There are some possibilities for what might have happened. Despite being strange, I needed to try to understand what was going on.
Well, possibility one: I had been kidnapped by Japanese psychopaths who made a sadistic experiment to place my consciousness into another body.
I didn't know any technology that could make this possible, and honestly, I couldn't figure out why anyone would do that. And the whole Konoha thing was just too specific, but I wasn't going to dismiss this possibility.
Possibility two: I was in a coma or having some bizarre drug-induced dream.
Drugs seemed unlikely—I'd had some pretty wild drug-induced trips before and knew there weren't any substances that could make me imagine or feel what I was feeling right now. The coma seemed more plausible, but I didn't understand why my dream during a coma would be something like this.
Possibility three: Transmigration.
Actually, this doesn't seem impossible. But it was strange that I couldn't figure out why that would happen to me. Besides, don't people usually have to die for something like this to happen? I couldn't remember what had happened yesterday, but I thought I'd remember if I had died.
I noticed there was a window on the other side of the room and I quickly walked toward it. Unfortunately, I felt a sharp pain with every movement, but I didn't give up and walked to the window.
When I reached the window, I opened the curtains and saw a view that made me involuntarily laugh out loud.
"No way… It's Konoha… It's really Konoha."
I murmured, shaking my head refusing to believe the sight before my eyes. I had been obsessed with Naruto when I was younger and could recognize this place in a heartbeat.
I was really in Konoha… Apparently, I had transmigrated to one of the best and worst places in the world. Well, at least I wasn't in Paradis—becoming Titan food would be worse than dealing with Danzo.
I spent a few moments staring at the Hokage Rock view from the hospital room and only turned around when I realized the door was opening again.
"Kenshin-san! What are you doing standing up? You should be resting."
The man who spoke accompanied the woman who had introduced herself as Kaori earlier. He seemed like one of those forgettable people. He wore a doctor's coat and had brown hair and brown eyes.
"Err… Sorry, I just wanted to get up," I said with an embarrassed smile.
Well, if I was really in Konoha, the best thing was to go with the flow and try to figure things out slowly. After all, despite Naruto not delving deeply into it, I knew there was a torture department, and that was definitely not a place I planned to visit.
"Kenshin-kun, you need to rest! What happened to you was serious." Kaori said, helping me go back to bed.
Kenshin, that was definitely my name. Judging by my reflection, I was likely a child. Kaori mentioned that she took care of the orphanage, so I was probably an orphan. That wasn't so bad—I wouldn't know what to do if I had to deal with new parents. Beyond that, I didn't know anything about this new life.
"Err... Kaori-san? What happened? I don't remember anything." I said hesitantly.
It was better to blame this accident for my memory loss. Apparently, it had been serious enough to get me into hospital, so I hoped it wouldn't seem too odd.
"I can explain that. I'm Hanabusa Koichi, the doctor who treated you." the brown-haired doctor said. "Kenshin-san, you were struck by lightning and fell from a height of about three meters. You experienced several episodes of tachycardia and a concussion, so it's not unusual for your memory to be a bit foggy. What's the last thing you remember?"
I blinked slowly, thinking about how to answer his question. I definitely couldn't say that the last thing I remembered was being a middle-aged Latino man—that would likely earn me a one-way ticket straight to Konoha's interrogation and torture department. I liked my nails too much and I don't want to do a Kaneki cosplay here.
"To be honest… I don't remember anything," I admitted, taking a deep breath. "I only know my name because Kaori-san called me that. I just remember waking up in the hospital."
The doctor's eyes widened slightly, and he exchanged a glance with Miss Kaori before looking back at me.
"It's not uncommon to have mild amnesia in these concussion cases. Stimulating memories with familiar places might help Kenshin-san to recover." the doctor explained slowly. "Now, let me check your recovery."
The green glow that appeared in the man's palm took me by surprise. It didn't just surprise me—it completely stunned me. Was that a medical ninjutsu? So, I really was in the Naruto world.
I mean, the giant mountain I'd seen through the window with the Hokages' faces had led me to deduce that, but this confirmed it.
"Hmm… Your recovery is going well. You should be able to leave the hospital in a few days." Koichi said, placing his hand on me. "Unfortunately, scars like this are common after being struck by lightning, but it's healing well. It's better to leave it unbandaged from now on."
When he removed the bandages, I noticed a large scar running up my neck to just below my jawline. It was slightly reddish and branched out like an abstract drawing of a lightning bolt.
After those words, Dr. Koichi spoke a bit more with Kaori before leaving the room.
Once he left, Miss Kaori told me a little about my life, following the doctor's advice to stimulate my memories. From her, I learned a few things:
This body's name—and my new identity—was Hoshino Kenshin, and I was five years old. My father had been a chuunin who died on a mission, and my mother had passed away in the Kyuubi attack a year ago. Unfortunately, I had no living relatives, so I ended up in Konoha's orphanage, where I'd lived until now.
Miss Kaori was the orphanage matron, and apparently, there wasn't much else interesting about my life. After all, I was just a child. The only thing she knew was that I liked to draw.
That was good—pretending to be someone I didn't know would've been difficult. The excuse of amnesia would let me live without worrying too much about people noticing changes in my personality.
After Miss Kaori said goodbye, promising to visit me tomorrow, I took a deep breath. Well, I had come to a world that had previously been just fiction to me. But I was prepared not only to survive but to thrive in this war-torn world.
But first:
"Status window!" I said confidently.
Just wait, Shinobi World. I was going to change everything!