The forty-sixth year of Konoha.
The Land of Wind — Sunagakure (Hidden Sand Village).
Li Fan stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his face void of expression as he silently gazed out the window.
Outside, there was nothing but an endless expanse of yellow sand. The air was bone-dry, and the hot wind drove the sand against the window with a sharp, persistent crack-crack.
After staring at the scene for a long while, Li Fan finally shook his head. He couldn't tell if the emotion in his chest was happiness… or sadness.
He had traveled to the world of Naruto—and taken over the body of Rasa.
This was a far cry from his previous life, where he earned a daily wage of 896 yuan and still had to spend over ten minutes voluntarily sweeping the floor after work.
Four days off a month. A little over 5,000 yuan in salary. How could this new life not be better?
And in Naruto, there was no shortage of beautiful women.
By all logic, Li Fan should have been thrilled.
But… he wasn't.
Why?
He lowered his gaze to his hands. The skin was faintly calloused, especially the middle finger of his right hand, worn from over a decade of holding a pen.
Yes—Li Fan had indeed crossed into the Naruto world, but he had simply replaced Rasa.
In the eyes of everyone here, he was Rasa. Every portrait, every record now bore his face. Even Rasa's name had been replaced with his own.
But there was one critical problem: Li Fan did not possess Rasa's strength.
With his modern-day physical condition, even a fresh graduate from the ninja academy could kill him—ten times over.
And so far, he had discovered no miraculous "golden finger" ability.
As lustful as Li Fan might be deep down, he was also afraid of dying. In a situation like this, he could hardly enjoy his new life. If his safety was guaranteed, well—that would be another matter entirely.
Dong, dong.
A knock at the door snapped Li Fan out of his thoughts.
Unlike back on Earth, he didn't immediately open it. Instead, he took a steadying breath and said in a deep voice:
"Who is it?"
"Master Li Fan, it's me."
The gentle voice of a young woman made him quietly exhale in relief.
It was his "cheap" sister-in-law—no, more accurately, the sister-in-law Rasa once had in his memories.
Li Fan opened the door and was immediately met by a blast of scorching air. Squinting, he took a few seconds to adjust before lowering his gaze slightly to the girl before him.
She was a beautiful blonde, perhaps sixteen or seventeen, wearing a Sunagakure forehead protector. Her skin was pale, her figure slender, and a faint crease of anxiety rested between her delicate brows.
His eyes instinctively flicked down toward her feet, but Li Fan quickly suppressed the stray thoughts that tried to surface. Smiling lightly, he said:
"Yasha Lian, what's the matter?"
Yes—in the original story, Yashamaru had been a man. But in this world, she was a woman. And a striking one at that—easily a nine out of ten.
When Li Fan had taken over Rasa's identity, he had also inherited Rasa's memories.
For the most part, this world was similar to the Naruto he remembered. But there were key differences in certain "small details."
For instance, Yashamaru here was now Yasha Lian—a beautiful woman instead of a man.
And in the original, by this point Rasa and Karura should already have been in a relationship. Yet in these inherited memories, Rasa had shown no interest in romance whatsoever, devoting himself entirely to ninjutsu training.
The Rasa of this world had been a model ascetic—completely so. His strength was slightly greater than the Rasa of the same period in the original timeline, but he was also two years younger. Unfortunately, his interpersonal relationships were dozens of times weaker.
Knowing all this, Li Fan had actually felt a measure of relief.
Yasha Lian eyed him curiously, noticing his tone and gaze seemed gentler than before. But she set the thought aside and said in an official tone:
"Master Li Fan, Elder Chiyo and Elder Ebizo are looking for you. They want you to go to the Kazekage's office immediately—they said it's very important."
Elder Chiyo? The Kazekage's office? Something important?
Li Fan searched Rasa's memories but found nothing unusual happening recently. Even so, a sense of unease crept in.
