[ Shinobi World; Konohagakure, Land of Fire. ]
The cry of a newborn echoed through the small room of that large traditional Japanese-style house. The medical kunoichi handed the baby to his mother, who smiled faintly as she looked at him. She breathed heavily. The effort had been worth it.
"He's a boy..."
"I see..."
She gently embraced the baby. He had barely been born, yet this woman already loved her son with all her heart.
"We recommend that you rest for the next ten days. After that, you'll be able to resume your usual activities. Although I have a feeling you'll be much busier now."
"Fufufu... You're right."
The kunoichi left the room, leaving the mother alone with her son.
"You're smaller than I imagined. Hehe... How cute, my little Toru. My little Asahi Toru..."
The baby had his eyes closed and seemed somewhat sleepy, but when he opened them, the woman was stunned.
"Ara~? Your eyes don't look anything like mine or your father's. How strange... But I still think they're beautiful. They're silver. You're so tiny, and you're already giving me so many surprises."
"Kyoko! Where are you?!"
A man with black hair and brown eyes entered the room. He was somewhat out of breath, as if he had been running throughout the village for a long time.
"Kenji...?"
"Ha~ There you are. I'm sorry I'm late. I had some important matters to discuss with Fugaku-san."
"Don't tell me... Seriously? And to think you care more about your work than your own son."
Obviously annoyed by her husband's tardiness, Kyoko hugged Toru and shot Kenji a furtive glare. Little Toru frowned as if imitating his mother's annoyance.
"I'm truly sorry. I mean that from the bottom of my heart. I tried to get here as fast as I could."
"Geez, what am I going to do with you? If you're really sorry, then apologize to Toru-chan."
"Toru?"
He was confused.
"I wanted to name him Koji. Why did you decide on his name without asking me?"
"Because I wanted to, and because I could, Kenji. And coming from you, that's pretty disappointing."
"Are you serious? At least we can still change it on the registry."
"Jajaja! Too late!"
She pointed at him with her index finger while holding Toru with her free arm.
"He's already registered as Asahi Toru. There's nothing you can do about it."
"What?! Why?!"
"Don't worry, darling. You can choose whatever name you want for the next one."
"The next one? Does that mean..."
Kyoko smiled coyly. This caused Kenji to blush and look away to hide his embarrassment.
"Well, I suppose I can let it slide this time."
'Ha~ You were always easy to convince, Kenji.'
Kyoko looked at Toru and smiled as she gently stroked his tiny head. She closed her eyes and imagined a bright and happy future for this child.
—Five Years Later—
"Shakuton: Shakunetsu no Kaze no Ha."
After forming the hand seals, he held his hands in front of his face, and a small flame appeared. The flame was about two centimeters in diameter and remained lit for two seconds.
'This is going to take me longer. At the very least, the flame should be more stable, but the jutsu in this scroll are pretty difficult. They require so many hand seals. How did my father even get this?'
Near his foot lay an opened scroll. It contained all the information about the jutsu that the boy, Toru, was practicing. However, he rolled the scroll back up with an expressionless face and slipped it into the pocket of his shorts.
"I'll try again later."
Right after that, he ran back home, hiding among the trees.
This child now possessed the soul of Alek Gusev, except he had none of the memories from his past life. That was why his silver eyes were brighter—in other words, they were more full of life.
Near the entrance to the Asahi clan residential compound, Toru looked around, making sure that woman couldn't see him. If his mother found him, he would surely be punished, and that was something he wanted to avoid. After all, he had left home without telling his mother.
"Oh, Toru? Seriously, your mom has been looking everywhere for you. What were you thinking? Where have you been?"
A boy with black hair and black eyes approached Toru. This was Sasuke, the boy's childhood friend.
"Forest... training. Also bought some stuff."
He lifted a paper bag near Sasuke's face. Judging by the sound, it contained small metal objects.
"Toru... what are you planning to do this time? The last time you did something weird, your room exploded and you almost burned down your house."
"It's nothing important. I'll leave this at home and go find Itachi. I want him to keep teaching me the hand seals for ninjutsu."
"The hand seals... you're still doing that? We can train them once we enter the Shinobi Academy."
"I just want to get a little ahead. That way, I'll be prepared."
"If you say so. In that case, I'll wait for you at home. Nii-san is a little busy right now, but he'll be free in a few minutes, so come quickly before he leaves."
"Yeah, I will."
Sasuke left, and Toru remained there watching him. He saw the Uchiha clan emblem on the back of his shirt and sighed.
The Uchiha and Asahi clans had been allies for a decade or two. Toru didn't know much about it, as he had been forbidden from looking into that information until he was old enough.
'Better not waste any time.'