spun violently, colors bleeding into each other as though reality itself was tearing apart. One moment, he was lying on his bed in Lagos, scrolling through a Naruto wiki page about the Five Great Nations. The next, the suffocating weight of stone walls, foreign smells of earth and smoke, and the distant roar of rushing water pressed in on him.
"Where… am I?" His voice sounded wrong—higher pitched, younger.
He staggered forward, nearly tripping on legs that felt too short. Looking down, he froze. Small hands. Thin arms. A child's body. His heart thundered in his chest.
This isn't possible. This isn't real.
But as he stepped outside, the sight stole the breath from his lungs: jagged cliffs, fortress-like buildings carved into the stone, and shinobi moving swiftly across rooftops. Red-brown flak jackets, the unmistakable sigil etched on headbands: a rocky mountain crest.
"Iwa…" he whispered. Iwagakure. The Hidden Stone Village.
A rush of disbelief and panic flooded his veins. He wasn't dreaming. Somehow, he had transmigrated into the world of Naruto.
---
A New Identity
The memories struck him like a hammer, slamming into his consciousness. A name. A family. A clan.
Hoshigaki Clan.
Not one of the great bloodline clans like the Uchiha or Hyūga, but not nobodies either. A mid-tier clan known in Iwa for their skilled stone masons and durable earth-style users. Their jutsu were reliable, but not flashy. They produced dependable shinobi who rose to the rank of chūnin or jōnin, but rarely made legends.
And he—no, the boy whose body he now inhabited—was Hoshigaki Riku, eight years old, newly enrolled in Iwagakure's Academy.
His parents? Shinobi artisans, working to maintain the stone walls and canals that kept the village strong. Stern but proud. They had expectations, like all clan families did: "Work hard, bring honor to the Hoshigaki name, and survive."
---
Knowledge is Power
Riku stumbled to a secluded courtyard behind his family's home, his mind racing.
His advantage wasn't overwhelming strength. He hadn't been gifted the Sharingan, Byakugan, or some forbidden jutsu scroll. What he had… was knowledge. Not complete, but enough.
He remembered the broad strokes:
The Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, still led Iwa with his feared Dust Release.
The Second and Third Great Ninja Wars had scarred the land, and tensions still simmered between villages.
Akatsuki would one day rise from the shadows of Amegakure.
And years from now, a blond boy from Konoha would shake the entire shinobi world.
But specifics? Dates, battles, people's exact fates? He knew only fragments. Dangerous, unreliable fragments.
Worse, his own skills were pitiful. He had no powerful kekkei genkai, no advanced jutsu. His clan specialized in Earth Release, but his body's chakra pathways were still untrained.
Yet when he tried channeling chakra the way he remembered from wiki explanations—mold it, focus it, flow it—something clicked. The energy rushed through him smoothly, obediently. His chakra control was exceptional.
And his small body, though young, felt naturally responsive. Kicks, punches, stretches—his taijutsu foundations were solid.
"Taijutsu and chakra control…" he muttered. "That's all I've got."
A weak arsenal in a world where bloodlines and killer jutsu reigned supreme. Unless… he turned those two strengths into something greater.
The Stone Cage Mentality
Life in Iwa was not like Konoha. The village of stone demanded discipline and obedience. The Tsuchikage valued power and loyalty above all. Clan children were taught early: weakness meant disgrace, and disgrace meant becoming expendable.
That very afternoon, he attended Academy training. The instructor barked orders while young students performed drills on rocky fields.
"Formations! Chakra molding exercises! Earth Release basics!"
When it came time to practice the standard Tree Climbing Exercise, most children struggled, sliding down after a few steps. Riku, however, pressed his palm against the bark, focused his chakra with precision, and walked steadily up the tree on the first try. Gasps rippled through the students.
The instructor's eyes narrowed. "Hoshigaki Riku. Impressive control."
Riku bowed his head, hiding his racing heart. Drawing attention was both blessing and curse. In a village like Iwa, talent could secure his place—or paint a target on his back.
---
A Dangerous Resolve
That night, Riku sat cross-legged in his room, staring at the candle flame.
He was no hero. He was not Naruto, destined to become Hokage. He was an outsider wearing the skin of a child in a stone-cold village. Survival came first.
But deep inside, ambition burned. If he played his cards right, if he sharpened his taijutsu and used chakra control to create new techniques, he could rise above the mediocrity of his clan.
Maybe even carve a path strong enough to survive the storms he knew were coming.
"From today," he whispered, fists tightening, "I'll master my body. I'll master my chakra. No matter what this world throws at me… I won't break."
Outside, the wind howled through the stone alleys of Iwagakure. And in the heart of a boy who wasn't supposed to exist, a new shinobi's journey began.