With a burst of chakra-infused strength, the shinobi launched us away from the burning wreckage, bounding along the side of the street. My vision blurred from the sudden motion, and I was unable to track the speeds at which we were moving; I felt countless warnings appear about my vision check failing. It felt like traveling in an action movie sequence—except it was real, and my stomach flipped with every leap. Flames surged on either side as we teleported from one moment in space to another, but the shinobi wove an agile path through the debris.
Then came a jarring impact. One of the Nine Tails' tails slammed into a row of houses just two blocks away, obliterating them in a shower of flaming splinters. The resulting shockwave hurled us off course. The shinobi lost their footing, twisting midair so that they landed on their back, shielding me from the brunt of the fall.
We rolled across the ground, battered by swirling dust and wood fragments. The shinobi hissed in pain but held tight to me. I lay there, dazed, as the shinobi forced themselves upright, spitting dust. "Kid," they rasped, gently shaking my shoulder. "You okay?"
My entire body felt battered. For a moment, I couldn't form words. I managed a nod, though tears burned at the corners of my eyes. I was barely holding on. The good news was that the impact did send us further away from the action. The bad news was that the size of the nine tails meant that this distance could be closed down in an instant. We were in a small clearing between two flaming structures. The shinobi glanced around, scanning for a route out. Their chest heaved with exertion, and I noticed for the first time that blood trickled down their left arm, staining the flak jacket. They must have been injured earlier—or from that crash landing.
As they steadied me on my feet, my interface pinged:
[DING!]
[Skill Unlocked: Basic Endurance (Lv 1)]
[Surviving extreme conditions has awakened your innate resilience. Increased resistance to physical damage.]
A shaky laugh bubbled up in my chest, half-crazed from the stress. Of all the times to unlock a skill… I wouldn't complain, though.
"Listen," the shinobi said, swallowing hard. "We can't go back that way. The fox is—" He broke off as another monstrous roar cut through the air. "—it's right there. Too dangerous. We need to circle around." Without waiting for me to answer, he took my hand and hauled me back into his arms, my weight seemingly not even a thought as he began sprinting along a side path, weaving around the fiery husks of houses.
My mind flashed with glimpses of half-familiar Naruto lore: the Nine Tails would eventually be sealed by the Fourth Hokage, but how many people would die first? I couldn't do anything to help. Realistically, I was a near-powerless child at Level 1. I could only cling to the shinobi's hand and pray we'd reach some pocket of safety.
He raced down a street littered with debris. A fire raged on all sides, the heat making it feel like running through an oven. Embers stuck to my sweat-drenched face, leaving tiny burns that chipped away at me. Finally, after what felt like hours but might have been minutes, we reached a spot where the flames had partially died down. The skeleton of a two-story building loomed, half-collapsed but not actively burning. The shinobi guided us around a fallen wooden beam until we stood near the charred remnants of a front porch.
I recognized the building with a jolt of disbelief—it was the same house I'd woken in, or at least a row house that connected to it. Everything was charred and barely standing.
"Stay here for a moment," the shinobi said, breath ragged. They gently eased me against a section of a broken wall, scanning the horizon with narrowed eyes. Another tail crash reverberated in the distance, though it sounded a little farther away now. "I need to check if there's anyone else inside. Then I'll get you out of here, okay?"
Fear gripped me at the thought of being left alone, but I could see the conviction in the shinobi's eyes. They had a duty to save as many people as possible. My lips parted, but a swirl of dust and smoke made me cough violently. I could only manage a nod. They gave me a reassuring pat on the shoulder, then dashed into a side entrance, calling out for survivors.
I sank down, trembling. The interface's top-right corner displayed a small icon: [Debuff: Smoke Inhalation Lv 1]. If I didn't find fresh air soon, I'd pass out or worse. My eyes flicked to my new Quest:
[QUEST: Survive the Night of the Nine Tails]
[Objective: Escape the immediate area and reach safety (0/1)]
A wave of hopelessness washed over me. If the shinobi left me here for more than a few minutes, the structure might collapse entirely. My arms shook, my body on the brink of collapse. 'I'm not going to die here,' I told myself desperately. My adult mind, transplanted into this child's body, still refused to yield to the creeping dread.
'Maybe I can do something about this smoke.' With trembling fingers, I tore off a strip from my soot-stained sleeve and pressed it over my nose and mouth, hoping to filter out the worst of it.
Even if it was minimal help, I did help, though the debuff didn't go away, and breathing didn't seem as painful as before. Next, I pressed my hand to my chest, trying to slow my breathing. As I tried to calm down, I noticed a faint swirl of energy flickering around my body. Chakra—it had to be. Could I use it?
