When he opened his eyes again, Akira Shuren found himself floating in a strange space—no longer empty, but painted in faint colors, like a half-finished dream.
"Why... why does no one like me...?"The voice echoed through the void—soft, trembling, and full of loneliness.
"Who's there?! Come out!"Shuren spun around, his heart thudding. For the first time in ages, someone else's voice didn't sound like a curse. It sounded... beautiful.
But instead of an answer came the same fragile cry."I just wanted to talk to them... to be friends... Why do they ignore me? Why do they run from me? Am I really that annoying...?"
The words stabbed straight through Shuren's chest. For a long moment, he said nothing.
"I can feel your loneliness too," the voice whispered again, almost like a reflection of his thoughts."Maybe... we're the same."
"...The same, huh."That quiet hit too close to home. Shuren had spent his whole life in solitude—no family, no friends, no one who even noticed he existed. Loneliness had been his only constant companion.
Then, as if hearing his thoughts, the voice said softly, "We could be together. Be friends."
Shuren blinked. "Friends...?"
"Yes! Friends forever!"
Before he could answer, a small ball of white light appeared before him. It pulsed gently, then took the shape of a child—glowing faintly, smiling up at him with innocent joy.
"Big brother," the little figure said, "now we're friends."
That smile was so pure it made Shuren's chest ache. He couldn't remember the last time anyone looked at him that way.
"Yeah," he said quietly. "We're friends."
"Great!" The light-child laughed, then suddenly—before Shuren could react—jumped straight into his chest.
"Wait—what are you—!"
The light was melting into his body, fading little by little.The child just smiled again. "It's okay, big brother. Now we'll always be together."
And then it was gone.
"...Little brother?"Shuren reached out to the empty air, his voice breaking. "What was your wish? You didn't even tell me your wish!"
The silence gave no answer. Then—like a dam bursting—pain flooded his skull. A storm of foreign memories crashed into his mind, dragging him to his knees.
Images flashed before his eyes—A baby crying on a dim stone altar, a sealing mark glowing red on its stomach.A monstrous shadow with nine tails roaring behind it.A village bathed in morning light.Children laughing... except one boy, blond-haired and alone, shunned and beaten by the others.A kind old man patting the boy's head, saying:"If they won't accept you, work until they can't ignore you. Become someone they'll believe in. Become a ninja."
The boy's tears stopped. "I'll do it! I'll be the strongest ninja ever! Then everyone will recognize me!"
That sunny grin cut through the darkness like the first light of dawn.
More scenes blurred by—the boy shouting from a mountain cliff,"I'll become Hokage one day, and make everyone acknowledge me!"
When Shuren opened his eyes again, he was no longer floating in that colorless void. He was in a small, messy apartment... and outside the window, four colossal faces were carved into the mountainside.
"The Hokage Rock..." he whispered.Then it hit him.
He'd reincarnated into his favorite world—the world of Naruto.
And the body he was in… was none other than Uzumaki Naruto himself.
"Don't worry, Naruto," Shuren muttered, gripping his chest. "Your dream won't die. I'll carry it for both of us."
But deep inside, he felt it—the second presence, faint and fading. Naruto's soul was being swallowed by his own, leaving behind only memories and ideals.
From this moment on, he was Naruto Uzumaki.
For both of them, he'd fight. Against the world, against destiny, against anything that tried to erase him again.
And then, as if the universe itself decided to ruin the dramatic tension—
[DING!]"The Host meets the criteria. Initializing the Rikudō Shingon System…"
Shuren blinked. "The... what system now?"
"Ufufufufufu... oh, the Host speaks! How delightful. You're louder than the last one."
"Wait—who said that?!"
"Me. The great and flawless Rikudō Shingon—keeper of divine secrets, destroyer of boredom, and apparently... your babysitter."
"...You sound like a toaster having an identity crisis."
"Ufufufu~ such hostility! Truly, the Host radiates charisma... like a brick."
Shuren groaned. "I've been in this world for five minutes and I already have a snarky parasite."
"Correction: divine guidance system. Try to keep up, Host."
The air shimmered faintly, and somewhere deep in Shuren's soul, a faint chant began to hum—ancient, rhythmic, almost holy.
"Rikudō Shingon—The Six Sacred Words of Power—system initialized."
"...Guess I really am the protagonist now," Shuren muttered, as the light engulfed him.