Reincarnation into the dark world of Naruto

The steady creaking of the cart, the singing of birds. An idyll, isn't it? But against the backdrop of the dreadful headache that had hit me, all of it felt like a sharp knife stuck in my head. How awful I feel, if only anyone knew. Before I could fully grasp the reality and realize that I had a body again, I was overwhelmed by a flood of someone else's memories. Memories, by the way, did not try to neatly settle in my head, quite the opposite, they quickly flowed into nowhere. All I managed to retain was the language, my name, and vague images of relatives. So, now my name is Akira. There is no last name, it doesn't apply to peasants. Blackfeet should know their place and all that. Damn, where did he stuff me? I had the feeling that the bastard in the darkness was laughing his head off. Seriously! I would've preferred to be sent to Hueco Mundo, honestly. Judging by the memories I managed to keep, I'm on one of the carts of a peasant caravan heading to the Land of Fire. And not because life's been good.

So, what do we have? A dozen families of serfs, fleeing from the Land of Waves. Several failed harvests in a row, as a result, famine. Epidemics. Medicine is unavailable to peasants here. Being sick, as they say, is not recommended. Less than a third of the population of the village where the previous owner of my body lived survived! The names, by the way, sound suspiciously familiar. I've definitely come across this in some anime. But where exactly? Never mind, that's just a side note, time to look around. I propped myself up on my elbow and cautiously lifted my head.

Twelve carts, surrounded by weary men and women in dusty, un-dyed clothes, slowly crawled along the road. For every two carts, there was one ox; the speed of movement was of the "barely crawling" kind. Though, expecting more from the exhausted animals would've been a stretch, unless you were an eternal optimist. A gray-haired man was walking beside the cart where my body was resting. From the fragments of memories left, it was clear this was the father of the child I had inhabited. How amusing. I'm sincerely starting to view a complete stranger as my father. It seems that, besides the memories, I inherited something else from the previous body's owner. Alright, so the father is here. But where's the mother? I wasn't brought by a stork, for heaven's sake. Hmm. It seems I don't have a mother. Or rather, not anymore. I have only a few vague images in my memory, ones that involuntarily bring tears to my eyes. I sniffled. Damn, I'm falling apart.

My stomach grumbled in protest, I was terribly hungry. Well, not really. This body had wanted food a few days ago. But now I was desperately craving to eat! As soon as I closed my eyes, a juicy pork chop from the neck appeared in my mind. Damn! My stomach rumbled, and my mouth filled with saliva. But no, forget the chop. The problem was, there was almost no food. The last meal was... hmm... yesterday evening. A bowl of rice, slightly seasoned with dry vegetables. And of course, no oil. Drink? Slightly colored water with a faint tea smell. And again, my stomach grumbled. Alright, I need to stop thinking about food, or I'll definitely end up with a stomach ulcer at this young age.

In fact, the food we had was taken before the escape from the village by the local feudal lord's requisition. The bastard came to claim his share. As usual, in the battle between reason and justice, force won—the thirty armed and well-trained guards with naginatas were the trump card that angry peasants couldn't counter. After taking everything they could and couldn't, the samurai, the local lord of fate, left for his estate, taking some of the peasant women for the soldiers' enjoyment. After that, some of the villagers decided to try their luck in another country. Honestly, I had strong doubts anything good would come of it—sheep are sheared everywhere. Perhaps the feed will be slightly more plentiful. I felt like shouting, "Hey, I don't know who you are, but if you can hear me—get me out of here! This isn't what I signed up for!" In the rustling of the surrounding forest, I distinctly heard a chuckle. Something about this story doesn't sit right with me.

Fear. Paralyzing, sudden, coming from who knows where. With a terrible creak, right in front of the leading cart, a tree fell across the road. Then, with screams and curses, armed men began jumping out of the bushes. For a moment, I froze, paralyzed by fear—a wet snap as one of the attackers cleaved the head of the lead ox driver from shoulder to waist. Another strike, and already bloodied naginata slashed the throat of another fugitive. Feudal soldiers! Of course, the attackers wore cloaks with the same crest as the samurai. A sharp pain slapped my back.

"Under the cart, you fool!" a familiar voice yelled into my head angrily. Right, they told me—once it starts, hide under the cart. Without standing up, I crawled to the edge. The key was not to attract attention, then maybe I could survive. Climbing over the low cart rim, I dropped into the dust, and with a sharp pain in my bruised side, I crawled. One good thing, the wheels didn't have spokes, so I could probably hide behind the wooden rim wrapped with metal. I crawled under the cart, leaning my back against the wheel, pulling my knees to my chest. Outside, there were cries and the crackling sounds of naginata blades clashing with peasant clubs. No chance for the peasants—clubs and pitchforks against spears and swords, they didn't stand a chance.

