The Ninja World — Konoha.
Yuki Aoba stared blankly at the template displayed on his panel.
He was a transmigrator. How it happened and why remained a complete mystery. One moment he had been praising his own gaming skills as a proud "Aoba player," and the next he had become a newborn baby, given the name Yuki Aoba by his parents.
Originally, his family had been harmonious. But when he was three years old, his parents—both chunin—were killed in an accident, leaving Aoba an orphan at a very young age.
Fortunately, his parents had left behind a sizable inheritance and a handsome compensation payment. Combined with the welfare he received for being a minor, life wouldn't be luxurious, but it would be enough to sustain him until graduation.
Thanks to his calm reasoning and the naturally precocious nature of children in the ninja world, he wasn't sent to an orphanage.
A three-year-old living alone would be unimaginable in any other world—but in Naruto, where six-year-olds are sent to the battlefield, it was hardly unusual.
Still, Yuki Aoba looked a little dispirited. This morning, the moment he woke up, a crisp "ding" echoed in his mind—his cheat ability had awakened.
Perhaps because Yuki Aoba had been an avid Naruto mobile game player in his previous life, his cheat had taken the form of none other than a dueling arena.
By instinct alone, he could pull people into this arena with a single thought. The two combatants would fight, and the victor would gain additional chakra.
Any injuries sustained inside the arena would vanish upon exiting, and even death would be undone. It was a perfect training ground for real combat experience.
Except for one thing: the arena had a Power Mode. Once activated, death became real.
Along with the arena came a recruitment system. Winning twenty matches in the arena each month earned him ten recruitment scrolls.
Ninja were divided into S-rank, A-rank, B-rank, and C-rank.
[Recruitment Rates: S-rank 0.01%, A-rank 0.1%, B-rank 9.89%, C-rank 90%]
When Yuki Aoba saw this, he immediately lost interest in S-rank and A-rank ninjas.
"Damn gacha games… there's no way I'd ever pull those."
Still, the arena offered a starter gift pack—a guaranteed ninja at the very beginning.
The result was obvious: Yuki Aoba drew the legendary Seventh Hokage.
Naruto Uzumaki (Ninja Trainee)
[Skills: Paint Splashing, Clone Attack (Chance of Failure), Sexy Jutsu]
I'll make everyone acknowledge me, dattebayo—hehehe.
"Wow… what generosity! So generous! They're giving away the Seventh Hokage right at the start!"
"I should've noticed sooner. 'Guaranteed Seventh Hokage at the beginning'—classic clickbait."
"But the Seventh Hokage they're talking about is Naruto Uzumaki. So why is mine just a ninja trainee!?"
Staring at the Naruto template on the panel, Yuki Aoba hesitated for a moment before equipping it. Up until now, he only knew the Chakra Extraction Technique. Even if the template was terrible, at least it had the Shadow Clone Technique—though it had a chance of failure.
"So this is the Seventh Hokage's mighty physique? Not bad at all."
As the template settled onto him, a steady stream of power surged through his body.
Two new jutsu surfaced in his mind: the Shadow Clone Technique and the Sexy Technique. The method for Paint Splashing followed shortly after.
Yuki Aoba's eyes shone. His fingers began to move rapidly through hand seals. Ever since he realized he had reincarnated into Naruto, he had never stopped training. His hand-seals were nimble and practiced.
"Clone Technique!"
With a sharp shout and a puff of smoke, a limp, saggy clone flopped onto the floor beside him, its rear end sticking awkwardly into the air.
Upon seeing the clone's appearance, Yuki Aoba couldn't help but remark, "As expected of you, Seventh Hokage!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A sudden series of knocks sounded at the door, pulling Yuki Aoba back to his senses.
"Knock slower! You're going to break the door!"
"Aoba, what took you so long to open up?!"
As the door swung open, a blond-haired boy came into view.
It was the future Fourth Hokage—one who would later have a girl constantly chasing after him.
Minato's voice immediately followed, grumbling as usual. Like Yuki Aoba, Namikaze Minato was also a war orphan; in a sense, the two shared the same fate.
"We're starting at the Academy tomorrow, so we need to train hard today."
From the day they met, Minato had dragged him out every morning to train.
Yuki Aoba was naturally delighted. After all, this was the future Yellow Flash.
But today was different—today, Yuki Aoba's Dueling Arena had awakened.
After a moment of deliberation, he pulled Minato inside, glanced around to make sure no one was nearby, closed the door, and said in a low voice, "Minato, I think I've awakened a special ability."
"Eh?"
Minato scratched his head in confusion. "What kind of special ability?"
Yuki Aoba chuckled. He clenched his fist toward Minato—and the Dueling Arena activated.
For a moment, Minato's consciousness went blank. When he regained clarity, the world around him had completely changed.
"Eh?!"
Minato looked around in shock. Seeing Yuki Aoba still beside him, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Where… is this?"
"This is the Dueling Arena," Yuki Aoba explained, spreading his arms wide. "This is my world!"
He kept subtly scanning the area—it was his first time entering the arena space as well.
The arena was vast, with no walls and no visible boundaries. Aside from the enormous stone slabs beneath their feet, there was nothing—no structures, no sky limits.
After learning that he could obtain recruitment scrolls, Yuki Aoba had already decided to disguise the Dueling Arena as a Kekkei Genkai.
The era worked in his favor: the Third Hokage wasn't senile yet, the Sannin were still around, and although Danzo was extreme, he hadn't yet reached his later infamy.
Becoming the "founder" of a new bloodline clan would make him much safer. After all, having more bloodline clans only strengthened Konoha.
"A Dueling Arena?" Minato repeated, baffled, as he walked around inspecting the empty expanse.
Seeing his confusion, Yuki Aoba nodded. "I woke up with this ability, and we can use this place for practical combat experience."
He then explained the mechanics of the Dueling Arena in detail.
After he finished, Minato looked at him, eyes sparkling with excitement. "You're saying that even if we die here, we revive in the real world with no side effects?!"
"That's right," Yuki Aoba nodded.
"Not only that—muscle memory gained here carries over to reality."
"Training here is extremely effective."
A hint of disappointment lingered in his tone—there were still limitations.
"Amazing!"
Minato gave him an enthusiastic thumbs-up. "Aoba, you really are my lifelong rival!"
Yuki Aoba: "???"