One year. I had one year before academy enrollment to become as strong as possible without drawing more dangerous attention. Danzo's interest hung over me like a guillotine blade. The System offered a solution: [EMERGENCY QUEST: "Become Untouchable"] - Reach Genin-level power before academy. Reward: 5,000 FP.
The quest had appeared the moment we'd left the Hokage Tower, as if the System recognized the danger I was now in. The parameters were clear:
[Objective: Achieve the following before Academy enrollment]
Chakra Capacity: 100+ (Current: 25.1)Chakra Control: 75+ (Current: 22.8)Master all three Academy Jutsu (Current: 0/3)Physical Stats equivalent to Academy Graduate
The timeline was aggressive but not impossible. I had twelve months. I'd already proven I could accelerate growth beyond normal parameters. Now I needed to optimize every single day.
I established a rigid schedule:
5:00 AM - Chakra Meditation
Wake before my parents, practice chakra circulation and capacity expansion. Thirty minutes of focused internal work while the house was quiet.
6:00 AM - Physical Conditioning
Bodyweight exercises appropriate for a four-year-old frame. Squats, push-ups (modified), core work, flexibility training. Nothing that would damage developing joints, but enough to build a foundation.
8:00 AM - Normal Activities
Breakfast with family, helping around the house, maintaining civilian cover. This time was crucial for staying grounded, for remembering I wasn't just a min-maxing reincarnator but a son with parents who loved me.
12:00 PM - Chakra Control Practice
Using Hiruzen's manual as a guide. Leaf-sticking, then tree-walking when I was ready. Precision exercises. Quality over quantity.
3:00 PM - Study
Ninja theory, chakra mechanics, hand seal memorization. The System provided information, but I needed to internalize it, make it instinctive.
6:00 PM - Family Time
Dinner, conversation, maintaining relationships. Civilian skills from my parents—carpentry, sewing, business—that would serve me later.
9:00 PM - Secret Training
After parents slept. Chakra suppression practice so sensors couldn't detect me. Advanced exercises. Pushing my limits.
The first month was brutal.
[DAY 30 UPDATE]
Chakra Capacity: 30.2 (+5.1)
Chakra Control: 28.5 (+5.7)
Fate Points Earned: +142
Physical Stats: Strength 2.1, Agility 2.3, Vitality 2.5
Progress, but not fast enough. I was burning out, pushing my child's body too hard. Suzume noticed during one of her check-ins.
She appeared in my backyard during an evening training session, watching me struggle through tree-walking attempts. I'd been failing for an hour, my chakra control still too rough.
"You're forcing it," she said, startling me. I nearly fell off the tree trunk.
"Sparrow-san," I gasped, clinging to the bark.
She'd kept her mask on this time, staying in character. "Your stance is too wide. And you're wasting chakra in your left hand—see how it flickers?"
I looked down. She was right. My chakra distribution was uneven.
"You're pushing yourself too hard," she continued. "I can see it. How much are you training?"
"Um... a lot?"
She sighed. "Kenji-kun, you're four years old. Your body needs rest to grow. You'll hurt yourself if you keep this pace."
"But I need to get stronger—"
"Strength without foundation crumbles. Here." She jumped down from her perch and demonstrated the correct tree-walking stance. "Chakra isn't about force. It's about flow. Feel the tree, let your energy merge with it."
She made it look effortless, walking up the vertical surface as easily as I walked on flat ground.
For the next hour, Suzume gave me a proper lesson. Corrections to my stance, adjustments to my chakra flow, insights that would have taken me months to figure out alone.
"Why are you helping me?" I finally asked.
She was quiet for a moment. "Because the Hokage asked me to watch over you. And because..." She paused. "I've seen what happens to talented children when they're pushed too hard, too fast. When they're treated as weapons instead of people. I won't let that happen to you."
There was pain in her voice. Personal experience, maybe. Or witnessing Danzo's methods.
"Thank you," I said sincerely.
She ruffled my hair. "Rest tomorrow. Your body needs recovery days. Two days of training, one day of rest. Understand?"
I nodded.
After she left, I adjusted my schedule. She was right—I'd been approaching this like a video game grind, forgetting I inhabited actual human flesh that needed time to adapt and grow.
The results spoke for themselves.
[DAY 90 UPDATE]
Chakra Capacity: 45.7
Chakra Control: 45.2
Physical Stats: Strength 3.2, Agility 3.5, Vitality 3.8
[MILESTONE ACHIEVED: Tree-Walking Mastered]
Reward: +500 FP
I'd cracked tree-walking at four and a half years old. The moment I'd managed to reach the top of the tree in our backyard, the System had chimed with recognition.
Suzume had been watching that night too. She'd actually applauded.
