KAGE

— Where is this place? Heaven... or hell? I wondered as soon as I awoke. The last thing I remembered was saying goodbye to my family and waiting for one of those two destinations. I had died. The consequence of a reckless life—alcohol and women had led me to a fatal STD, cutting my prosperous life short.

The place was dim and gloomy. Soft sobs echoed through the room, accompanied by quiet whimpers. The faint light suggested that the only source of illumination was a candle.

I looked at my hands and froze. They were much smaller than I remembered. As an avid web novel reader during my final days, I immediately understood what was happening.

There was only one explanation.

REINCARNATION!

Looking toward the corner of the room, I saw five children. The oldest was a girl who appeared to be around ten years old, while the others varied in age. The two eldest—the girl and a boy who looked about nine—were the most composed, but the sorrow in their eyes was impossible to hide. The younger children covered their mouths as though they were afraid of being heard, yet beyond their sadness, unmistakable fear filled their faces. Every single one of them, without exception, kept staring toward what had to be the door.

A short while later, the door opened.

A woman wearing wrinkled clothes stained with blood entered, carrying what looked like a sword... no, it was a kunai. Supporting a mortally wounded man, she staggered into the room. The moment the children saw him, realizing he was on the verge of death, they burst into tears. The three youngest rushed toward the couple, clinging to them as they cried out, calling them Father and Mother.

After laying the dying man on a bed, the woman turned her eyes toward me and slowly walked over.

The instant she saw that I was awake, every child visibly relaxed, as if an enormous burden had been lifted from their shoulders.

The battered woman broke down in tears and wrapped me tightly in her arms.

— Ren, my son... you're alive... Thank goodness you're alive...!

She cried even harder as she hugged me. The children beside her also burst into tears and joined the embrace.

The moment I heard her call my name, memories flooded my mind as though by magic.

What I learned left me stunned.

Apparently, my name was Tsukishiro Ren, the eldest son of the Tsukishiro Clan from the former Uzushiogakure, in the Land of Whirlpools.

The Tsukishiro Clan was an elite clan, known by many titles such as The Guardians of the Sealers, The Blood Blade, and, most famously, The Right Hand of the Uzumaki Clan.

I was the eldest son of Tsukishiro Masaroni and Uzumaki Aoi. My father was the eldest son of the elderly patriarch of the Tsukishiro Clan, while my mother was the youngest princess of the former Daimyo of the Uzumaki Clan and the younger sister of the last Daimyo of Uzu no Kuni.

The union between my parents—the heirs of the two most powerful families—strengthened the political and economic ties between both clans even further. The Tsukishiro and Uzumaki had already been linked through marriage for centuries.

The reason I was here was simple.

Ren had died.

Roughly six or seven years had passed since the destruction of Uzu no Kuni, the Land of Whirlpools.

In a desperate attempt to preserve the bloodlines of both clans, the last Daimyo, Uzumaki Katsuro, secretly arranged for his descendants to escape so that the final branch of the Uzumaki royal family would survive.

Thus, my parents—Tsukishiro Masaroni and Uzumaki Aoi—along with me, Tsukishiro Ren, my two younger siblings, and Uzumaki Katsuro's three children, were forced to flee.

Against all odds, we succeeded.

Unlike the other great nations, the Land of Whirlpools was an island. Because of that, our escape was rather unconventional—we hid inside the stomach of a giant whale, one of my father's summoned creatures.

Even after the war ended, however, the hunt for the Uzumaki royal family and the Tsukishiro Clan never ceased.

Those of lower status were comparatively fortunate. Some were captured and treated as breeding stock.

Both clans possessed extraordinary bloodlines.

The Uzumaki were renowned for their sealing techniques and their enormous chakra reserves.

The Tsukishiro, on the other hand, were feared for our Gravity Release Kekkei Genkai, a bloodline limit with overwhelming potential once fully developed—equal to, or perhaps even greater than, those of legendary clans such as the Uzumaki, Uchiha, and Senju.

After our escape, we took refuge in the Land of Water.

Not long afterward, however, the Third Great Ninja War began, throwing the entire world into chaos. Suspicion and paranoia spread everywhere.

Fortunately, the fighting remained concentrated around the central region shared by four of the Five Great Nations, particularly the Land of Rain. Because of that, the pursuit by our enemies finally came to a halt...

Or so we believed.

Over the years, all of us dyed our hair black.

The most distinctive trait of our bloodlines had always been our hair.

The Uzumaki possessed crimson-red hair.

The Tsukishiro were born with pure white hair.

To blend in and avoid attracting attention, changing our hair color became the first step in hiding our identities.

We lived in complete isolation.

For more than six years, we remained hidden deep within the mountains, avoiding all unnecessary contact with the outside world.

Life was peaceful.

Simple.

Until the day they found us.

A force of more than two hundred shinobi attacked us.

Dozens of them were Jonin.

It was obvious the assault had been carefully planned. They were confident enough to challenge my parents head-on.

The original Ren's father, Tsukishiro Masaroni, was an incredibly powerful shinobi.

Armed with his Gravity Release Kekkei Genkai, he was nothing less than a killing machine on the battlefield.

But even he couldn't overcome such overwhelming numbers.

He stayed behind to block the enemy while his wife and the children fled.

The original owner of this body, Ren, sacrificed his own life to stop an enemy who had broken through both his father's and mother's defenses.

His mother had already become the second line of defense, but she was fully occupied fighting multiple opponents at once. She ordered Ren to escape with his younger siblings while they handled the situation.

When the enemy reached them, Ren had no choice.

As the oldest among the children...

He stepped forward.

With strength barely comparable to that of a newly promoted Chunin, he managed to repel the attacker...

At the cost of his own life.

As death approached, he looked at his parents desperately fighting for their lives while his siblings and cousins fled, their faces filled with terror and helplessness.

And yet...

What Ren felt was not fear.

It was relief.

Relief from the crushing burden of mediocrity that had weighed on him his entire life.

By dying, he believed he would no longer disappoint his father with his lack of talent.

Especially now that the Land of Whirlpools had been destroyed and nearly the entire clan exterminated.

The unbearable burden of failing to live up to his father's expectations—and those of his ancestors—would finally disappear.

And so...

With the death of Tsukishiro Ren...

My journey in the Ninja World began.