Few stars can be seen in the city at night, and the dim moonlight is dispersed by the city lights.
Logan looked out through the window of his room, observing the parked cars and the elderly strolling in the neighborhood. Even such ordinary scenes stirred his emotions inexplicably.
In the distance, streetlights illuminated the night like soybeans, extending far into the horizon. These were sights unseen in the ninja world. In that place of survival of the fittest, Logan had contemplated more about himself and survival.
Dinner had passed cautiously with his parents not long ago. Logan's twelve years in the Naruto World seemed like a fleeting moment to Earth, so he hadn't revealed his secret to his parents. Though his demeanor had changed, his parents didn't seem suspicious.
After more than a decade apart, there should have been a lot to say, but Logan ultimately remained silent. He had become quite resilient, and cherishing the present was what mattered now.
Exhaling, Logan drew the curtains and sat back at the computer desk.
During his first few years in the ninja world, he had thought about returning, even considered studying Space-Time Ninjutsu.
However, upon being accepted by Konoha, he was immediately thrown into rigorous training he hadn't anticipated. Boring training changes that he had never imagined followed one after another. At the time, simply not giving up was already commendable enough.
Then, when he entered the Third Great Ninja War, his only thought was survival. Even two years later, he hadn't had the leisure to contemplate how to return to Earth. The more he understood, the better. The deeper he learned, the more he realized his own shallowness. Trying to return through Space-Time Ninjutsu or the like was completely impossible.
Logan had already changed out of his ANBU uniform and put on long-sleeved casual pants. It was still late winter, but the temperature in the south was rising. In addition, Logan had a strong physique, so it would not be a big problem if the air conditioner was not turned on.
'Then, let's think about the current situation.'
Logan crossed his arms and looked at the ninja pouch and forehead protector on the table, feeling somewhat conflicted.
He had already secretly disposed of the ANBU uniform, as keeping them would do more harm than good. As for the weapons and forehead protectors he brought back from the Naruto World...
Because back then he thought it was an easy mission to deal with two small fries, Logan only brought a basic set of ordinary weapons before going out on the mission. He also did not bring any special items such as military rations pills or smoke bombs.
'Four Kunai, three Shuriken.' Logan pondered for a moment, then packed everything, including the forehead protector, into the ninja pouch. After that, he hid the ninja pouch at the bottom of the closet. Whether as a memento or for future use, Logan didn't intend to discard them.
Logan is still very uncomfortable with the sudden change in his life situation. He also felt somewhat aimless. The games and anime, which he used to be obsessed with, no longer held much appeal.
"School starts tomorrow."
Logan said with some sigh. He didn't expect that he still had to go to high school in this situation... Despite living an additional twelve years, his mathematics, physics and chemistry skills were not improving, but regressing instead.
Picking up a math book, Logan thought, 'Should I review a bit first?'
Then, Logan started flipping through the ink-scented paper, and there are rows of regular and orderly numbers and formulas, power functions, exponential functions, periodic function…
Picking up an English book, 'In ancient times, scholars must have had teachers. Teachers are there to impart knowledge and wisdom. Humans are not born with knowledge...'
A physics book...
A few minutes later, Logan quickly threw all the textbooks into his schoolbag, "Forget it, I'll look at these when I get back to school."
'As expected, cultural subjects are the ultimate boss. First, let's wish all the subject teachers a Happy New Year.'
However, Logan's mindset is different now. He no longer harbors the aversion to studying as before, but he still needs time to adjust to the transition from Ninja to student. While Ninjas may seem cool and powerful, given the choice, there is no doubt that peace is far more desirable than constant battles.
Some memories of classmates' faces and voices resurfaced in Logan's mind. He scratched his head, unsure how to face them tomorrow.
The night wasn't particularly deep, but Logan, after experiencing significant ups and downs, felt mentally exhausted when he lay on the bed. He looked at the ceiling for a while, unable to fall into a deep sleep. The light filtering through the curtains illuminated his deepening eyes.
"To be continued..."
Logan murmured softly.
'Those words I saw before returning to the real world, what were they? A hallucination?'
Deliberately saving this for last to ponder, the air was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. Returning to Earth, returning to his familiar home, yet Logan wasn't as happy as he imagined.
Apart from the initial difficulty in adjusting, the real key issue was the strangeness before his return.
The mysterious shuriken and the inexplicable three words.
When falling through the air, the angle and speed of the thrown shuriken indicated the attacker's impressive prediction and strength. They didn't attack when Logan was fighting the Kumogakure's Jonin, instead, they chose a seemingly inconspicuous yet fatal moment... The other party is undoubtedly an expert.
Regardless of who the person was who ambushed him from the shadows, whether they were a bounty hunter chasing rewards or an enemy formed at some unknown time, since he is no longer in the Naruto World, Logan could afford to put that aside for now.
If Logan hadn't returned, he was patient enough to wait for his opponent in the shadows for a rematch.
But what sent chills down Logan's spine were those three words, seemingly harmless: To be continued.
The literal meaning is easy to understand, as it is often used at the end of a story, such as a novel or a TV show. However, upon further thought, it left Logan perplexed.
To be honest, based on Logan's experience of reading the original work and years of practical experience, he really had no idea how someone could possess such seemingly ethereal and mystical abilities.
After thinking for a long time, Logan couldn't come up with a reliable guess. These three characters are just too mysterious. They seemed so plain and unremarkable, not the extravagant artistry of post-millennial fonts, yet the circumstances before his return clearly indicated there was a problem with them.
As for it being hallucination or coincidence? Logan wasn't easily convinced.
Everything seemed too simple.
"Forget it, let's get some rest. I have to go to school tomorrow. Ugh, just thinking about it gives me a headache." As the night grew late, Logan, admitting his IQ inadequacy, decided not to torture himself anymore. Glancing at the clock on the wall, he forced himself to enter into sleep.
"If anyone dares to ambush me from the shadows, I'll hit them with a Chidori and teach them a lesson."