"Exceptional," she'd said. "Most Academy students take weeks to master that. You did it in three months."
I'd grinned, genuinely proud. Then immediately tried water-walking and fallen face-first into a bucket. Suzume's laughter had echoed through the yard.
With my growing pile of Fate Points, I finally made my first major purchase:
[BASIC TAIJUTSU MANUAL] - 500 FP
[CHAKRA NATURE AFFINITY TEST] - 200 FP
[E-RANK JUTSU BUNDLE] - 1,000 FP
[Total Spent: 1,700 FP]
[Remaining: 5,200 FP]
The Taijutsu Manual downloaded directly into my mind—not skills, but knowledge. Stances, forms, principles of movement. I'd still need to train my body to execute them, but I now had a complete framework.
The Affinity Test was a single-use item that activated immediately upon purchase.
[TESTING CHAKRA NATURE...]
[PRIMARY AFFINITY: Wind]
[SECONDARY AFFINITY: Lightning]
[NOTE: Dual affinities are rare, occurring in approximately 8% of ninja population]
Wind and Lightning. Offensive natures, both of them. Good for my purposes.
The E-Rank Jutsu Bundle was the real prize. It contained the three basic Academy techniques:
Clone Jutsu (Bunshin no Jutsu)Substitution Jutsu (Kawarimi no Jutsu)Transformation Jutsu (Henge no Jutsu)
The knowledge flooded my mind—hand seals, chakra flow patterns, visualization techniques. I had all the theory. Now I needed practice.
Clone Jutsu was first. I started in my room, late at night, following the instructions burned into my memory.
Ram → Snake → Tiger
I formed the seals slowly, carefully, pushing chakra through the patterns.
A puff of smoke... and a clone appeared. Sort of. It was translucent, flickering, barely visible. But it was there.
[CLONE JUTSU: 10% Success Rate]
[Reward: +10 FP]
Progress.
Over the next three months, I practiced religiously. Clones in my room. Substitution with practice logs in the backyard. Transformation while looking at myself in the mirror.
[DAY 180 UPDATE]
Clone Jutsu: 70% Success Rate
Substitution Jutsu: 60% Success Rate
Transformation Jutsu: 80% Success Rate
Chakra Capacity: 65.3
Chakra Control: 65.8
The numbers were climbing steadily, but it was the practical application that mattered. I could create three solid clones on command now. I could substitute with objects within ten feet. I could transform into any person I'd studied closely enough.
For a four-year-old civilian, I was approaching the level of a mid-tier Academy student. Maybe even a graduate, in terms of pure chakra metrics.
But I needed more.
[DAY 270 UPDATE]
Three months before my fifth birthday. Three months before Academy enrollment. I'd pushed harder than ever, and the results showed.
Chakra Capacity: 85.2
Chakra Control: 78.3
Physical Stats: Strength 4.5, Agility 5.2, Vitality 4.8
I'd grown taller, filled out slightly. My parents commented on how healthy I looked, how energetic. They didn't realize I was operating at a level far beyond normal human child development.
Suzume's visits had become weekly training sessions. She'd teach me practical skills—how to throw shuriken properly, how to fall without injury, how to read an opponent's body language. Nothing classified or advanced, but foundational skills that most Academy students learned over years, compressed into focused lessons.
"You're going to terrify your classmates," she said one evening, watching me nail three consecutive bullseyes with practice kunai.
"I'll hold back," I assured her.
"See that you do. The last thing you need is every clan heir seeing you as competition. Stay under the radar until you have allies."
Sound advice.
The manual from Hiruzen had been invaluable. It contained exercises I'd never have discovered on my own—chakra breathing techniques, meditation forms, control drills that built precision. I'd worked through every page multiple times.
By day 300, I achieved water-walking. It was harder than tree-walking—the surface was constantly shifting, requiring real-time adjustments to chakra output. But once I mastered the principle, it became second nature.
[MILESTONE ACHIEVED: Water-Walking Mastered]
Reward: +750 FP
[TOTAL FP: 6,700]
I was sitting on a small fortune of Fate Points now. I could afford significant purchases from the regular shop. But I held off, saving for something specific.
The Hidden Shop had revealed itself, and I'd been studying its contents obsessively. Most items were far beyond my reach, but there was one category that intrigued me: Templates.
[TEMPLATE SYSTEM]
Templates were essentially character presets—you could purchase the baseline potential of another person, gaining their natural talents and growth patterns. They didn't give you their actual power, but they gave you their capacity to develop it.