"So, the promised help," a voice in my head smirked, and then all outside sounds vanished into a ringing silence. "Now, close your eyes. Like this, perfect. Now, listen and remember. The solar plexus is the center of the 'yin' chakra. See that lump of blue light in your chest? You don't? Well, now you will!" A sharp pain split my chest open. "See it now? Good!"

Head. In it is the center of the 'Yang' chakra.

The head is pierced by the familiar pain, and I see a cluster of red light.

 The center of life. The liver. You won't need help here, yours is already well-developed. - Hmm, indeed, the pulsating green light cluster looks much denser than the blue and red ones.

And finally, the center of death. Near the kidneys, on the left side. Can you see it? No? Alright, let me help. - A blinding pain swells in my left side. A small black sphere, it looks almost monolithic. - Now, remember this above all: Never try to draw power from the center of death. It's possible, of course, but I personally wouldn't recommend it. Concentrated death chakra decays energy channels.

 Excuse me, but I'm about to be killed right now. - I draw my 'teacher's' attention to this unfortunate fact.

 That'll be a little later, the 'teacher' says with a grin, - right now, it's a bit difficult to do, because I've conducted a local time collapse. You're currently outside the world's boundaries, and everything happening now is invisible to others. At least for now. I can still make what has happened undone. Let's continue. So, here are the four centers of power a human can operate with in this world. Basically, this is what shinobi do, just like everyone else, in one way or another.

Well, of course, shinobi. The 'Naruto' world! Damn, where the hell have I ended up? Surviving here is a problem, let alone living a long and happy life. I'm not a damn special forces operative or a karateka!

And I've never been interested in fencing, if you don't count my happy childhood back on Earth, when after watching The Three Musketeers, I, like all the other boys in the yard, spent a few months waving sticks, pretending to duel with swords. Damn! What am I supposed to do?

My panic-filled self-reflection was interrupted by loud, grunting, and braying sounds.

 No, you're really funny. I think I'll get true pleasure watching your struggles. But let's get back to the subject. There's just one last surprise. Now, I'm going to teach you how to activate your eyes.

Sharingan? - I ask eagerly.

Two Sharingan, both Mangekyo! - judging by the hysterical sobs, he can't laugh anymore. - You'll make do with Byakugan. However, if you've been paying attention to your cartoons, you should know that lower-level dojutsu can awaken Rinnegan. And that's a whole different level of abilities. So, go ahead.

 Actually, activating Byakugan is quite simple. Just draw chakra from the source and channel it into your eyes. Look, see?

Well, I watch carefully as a thin stream detaches from the red chakra mass and crawls toward my eyes. There's contact. It feels like a hot nail is being driven into my eye. And as the chakra moves, it feels like something is happening. It's like a warm wave, no other way to describe it. Meanwhile, the lecture continued.

Don't frown. He's going to make faces. You know, one of the strongest kekkei genkai is being activated, and you're here pulling faces. Pay attention. The 'Yang' chakra, when applied to Byakugan, lets you accelerate the perception of events. Subjectively, it feels like time slows down. Keep in mind, time doesn't actually slow down; you just start processing visual information faster and more accurately, noticing more details. Your brain works at a frantic pace, and it tires out. However, you'll get used to it over time, as with anything, practice is key. Externally, this mode manifests as faded irises and bulging veins on the temples.

To activate the second mode of Byakugan, you need to channel 'Yin' chakra into your eyes. The principle is the same as the first case, watch.

I watch. Indeed, a thin stream of blue chakra begins to crawl up from the blue mass toward my eyes. The sensations are different. While the red chakra gave a warm effect, here I feel a slight chill. Brrr. It reaches my eyes. Ah! It feels like a cold, burning icicle is being driven into my eye.

That's it. The 'Yin' chakra is applied. Here you gain an increased field of vision. Three hundred and fifty degrees, that's no joke. But keep in mind, there's a ten-degree blind spot behind you, centered along your spine. I strongly recommend you periodically turn your head to survive more easily. Externally, this is accompanied by faded irises and veins bulging under the eyes.

The third type of chakra you can apply to your eyes is the chakra of life. See the green stream from the center of life? That's it. It's reached. - Damn, it really reached. It feels like acid was splashed into my eyes. It stings, damn it. - Well, well, don't pretend, it's not that painful. Now, by applying life chakra to your eyes, you can observe the energy flows. The effect depends directly on how much chakra you channel. By applying the minimum amount, you'll be able to see chakra channels, both in the human body and in seals. Increase the flow, and you can look 'inside' living organisms, thus gaining an analysis tool that any local healer would cut off their legs for. Want to examine blood vessels? No problem. Want to see a heart live? Nothing simpler. Feel the power of your eyes? By the way, in this case, veins bulge above the nose, the iris becomes colorless, and the whites of the eyes take on a pale green hue.

