"Reborn? I never thought something like this would happen to me…"
Inside a hotel room in Tanzaku Town, Land of Fire, an infant was behaving strangely. He sat on a windowsill not much higher than the tatami mats, quietly gazing at the setting sun.
An infant should have been innocent and pure.
Instead, he emitted a lonely, desolate aura, as if he belonged to the twilight itself.
If anyone saw this scene, they would never believe such a heavy presence could come from a child not even a year old.
But if they looked into his eyes, they would understand.
There was no purity.
No childish clarity.
Only indifference.
A cold detachment that made even adults uncomfortable.
Not a trace of emotion could be found in those eyes, as if the seven emotions and six desires had long since been stripped away.
"Little baby, you're being naughty again!"
The solemn atmosphere didn't last long.
The sliding door opened, and Shizune, dressed in a long black outfit with fishnet innerwear, walked in.
She picked up the infant and lightly tapped his head, instantly breaking the heavy mood.
"Tch, this kid is really weird. Shizune, if he wants to sit there, just let him."
Another woman followed her inside.
The moment she entered, even the infant's emotionless eyes flickered slightly.
It couldn't be helped.
She was breathtaking.
Golden hair framed a peerless face. Her presence was proud and elegant, like a blooming peony. And her figure—
That world-shaking pair of "weapons" was practically an eye-killer for both men and women alike.
"Lady Tsunade, how can you say that? He's not even a year old. What if he falls while sitting on the window?" Shizune said, clearly dissatisfied.
Though her tone lacked excessive politeness, the infant could see the respect and affection in her eyes whenever she looked at Tsunade.
"I don't believe this little brat would fall."
Tsunade snorted.
But when her gaze landed on the child, her heart trembled faintly.
With everything she had experienced, very little in this world could move her anymore—let alone an infant.
Yet those eyes…
They were too calm.
Too indifferent.
Perhaps it was precisely because of that pair of detached eyes—eyes that seemed able to remain unmoved by everything—that Tsunade, who had witnessed countless tragedies without flinching, decided to adopt this child.
"Tsunade… Shizune… So it wasn't an illusion."
The infant's gaze shifted slightly.
Though his body was that of a baby, his mind was not.
Inside, he was sixteen years old.
He did not belong to this world.
He had come from Earth.
His life there had never been fortunate.
He was abandoned at an orphanage at a young age.
When he was five, the orphanage was demolished.
No one adopted him. With nowhere to go, he wandered the streets with other abandoned children.
At five years old, no matter how precocious he had once been, he had no real survival skills.
He begged.
He fought stray dogs for scraps.
He endured hunger and cold.
Later, he was recruited by a criminal gang and trained as a pickpocket.
Soon after, the gang was arrested.
He spent time in juvenile detention.
When he was released, he had no choice but to return to stealing just to survive.
On the day he turned sixteen, after stealing some food, he returned to his broken shack. Before he could even take a bite—
A bolt of lightning struck.
When he opened his eyes again—
He was here.
An infant.
But even this new beginning had nearly ended before it started.
As a defenseless baby, he had been surrounded by wild dogs.
He had no strength to resist. He could only wait for death.
Just as a dog lunged—
Several flying needles cut through the air, killing the beasts instantly.
Two familiar voices followed.
Shizune.
Tsunade.
That was how he survived.
Tsunade had not been surprised to see a child like him on the streets. In this world, such tragedies were common.
But after seeing his eyes, she brought him back.
Otherwise, he would have starved—or been torn apart by beasts.
Still, he did not feel secure.
A life filled with abandonment and coldness had forged a heart that trusted no one.
He did not know when Tsunade or Shizune might leave him.
So he observed.
And through observation, he confirmed something shocking.
This world…
Was familiar.
The architecture. The clothing. The names.
Tsunade.
Shizune.
They were exactly like the characters from the manga and anime he once watched at the orphanage.
There was no mistake.
He had been reborn into the world of Naruto.
And the woman who saved him—
Would one day become Hokage.
"Little baby, don't look at Lady Tsunade like she doesn't care about you. She's cold on the outside but warm on the inside," Shizune teased gently.
Tsunade crossed her arms.
"Little guy, I almost forgot to ask. Do you have a name?"
She examined him carefully. He looked close to a year old. In this world, children matured quickly. Speaking early wasn't unusual.
The infant remained silent for a moment.
He understood clearly—
This woman would decide his future.
And this world was far more dangerous than the one he left behind. Killing and bloodshed were ordinary here.
He had survived once.
He would survive again.
"…Sora."
His voice was soft, but clear.
"Sora, huh?"
Tsunade's eyes narrowed slightly as she repeated the name.
"It suits you."
Looking into his calm, detached gaze once more, she felt it again.
A child who did not cry.
Did not panic.
Did not cling.
If not for those eyes, she would never have interfered.
If he had been ordinary, she would have killed the wild dogs, left some food and money, perhaps sent him to a nearby town—and walked away.
Adoption would never have happened.
But because of those eyes—
Sora's fate had changed.