"This isn't a dream!" Ritsu sighs and blankly stares at the ceiling for a few second, still in a daze.
He takes a sip of the soup.
"I am born in the peaceful era which is a relief to know!"
The era after the reign of the Fourth Hokage was quite peaceful until Naruto turned twelve.
"On that note, what year is this?"
Ritsu's good mood suddenly plummets.
"The troubles start with Naruto turning twelve. And I don't want to die just after reincarnating."
He quickly searches the room for a memo or calendar of some sort, and he soon finds one. However,
"This is useless!"
He throws away the calendar in annoyance.
"I don't have a time reference and the most important thing…"
A gloomy expression appears on his face.
"I can't read this language since I wasn't a native Japanese in my past life."
He sighs and blew air on another spoon of soup.
"I am only four years old and have to yet learn how to read and write properly. In this world, the kids learn how to throw hands before learning how to grab a pen."
Ritsu recalls the small number of memories he has in this life.
He forgot most of his baby memories. Only faint memories of when he started to walk and run appear in his mind.
"Speaking of which…"
He recalls the incident from yesterday.
"As usual, I was practicing the leaf concentration exercise to circulate my chakra through my chakra system."
Leaf concentration exercise is a basic practice every kid practices to learn how to control the chakra and release it.
"However, I accidentally released almost all of my chakra and passed out a result. Because of this, the memories of my past life unlocked themselves."
He finishes the soup and glances at his little hands.
"Alright, since I am already in this world and have no other choice, I will set a goal for myself. My goal is to save this world."
He confidently jumps from the bed but accidentally trips on the string of bedsheets and falls flat with his face on the floor.
He wipes his face with embarrassment while holding the pain inside.
"Who am I even kidding? My first goal is to survive and grow strong."
Soon, he snaps back to reality and recalls the insane villains in the upcoming future.
"I will leave that goal to Naruto and Sasuke, the protagonist. For now, I just want to live a peaceful and lazy life!"
He wipes the dust and walks out of his room.
"Let's meet my father first and gather some information."
He walks through the corridor, paved with wooden planks, and soon arrives in the backyard.
In the backyard, a tall man with shoulder-length, mousy brown hair is training by swinging a metal sword.
'That looks like a real anime sword!' Ritsu's eyes gleam as he stares at the Katana.
Ahem…
A slight cough startles him and his instinctive habits kick in.
"Father!"
He quickly bows to the man.
'What's with this family etiquette training? And why it's ingrained in my body?'
Ritsu quickly raises his head and notices the look of disappointment in his father's eyes.
Silent tears flow from his eyes in his mind.
'I am sorry, father! I am a failure of a son!'
The inner Asian within him comes alive as he recognizes that look of disappointment with a glance.
Sigh…
Akinao sighs as he stares at his son.
'He lacks the manly aura of the Senju clan. Perhaps this is the result of his Uzumaki lineage.'
"Are you thinking something rude again, dear?" Ishiko arrives with a kitchen knife in her hand.
Shiing…
A gleam flashes across the blade of the knife.
Ah!
Akinao is startled and quickly shakes his head.
"Nothing! It's nothing! I am just worried about our son."
He signals to Ritsu with his spare hand. Ishiko sits down with a basket of vegetables in her hand.
"Ritsu, how are you feeling now?" He asks with slight concern.
"I am perfectly fine, father!"
Ritsu performs a few taijutsu moves from his memory.
Kids from big clans like Senju begin their training as early as the age of three. So, it's not a surprise. His father also taught him a few moves.
"Good!" Akinao nods and takes out a small paper strip from his pocket.
"Here!" He hands it over to Ritsu.
"Try to infuse your chakra in it."
Hmm…
Ritsu recognizes the paper as the Chakra paper used to test the chakra nature.
He holds the paper with hope and silently prays to the gods.
"Please be more than one chakra nature. Please be more than one chakra nature."
Multiple chakra nature is a bit hard to train but is more versatile.
'No, I can't jinx it so early. I will have low expectations. So, please be wind or lightning chakra nature.'
"What's wrong? Just try to infuse your chakra in this paper!" Akinao's voice startles him.
"Yes! Yes!"
He hurriedly pinches the paper between his thumb and fingers and imagines the process of blood circulating through his body. The flow of chakra is slightly similar to the process.
A wisp of chakra originates from his naval and travels through his chest, shoulder, arm, wrist, and finally, his fingertips.
Sizzle… sizzle…
The paper catches fire and turns to ashes.
AH!
Ritsu freezes. All his hopes and dreams fly away with those ashes.
"Hmm… so you have a fire affinity, just like your mother." Akinao turns to Ishiko and nods.
'Well, it is still something to look forward to!'
Ritsu was looking forward to wind and lightning to become a speed-type shinobi.
'Now, at least I will be able to light a fire in the wild.' He consoles himself.
'Well, I am not sure that there are even lighters in this present age. Since it's a mix of the Edo era Japan and the modern period from Earth.'
"Father, what affinity do you have?"
He asks his father in anticipation.
"I have the dual affinity of earth and water release." Akinao raises his head with a smug expression.
"Then what about you, mother?" Ritsu ignores him and turns to his mother.
"I have a strong fire release affinity." Ishiko nods and lights up a small fire in between her fingers without any hand signs.
"Wow, that's so cool!" Ritsu claps at the sight to cheer her.
'Even though I have to behave like a normal four-year-old to not blow my cover and appear suspicious. I can be a prodigy and all, but acting way above my age will attract too much attention, disrupting my peaceful life.'
He recalls the fate of Itachi, Shisui, Kakashi, and a few other shinobis.
'Still, Mother's chakra control is so good. She didn't even make a single-hand sign.'
Ahem…
Akinao clears his throat to draw their attention.
"Wow, father you are also cool!" Ritsu claps again while Akinao smugly raises his head.
'As a witness of Asian parenting from all my neighbors, I have long mastered the art of pleasing Asian parents.' Ritsu gives himself a silent pat.
"You turned four recently. So, there is still some time before you enroll in the academy. Until then, you will train in our Senju clan's Taijutsu, Kenjutsu, Bukijutsu, Genjutsu, and Ninjutsu. Is that clear?" Akinao's expression turns serious.
"Yes, father!" Ritsu straightens his back.
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A/N:- Made some changes and split the chapter in two to make it less boring with lots of information dump.