Chapter 1: The Purest Malice From This World!
Dark clouds loomed over the city, heralding an ominous event.
The air was heavy with moisture, so thick that it seemed to stifle the breath of those present.
"Ugh..." A boy lay sprawled on the ground, groaning as he rubbed his aching head. Slowly, he opened his hazy eyes and lifted his head with great effort.
As his consciousness gradually returned, three questions surfaced in his mind:
Who am I?
Where am I?
What am I doing?
Fragments of memories surged into his mind like a relentless tide, bombarding his brain.
Desperate to alleviate the sharp pain in his head, the boy slammed his small forehead against the ground, using the physical pain to dull the mental torment.
His pale lips, stained with fresh blood from being bitten, created a stark and striking image.
Gradually, two distinct sets of memories began to merge within his mind: one belonging to a complex, twenty-something adult, and the other that of a simple child no older than ten.
The collision of these memories left him unable to determine which identity was truly his.
"My name... is it Toneri? Or... Tonin?"
After what seemed like an eternity, the boy clutched his head with his scrawny hands. His raspy voice escaped from his lips, tinged with confusion.
The pain in his head began to subside, and the memories started to align. However, this only made the physical pain throughout his body more apparent. It came in waves, particularly sharp in his abdomen, causing cold sweat to bead on his brow.
Suppressing the overwhelming pain, he forced open his tightly shut eyes to examine the source of the agony: his stomach.
He lifted the coarse, tattered shirt covering his torso and froze.
"What... is this?"
His frail, malnourished belly was so thin that his ribs jutted out prominently on both sides—a pitiful sight for a child his age. But what truly shocked him was the strange mark etched into the center of his stomach.
The symbol consisted of unfamiliar patterns surrounding a single recognizable word:
"Seal."
Around this word were tiny, tadpole-like characters forming a perfect circle.
"A seal?" he muttered, unsure of his conclusion. It was the only term his fragmented memories offered.
Abruptly, he raised his head to examine his surroundings. The swift movement sent another jolt of pain through his skull, making him feel as if something were trying to burrow out from beneath his skin.
His vision blurred momentarily, turning dark, before he managed to stabilize himself and refocus.
He took in the details of his surroundings: a dilapidated and barren hut. The sole "furniture" was a makeshift bed crafted from dry grass and rags.
In such a war-torn era, having even this meager shelter was considered fortunate.
The rest of the room was empty—except for one detail that immediately caught his attention.
Near the door lay an old man in a pool of blood, his body motionless and his fate uncertain.
Though the man was only a few paces away, he had been outside Toneri's line of sight when he first awoke.
The old man's bloodied hand stretched toward Toneri, his lifeless eyes fixed in the boy's direction. The sight was chilling.
However, Toneri's attention was drawn to something else—the headband on the man's forehead.
A ninja headband!
"Ninja..." The word slipped from his lips instinctively, as if it had been deeply engraved into one of his memory fragments.
The symbol etched into the headband resembled a cloud.
"Cloud ninja!" Toneri exclaimed, this time drawing on memories from his past life.
This emblem represented the ninja of Kumogakure—the Village Hidden in the Clouds.
He realized he was in the world of Naruto.
An unsettling mix of familiarity and confusion clouded his thoughts.
More fragmented memories surfaced, taking him back half an hour earlier.
Toneri had been lying on the shabby "bed," trying to ignore the pangs of hunger when the sound of a child crying pierced the silence.
It came from the neighboring house—a familiar cry belonging to a two-year-old girl. Her parents' attempts to soothe her barely masked the despair in their voices.
In a world ravaged by war, the birth of a child was both a miracle and a misfortune.
Soon, the crying subsided, leaving Toneri alone with his thoughts.
Just as he prepared to force himself to sleep despite his hunger, the rickety door to his hut was violently kicked open.
An old man, drenched in blood, stumbled into the room. His presence exuded an overwhelming pressure, making it difficult for Toneri to breathe.
The man's piercing gaze bore into him as if appraising an object—a vessel.
The old man clutched his chest, where blood gushed from a fatal wound. His battle-worn attire was barely visible beneath a faint, misty blue aura surrounding him.
"Damn that Ōnoki... Bloodline Expansion is monstrous. If not for Matatabi's resilience, I wouldn't have made it back here."
The man's hoarse voice trembled as he spoke, seemingly addressing both Toneri and himself.
"This place... there's no one else fit to inherit. Just children... a two-year-old or this eight-year-old boy. No choice at all."
Despite his evident pain, the man remained resolute.
With his fading strength, he grabbed Toneri and lifted him effortlessly, tearing open the boy's shirt to reveal his malnourished belly.
"Forgive me," the man muttered, his voice tinged with guilt and determination.
He pressed his bloodied hand against Toneri's abdomen, drawing intricate symbols as blue flames surged around his body.
"Matatabi! Do you want to die with me? Or would you rather endure three years of silence until rebirth? Help me one last time!"
The flames receded, and with a roar of defiance, the man forcibly extracted a glowing blue creature from his own body—a beast resembling a feline engulfed in fire.
Before Toneri could react, the creature was thrust into his stomach.
"Seal!"
With that single command, the old man collapsed, lifeless.
Toneri's body convulsed as searing pain overtook him. The world faded into darkness.
---
Half an hour later, he woke up—no longer the same.
He now bore the seal of Matatabi, the Two-Tails.
He was a Jinchūriki in the tumultuous world of Naruto.
But as fragmented memories coalesced, one name resurfaced: Danzo Shimura.
The mark on his tongue was the Curse Seal of Root Silence.
Two-Tails and Root? Toneri realized this world's malice ran deeper than he had ever imagined.
(End of Chapter 1)