After closing the information panel, Richard activated the flight ability granted by his Superboy-Prime template and prepared to head toward Konoha Village.
That's when he realized his predicament.
He had no idea where he was currently located, let alone where to find Konoha. He couldn't even be certain if he was anywhere near the Land of Fire.
Damn it!
Cursing internally, he chose a direction at random and soared into the sky. With a casual burst of acceleration, he broke through the sound barrier, creating a massive sonic boom as he streaked through the air like lightning.
Though his current location remained a mystery, Richard wasn't particularly concerned. Regardless of which direction he flew, he would inevitably encounter inhabitants of this world—it was merely a matter of time.
As expected, less than ten minutes into his flight, he spotted several natives in the forest below.
Rather than immediately landing, he first examined them using his super vision.
No forehead protectors bearing ninja village insignias. No samurai swords either.
Neither ninjas nor samurai—just civilians.
Having confirmed these natives were ordinary people, Richard descended toward them without hesitation.
Just as he was contemplating whether to greet them in Japanese, a young man with black hair dressed in gray clothing regarded him warily and spoke first: "Who are you?"
Japanese, as expected!
Richard mentally groaned upon hearing the boy's words. Before transmigrating, he'd known only a few simple Japanese phrases. But now, he could speak not only Japanese but virtually any language that wasn't too obscure.
This ability came courtesy of the Superboy-Prime template. Although the system didn't individually display all the superpowers granted by this template—Kryptonian physiology, heat vision, freeze breath, super strength, and more—Richard possessed every power that Superboy-Prime commanded.
The only difference was that, due to his template fusion degree not being maximized, his powers weren't quite on par with Superboy-Prime's. Still, compared to other mutants and superhumans, the abilities bestowed by the Superboy-Prime template remained formidable.
Consider a simple analogy: while a multi-millionaire might not match a billionaire's wealth, compared to the average person, a multi-millionaire remains extraordinarily rich.
Ignoring both the boy's cautious tone and alert expression, Richard asked calmly in Japanese: "Which Land is this?"
The black-haired boy and his companions stared in bewilderment after hearing Richard's question. They'd assumed he was a rogue ninja or highway bandit. Instead, this stranger who had descended from the sky was asking which country they were in.
"The Land of Fire," the black-haired boy replied after a few seconds of silence.
"Then do you know which direction Konoha Village lies in?" Richard continued.
Perhaps because Richard appeared more amiable now, or simply because he seemed harmless, the black-haired boy gradually lowered his guard. Slowly raising his right hand, he pointed southward.
South?
Though the boy hadn't specified how far south Konoha Village was, this information sufficed for Richard.
Under the watchful gaze of the black-haired boy and his two companions, Richard retrieved a gold coin from his system space and tossed it to the young man.
"Consider this payment for directions."
Without waiting for a response, he accelerated southward at tremendous speed. Within seconds, he vanished completely from the sight of the three observers.
After Richard's departure, the black-haired boy opened his palm and frowned at the gold coin. Confirming it was indeed genuine gold, he muttered internally:
A flying, wealthy weirdo!
Then, pocketing the coin, he continued toward the village with his friend.
Despite having lost his telepathic abilities and being unable to read the black-haired boys' memories, Richard wasn't concerned about potential deception. Even without telepathy, he could determine whether the boy was lying.
During periods of boredom, Richard had used the super-intelligence granted by the Superboy-Prime template to learn not only various languages but numerous other skills: micro-expression psychology, rocket engine maintenance, calculus and mathematical analysis, French pastry techniques, and more.
By observing the micro-expressions of the three youths, he could ascertain that the black-haired boy had told the truth.
Now confident that Konoha Village lay southward, Richard abandoned his previous "moderate" pace. He increased his flight speed from Mach 3 to Mach 20.
Unlike the zombie universe or the Boys Universe, this was the first realm he'd entered with world-specific restrictions. Nevertheless, his personal safety remained assured. Even limited to template abilities and plunder, he remained an elite fighter in this world.
He felt confident that even against Six Paths Madara, he wouldn't lose. If he couldn't defeat Six Paths Madara with three templates at his disposal, he would consider himself pathetically weak.
After accelerating to Mach 20, Konoha Village soon appeared on the horizon. Richard immediately focused on the iconic stone monument depicting the Hokages.
First hokage, second hokage, third hokage, fourth hokage!
Seeing that the monument featured only four Hokage faces, he confirmed his assessment of the current timeline. Though the Fourth Hokage's likeness had been carved after he'd assumed leadership, seventeen years separated the Fourth's death from Kaguya Otsutsuki's appearance.
If this were the era when the Fourth Hokage still ruled, the system's mission time limit wouldn't be five years.
Soon, Richard hovered in the skies above Konoha Village. To avoid unnecessary attention, he maintained an altitude of tens of thousands of meters, using his super vision to observe the village below and seek further confirmation of his timeline hypothesis.
Without much effort, he spotted the Third Hokage in his office. Besides the elderly leader, four other individuals were present: Kakashi, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura.
Noticing that all four carried backpacks, a theory immediately formed in his mind. Without hesitation, he activated his super hearing.
Despite being at an altitude of tens of thousands of meters, the enhanced auditory perception granted by the Superboy-Prime template allowed him to clearly hear the conversation between the Third Hokage and Team 7.
As Richard had suspected, Kakashi and his team had come to the Hokage's office with backpacks because Team 7 had received a C-rank mission: escorting bridge builder Tazuna back to the Land of Waves.
Neither the Third Hokage nor Kakashi yet realized that this seemingly straightforward C-rank mission would eventually prove no less challenging than an A-rank assignment.
