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**Chapter 1: A New Beginning**
The night was unnervingly quiet. Too quiet. Outside, the wind howled faintly, creating an eerie melody, but inside, Alex was absorbed in his usual routine—curled up on a worn-out couch, surrounded by discarded chip bags and the dull glow of his laptop. The latest episode of *Naruto* had just ended, leaving the room in a pregnant silence.
"Sasuke... always brooding," Alex muttered, scrolling aimlessly through the comments section. "But if he was a girl… now *that* would change the dynamic."
He chuckled, but his amusement was fleeting. His eyelids grew heavy. Maybe it was the hours of binge-watching, or perhaps the stale pizza sitting on the table had taken its toll. His vision began to blur, and an overwhelming drowsiness took over. Before Alex could make sense of it, the world went dark.
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A searing pain erupted in his skull, pulling him from the abyss of unconsciousness. Groaning, Alex instinctively rubbed his temples when—
**[System Initialized]**
**[Welcome to the World of Naruto]**
His eyes snapped open, wide in disbelief. "*Naruto*?" he breathed. His heart raced, pounding in his chest as he tried to make sense of the absurdity. How was this possible?
**[Quest Generated]**
**Main Quest: Survive and Adapt**
**Task: Learn about your surroundings and adapt to your new life.**
**Reward: Instincts of an Experienced Shinobi.**
Alex's jaw tightened, eyes narrowing in contemplation. *I've been reincarnated?* His lips curled into a slow, calculated smile. Rising from the bed, he examined the simple apartment around him, his gaze finally landing on his hands. His breath caught in his throat. Racing to the mirror, he froze as he stared into his reflection.
He was... *Naruto.*
Whisker-like marks adorned his cheeks, and sharp blue eyes, full of intensity, stared back at him. He was small—his body childlike. He wore a plain black shirt with the Uzumaki crest emblazoned on the chest and green cargo shorts.
A deep sigh escaped him as he collapsed back onto the bed, staring at the ceiling with cold, calculating eyes. The thrill of being in this world was undeniable, but a much darker thought gnawed at him—*Death.* He was no stranger to violence, but the stark reality of dying in a world like this? It unsettled him, and his eyes darkened with a blend of fear and bitter determination.
*I don't want to die,* he mused, his thoughts bitter. Alex had always been different—a person who craved power but feared pain. He'd desired to inflict suffering on others, but not feel a sliver of it himself. Some might call that cowardice. He knew better. *Fear is a tool.* One that, if wielded correctly, could be his greatest ally.
In his previous life, he had been an oddity from the start. He was born prematurely through a dangerous C-section that left his mother barely clinging to life. From the very beginning, his existence had been parasitic, threatening to kill the very woman who gave him life. And even after birth, sickness had consumed him. Everything he ate came back up, his body fragile, refusing nourishment.
Yet somehow, through sheer will or luck, both he and his mother survived. But no one noticed how different Alex truly was. He was withdrawn, aloof, with an eerie detachment from reality. His gaze was distant, as if he lived in a world all his own. Even as a child, he had been cold.
He had once drowned a pigeon in his father's dove cage. The sensation of life slipping away in his hands... it thrilled him. The excitement, the rush of power—nothing had ever felt quite like it. He had been six years old at the time. His father had beaten him brutally after that, but it had only served to twist his emotional development further. *That's when the mask formed.*
He learned to suppress his desires, to hide behind a façade of normalcy. But inside, he had always remained... *different.* Detached. Calculating. And now? *Now,* in the world of shinobi, his instincts told him that survival would demand nothing less than ruthless precision.
Rising from the bed, he stared at his reflection once more. The cold, sharp blue eyes staring back at him felt familiar now. *I hate this world... but at the same time, I crave it.*
Naruto—or rather, Alex—smirked. He had time. This version of Naruto was three years old, meaning there were at least three years before he would attend the Academy. *Three years to prepare. To survive.*
Without wasting another moment, Alex sat cross-legged on the floor, hands forming a meditation seal. He focused inward, towards the core of his being, sensing the subtle ebb and flow of chakra. It was faint, like a small flame flickering in the depths of his belly. Slowly, deliberately, he began to circulate the chakra through his body, weaving it through his limbs.
**{Chakra Control} Lvl 0 (20/100)**
A notification appeared before him, but he paid it little mind. His focus remained on the energy moving inside him. Time blurred as he honed in on the task, ignoring the fatigue creeping into his body. Minutes passed. Then hours.
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**{Chakra Control} Lvl 5 (20/100)**
**{Chakra Strings} Lvl 3 (88/100)**
**{Chakra Enhancement} Lvl 4 (23/100)**
Five hours had passed, and with methodical precision, Alex had mastered the basics of chakra control. He had experimented with creating chakra strings to manipulate objects and enhanced his body by flooding his limbs with concentrated chakra. Each action had been performed with surgical care, his cold intellect guiding every move.
But something lingered at the edges of his perception—a strange, foreign chakra beneath the surface of his own. It felt... dangerous. And familiar.
Without warning, the world around him shifted.
Opening his eyes, Alex found himself in a dark, damp chamber, staring at a massive blood-red cage. His heart raced for a brief moment, but he quickly steadied it. *So, this is it...* he thought coldly, standing before the infamous Kyubi's cage.