Finally, the most interesting. By channeling all three types of chakra into your eyes simultaneously, you put your brain into a direct perception mode. In this case, you can't be hypnotized, you'll ignore illusions and other forms of genjutsu. This is called the true Byakugan. Externally, veins bulge like in all three types of chakra application, and in addition, instead of eyes, a light gray mist is visible.

 Also, it's worth mentioning that, no matter which chakra you channel into your eyes, you'll get the following. First, you'll start seeing tenketsu, which are the knot points of chakra channels. Second, you'll be able to visually observe chakra sources, even at a fairly large distance. That's it. After that, you're on your own, I've already done more for you than I planned.

 And what happens if you channel death chakra into your eyes? Please answer! Hey... - I shouted, but there was no reply. Instead, suddenly, the sounds of battle rang out, and I was overwhelmed with completely new sensations.

Well, yeah, almost a full-circle view throws me into quite a stupor, and my brain, not accustomed to this flow of information, is in cognitive dissonance. Even the sounds seem strangely stretched. Byakugan is certainly a good thing, but it takes getting used to. Damn, even ordinary glasses change how the world is perceived by someone with poor vision, and here it's like this. I try to reduce the flow of red chakra heading toward my eyes. I almost lose track of it, but gradually I understand the principle. Success.

Now the sounds are almost normal, and the pain in my eyes has decreased. I decide to keep the other flows as long as I can; after all, training doesn't hurt, since I can't influence the situation. The idea of crawling into the forest was abandoned as too willful; the enemies were surrounding me. Demons.

What's surprising is that I had no panic. I felt extremely detached from emotions; it seemed that the activated Byakugan, in addition to everything else, acted like a strong tranquilizer. Out there, someone had been killed, a man I started to think of as my father after being reborn in the body of Akira, but the only thing that stirred inside me was something deep in my soul. And this is from a very emotional child who almost cried just from remembering his mother. Yeah, there's something to think about here. I shook my head, pushing away the unwelcome thoughts; I'd reflect later. Judging by the sounds, the slaughter had reached its logical conclusion, the fleeing peasants had been slaughtered to cheerful shouts from the soldiers. No prisoners were taken; it seemed the samurai wanted to conduct an intimidation campaign for the remaining subjects. Strange fellow, doesn't he understand that fewer workers mean less profit for him?

Heavy footsteps were heard. A pale-red spot, strangely visible even through the cart, slowly approached. Stopping just five steps from the cart, the owner of the red aura stood still. Strangely, I could see only him this easily, even though there were plenty of people around, soldiers sent to carry out the punitive campaign. He stands, waiting. After a few moments, I hear his harsh, barking voice: "There, under the cart. What, did the black-legged ones hire you as guards, and you decided to hide? Won't work, friend. Hey, warriors. Surround him!"

What happened, my lord? - one of the soldiers said respectfully.

 Under the cart is something that looks like a shinobi. I can feel his chakra, and I don't sense his fear. Get ready, it might get hot. - He speaks like a dog barks. Ugh, and they promised to fix the probability field for me, didn't they? Looks like that didn't happen. Alright, two deaths won't happen, sighing heavily, I crawl out into the light. Well, now they're really going to deal with me, around the cart, a dozen warriors with naginatas ready, and the samurai himself with a slightly curved sword. I wonder, is it a katana? Funny. They're about to cut me, and I'm oddly indifferent. No fear, not in a single Byakugan. A strong hand grabs the collar of my shirt, lifting me into the air, bringing me closer to the grimacing samurai. How interesting, I wonder what his name is. There's nothing in my memory about this, strangely enough. Akira should have known the name of the village owner, his master.

Well, well. A little shinobi, just look at you. So, are you going to kill us all, huh? Burn us with fire? Or maybe just tear us apart, right? Why are you silent, little one? I wonder how you ended up among the peasants, dressed like that to avoid drawing attention? Boy, if I were you, I'd try to answer my questions, h-he, it's in your best interest. And what should I answer him? The truth? Ha! He definitely won't accept that, he'll think it's a twisted mockery. The silence stretches on, the quiet is physically pressing on my ears. And so we stand, or rather, he stands, and I hang. Eyes to eyes. The silence was first broken by the samurai.

Well then, shinobi-chan. I see you don't want to answer the nice way. Looks like we'll have to do it the bad way. Hey, someone, bring me a torch. Tell me, shinobi-chan, are you curious why I need the torch? I see, you're not very interested. But I'm merciful today, and I'll answer that question. You see, I never underestimate my enemies, I don't have that habit. So, I'll first cut off your hands, then your legs. And the torch, h-he, I need it to cauterize the stumps. Our acquaintance won't end today, little killer, oh no. And don't hope for a painless death, you know, in Kiri, someone like you will be paid silver by the weight. Bring it closer, Torawa, pull his right hand to the side! And get the torch ready.

It's as if I'm in a trance, watching as the samurai's gleaming blade swings down with a whistle...