The templates available were staggering:
[NARUTO UZUMAKI - Child Version] - 10,000 FP
Gain: Massive chakra capacity, Uzumaki vitality, natural talent for unpredictable tactics
[SASUKE UCHIHA - Child Version] - 12,000 FP
Gain: Prodigy-level talent, enhanced chakra control, natural aptitude for all ninja arts
[KAKASHI HATAKE - Child Version] - 15,000 FP
Gain: Genius intellect for jutsu development, lightning affinity enhancement, tactical analysis ability
[MINATO NAMIKAZE - Child Version] - 20,000 FP
Gain: Speed-based talent, sealing technique aptitude, tactical genius
And the one that had caught my attention:
[UNKNOWN TEMPLATE - ?????] - 50,000 FP
Origins unknown. Effects unknown. Danger level: Extreme.
The mystery option. It could be anything from Kaguya Otsutsuki to some dimensional entity. The risk was enormous, but so was the potential reward.
But at 6,700 FP, I couldn't afford any of them yet. And the Emergency Quest was still incomplete.
[EMERGENCY QUEST: "Become Untouchable" - PROGRESS]
Chakra Capacity: 85.2/100 ✗Chakra Control: 78.3/75 ✓Master Academy Jutsu: 2.5/3 (Clone 70%, Substitution 60%, Transformation 80%)Physical Stats: Approaching Graduate Level ✓
So close. I needed two more months to hit the capacity threshold and fully master the jutsu. The Academy enrollment was in one month.
I intensified training one final time.
My parents noticed. Of course they did. I was training so hard that even my attempts at stealth couldn't fully hide the exhaustion.
"Kenji," my mother said gently one evening, "you've been pushing yourself very hard. Are you... are you worried about the Academy?"
I looked up from the chakra control exercise I'd been doing at the dinner table—balancing a chopstick on one finger using only chakra, making it spin.
"I want to do well," I admitted. "I want to make you proud."
My father reached over and ruffled my hair. "Son, you've already made us prouder than we ever dreamed. You don't have to prove anything."
But I did. Because in one year, Itachi Uchiha would enter the Academy with me. In eight years, the Kyuubi would attack. In twelve years, the Uchiha massacre would occur.
Every bit of strength I gained now was strength I'd have later, when it really mattered.
[DAY 330 UPDATE - ONE MONTH BEFORE ACADEMY]
Chakra Capacity: 95.7
Chakra Control: 82.1
Clone Jutsu: 85% Success Rate
Substitution Jutsu: 75% Success Rate
Transformation Jutsu: 90% Success Rate
Physical Stats: Strength 5.1, Agility 5.8, Vitality 5.5
So close to the threshold. The capacity was the sticking point—it grew slowly, requiring consistent training over time. I couldn't force it faster without damaging my chakra pathways.
Then, the night before my fifth birthday, something changed.
I was meditating in my room, doing my usual chakra circulation, when I felt a shift. Like a dam breaking, chakra flooded through my pathways with sudden intensity. My capacity expanded in a rush, my control sharpening as the excess energy stabilized.
[BREAKTHROUGH ACHIEVED]
[CHAKRA CAPACITY: 100.8]
[CHAKRA CONTROL: 85.3]
[QUEST COMPLETE: "Become Untouchable"]
[REWARD: 5,000 Fate Points]
[TOTAL FP: 11,700]
[NEW TITLE EARNED: "Prodigy"]
[EFFECT: +10% to all training gains]
The rush of power was intoxicating. This was it. I'd reached genin-level capacity before even entering the Academy. My control was approaching chunin standards.
I opened my Status screen with trembling hands:
[NAME: Kenji Yamamoto (Alex Chen)]
[AGE: 5 Years]
[LEVEL: 12]
[TITLES: Reincarnator, Prodigy, Independent Spirit]
[STATS:]
Strength: 5.1Agility: 5.8Vitality: 5.5Intelligence: 45Wisdom: 42Chakra Capacity: 100.8Chakra Control: 85.3
[SKILLS:]
Clone Jutsu (E-Rank): 85%Substitution Jutsu (E-Rank): 75%Transformation Jutsu (E-Rank): 90%Tree-Walking: MasterWater-Walking: MasterChakra Suppression: AdvancedBasic Taijutsu: Intermediate
[FATE POINTS: 11,700]
I was ready. More than ready. I was stronger than most Academy graduates, and I hadn't even enrolled yet.
But the System had one more surprise.
The night before my academy enrollment, the System displayed a message that made me question everything:
[TIMELINE ANALYSIS COMPLETE]
[CURRENT DIVERGENCE: 12% FROM ORIGINAL TIMELINE]
[MAJOR CHANGE DETECTED: Unknown Individual Observing Your Progress]
[IDENTITY: ?????]
[THREAT ASSESSMENT: SEVERE]
[WARNING: This individual does not exist in original timeline]
[THEY ARE AWARE OF YOUR REINCARNATION STATUS]
Someone else knew. Someone who shouldn't exist was watching me. And they knew what I was.