Under the stunned gazes of non-player students like Kinoshita Kazuya and Nakiri Alice, a dark blur shot out from the side, launching a Leo Kick straight at Yukino Yukinoshita.
But Yukino already possessed the strength of an elite genin, and a sensory-type ninja at that. An ambush this clumsy? She'd have to be asleep to miss it.
No thought required. Pure muscle memory. Her hands blurred through seals, lips parting to release a thumb-thick jet of pressurized water.
The instant the technique left her mouth, Haruno's expression shifted.
Because the attacker wasn't some mutant crab-monster like the ones on the news. It was an ordinary middle school boy.
Yu Ishigami.
And a direct hit from that water jet would cut him clean in half.
A collective gasp rippled through the onlookers as the pressurized stream sheared off a corner of Ishigami's school uniform, milliseconds from bisecting his torso.
At the last possible instant, a shadow dropped from nowhere beside him. A massive skeletal claw, grey-black and spectral, materialized and swatted the incoming water blast aside like someone crushing a mosquito.
The shockwave caught Yukino off guard, hurling her backward. She slammed into a tree in the landscaped median, thoroughly undignified.
Every eye turned to confirm what they already knew. Makoto Nishikado.
"Th-that's the thing from the broadcast..." Nakiri Alice breathed.
Beside her, Kurokiba Ryo broke into a cold sweat and dropped his voice. "I think it's called... Susanoo?"
"What are you doing, Ishigami?"
Makoto spoke without turning around.
Ishigami, who'd been one footstep from the afterlife seconds ago, showed zero fear. He jabbed a finger at Haruno, still picking herself up from the bushes, and roared with righteous fury: "She was about to ambush you, Makoto-senpai!"
"I was not!" Yukino hunched forward, wincing through the pain of her rebuttal.
Damn it, I think my tailbone's broken...
She was starting to wonder if Ishigami had something genuinely wrong with his brain. All she'd wanted was to walk over and talk. When had that become an ambush?
She was proud, not stupid.
"You glared at Makoto-senpai with killing intent! That's a death wish!" Ishigami declared, every word dripping with conviction.
Yukino's mouth opened. Nothing came out.
What is wrong with this lunatic?!
"I remember now... he's the one who did that to the Ninth Seat..."
Kurokiba stared at Ishigami for a long moment, then leaned toward Nakiri Alice. "Miss, it's definitely him, right?"
Alice swallowed hard and nodded vigorously.
She'd been frozen stiff when it happened.
The incident had spread through Totsuki Academy like wildfire. Most people assumed Ishigami had been quietly arrested, maybe even disposed of in secret. Etsuya Eizan had been the Ninth Seat of the Elite Ten, after all, a person of real status. Anyone bold enough to do what Ishigami did in broad daylight couldn't possibly walk free.
And yet here he was, attending class like nothing happened.
One look at the way he bowed and scraped before Makoto, though, and everyone understood why.
In that moment, ordinary students like Kawasaki Saki and Kinoshita Kazuya, and children of financial dynasties like Nakiri Alice and Yukino Yukinoshita alike, all arrived at the same sharp realization: the old rules no longer applied.
Only after Yukino insisted multiple times that she meant no harm, and after Makoto made it clear he couldn't care less, did Ishigami finally back off. Even then, he jabbed a finger at her nose. "You watch yourself!"
Watching this display, Makoto didn't know whether to laugh or sigh.
This kid's personality has drifted pretty far from the source material.
"After school," Makoto said as they parted ways. "Come train at the Suzuki estate."
"Yes!" Ishigami's entire body trembled with excitement.
He couldn't use any abilities yet, but the fact that Makoto was willing to train him? That was recognition on the highest level.
Ishigami swore a silent oath. He would get stronger. He would repay this debt.
If only Makoto-senpai weren't so terrifyingly powerful, he'd happily take a bullet for the man.
The girls watched Ishigami's retreating back with complicated expressions.
Utaha Kasumigaoka smiled faintly. "Sensei-kun, you've gone and raised yourself a fanatic."
Makoto shrugged. Said nothing.
In this changed world, Ishigami's new personality wasn't necessarily a bad thing. The kid hit hard and didn't hesitate. No bleeding heart to get in the way.
Then Yukino's voice cut through from behind, sharp with a desperate resolve that hadn't been there before:
"I can take his place!"
The Akizuki sisters and the others turned to stare at Yukino, who stood with the expression of someone who'd made a life-altering decision, then looked back at Makoto in confusion.
Take her place? Whose place? In what?
For once, Makoto fell silent.
His gaze swept over Yukino, unhurried, measuring.
And then...
A single, soft scoff escaped his lips. He turned and walked away. Utaha and the others fell into step behind him, leaving Yukino standing alone.
Seconds passed. Her clenched fists began to shake, trembling beyond her control.