Normally, it would be the Third Kazekage himself who summoned him. For Chiyo, now semi-retired, to bypass the Kazekage entirely and send for him… something was wrong.
A chilling thought struck him.
Yasha Lian noticed his calm expression waver slightly. Concern softened her voice:
"Lord Li Fan?"
"It's fine. If it's urgent, let's go."
He waved her forward and began walking toward the Kazekage's office. She followed closely, keeping three paces behind.
In the ninja world, rank was everything, and strength dictated respect. A mere Chunin like Yasha Lian had no right to walk beside a Jonin—much less a direct disciple of the Kazekage.
As they went, Li Fan returned nods to villagers and shinobi who greeted him along the way.
Over ten minutes later, they reached the office. Yasha Lian stepped forward, knocked, and announced his arrival before stepping aside to stand with the other guards.
Li Fan entered with steady steps.
Inside were just over twenty people—all of them, he knew from Rasa's memories, were among the strongest senior shinobi still in the village.
At the head sat Chiyo, her face bearing fewer wrinkles than it would a dozen years later. Beside her stood her brother Ebizo.
Li Fan's gaze caught on a strikingly beautiful woman with a statuesque figure, clad in a revealing outfit. Her hair was done in a green bun with orange bangs—a style that would look ridiculous on most, but somehow suited her perfectly.
Her… attributes were equally impossible to ignore. Li Fan knew he'd need both hands just to fully cover them.
He allowed himself only a brief glance before looking away. This was Ye Cang, the kunoichi who, in the original story, appeared only briefly during the Impure World Reincarnation arc. And as expected, anime proportions had translated to an even more exaggerated reality—she was easily an E-cup.
The only vacant seat in the room was beside her, so Li Fan had no choice but to take it.
Chiyo, still silent, lifted her left hand slightly.
Instantly, every open door and window slammed shut, the dim office growing darker still.
Her half-lidded eyes swept over the group, lingering on Li Fan for a heartbeat longer before she spoke in a hoarse, emotionless voice:
"The Third Kazekage and his two guards have been missing since this morning. The Shadow Guards searched the entire village in secret but found nothing."
The oppressive stillness shattered instantly.
Gasps, widened eyes, and murmurs spread among the jonin—except for a select few.
Li Fan was not surprised. He simply sighed.
Just as he suspected.
Only the disappearance of the Third Kazekage could explain why the semi-retired Chiyo siblings would summon the village's top shinobi directly, bypassing the Kazekage entirely.
This event would spark the Third Great Ninja War.
Ye Cang's gaze shifted to him. His expression hadn't changed—he didn't even look at Chiyo, instead staring calmly ahead.
Her curiosity piqued. Could it be he had already known?
She hesitated briefly. Their acquaintance was no more than a nod in passing—she was often away on missions, while he trained in solitude unless called to action. Still, she finally spoke, her voice cool but tinged with authority:
"Master Li Fan, from your expression… did you already know about this?"
Drawn from his thoughts, Li Fan met her eyes. Ignoring the faint scent drifting from her, he almost smiled—then quickly thought better of it.
"No," he replied evenly. "I only guessed that for Elder Chiyo to bypass my master and summon us directly, something must have happened—perhaps he was injured or fell ill. I didn't expect it to be more serious than I thought."
He lowered his head so no one could read his face.
Ye Cang assumed he was hiding his sadness—but in truth, Li Fan was concealing his surprise.
Because in front of him… an interface had appeared.
It bore only a single line of text: Super Favorability System.
Author's Note:After much thought, I've decided to fulfill a long-held dream. I've revised the title and synopsis, and made small adjustments to the protagonist's personality.
In my previous book, the main character seemed serious on the surface but had many hidden thoughts.
In this one, Li Fan travels to the Naruto world, and over time his inner thoughts will gradually surface until they are fully unleashed. After more than twenty years of restraint in the modern world, he now has few limits—though he still retains some lines he will not cross.