Ninjas returning from other worlds

Haruno Sakura closed the door behind her, leaving her parents' lectures on the other side.

She stood at the threshold for a long time, silently observing the familiar yet foreign surroundings of her room. Her expression was slightly bewildered.

Without a doubt, she was now a twelve-year-old student, about to graduate from the Ninja Academy in Konoha. Everything that had happened on that great sea felt like nothing more than a long dream.

But Sakura knew it was certainly no dream. She had truly been to another world and had spent nearly ten years there.

She still remembered the fear and confusion that had consumed her when she first arrived in that world. If not for the basic chakra extraction skills she had learned at the Academy and her passable command of the three basic techniques, she would have long since perished in a pirate raid.

It was thanks to those three techniques that a Marine lieutenant took notice of her, and she joined their ranks. Thus began her life in another world.

She also remembered her powerlessness and despair when she first encountered a pirate who wielded Observation Haki. Neither the Substitution Jutsu, the Clone Jutsu, nor the Transformation Jutsu could hide her from him.

Barely escaping with her life, she came to realize that so-called ninjutsu was nothing in the face of Haki.

She remembered every drop of sweat shed over years of training, and she remembered the exhilarating feeling of drinking with her comrades for three days straight when she finally became an Admiral Candidate under the codename "Gentō" (Ghost Butterfly).

She remembered her vow to bring an end to the Great Pirate Era. Even when faced with Kaido, she did not retreat but charged resolutely into battle...

"So, I lost..." Sakura sighed at the memory.

"So this is the way back to Konoha—death."

She had searched for countless Devil Fruits, trying to find a path home through their abilities, but she never would have imagined that death itself was the way back.

If she had realized that at the very beginning, just after arriving in that world, she might have returned long ago... Still, Sakura had no regrets.

Who would regret such a grand adventure? For her, Konoha was her homeland, but that sea had become the place where her bonds were forged, where she had truly grown up.

"Will I be able to go back there again?" Sakura wasn't sure.

As far as she knew, there were no Devil Fruits in this world, and the so-called ninjutsu were merely a semblance of their powers. To find a way back to that sea, perhaps she would have to... die again?

But that was not a choice Sakura was willing to make.

She closed her eyes, sensing her entire being.

Within her weak body, the will that had once borne the name "Gentō" remained unchanged. And Haki was the power of will.

Although her Armament Haki had completely vanished due to her body's weakness, her Observation Haki still spread out around her unimpeded. Her parents' conversation in the next room, the noise of passersby on the street, and even the light footsteps of ninja in hidden places—all of it appeared clearly in her perception.

"What a peaceful and beautiful village," a smile involuntarily appeared on Sakura's face.

"Is this what a world without pirates is supposed to be like?"

Her entire life on that sea had been a struggle to create just such a world.

Opening her eyes again, she had fully accepted the fact that she had returned to Konoha.

"The most important thing now is to retrain my body. No matter what, strength is the foundation of everything."

She brought a lock of pink hair to her eyes, and under her focused gaze, the strand began to slowly grow and lengthen as if it were alive.

"Fortunately, my 'Seimei Kikan' instincts haven't dulled. The day I master Armament Haki again is not far off."

"And then there's... the Ninja Academy..." Sakura tried to recall that time.

"I think I was in love with a boy named Uchiha Sasuke, and there was another annoying troublemaker named Uzumaki Naruto. Hmm, who did I play with most often... Yamanaka Ino? I think we were rivals..." She couldn't help but chuckle at these thoughts.

"Did I really have such a naive time?"

For her, everything related to the Academy was as hazy as a childhood memory. Those emotions had long since dissolved in the river of time.

"But that boy this afternoon..." Sakura frowned. "I can't remember his name at all. He went out of his way to catch up to me, seeming so concerned... did he notice that I've changed?"

"Ah, what's the difference," she relaxed her brow. "Forcing myself to pretend to be the person I was before my journey to the sea is impossible, no matter how hard I try."

"In any case, no one would ever think I've returned from another world... even if I told them, no one would believe me."

Aoki Yuu slept poorly that night.

After tossing and turning in a state of half-slumber for three or four hours, he was woken by a commotion outside his window.

"Naruto! How could you do such a thing?! Have you no fear of retribution?!"

"I won't let you get away with this today!"

Yuu rubbed his eyes, got out of bed, and threw open the window to see a yellow figure dashing down the end of the street, laughing loudly.

Uzumaki Naruto? Yuu froze for a moment, then looked at the two ninja in green flak jackets who were chasing him, shouting.

"You'll never catch me!" Naruto's smug voice drifted up from the street. "None of you can do this! Because only I can! I'm awesome!"

As the figures raced down the street, a line of text appeared in Yuu's field of vision.

[Discovered an ongoing plot scene]

Yuu started, the last remnants of sleep vanishing instantly.

It's finally starting?

The beginning of the original story, the very first plot scene.

He felt a surge of excitement. It had been a long time since the System's last activation, which meant his power hadn't received a significant boost in a while.

He hastily leaned out the window and looked toward the Hokage Rock.

As expected, the faces of the four Hokage on the cliff were ridiculously defaced with paint.

Almost at the same instant, the text in his vision changed.

[Check-in at plot scene "Uzumaki Naruto was here!" successfully completed!]

[Reward received: Secret Technique · Copying Transformation]

Knowledge bloomed in his mind from out of nowhere, and in almost a single moment, Yuu had completely mastered the secret technique bestowed by the System.

A look of surprise appeared on his face.

He wasn't surprised by the magical process itself; it was far from the first time the System had rewarded him with a ninjutsu.

The issue was that this was the first time he had received a reward at the level of a secret technique, and furthermore, he had never heard of such a ninjutsu in the original story.

The Copying Transformation was a variant of the Transformation Jutsu. But compared to the ordinary E-rank technique that almost any ninja could master and was easy to see through, this secret technique was far more powerful.

Not only did it perfectly copy the target's appearance, but it could also copy their chakra aura, creating a flawless disguise that couldn't be penetrated even by dōjutsu like the Byakugan and Sharingan.

"It's a secret technique for a reason. Its effect is somewhat similar to White Zetsu's ability to copy with spores... only without having to wait for the spores to mature," a joyful smile spread across Yuu's face.

"The very first scene at the start of the plot, and such a big surprise! And this is a famous, but far from a large-scale, scene."

"One can only imagine how generous the rewards will be for checking in at the more epic events to come!"

"However..." the joyful expression on Yuu's face was once again clouded by a faint shadow.

"...All of this is based on the assumption that these plot scenes don't disappear due to unforeseen factors."