1: Why my hair is pink again?

You know what's the worst thing about dying? Doing it twice.

Yes, dying twice sucks and Itadori Yuji would attest to that. Or was it Daniel?

Well, having two names was something strange. When he was alive, he could choose to use the second one, but in death, what should he call himself?

His first name was Daniel Evans. When he opened his eyes for the second time, he was Itadori Yuji.

He would say that he had come to accept both names, but the reality was that he had lived longer as Daniel than as Itadori.

Which sucked. He was supposed to win! Everything was supposed to be in his favor! He even defeated Sukuna!

So, why was he dead again?

Well, partly it was his fault. He got too confident, thought he was already the strongest, that the fight was over.

He was tired, exhausted. Defeating the King of Curses had required much more than expected, but he had done it. He held his dead body in his hands and did the only thing that seemed logical.

He ate it.

Maybe he should have waited, done it in a less public place, but he had won! It was his moment, his triumph, everything he had worked for until he bled...

Still, he supposed it wasn't a pleasant sight for Yuta or his sensei.

Maybe they were confused? Thought Sukuna had won? Otherwise, he couldn't explain the purple that hit him in the face the next second.

If he had been at his best, if he hadn't been so distracted, if he had, if he had...

Bah! They were all excuses. In the end, he had died at the hands of his own sensei, no less.

How fucked up

"Ironic, isn't it? Whether in the first or the second life, you died at the hands of the 'same' man."

Daniel sighed and lazily opened his eyes slowly. A familiar yet strange place greeted him, an infinite space filled with all kinds of celestial bodies, planets, stars, and galaxies. It was a strange place with a strange logic.

He straightened up and looked around until he found the figure of a "woman," though referring to "her" with a gender was inappropriate. The best way to describe the being in front of him would be "divine."

Because nothing that wasn't a god would have comparable power.

"You know, I thought I wouldn't see you again." Facing the cause of his second life as Yuji Itadori brought strange sensations within him.

There was some gratitude, hatred, and resentment but, in the end, nostalgia. Even if the last time they met wasn't that long ago, it felt like centuries had passed.

The being smiled, a smile made of thousands of stars, something fitting considering that every inch of its skin was like a window to the vast universe.

"I told you not to die too quickly, but blaming you wouldn't be appropriate either. Unfortunate, but I think you fulfilled your purpose in the end, even if it ended unexpectedly."

Ah yes, the "deal"—a second life in exchange for "entertaining her." Honestly, he had forgotten about it.

Remembering the first time he came to this place, he couldn't help but laugh. Yes, it was certainly ironic. Whether in his first or second life, he ultimately ended up dying because of the "same" man.

"At least this time it was more glorious than the first." Yes, dying at an anime convention while fighting "Satoru Gojo" over a chicken nugget was not something he would proudly say out loud. Dying after killing the King of Curses? That was less embarrassing.

"It was certainly entertaining," the being commented cheerfully. Then a comfortable silence filled the vast space. Daniel contemplated the amazing views for a moment before sighing again and standing up.

"Now what?" he asked. He had failed; his second chance was gone. What came next?

The being seemed thoughtful for a few moments before responding.

"Now you try again!" it said cheerfully.

Daniel blinked, confused, his bad mood disappearing immediately.

"What do you mean?" Wasn't this the end?

"Look at you, so depressed. While things didn't go exactly as you expected, in the end, you fulfilled the deal. It was fun. So I thought, why not? They say the third time's the charm after all."

Daniel stayed silent for a moment before laughing. He couldn't help it; it was absurd. He had fought so hard, tried so hard, all for what? To end up in the same place where everything started?

What was the point of all his effort, everything he fought for? The desperate way he clung to his second life? He laughed until he couldn't anymore and wiped a tear from his eye.

The being waited until he calmed down and spoke again.

"Don't misunderstand this. I won't keep giving you chance after chance. This is an exception, only because I enjoyed the first show. After this, if you fail again, you're on your own."

Daniel listened carefully and nodded in understanding. It was more than he could ask for, more than he thought he would get.

"So how are we going to do this?" The first time, he had been too confused, too shocked to understand what was happening.

Now, having lived through it once before, he could enjoy the process more calmly.

The being rubbed its chin thoughtfully.

"The first time, I sent you with nothing, nothing but your knowledge and experience from your first life. Let's change that a bit."

The being snapped its fingers, and a deck of cards appeared out of nowhere.