I whispered, "Status… Skills… Chakra Control?" But I had no immediate skill to show for it. My tillCPs read 10/10, untouched, but I lacked any jutsu to channel it effectively. Another wave of frustration tore at me. "Focus on surviving," I scolded myself.
Suddenly, the house's remaining upper floor groaned. Sparks flew as more of the rafters caved in. The entire structure was seconds away from collapsing on me. "No, no, no," I breathed, adrenaline surging. I scrambled backward, ignoring the protest in my burnt legs. If the shinobi didn't come back now…
At that moment, the door exploded outward, sending embers and splinters into the street. The shinobi stumbled through, hauling two coughing civilians—a man and a woman—out by their arms. The woman's kimono was half-burned, and the man had a nasty gash across his forehead. Before I could blink, the shinobi ushered them a safe distance away.
Then, the shinobi's gaze snapped to me. "Kid—still here? Good. Let's go!" They picked me up again, mindful of my injuries. My heart pounded with relief.
We barely cleared the porch when the entire structure crashed in a maelstrom of sparks. A cloud of choking smoke billowed, forcing everyone to stumble back. The man and woman coughed so violently I thought they'd collapse. The shinobi set me down gently, kneeling to check my eyes. "You're in rough shape but alive. Let me see your burns… Wait—"
A violent shudder rocked the ground, cutting them off. Another of the Nine Tails' tails must have slammed into something nearby. A tidal wave of dust swept the street, and the shinobi gritted their teeth. "We can't stay. You all—" They gestured to the newly rescued civilians, then to me. "Head west. That's where the medics are setting up. I must find more survivors in this block before it's too late."
The man looked at the crumbling houses with hollow eyes. "But… the fox…?"
The shinobi shook their head. "Just go. The main roads are blocked, but if you cut through the courtyard two houses down, you'll reach a safer zone. Our forces are holding the beast off. Hurry!"
I gazed up at the shinobi, heart pounding. A child's body, an adult's mind. Part of me wanted to cling to them—my only lifeline in this fiery nightmare. But their eyes reflected duty and unwavering resolve. More people needed rescuing, and they couldn't babysit me.
They turned to me specifically, a crease of worry on their soot-covered brows. "You're hurt, but you can walk, right?" I nodded, swallowing the fear that threatened to clog my throat. It hurt, but I could stand. The one disadvantage of having to run away as soon as I woke up was that my feet were bare.
They placed a hand gently atop my head. "I promise we'll push the Nine Tails out of the residential district soon. Just get to safety with them." Their gaze flicked to the man and woman. "Make sure the kid's all right."
All I could do was nod again, suppressing the tears that threatened to well up. This shinobi had saved my life—twice. I wanted to say thank you or ask their name. But the words refused to form in my smoke-scorched throat. Perhaps sensing my gratitude, he managed a faint smile, then dashed off into the swirling chaos, calling out for other survivors.
I watched him go, my tiny hands clenched at my sides. 'Please survive,' I prayed silently. The man with the head wound beckoned me weakly, and the woman grabbed my wrist. I allowed them to pull me along, turning my back on the burning street.
Stepping into the courtyard, I risked a final glance back. The structure I'd escaped—the place where I'd awakened in this world—was now fully engulfed in flames, collapsing inward. The porch that had provided me a tiny sliver of protection was gone. Huge plumes of black smoke churned skyward.
At that moment, as I was pulled away from the house and the chaos. My interface flickered, perhaps registering the emotional weight of the scene:
[You have completed a Major Event:]
[- Escaped the House of Origin]
[+50 XP]
[Title Earned: "Survivor of the Fox's Fury"]
[You have survived the first moments of the Nine Tails' rampage.]
I closed my eyes, a swirl of conflicting emotions surging through me—relief, terror, guilt for the countless people who might still be trapped. This was no mere prologue. It was a harsh, life-altering start to my new reality.
When I reopened my eyes, the house in the distance came down with a final roar, its flames shooting high into the smoke-filled sky. The man tugged my hand, urging me onward. The system's messages and the flicker of new skills were small comforts in a world of monstrous devastation. I would have to learn fast and adapt even faster if I wanted to survive.
We turned away, hurrying into the maze of burning alleys. The Nine Tails roared again, a chorus of shinobi shouts echoing behind it. And so began my first night as a transmigrator in the shinobi world—with a broken body, a flickering interface, and a single overriding command: Survive.
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AN: And so it ends the beginning. What do you guys think?