Unlike the Third Hokage and the others who remained ignorant of what lay ahead, Richard knew precisely what Team 7 would soon experience. However, he had no intention of intervening.
His mission in this world was to defeat Kaguya Otsutsuki, not serve as a bodyguard for Naruto and Sasuke. Although the difficulty of their mission far exceeded initial expectations, barring unforeseen complications, they would return to Konoha alive.
More importantly, this escort mission would prove tremendously significant for Naruto and Sasuke's development. After completing it, they would transform from freshly graduated rookies into genuine ninjas.
After concluding their discussion with the Third Hokage, Kakashi and his team left the office and headed toward the village gate.
Richard shifted his attention away from them and began searching for other notable individuals within the village.
Neji, Tenten, Rock Lee, Hinata, Kiba, Shino, Shikamaru, Choji, Ino.
Soon, he located the remaining nine of Konoha's "Rookie 12" scattered throughout the village. Simultaneously, he spotted the jōnin instructors leading these teams.
Might Guy, Kurenai Yuhi, Asuma Sarutobi!
While Guy and Asuma commanded brief glances, Richard's gaze lingered a bit longer on Kurenai Yuhi.
If his memory served correctly, Kurenai should be around 27 or 28 years old now, born on June 11th, standing 169cm tall and weighing 54.4kg. Her favorite foods included shochu, vodka, and wasabi octopus, while she disliked sweets. She had a particular fondness for evening drinks.
After observing Kurenai momentarily, Richard withdrew his gaze and contemplated his next steps.
With his current abilities, whether forcing his way into Konoha or infiltrating stealthily posed no challenge. However, establishing residence within the village presented complications.
Without a credible background story, appearing abruptly in Konoha would likely result in being labeled a spy from a rival village.
Beyond identity concerns, Richard faced another crucial issue—one that would immediately expose him as an outsider to this universe.
Chakra.
Being non-native to this universe, Richard possessed no chakra whatsoever. While ordinary citizens existed in this world, even they—as natural-born inhabitants—had chakra flowing through their bodies. The only distinction was that common folk lacked knowledge of how to cultivate and manipulate it.
Two theories existed regarding chakra's origins within the manga.
The first maintained that chakra represented energy naturally produced by the human body—everyone possessed it from birth. The difference was that ninjas understood how to cultivate and control chakra more effectively than civilians.
The second theory traced chakra's inception to the Divine Tree. Kaguya Otsutsuki stole the tree's fruit, acquiring chakra, which she later divided between her sons Hamura and Hagoromo Otsutsuki. Eventually, the Sage of Six Paths, Hagoromo, shared chakra with humanity at large.
Though both theories appeared within the manga, Richard favored the first explanation—that all inhabitants of this world possessed chakra innately, rather than chakra having emerged only after Kaguya consumed the Divine Tree's fruit.
His preference stemmed from simple logic: human civilization already existed in the Naruto world before Kaguya's arrival.
Additionally, the existence of Sage Arts supported this position. Sage techniques predated ninjutsu by considerable margins. Performing Sage Arts required Sage chakra—power achieved by balancing and integrating natural energy with physical and spiritual energies.
Compared to standard chakra, Sage chakra merely incorporated an additional component: natural energy. Since the more complex Sage chakra had already manifested, it seemed improbable that basic chakra—requiring only the fusion of physical and spiritual energies—emerged only after Kaguya's theft of the Divine Fruit.
Though no concrete evidence supported his hypothesis, Richard maintained his conviction. After all, Kaguya was essentially an alien. If chakra had appeared only after her consumption of the Divine Fruit, the implications would be highly implausible.
After brief consideration, Richard formulated a plan. Though not native to this world, that didn't preclude him from possessing—or at least simulating—chakra.
Fundamentally, chakra was simply energy produced by merging physical and spiritual energies. While he lacked chakra, he commanded magical power.
There existed no problem magic couldn't solve! And if there were, it merely indicated insufficient magical power!
His strategy was straightforward: use magic to impersonate chakra.
Of course, to ensure his magically-simulated chakra appeared convincing, additional steps would be necessary. For instance, he needed to channel Orochimaru's scientific mindset and study the differences between chakra and magic.
If he could discern chakra's precise energy signature, his current mastery over magic would enable him to transform his magical energy to perfectly mimic chakra's form. At that point, despite being an outsider to this world, he could genuinely possess "chakra."
Having established his plan, Richard temporarily abandoned the idea of entering Konoha Village to sample Ichiraku Ramen. Instead, he flew toward Otogakure established by Orochimaru.
In the Naruto world, beyond the five major hidden villages, numerous smaller shinobi settlements existed. Otogakure represented one such minor nation.
Few people realized that Orochimaru had founded Otogakure. Though uncertain whether Orochimaru currently resided there, Richard decided to investigate nonetheless.
Even if Orochimaru were absent, visiting Kimimaro would prove worthwhile.
Hidden Sound Village.
Within a concealed laboratory, Orochimaru, engrossed in experimentation, suddenly experienced an ominous premonition. Pausing his work, he frowned slightly.
Though he couldn't identify the source of this foreboding, he trusted his intuition.
Just as he pondered whether Konoha had discovered his whereabouts and dispatched ANBU operatives to infiltrate Otogakure, or perhaps Jiraiya had arrived, the laboratory door swung open.
A moment later, Kimimaro entered and addressed Orochimaru respectfully: "Lord Orochimaru, the experimental samples you requested have been delivered."
Upon hearing Kimimaro's report, Orochimaru replied deliberately: "I'll examine them shortly. Meanwhile, verify whether anyone has infiltrated the village."
Someone infiltrated the village?
As Orochimaru finished speaking, Kimimaro's expression grew intensely solemn.