Chapter 2: News
"Ryūya-san, I'm coming in~"
Just as Ryūya was lost in contemplation about life, a crisp female voice sounded from outside the door. A sturdily built girl carrying a lunch box walked in.
Her name was Akimichi Kyōko, a clan girl the same age as Ryūya.
Compared to ordinary girls, Kyōko's figure could only be described as robust.
Her face was round and fairly cute, but at a height of a little over 1.6 meters, she already weighed more than 160 jin (over 80 kilograms).
This kind of build was completely normal within the Akimichi clan.
Regardless of gender or age.
This was related to the Akimichi clan's natural physique and their secret training techniques.
When Ryūya had first transmigrated, he had found it somewhat hard to adapt to having such a sturdy girl appear before him, calling him "Ryūya-san" every other sentence.
However, the memories retained in his mind, along with Kyōko's attentive care, allowed him to quickly adjust.
They say every chubby person is a potential stock—maybe Kyōko would have her moment of transformation someday too.
Kyōko's talent was slightly better than Ryūya's, but her personality was extremely laid-back. Even during the special circumstances of the Third Great Ninja War, the clan couldn't bear to push her out early to die, so she wasn't sent to the battlefield as cannon fodder.
Ever since Ryūya was injured and returned to the village, Kyōko's family had been taking care of him.
Hearing Kyōko's voice, Ryūya snapped back to reality. He turned his head to look at the wall and realized it was already noon.
Kyōko walked in, placed the extra-large lunch box on the table, then set up a tray on the bed. She took out dishes one by one—enough food to feed three people—and arranged them neatly.
Since Ryūya's hands were wrapped in bandages, eating on his own was inconvenient, so Kyōko fed him personally.
By now, Ryūya was already used to being fed by Kyōko and felt neither awkward nor resistant.
As she fed him, the two began chatting casually.
During his recovery, Kyōko had been Ryūya's primary source of information.
"Ryūya-san, did you know? I heard people in the village saying that the war is about to end."
Holding a large piece of meat with her chopsticks and feeding it to him, Kyōko spoke cheerfully, her face full of joy.
"Hm? Who did you hear that from?" Ryūya asked, lifting his head after swallowing the meat.
He had always been extremely concerned about when the Third Great Ninja War would end.
Because the end of the war meant that, at least for now, he wouldn't have to go back to the battlefield to die.
In a war where even jōnin suffered massive casualties, a tiny genin like him going to the front lines was little different from suicide.
"The clan elders are all saying it!
I heard that Kakashi's Team Seven achieved great merit this time. Lord Minato Namikaze faced thousands of Iwagakure ninja alone and drove them back—it was amazing!
Now Iwagakure has already sent envoys to negotiate peace.
But I also heard that Uchiha Obito and Nohara Rin, who were once our academy classmates, have already died in battle…"
Kyōko nodded as she spoke, her tone first rising with excitement, then quickly sinking into gloom.
As the war neared its end, details of the Battle of Kannabi Bridge gradually reached Konoha, including the news of Uchiha Obito and Nohara Rin's deaths.
"Is that so… Has the Battle of Kannabi Bridge already ended?" Ryūya murmured.
From his memories of his previous life, Ryūya vaguely recalled that the Battle of Kannabi Bridge was the symbol marking the imminent end of the Third Great Ninja War.
This battle not only changed the lives of Kakashi and Obito forever, but also completely altered the course of the ninja world. Countless fans later called it the source of all evil.
Minato Namikaze would soon ascend to the position of Fourth Hokage thanks to his outstanding performance in the war, reaching the peak of his life.
The name Yellow Flash would shake the entire ninja world!
At the same time, this battle directly led to Obito's complete fall into darkness. A year later, he would personally trigger the massive Nine-Tails incident in Konoha.
In Shippuden, the Nine-Tails incident was the very beginning of the story.
Although when the sky falls, the tallest ones usually hold it up first—and it should have nothing to do with a mere genin like him.
But who knew whether he might be unlucky enough to get caught in the crossfire?
After all, during that upheaval, Konoha suffered enormous losses. Large numbers of buildings were destroyed, and countless ninja and civilians were killed or injured.
Among the fallen ninja alone, there were dozens of jōnin.
More importantly, Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki both died in that disaster.
Their deaths dealt a devastating blow to Konoha.
One was the Fourth Hokage at the height of his power, the other the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki—both were top-tier combat forces of Konoha, true Kage-level powerhouses.
It could be said that after that calamity, Konoha was left in its weakest state.
And it was precisely this event that directly led to another war between Kumogakure and Konoha later on, bringing war back to the village once again.
Thinking about all this, Ryūya felt a mix of joy and worry.
After that, both of them lost much of their enthusiasm for conversation.
In a world filled with slaughter, most ninja were already accustomed to death and killing, but something as brutal as the Third Great Ninja War was still unprecedented.
During the war, Ryūya and Kyōko had already received far too many reports of classmates from the Ninja Academy—those who had graduated alongside them—dying in battle.
After a while, Kyōko cleaned up the lunch box and left. Once again, Ryūya was alone in the room, and the news he had heard during the meal drew him back into deep thought.
Originally, before knowing that the Third Great Ninja War was about to end, Ryūya had planned to lie low for a while longer.
After all, who knew whether, once his injuries healed, he would be sent back to the battlefield again as cannon fodder?
Among the classmates who had graduated early with him, more than 80% had already died on the battlefield of the Third Great Ninja War.
Even a genius like Kakashi had nearly lost his life—let alone a tiny genin like Ryūya.
Faced with orders from Konoha's higher-ups, someone as insignificant as him didn't have the courage to disobey—unless he was prepared to defect from Konoha altogether.
Thus, ever since transmigrating and learning about his situation, Ryūya had deliberately not rushed to recover his body.
During the Third Great Ninja War, Konoha's princess, Lady Tsunade, had not yet left the village. Under her leadership, Konoha's medical corps during this period was extremely strong, and treating Ryūya's injuries was no problem at all.
The reason he still couldn't get out of bed after half a month was mainly due to Ryūya's passive cooperation.
However, now that he knew the Third Great Ninja War was about to end, Ryūya no longer intended to keep lying low like this.
Life had to go on—and even a salted fish needed dreams.
Ryūya's dream was to survive in the dangerous ninja world.
Since the heavens had allowed him to transmigrate here, no matter what, the first thing he had to do was find a way to stay alive. Living was the most important thing.
As for lofty ambitions like saving Konoha or saving the world, the kind other transmigrators dreamed of, Ryūya didn't dare think that far yet.
Before he had enough strength to ensure his own survival, it was better to remain cautious and steady.
And in this world, weakness itself was a sin. Even if Ryūya quit the dangerous profession of being a ninja, it wouldn't save him.
More than ten years later, when Pain descended upon Konoha like a god, a single Shinra Tensei would flatten the entire village.
Faced with such overwhelming power, Ryūya didn't believe he could simply escape by luck.
Without sufficient strength and status, and without reliable sources of information, it would be difficult even to time things correctly and avoid disasters.
And in normal times, where in the ninja world could possibly be safer than Konoha, the strongest of the Five Great Hidden Villages?
Therefore, the most urgent task for Ryūya was to figure out how to formulate a practical and effective plan to improve his strength. That would be the true guarantee for him to navigate the ninja world in the future.
Nothing was more reliable than possessing strength oneself.
And the faster that strength could be increased, the better.