The alley smelled like wet concrete and cheap whiskey — the kind of place where nobody asked questions because nobody wanted to hear the answers.
Kai, a skinny 19-year-old magnet for bad luck, leaned against a graffiti-covered wall under a dying streetlamp. In his hand, he counted the last of his fortune. Ten dollars. Just enough to buy either one bad decision or one unforgettable mistake.
Mitch, his twitchy contact with rotting teeth, emerged from the shadows. Without a word, he slid a plastic bag across the wet pavement.
Inside: a rusty pistol. Ancient, battered, and heavy with bad energy.
"Ten bucks," Mitch said, looking over his shoulder. "Don't ask where it's been."
Kai smirked. "For ten bucks, I'll name it Bad Decision Number Fifty."
He took the gun home. His apartment was barely bigger than a coffin. The pistol hit the table beside stale ramen and a broken remote. Boredom pushed him to pick it up again.
"Pew pew," he muttered sarcastically, aiming at the wall.
Click.
Then—
BANG.
Pain. Darkness. Cold.
System initializing... Host deceased. Activating Reincarnation Protocol.
Somewhere in the void, Kai's fragmented consciousness twitched.
[Welcome, Host: Kai Reynolds]
[Cause of Death: Accidental Self-Inflicted Gunshot]
[Reincarnation Destination: RANDOMIZED]
[Processing Starter Pack...]
A glowing screen hovered in the void like a taunt.
[Starter Pack Assigned: Cursed Power of Ryomen Sukuna]
[Power Level: 1 Finger (5% Potential)]
[Bonus Trait: Minor Domain Fragment — Instinctual Barrier Control]
[Destination World: Naruto Universe — Post-Konoha Invasion]
[Transfer in: 3… 2… 1…]
Light devoured everything.
Kai shot awake beneath a sapphire sky. Sea breeze hit his face. Pine trees loomed behind him. Grass cradled his body. Everything was too real.
He sat up fast. No gunshot wound. No blood.
His muscles felt denser. His senses were too sharp. Every heartbeat thudded like a drum in his ears, as if a switch had been flipped on a god-tier engine jammed into his very bones.He flexed his fingers. Red energy sparked faintly across his knuckles."...the fuck."He stood, slightly unsteady, his nerves buzzing.
"...Is this for real? Am I really in Naruto?" he muttered, eyes locked on the floating screen in front of him.This felt too real to be a dream — and he clearly remembered dying.
and this weird felling...
Cursed energy.
Then suddenly came movement in the trees.
Three figures emerged: two kunoichi in crimson armor, and a taller woman with commanding green eyes and hair tied back like a warrior queen. They stopped as soon as they saw him.
Weapons didn't leave their hands, but tension crackled in the air.
Kai studied their clothes, their stance. It's real, he muttered under his breath — then remembered where he was: the ninja world.
Quickly, he clutched his side and limped forward, masking the strength behind his steps."I'm hurt," he rasped. "I don't know where I am... Please don't hurt me."
The shinobi stayed silent for a moment. One of them extended a hand, clearly trying to sense chakra.
Nothing.
"…No chakra?" she whispered to the others. "Then how the hell is he alive?"
Kai swallowed hard. "I'm not a shinobi. I'm just—" He hesitated, throwing on the best lost-boy look he could manage. "Just a traveler. Got caught in a fight. Got separated. I don't even know where I am."
The woman with green eyes — Shizuka — didn't look convinced.
A rustle from the bushes. Cursed energy flared instinctively around his body for a split second — enough to form an invisible reflex barrier. No one noticed.
A fox darted from the undergrowth and vanished into the trees.
Shizuka stared at him, unreadable. Then finally, she turned. "You'll come with us. You'll stay in the village until we figure out who you are."
As they walked, Kai caught glimpses of the village beyond the trees: Nadeshiko. Smaller than Konoha.
Inside the guest house, he waited until the door shut behind him. Then he dropped the act.His limbs relaxed. Red cursed energy flickered again across his fingers.
He was suppressing everything — but even 5% of Sukuna's power was barely containable.
Kai sank onto the creaky wooden bench, the silence of the guest house pressing down on him like a weight. He stared at his hands, the faint crimson glow of cursed energy flickering beneath his skin like restless embers.
What the hell just happened?
He ran a hand through his hair, still damp with sweat, trying to steady his racing thoughts. The alley, the gun, the sudden blast of pain — then the void. The system messages flashing in that endless blackness like a twisted game screen.
He could still feel the ghost of the gunshot, yet here he was: alive, muscles stronger, senses sharper — a walking contradiction. And worse... this power.
If he remembered correctly, even 5% of Sukuna's power should be stronger than a Kage-level ninja.
That thought hit him like a shockwave. A rush of adrenaline replaced the panic.
Wait a minute... this isn't just some random reincarnation crap. This is a chance. A real one.
Back in his old life, nothing was ever exciting — just a string of bad breaks and bad decisions. But here? Here was power. Potential.
Kai's lips twisted into a wild grin. "Heh. Maybe this messed-up second chance isn't such a bad deal after all."