"How about this? I'll give you three advantages and three disadvantages, all at random, of course."

Daniel thought about it. Well, it didn't seem too bad.

"Advantages and disadvantages, huh? Seems like you don't want to make things too easy for me, but I suppose that's fine. I'm a sorcerer, after all. No matter what, I'm still pretty strong, you know," he couldn't help but say. He was confident; unlike before, when he had been just an ordinary human, now he had the knowledge and experience of a sorcerer.

The being seemed thoughtful before speaking.

"Yes... I don't think that will be of much use to you."

Daniel blinked; for some reason, those words didn't sit well with him, and with a furrowed brow, he asked, "What do you mean?"

The being shrugged. "Hey, don't blame me. The situation is simple: cursed energy, that thing doesn't exist everywhere, you know? Each universe operates and is governed by its own laws. What works in one may not necessarily be useful in another. While you'll still retain your knowledge, without knowing where you'll end up, it's hard to say if you'll still be able to use sorcery."

Of course, without cursed energy, at least 80% of what he knew would become useless. What was the point of knowing how to perform Domain Expansion if there wasn't cursed energy to do it in the first place?

"That's..." Suddenly, he didn't feel so excited anymore. Everything he had worked for, everything he had fought for... would he lose it all just like that?

That was his power, damn it!

He looked at the cards in the being's hand, his brain racing. Maybe he could be lucky; perhaps the place he would go to would be compatible with his sorcery.

"Before looking at the cards... can we see the destination?" he asked, with an idea in mind. It was probably risky, but he wasn't going to throw away what he had worked so hard to gain. Trusting solely in luck was something he had learned not to do.

The being tilted its head, smiled, and nodded. With a snap of its fingers, a huge roulette appeared beside them, a familiar roulette full of names, many unknown, many familiar.

Daniel wiped the sweat from his hands and walked to its side. Which universe was the most compatible? It was hard to tell. The best bet would be to go to one where there was "magic," but was magic really compatible with sorcery?

It didn't matter; he wouldn't know his destiny until the roulette stopped spinning, so contemplating such things was meaningless until he knew.

If he landed in a universe that allowed him to continue using cursed energy, then it was fine. If not... well, then he would have to make a "deal."

Without hesitation, he began to spin the roulette with force.

The huge wheel spun and spun, and for a moment, Daniel just stood there motionless, sweat running down his forehead. He was so focused that he didn't even wonder how that was possible, considering he was dead after all.

Then it stopped, and Daniel blankly stared at the destination.

[Naruto]

That was... not so bad? Actually, he wasn't quite sure.

He scratched his cheek and began to think deeply. What did he know about Naruto?

Well, it was something he had watched when he was young, but he had only seen it once, so while he had a general idea of things, the reality was that he didn't remember everything word for word.

Something about aliens in the end and a very bad sequel?

"Is chakra compatible with cursed energy?" Chakra was a blend of physical and spiritual energy, right? Maybe the physical part could be dismissed, but technically the spiritual part should count?

"I don't know why you're asking when deep down you already know, no, they are not similar at all."

Yeah, he knew. Still, he harbored the vague hope of being wrong.

He sighed. Well, if that's how things were, then he had no choice but to take a chance.

Initially, if a world like Dragon Ball or something similar had come up as the destination, he wouldn't have hesitated so much. No matter how much he loved sorcery, it was useless if the recurring enemy could make you explode along with the entire planet. Or the entire universe.

In such a scenario, it would probably be safer to bet on the advantages and hope to gain something that would put him on the same "level".

But in a world like Naruto...

In a world like that, his sorcery was still useful. It was still the best option.

He didn't like leaving things to chance. He didn't like depending on luck.

He preferred to hold onto the things he had worked so hard for, the things he had fought so hard for.

The being drew the cards once more and spoke, "The advantages and disadvantages are all random. I'll let you choose from 10 options for each, no hints, no tricks. Fair, isn't it?"

Daniel looked at the cards and then spoke, starting to lay out his "bet."

"I want to make a deal."

The being paused with interest, setting aside the cards and attentively "looking" at him.

"What do you have in mind?" It seemed things could get interesting.

"My advantages—I want to exchange them all for one thing." He raised a finger to emphasize.

While having three advantages would be intriguing, being random meant little control over what he could obtain. The risk was too high. If he ended up with something useless, it would just be a waste.