He hadn't said a word. Somehow, that said everything.
At noon, the Elite Ten arrived at Class 1-F as usual to prepare Makoto's lunch.
After several days of this, Nakiri Erina and the others had shed most of their initial terror.
Though one amusing development had occurred in the interim.
With Etsuya Eizan's death, Erina had been bumped up from Tenth Seat to Ninth. And the person who filled the newly vacant Tenth Seat happened to be her cousin, Nakiri Alice.
"Thanks a bunch, Nishikado," Alice said with a playful wink as she set down a dish. "If it weren't for you, I never would've made the Ten this fast."
After school, Makoto and his group officially moved into the Suzuki estate.
The Suzuki family's wealth defied comprehension. In the movies, they'd had countless assets blown to pieces and still thrived like nothing happened.
The combat styles among Makoto's female companions varied widely, but every one of them drew power from the Naruto world. At Sonoko Suzuki's suggestion, the estate grounds soon housed a massive training facility modeled almost exactly after the ones in the Hidden Leaf.
Following Makoto's advice, Utaha and the others also moved their parents into the estate.
When the Kasumigaoka parents and the Kato parents, ordinary families from ordinary backgrounds, laid eyes on the castle-like enormity of the Suzuki estate, they stood rooted in speechless awe.
They'd known their daughters had become ability users. Knowing it and standing face-to-face with someone like Shiro Suzuki, a man they'd only ever seen on financial news broadcasts, were two different things entirely. Their hands wouldn't stop shaking.
Meeting Makoto himself was even worse.
Every parent had at least a rough idea of their daughter's relationship with him.
These were decent people with solid values. Their first reaction to the truth wasn't greedy excitement at the social ladder before them. It was deep, gnawing unease.
They'd lived long enough to know what happened when the gap between two people's social standing was too vast.
And the rumors swirling around Makoto painted a picture of someone who was anything but emotionally stable.
He treated their daughters well now. But would that last?
Utaha's father, the boldest of the bunch, steeled himself to approach Makoto for a talk, only to have his daughter stop him with a single sharp look.
Forget it. One step at a time.
As long as their daughter was willing, that was enough.
Ran Mouri brought her mother, Eri Kisaki, but her father Kogoro insisted on staying behind to run his detective agency. His stated reason: "I refuse to live under the same roof as that lawyer."
Ran was furious. She'd been hoping to use this as a chance to reconcile her parents.
Among all the parents, the only one who approached Makoto of her own volition was Yui Yuigahama's mother.
"I never imagined I'd get to live somewhere this fancy! All thanks to you, Makoto-kun." Mrs. Yuigahama clapped her hands together, beaming.
Makoto-kun?
The Suzuki household staff exchanged uneasy glances.
This young-looking woman had some nerve. They didn't dare address him as anything less than "Lord Makoto."
But Mrs. Yuigahama wasn't finished. She sidled up to Makoto like a curious schoolgirl, grinning. "Yui scared me half to death the other day when she made lunch. Since when can that girl cook? That's your doing too, isn't it, Makoto-kun?"
"Mom, stop!" Yui's cheeks burned scarlet as she dragged her mother away.
Elsewhere, at the Sawamura residence.
"Shouldn't we... go introduce ourselves?" Spencer Sawamura, the diplomat, murmured to his wife.
He was supposed to be stationed in England, but the moment crab-monsters and rogue ability users started appearing in the real world, he'd caught the first flight home.
"Dad, don't you dare!" Eriri cut in.
Their family's invitation to the estate had more to do with riding Utaha and Megumi Kato's coattails than anything. During those four-plus years in the Naruto world, everyone had lived at their place.
Eriri's own relationship with Makoto was average at best. Privately, she suspected his opinion of her ranked lower than his opinion of her mother.
"Eriri," Sayuri Sawamura said quietly, "have you cut things off with that boy yet?"
"That boy" meant Tomoya Aki.
Back in the Naruto world, Sayuri had noticed the kid harboring feelings for that artsy, short-haired girl in Makoto's circle. At the time, she'd thought: Bold kid.
After witnessing Makoto's power firsthand, her assessment of Tomoya Aki had evolved into something simpler: I just don't want his blood splashing on me when he dies.
She'd once felt a twinge of guilt toward Tomoya over the childhood mess between him and Eriri. That guilt was why, in the original story, she hadn't intervened much in Eriri's choices. A kind of quiet penance.
But the calculus had changed.
If you're going to piss off Makoto Nishikado, don't drag our family down with you.
"Mom, I..." Eriri hung her head, unable to finish.
Sayuri took a deep breath and made a silent resolution.
If her daughter didn't make a clean break soon, then the next time the Reincarnation Game pulled them in, she'd handle it herself.
Killings in that world carried no legal consequences in reality.