The air inside the dark chamber was thick with a menacing aura, and the faint sound of dripping water echoed in the distance. In front of Alex, in Naruto's body, was a towering blood-red cage. The massive figure within stirred, its chakra roiling dangerously beneath the surface. His heart quickened for a moment, but his calculating mind swiftly regained control.
The Nine-Tails—*Kurama.*
He had seen this moment before, through a screen, but standing here in the presence of the beast was entirely different. The weight of Kurama's gaze bore down on him as its massive, slit eyes slowly opened.
"Brat, what are you doing here?" Kurama's deep voice rumbled, though it held an oddly calm tone compared to the rage-filled beast from the anime.
Alex narrowed his eyes slightly. "Just... exploring."
Kurama let out a low growl but seemed uninterested. "Leave me be, brat. You're too depressing to look at."
For a moment, Alex remained silent, watching the enormous fox, feeling the cold chakra swirl ominously around the room. His mind flickered back to the reality of Naruto's life. *This...* he thought, *this is why he suffered.*
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In the three short years of Naruto's life, the people of Konoha had treated him like a plague. Every sneer, every cruel glance, every word of hatred that they spat at him—it was all because of the monstrous power sealed inside him. The village had never seen Naruto as anything but a vessel, a container for Kurama, the demon fox that had nearly destroyed their home. To them, he was not a child, but a threat.
The villagers would go out of their way to avoid him. Shopkeepers refused to sell him food; children were warned to stay away. The orphanage—if it could be called that—gave him barely enough sustenance to survive. Kurama watched it all through the boy's eyes, witnessed the boy's suffering firsthand. The malnutrition, the fevers, the weakness... each day was a trial to stay alive.
Kurama wasn't indifferent to it. If Naruto died, Kurama would die with him—at least temporarily. For the mighty beast of chakra, death wasn't permanent, but the thought of reforming over decades was too frustrating. And so, despite his loathing of humans, Kurama had acted, releasing small amounts of his chakra to keep Naruto alive. Starvation, sickness, wounds inflicted by both neglect and abuse—the Nine-Tails had quietly ensured the child endured.
Yet, the hatred Kurama felt for humans only grew. Their cruelty, their ignorance... they treated Naruto like a monster when they were the real ones. Kurama could sense it all—the loneliness, the quiet despair that clung to the child like a shadow. But still, despite everything, Naruto had never succumbed. He held onto a faint hope, buried deep beneath the pain.
That hope, however, was gone now. Because the person standing in Naruto's place wasn't the same naïve child. 'I'm not Naruto,' Alex thought coldly, his mind as sharp and calculated as ever. 'I have no illusions about this world, nor its cruelty.;
Kurama's eyes gleamed with the faintest hint of recognition, perhaps sensing that this boy wasn't the same. "Hmph," the beast grunted. "You're different."
Alex didn't respond. He had no interest in Kurama's observations. The Nine-Tails was a tool—a powerful one, but still just a tool. For now, there was no use antagonizing the fox. He turned away, cold and composed.
"I'll return," Alex murmured, more to himself than to Kurama. "Next time, I'll have something far more interesting to show you."
---
Back in the small, worn apartment, Alex's cold eyes surveyed his surroundings. He reflected on Naruto's life, which had been nothing short of miserable. Orphaned at birth, hated by the villagers, and forced to grow up alone with no knowledge of why everyone despised him. Even now, at the age of three, Naruto had learned to endure starvation, sickness, and neglect.
Yet, none of that truly mattered to Alex. He wasn't interested in Naruto's tragic past, nor did he feel pity for him. What mattered now was how he could use this body and its potential. The Uzumaki bloodline, Kurama's chakra, and his own intellect would allow him to surpass the limits of what Naruto could ever achieve.
"Three years," he muttered, his gaze hardening. "That's how long I have to prepare."
Naruto's timeline was clear. In three years, he would enter the Academy. 'Three years to master chakra control, build physical strength, and learn the intricacies of this world.' And most importantly, he had to ensure that no one—especially the figures lurking in the shadows like Danzo—would catch wind of his potential before he was ready.
Sitting back in a meditative pose, Alex focused on the blue flame of chakra flickering within his core. It wasn't much, but it was enough to begin. Slowly, methodically, he began circulating it through his limbs, feeling the energy respond to his will.
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{Chakra Control} Lvl 5 (20/100)
{Chakra Strings} Lvl 3 (88/100)
{Chakra Enhancement} Lvl 4 (23/100}
Hours passed as Alex continued his silent training. He had advanced quickly, mastering chakra control, experimenting with chakra strings, and enhancing his physical abilities through chakra enhancement. His progress was nothing short of remarkable. Perhaps it was the innate talent of Naruto's bloodline, or perhaps it was simply his own relentless drive.
But none of this was enough.
There was more to discover. More to unlock.
Alex's thoughts drifted back to Kurama. Beneath his chakra pool, he had sensed that foreign energy—Kurama's chakra, vast and powerful, just waiting to be harnessed. But he wasn't foolish enough to attempt controlling it. Not yet.
The Nine-Tails was a dangerous force, one that could destroy him if he wasn't careful. But in time, Alex knew he would find a way to bend even Kurama to his will. After all, in a world of ruthless shinobi, power was the only thing that truly mattered.
He stood up, stretching his small body. "This world… it's mine for the taking."
With that cold thought in mind, Alex continued his quiet preparations, his mind already several steps ahead, calculating every move, every possible threat.
Because in this world, only the strongest would survive—and Alex intended to be the strongest.
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