He might not remember everything about Naruto, but he recalled the general power levels. In the final stages, characters started throwing around nuclear bombs like fireworks. He wasn't going to tempt his luck with something that could hinder him against such threats.

As a sorcerer, he might not have a "nuclear bomb" level attack in his repertoire, but he had many other options that made him just as or more dangerous than those capable of such destruction. At least in terms of lethality, he possessed an attack that would undoubtedly not fall behind.

And nobody said he couldn't become stronger afterward...

"Well, that's new." The being shuffled the cards in its hand and looked at him with interest.

"But I feel like this will make things more fun. So, tell me, what do you want?"

Daniel smiled. It had been a gamble, as the being could have rejected his request. But now that it had accepted, everything was fine. He had won.

"Everything I gained and had as Yuji Itadori—I want it back, cursed energy included."

It was his power, for which he had fought and bled profusely. It was his and his alone. No one should be able to take it away from him.

"Heh, so you're reluctant to give it up, huh? Well, I don't blame you. Alright, just this once, I'll make an exception."

The being reached out, and a blank card with what looked like the image of a pair of white wings appeared floating above its palm.

played with it between her fingers and then tossed it towards him. The card traveled like a projectile of light at great speed and collided with his chest, disappearing inside him. Daniel felt a familiar yet different sensation beginning to well up within him.

"Is this it?" Confused, he clenched his fists, feeling strange.

"In Naruto, cursed energy doesn't exist, so I've made chakra the equivalent instead," the being explained.

That made more sense than simply altering the entire universe's structure so that only he had cursed energy. Maybe it wasn't what he initially thought, but it was acceptable. Cursed energy or chakra, it didn't matter, as long as he could use his sorcery abilities.

While Daniel inspected his new "energy," the being pulled out a deck of dark cards adorned with skull engravings, emitting a sinister energy.

It skillfully shuffled them, catching Daniel's attention once more.

"Are these the disadvantages?" he asked, with some concern.

The being nodded absentmindedly and smiled when it found the card it wanted.

"Bingo!" It took the card, and the deck vanished into thin air the next moment.

Something didn't seem right about this.

"You said they would be random. Why did it look like you deliberately chose that card?" Daniel asked, feeling his left eye twitch slightly.

"Was your advantage random?" she countered his question.

Daniel blinked and slowly shook his head, already knowing where this was going and beginning to curse inwardly.

"You said you wanted to make a deal, not do a favor, not make a request, but a deal. And a deal should benefit both parties, don't you think?"

Well who knew, it looked like trying to be a little sneaky came back to bite him in the ass immediately.

"Since you chose a specific advantage, it's only fair that I choose a specific disadvantage as well, don't you agree? A fair deal in my view."

Then, she raised the card in her hand and it transformed in the air, becoming a semi-transparent red screen with text on it.

(Ultimate Enemy: a being that exists solely to kill you, cooldown time 15 years)

"Since we're leaving nothing to chance, it's only fair we stick with the theme you chose. Within 15 years from your birth into the shinobi world, The Eight-Handled Sword Divergent Sila Divine General Mahoraga, will appear at a random location within 15 kilometers of you and seek to kill you, no matter where you are or what stands in its way."

Well, Shit!.

He almost panicked, but he forced himself to calm down. This was manageable. He had defeated Sukuna, and Sukuna had defeated Mahoraga in canon, so theoretically, he should be more than capable of handling this, right?

Theoretically, because he had never let Sukuna fight or summon Mahoraga in his life as Itadori. He had never seen the real shikigami in person, so while he knew he should be able to handle it, for some reason he couldn't help but worry.

"It's okay, it's 15 years. That's enough time. I can handle this..."

He just had to regain all his strength or even become stronger.

"Lastly, since you asked to keep everything you had as Itadori, that also refers to his 'special' physique, correct?"

Daniel paid attention again and nodded. Itadori's special physique and its connection to Sukuna were reasons why he could "win." Losing it would be too unfortunate, so he preferred to keep it.

The being looked at him thoughtfully and smiled mischievously, as if something amusing had occurred to her. That didn't give him a good feeling.

"Well, I'll have to change a few things, but if that's what you want, then so be it."

Change a few things?

Before he could ask, the being snapped her fingers, and a spiral portal appeared next to him, beginning to forcefully suck his body in.

"this time it's the final farewell for us, I hope you can live a long time, Daniel. Enjoy this last life, you certainly deserve it. Oh yes, remember to make it entertaining haha."

