Konoha.
A gentle breeze drifted through the air. Birds chirped among blooming flowers. The sky was clear, and from high above, the view stretched endlessly into the distance.
The Third Hokage stood atop the highest cliff in Konoha, overlooking the village. With a faint smile, he puffed on his pipe. Before long, a figure entered his line of sight—it was Naruto Uzumaki, scribbling graffiti recklessly.
"That kid…" The Third Hokage sighed with a trace of helplessness. He didn't mind the pranks. What weighed on his mind… was the late Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze.
Memories were often the most beautiful things.
Just as Hiruzen Sarutobi was lost in recollection—
A deafening explosion suddenly erupted!
"Boom!"
The earth trembled violently. Mountains shook. The entire Konoha—no, even the whole Land of Fire—felt the intense quake!
"An earthquake? At least magnitude ten… damn it! We must issue an emergency evacuation immediately!"
Hiruzen's pupils shrank. His first instinct was to evacuate the villagers.
But the moment that thought formed—
An unbelievable scene unfolded.
In the far distance, within his line of sight, the ground suddenly collapsed, as if struck by something with immense force. Then, like ripples spreading across water, the land caved in layer by layer. Everywhere the shockwave reached, the earth sank completely.
"This… isn't an earthquake? Could it be a meteor impact? But how is that possible… From this distance, I can still see it clearly… Just how large is the affected area? Several miles? No—at least dozens of miles! My god… what kind of meteor could cause something this terrifying?!"
Even a battle-hardened Hokage like him was stunned.
"What happened?!"
"An earthquake?"
"No… look over there! The land thousands of miles away has completely collapsed! What in the world happened?!"
The shinobi stationed at Konoha's watchtowers were equally dumbfounded, staring in disbelief.
—
Konoha.
Hokage Office.
The Third Hokage's expression was grave. Several figures knelt behind him.
"Kakashi. You are temporarily reassigned as ANBU captain. Lead a squad immediately and investigate what happened. Determine whether this was a natural disaster… or man-made."
Man-made?
Kakashi paused.
"Lord Hokage, with all due respect, a collapse on this scale must be a natural disaster. Even the full power of the Nine-Tails wouldn't account for one percent of this."
"I think so too…" Hiruzen said slowly, pipe in hand. "But investigate anyway. And check for civilian casualties."
"Yes!"
Kakashi vanished instantly—taking several ANBU with him toward the site.
—
At that very moment.
The center of the disaster.
There was no meteor.
Instead—
A figure lay sprawled flat on the ground.
"While training, I used just a little too much force… punched through space itself and ended up transmigrating, huh."
The figure was a boy of thirteen or fourteen. Handsome, with sharp features and a faint heroic air.
His name was Raiden.
An orphan since childhood, he had been taken in by his master and trained under him ever since. And while training… he had accidentally used just a bit too much strength—and shattered the barrier of space.
"Master really has no sense of humor… naming me Raiden, and I actually ended up invincible. But hey, transmigrating isn't so bad."
Raiden got up from the ground and stretched his body.
"In this world, no one knows me… so maybe no one will treat me like a freak anymore. Maybe I can make some friends… and eat some delicious food?"
He muttered to himself.
"But I need to be careful. I can't let people here know how strong I am… otherwise, they'll just be afraid of me again…"
In his original world, everyone had feared his power. No one wanted to befriend him. Being too strong… could be lonely.
Raiden mumbled, seemingly complaining about his past. Aside from his master, hardly anyone had dared speak to him.
Anyone who saw him would tremble uncontrollably.
"First, I should find somewhere with people. I'm a bit hungry… I'm really looking forward to the food in this world."
At the thought of food, Raiden's eyes lit up.
"No, I can't just eat without paying… If someone attacks me and I lose control of my aura, I'll be treated like a monster again. Better earn some money first."
As he muttered, he began to imagine a better future.
"Let's go."
With a light step—
His entire body turned into a streak of lightning.
In an instant, he moved hundreds of miles away, leaving behind a massive trench carved into the earth.
Just running—
Had created a bottomless canyon.
"Wait!"
Halfway through, Raiden suddenly stopped.
"Almost forgot… I need to restrain my strength. That running just now… might've been a bit too much."
He scratched his head awkwardly.
Just as he was thinking—
He sensed someone approaching.
It was Kakashi, leading the ANBU squad.
"Captain, there's someone!"
"Stop. Observe," Kakashi ordered.
They saw Raiden, alone.
"A kid…"
"Just one person. Doesn't seem threatening. A survivor?"
"This is the edge of the collapse. Let's question him."
With that, Kakashi flickered forward, appearing directly in front of Raiden.
But the moment he landed—
And saw the scene behind Raiden—
His mouth fell open.
Behind Raiden stretched what looked like a naturally formed canyon spanning thousands of miles. The deep trench was horrifying to behold.
In Kakashi's memory—
There should not have been any canyon here.
"Hey, mister… can you tell me where I can find people?"
Raiden looked at him curiously.