Just as I was about to dive deeper into my thoughts, a loud *BANG*echoed from outside.
My body reacted before my brain did. Heart pounding, I pushed open the door, stepping into the dimly lit hallway. My hands clenched at my sides, muscles tensed.
I barely had time to process the noise before the whispers and excited gasps of the other children reached my ears.
"Ninjas!"
I followed the murmuring crowd to the entrance hall. The dim lantern light flickered against the walls, casting long shadows as three figures whose vests bore the insignia of the Hidden Leaf, their headbands glinting under the lantern light stood before them.
They looked like normal people. Tired, even.
A closer look revealed small details—the subtle shift of their stances, the way their eyes moved, scanning their surroundings constantly. Even at rest, they were prepared for anything.
Kazeo's pulse quickened.
Real shinobi.
Not actors, not illustrations on a page—real, living, breathing ninja.
My three roommates were among the gathered kids, their faces alight with awe.
I approached cautiously, my eyes scanning the scene. Our caretaker, Miss Kaori, stood to the side, a warm smile on her lips as she watched the children.
"Um… Good evening, Miss Kaori," I murmured.
She turned to me, concern flickering in her eyes. "Oh, Kazeo! Are you feeling better now? Do you need me to call the doctor again?"
I shook my head. "No, Miss Kaori, I feel much better now. But… who are they?"
Kaori glanced at the ninjas before turning back to me. "They used to live here, just like you all. They're your seniors, and they've come to show you some jutsus. Would you like to see?"
I blinked, my mind processing the information. "Oh… How did they become ninjas, Miss?"
She chuckled. "They trained hard and joined the academy. If you want to be like them, you'll have to strengthen your body and get admitted too."
I nodded, absorbing her words. But inwardly, I sighed. 'Damn it. She keeps adding extra sentences to every question I ask. She must really want us to become shinobi.'
'It's also hard to act like kid and ask questions I already know'
Still, I turned my attention back to the scene. The ninjas were preparing to demonstrate their jutsus, and I wasn't about to miss this..
Jutsus.
Kazeo swallowed, his hands clenching involuntarily.
This was it. His first real glimpse into the power system of this world.
The demonstration was simple—basic fire release, a few clones, a simple genjutsu. But to Kazeo, it was like witnessing gods bend reality with their fingertips. The warmth of the flames, the flicker of movement as the clones formed, the subtle shift in the air when the genjutsu activated…
It was all real.
'One day… will I be like that?'
He barely noticed himself moving closer. His focus locked onto the nearest ninja, his sharp eyes catching a small slip of paper stuck to the back of the man's vest. Almost instinctively, he reached out—
And the moment his fingers brushed the paper, the ninja tensed.
The man whirled around, eyes narrowing. "What the—"
Kazeo froze.
The shinobi stared at him, then at the paper in his hands. His brows furrowed, his expression unreadable.
"…When did you get behind me?"
His voice wasn't angry. Just… surprised.
Kazeo blinked, struggling for an answer.
"I— I just walked up to you. There was something on your back."
The man took the paper slowly, his gaze still locked onto Kazeo.
The man exchanged a glance with his teammate before stepping away, murmuring something under his breath.
Kazeo barely heard.
His mind was reeling. 'I snuck up on a ninja. A trained shinobi. And he didn't even notice until I touched him.'
He staggered back toward the crowd of orphans, his breathing shallow.
'What did I just do?'
----------
(First Ninja's POV)
"That kid…" I muttered, approaching my chunin comrade. "The one with the black hair. His chakra isn't even unlocked, but I swear he snuck up behind me without me noticing."
The other ninja's eyes sharpened. "Oh? You lost track of a child?"
"Shut up. I was just careless."
"Uh-huh. Let me test something."
He walked over, trying the same thing. But this time, the boy was caught before he could get behind him.
I sighed in relief. 'So it was my carelessness. Still… I need to sharpen my senses. If a kid can slip behind me, any half-decent genin could kill me in my sleep.'.
'I also have to increase my rank from genin by doing more missions and increase my pay grade, Sigh ... Life is very hard . I was happy when I was little just like them. '
The unease in my gut didn't fade.
I knew what I felt.
And I knew someone who would want to hear about this.
---------
(Kazeo's POV)
I lay on my bed, staring at the ceiling, my heartbeat slow and steady.
My mind raced.
Was it luck? No… I was too deliberate.
Was it skill? No… I barely knew what I was doing.
Then—'Why didn't he sense me?'
My stomach twisted.
It wasn't normal.
A cold chill ran down my spine.
'It can only mean I have a power.
Not a flashy bloodline. Not a god-tier cheat. But something.
I could move behind people without them noticing. '
Not everyone, though. Only those slightly stronger or weaker than me. One rank above, at most. If I had to guess, it was a passive ability—one that let me avoid detection just enough to slip past low-ranked shinobi.
His lips parted. His chest rose and fell in shallow breaths.
'This… this could be my golden finger.'
The weight of it settled on his chest, pressing down like a boulder.
But then, the realization hit.
'This can be a ROOT territory.'
The children in this orphanage—future shinobi. Some of them, potential recruits for them.
Root didn't allow anomalies. Root erased risks.
His hands trembled as he clenched his blanket.
'They're going to find out.'
His breath quickened, his vision blurred at the edges. 'No, no, no. I messed up. I—'
He curled into himself, trying to suppress the panic clawing at his throat.
He knew what this world was. He knew the horrors lurking beneath the surface.
Kazeo wasn't stupid. He didn't have the plot armor of a main character. If someone like Danzo got wind of this and decided he was a threat—
I'm dead.
His breath hitched.
He forced himself to focus. 'Think. Think! '
There was only one way to survive.
He had to make them forget about him.
What he didn't know was that outside, those three ninjas were reporting to a figure cloaked in darkness.
---------
"So? Did you find anyone worth recruiting?"
The cloaked man didn't moved, yet the weight of his gaze bore down on them like an unspoken command.
The first shinobi hesitated. A lump formed in his throat as he chose his next words carefully.
And then—
His lips parted, and his voice came out softer than he intended.
"… I think ...There was one boy"
And just like that, Kazeo's fate was set in motion without his knowledge.
(To be Continued....)