would be substantial.
Of course—
This was only one day.
What mattered was consistency.
If Rokuro trained like this every single day, he'd be worth reporting.
For now—
As a small reward for his effort…
He deserved a big chicken leg tomorrow.