Daniel couldn't respond as his consciousness plunged into darkness.

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It was dark, and his mind felt apathetic, heavy, sleepy...

He was tired yet semi-conscious; it was strange.

It had been like this for a while, his body acting automatically with his consciousness in a state where he could feel but only for brief moments.

Occasionally, he heard things, saw things, but it was blurry.

He was a damn baby, that was obvious, or at least it was to the part of his consciousness that managed to awaken occasionally.

He was grateful for this, preferring to be in this state until he didn't need to be cleaned or fed involuntarily.

If he wanted, he could have "awakened," he knew that, but he didn't. He didn't want to experience the "baby" phase and wasn't good at acting like one, so to avoid suspicion, he let his body be guided by basic baby instincts while his consciousness rested temporarily.

At least until a damn murderous intent rivaling that of the King of Curses struck him in the face.

With annoyance, his consciousness snapped back with full force, and he opened his eyes, bloodshot.

For a moment, he was on the verge of unleashing his own murderous intent, but when his eyes met the worried eyes of a woman, he forced himself to stop.

He blinked, seeing fear and panic in the woman, and everything around them seemed to tremble, a familiar yet unknown energy hitting as if gravity had suddenly intensified.

Was this chakra? And a very strong one at that. He heard a deafening roar that shook the place even more, and he saw a part of the ceiling starting to fall toward them. Without much hesitation, he lightly moved his finger, and the debris suddenly split into dozens of pieces.

He frowned slightly; that had been more difficult than it should have been.

The woman was too scared to notice; in fact, she was probably in shock. He debated whether he should do something to snap her out of it, but then he sensed someone approaching quickly.

"Haruno-san!" A man's voice called out, and soon a figure found them and took both him and the woman into his arms.

The woman snapped out of her trance and began to sob.

How annoying.

Soon, he could see the outside and the cause of all this disaster.

In the distance, towering even above the mountains, a huge nine-tailed fox was wreaking havoc on the village indiscriminately. Each movement of its tails sent gusts of wind that could crush tsunamis, each swing of its claws cut buildings into pieces. Its rage and rampage, combined with its murderous intent, could have left any other person catatonic.

To him, it was like reliving his most recent fight, except instead of a giant fox, his opponent had been the King of Curses, the strongest sorcerer of antiquity.

He couldn't help but smile. As much as he despised him, there was something he had to admit: he also loved a good fight.

"Who would have thought, maybe I'm more like you than I realized, Suku—"

"Sukuna-chan, are you okay?!" The woman's voice snapped him out of his trance. Without him realizing it, they had reached what seemed to be a shelter, far from the calamity the biju was causing.

He blinked. What the hell had she called him?!

"Let me see him, the chakra of the Kyubi is too heavy, many children are dying because of it," said one of the nearby shinobi with no tact, taking Sukuna into his arms.

A green light began to glow in his palm, and he felt a warm current of chakra flow through his body, but he couldn't pay attention to it.

Not because his gaze was focused on the headband on the shinobi's forehead, not on its symbol; he didn't need to see the Leaf Village's symbol to know where he was.

Instead, his gaze was focused on the reflection, the reflection of himself.

Pale skin, chubby baby face, light green eyes, and damned pink hair...

"Why my hair is pink again?!"

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Note:

"Spin-Off of Still Defiant?" You don't need to read anything from that series to read this, although the first chapter will probably give you a better idea of the whole "being" thing.

Well, guys, I'm working on the next updates for my main stories. Formal work is also heavy these days; it seems someone forgot to do their part, and now we're all in trouble because of it. Damn irresponsible people!

But I don't want to go without publishing anything, so I pulled out this "prologue" that I had saved for a while. I never published it because I was too busy, and by the time I noticed, I already had several stories to focus on.

This will be in a "strange" state because, as I mentioned, I already have several main stories to focus on, so I'll only update it if I have free time (I won't take time away from my main stories). But if you guys really like it, maybe I'll try to write more about it. Who knows?

The main tags will be SI-OC/Naruto AU/Slice of Life/Adventure/Action (harem?) and probably a few more. I thought about making this story more relaxed and taking it down the path I wanted to take Almost Invincible, meaning an NSFW story. But since I'm still a novice at that, it will be more of a semi-serious story with NSFW touches here and there.

In summary, plot before "plot."

Leave your comments, criticisms and suggestions without hesitation! I will be reading them.