Chapter 1: Rot Beneath the Flames
The twelfth year of Konoha—an era recorded in the archives as a legendary age…
"Hetian!"
Outside the nursery, a middle-aged man with a face full of stubbly beard held a cigarette between his lips, looking worn and exhausted. "The Hanyu couple… they're already dead."
Hearing this, the young man called Hetian couldn't help but tremble slightly, disbelief written all over him. In a shaking voice, he asked, "Both of them?"
After receiving the middle-aged man's affirmative answer, tears had already welled up in the corners of Hetian's eyes. He choked with grief, "I never thought… such a good couple like the Hanyus would die too…"
The middle-aged man let out a long puff of smoke and patted Hetian on the shoulder to comfort him. "Hetian, the righteous things you've done—once the war is over, the higher-ups won't forget them."
Hearing this, Hetian seemed as if he had been insulted. His face flushed red with embarrassment. "What are you saying? They entrusted their children to me because they trusted me. Even if they're dead, I'll raise the children to adulthood no matter what. That's my responsibility!"
After exchanging a few more polite words, the two slowly walked away.
As the two men left, neither of them could have imagined that in the nursery, on one of the cribs, a pair of eyes was tightly fixed on the name card resting there: Hanyu…
"So I actually transmigrated into the Naruto world?"
Li Jie Xuan narrowed his eyes and looked toward the nearby Hokage calendar. "The twelfth year of Konoha?"
This was not good.
As a Naruto fan, he knew the vast majority of events that would occur in this world.
The Third Great Ninja War!
The Nine-Tails' attack on Konoha!
The annihilation of the Uchiha clan!
Black Zetsu's schemes!
But what was bad was that most of these major events would take place decades later. The twelfth year of Konoha, however, was a cruel and bloody era, recorded only in a few short lines—because it was nothing more than war and slaughter…
"Without power, I'll probably die very soon."
Li Jie Xuan closed his eyes, and before him, a line of strange text slowly appeared.
"Please claim your beginner's gift pack!"
Li Jie Xuan stared at the constantly flashing message before his eyes. At the same time, an ordinary-looking wooden treasure chest appeared, emitting a faint glow.
Character: Li Jie Xuan.
Items: None.
Chakra: None.
Ninjutsu: None.
"A system…"
Li Jie Xuan sighed softly. The moment he transmigrated, he had already discovered this system.
"Ninja Cultivation System!"
However, Li Jie Xuan did not rashly open the treasure chest granted by the system. If it opened and produced something like a giant robot, then with his current infant body, he would undoubtedly just be asking for trouble.
In the tall standing mirror, on the warm crib, a cute baby lay there with squinting eyes, staring intently at the reflection.
"I didn't expect that I'd actually become a baby…"
Li Jie Xuan pinched his chin and didn't feel particularly upset. After all, if one thought about it carefully, it could even be considered a return to youth.
"But now isn't the time to think about that." Li Jie Xuan looked at the name on the card beside his bed—Hanyu Jie Xuan—and frowned slightly. "If I heard correctly just now, then the parents of this body… already died in the war."
This nursery was likely a place specifically meant for Konoha ninja to leave their infants temporarily. That Hetian from earlier was probably the owner of this childcare shop.
Just then, the door to the nursery suddenly opened again.
The nursery owner—Hetian—had returned!
Li Jie Xuan quickly lay back down, but through his eyelashes, he could see that the expression on Hetian's face was extremely ugly.
On that gaunt face was a sinister, cold smile!
"Hehe, you little brat… if I'd known your parents were so short-lived, there's no way I would've let you waste so many days of my food for nothing…"
As he spoke, Hetian walked straight toward Li Jie Xuan's crib, reached out, and grabbed him.
Hetian's icy hands—like a spider's limbs—clamped around Li Jie Xuan's neck. As if lifting a bag of trash, he carried Li Jie Xuan toward the back door of the nursery.
"Heh, good boy, you sure sleep deeply!"
With a vicious grin, Hetian opened the trash bin behind the shop and tossed Li Jie Xuan straight inside…
One minute later, after confirming that Hetian had already left,
Li Jie Xuan helplessly climbed out of the trash bin, slowly standing up. Looking at the tightly sealed iron lid above, he couldn't help but let out a sigh…
"So this… is what real ninjas are like."
Li Jie Xuan let out a deep breath. "The Will of Fire may be burning brightly, but beneath those raging flames lie nothing but rotten branches and decayed roots…"
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