Mrs. Yukinoshita was the only parent in the estate whose children hadn't moved in with her.
Everyone knew, though, that during the Naruto world, Makoto had frequently visited Mrs. Yukinoshita for her desserts.
Combined with her husband's recent passing, they all assumed Makoto had simply taken pity on her and offered a place to stay.
Yes. That had to be it.
Right?
Several days later. Totsuki Academy. Class 1-F.
A girl in Shuchiin Academy's black uniform stood at the podium, her athletic curves impossible to hide beneath the fabric. She wrote "Yotsuba Nakano" on the blackboard, spun around, and introduced herself with a radiant smile:
"Hi everyone! I transferred from Black Rose Girls' Academy. I'm Yotsuba Nakano. I love running and basketball. I hope we can all be friends!"
She's adorable.
The thought wasn't limited to the boys. Even the girls couldn't help but melt.
Yotsuba radiated a natural, infectious energy that was impossible to dislike.
"Huh? There aren't many people in this class, are there?" She tilted her head, scanning the empty seats, and turned to Shizuka Hiratsuka beside her.
Shizuka's expression carried a hint of relief. "They don't come to school much anymore."
The empty seats belonged to Makoto, Utaha, and the others, of course.
Since moving into the Suzuki estate, they rarely showed up. When they did, it was more of a casual outing than an obligation.
Any other students pulling that stunt would've had Iron Fist Hiratsuka dragging them back by their collars. But with Makoto's crew, her only thought was: Better if they don't come.
Who knew if that guy might kill someone over a disagreement.
"Oh..." Yotsuba's head drooped with disappointment.
She'd specifically heard Makoto was in this class.
Meanwhile, four other girls who looked exactly like Yotsuba were being introduced in other classrooms. Her sisters.
Maruo Nakano had agonized over the decision, but in the end, he'd enrolled all five of his adopted daughters at Totsuki.
The crab-monster incidents had spread nationwide, and anxiety was everywhere. Whatever else you could say about Totsuki, it had multiple ability users on campus. Relatively speaking, it was one of the safest places around.
When morning classes ended and the seats remained empty, Yotsuba couldn't resist turning to the girl nearest her, Kotonoha Katsura.
"Hey, um, I heard that Makoto-ku... I mean, Nishikado is in this class too. Is that true?"
Kotonoha blinked, then answered softly after a few seconds. "He is... do you know him?"
Her parents had been overseas, so she'd missed the last gathering and didn't know about any connection between Makoto and Yotsuba.
"Sort of?" Yotsuba scratched her head, unsure how to describe it.
Running buddies, maybe?
Though it had been a long time since they'd run together.
Watching Yotsuba's guileless, sunny smile, Kotonoha felt a quiet sting of something bittersweet. Another cute girl in Nishikado's orbit.
She wasn't the only one thinking it. Across the aisle, Makoto Itou shared the sentiment, though from a very different angle.
He and Kotonoha were in a sort of cold war, at least in name.
Catching the new transfer student mention Makoto Nishikado's name set his teeth on edge. He muttered under his breath: "Must be nice, having powers. If I had abilities like that, I'd be just as good as him..."
A voice, cold as a blade, came from beside him. "Who are you talking about?"
"Nishikado," Itou answered without thinking.
The open palm filled his vision before he could blink.
The slap launched him out of his seat. He crashed through several desks, and every head in the classroom snapped toward the noise.
Yu Ishigami stood over him, one foot planted on Itou's stomach. Before a scream could leave the boy's lips, Ishigami dropped onto him, seized his collar with his left hand, and drove his right fist into Itou's face again. And again. And again.
Yotsuba gaped. "Wh-what's happening with that guy?"
Kotonoha and the others quietly lowered their heads, avoiding eye contact with Ishigami.
They'd gotten used to this.
Anytime someone at school badmouthed Makoto Nishikado behind his back, Ishigami materialized like he'd teleported, and beat them within an inch of their lives.
People were starting to wonder if he'd awakened some kind of tracking ability.
He hadn't. It was pure coincidence. Every time.
"Hey! That's enough!" Shizuka Hiratsuka's sharp voice finally cut through the violence. "It was one sentence. Are you actually trying to kill him?"
The whole school knew Ishigami was Makoto Nishikado's number one enforcer. Most staff turned a blind eye to his recent habit of beating classmates.
But this was going too far. One offhand comment didn't warrant a murder attempt.
Then, cutting through the chaos, a voice devoid of all warmth or humanity rang inside countless minds, mechanical as a machine:
[Reincarnation Game, preparing to launch.]
[Instance World: Chainsaw Man]
[Instance Objective: Kill the Control Devil]
[Countdown: 9... 8... 7...]
"Wh-what?!" Yotsuba went rigid.
Ishigami, fist still cocked mid-swing, and Itou, face swollen beyond recognition, both went pale at the same time.