Sunlight, filtered through a half-closed window, warmed the rough, sandy interior of the room. A young boy, around ten by appearance, brown hair, brown eyes, suddenly awake on a simple mat.
He blinked, his eyes adjusting to the dim light filtering into the dwelling constructed of sand-hardened material and other elements.
"Where am I?" he thought, the question echoing silently in his mind. He looked around the unfamiliar space – the unusual walls, the sparse furnishings.
Surprise quickly changed into a chilling fear. How had he arrived here? Why? Had he been taken? Just moments ago, he had been settling down in his own apartment after a long day's shift.
"Aaaaaahhhhgggh..."
A sudden, sharp pain erupted on his head. He roared, clutching his head with both hands. A torrent of images and sensations, foreign yet strangely familiar, flooded his consciousness.
Memories, not his own, intertwined and merged with his original ones.
Few minutes were felt like an eternity for him before the agonizing pressure finally subsided.
His eyes widened, a profound shock settling deep within him. He understood.
He was no longer in his old world. He had transmigrated, reborn into the brutal reality of the Naruto world.
His new body belonged to Kaiji, an eleven-year-old orphan from Sunagakure, the Hidden Sand Village.
Kaiji held the rank of Academy Trainee, undergoing training provided by the village.
But the most startling revelation for him was the current Timeline.
This was not the era of the Fourth Great Ninja War, the time of the Naruto series he knew. It was much earlier, set before the looming Third Shinobi World War.
The Second Great Ninja War had concluded years ago. The Third Kazekage, Satei, still led the village.
Kaiji's new memories helps him understand that the Third War will take place likely within a few years.
Sasori, the grandson of Elder Chiyo, holding the rank of Special Jonin, and is around fifteen years old.
This meant the abduction and presumed death of the Third Kazekage would happen soon, leading to escalating political tensions between the Great Villages and the inevitable outbreak of war.
Rasa, a student of Satei and a user of Magnet Release, possessed Kage-level strength and was poised to become the Fourth Kazekage.
With the overwhelming influx of memories and understanding, Kaiji pushed himself up.
He walked towards the window and slid it open, letting the warm desert air fill the small dwelling.
This structure, he now knew, was a basic apartment provided by the village for orphan shinobi who had left the orphanage and were training at Ninja academy.
He took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly, still grappling with the fear and confusion of his new identity and the known but dangerous path ahead.
"What do I do?" he thought. "I watched Naruto, but being in this world is different."
The detailed knowledge of the anime felt somewhat useless in this earlier period. The major events of the story hadn't even begun.
Yet, scattered pieces of information about jutsus, training methods, and key figures from the series might offer a slim chance of survival and growth.
Survival was paramount. The Third War would begin soon, perhaps even next year.
He couldn't help but complain, 'Why no system? Like in all those fanfics?' He shook his head, dismissing the idle thought.
From Kaiji's memories – no, his memories now – today was a holiday of the Sunagakure Ninja Academy.
Sunagakure did possess a Ninja Academy, seemingly mirroring Konoha's institution, established little before the Second Shinobi War.
'Perhaps all Great Villages had adopted similar systems, after Tobirama senju created one in Konoha.'
Their teaching methods, however, differed significantly from what he had seen in the anime. Given the surrounding desert, young ninja often trained there.
But basic training with kunai and shuriken occurred within the Academy grounds, much like Konoha.
They lacked written tests, which he found preferable. Children started the Academy at six, learning language, writing, basic history, and geography.
At seven, they received proper ninja training: shuriken throwing, basic chakra control like the leaf balancing exercise, and fundamental taijutsu.
At eight, they had a unique element, Academy instructors start to taught them up to D-rank Jutsus and ninjutsu, including techniques like Body Flicker.
Since about 80% of Land of Wind shinobi had a Wind nature affinity, the ninjutsu focused primarily on Wind Release.
They also learned basic hand signs and the three fundamental E-rank ninjutsus that are Transformation, Clone, and Substitution Jutsus.
At nine and ten, they received basic Genjutsu instruction. Early graduation was possible during this period. However, similar to Konoha, the official Genin graduation exam took place at twelve.
He was currently eleven, with only half a year remaining. He mused, "Sunagakure teaches D-rank Wind Ninjutsu to Genins, but in the anime, Naruto and his team only knew the basic E-rank jutsu."
He wondered about the Shukaku's Jinchuriki. 'That monk, the first one, is likely dead by now. Who holds Shukaku now?' This kind of high-level information was surely only known to village higher-ups, not to an Academy student like him.
Lost in these thoughts, he walked to a corner, picked up a glass, and filled it with water from an earthen pot. He drank slowly, the cold water a contrast to the desert heat.
'I did nothing wrong in my past life,' he thought. 'Why was I given this... punishment? Reborn as a nameless orphan shinobi who likely died during the Third War in the original timeline.'
He set the glass down. "I need to grow strong," he said little loud. "I don't want to die just that early."
Even with training and his limited anime knowledge, reaching Kage-level strength seemed difficult, if not impossible.
He was currently among the last students in his graduating class year. He sighed heavily. "I need to make some plans."