This is my ninja journey

Konoha, Year 46, Month of July.

The summer wind was stifling, the cicada's song noisy.

Looking down from the sky, the vast yellow sand and the lush, deep forest formed a clearly defined border line. And on both sides of the border, occasionally one could see rising plumes of thick smoke.

The war had already lasted for more than half a year. The ninjas of the Five Great Nations had practically beaten each other's brains out. Beneath the chaotic battle situation were thousands upon thousands of casualties, from the Kage at the top to the dead-last graduates at the bottom. Everyone was a cog in this war, with no end in sight to the bloody battle.

The richly fragrant sunlight shone into the forest, casting the mottled shadows of the leaves onto the ground.

On the branch of a tree that two people could embrace lay a black shadow. He bit a slender iron needle in his mouth, seemingly taking a nap. A straight sword, more than two feet long, was placed beside him. A few strands of white hair poked out from between his black headband and the forehead protector with a bird-head pattern.

"What bad luck. If I had known earlier, I would have watched more anime and fewer hentai. Now I don't even have a big shot to rely on."

The boy, who looked to be about twelve or thirteen years old, sighed and looked up at the sunlight overhead, his black eyes narrowing slightly.

Counting from the time he regained consciousness in his mother's womb, he had been in this world for a full twelve years. As the years passed, although he was no longer confused and hesitant, he couldn't relax at all.

Actually, transmigration wasn't strange to him at all. After so many years, there was nothing to be surprised about. But the key was what kind of world he had transmigrated into, and how much foresight he could have.

He still clearly remembered how he went from initial excitement to astonishment and finally to embarrassment. It wasn't just that this ninja world was so dangerous, but also that his limited foresight was completely useless.

"That Sasuke and Naruto haven't even been born yet, and there's no I love Luo or Itachi that those girls are always talking about. Why not change it to Taimanin? I'm definitely familiar with that stuff."

[Note: I love Luo/Gaara, One Strike Seven/Itachi, Taimanin is retained.]

Not only was he reborn too early, but he was also reborn in the wrong place. He had watched every minute and every second of Taimanin and remembered every posture, but Naruto was too long. He had skipped around and watched over a hundred episodes before he was busy fighting for his life, and this super-long anime was left behind and never picked up again.

This wasn't even the worst part. The key was that his brain wasn't a mobile hard drive. Adding up two lifetimes, it had already been decades, and the already limited foresight had long been blurred by time.

"Indeed, whether it's in the past life or this life, twelve years old is ultimately a hurdle. In the end, I still have to rely on myself." Sighing softly, he heard faint footsteps. The boy spat out the steel needle in his mouth. After a faint, almost imperceptible sound, it steadily embedded itself in the opposite tree trunk, trembling slightly.

"Otonashi, you were hiding here! Didn't Instructor Hinata ask you to stand guard?" Accompanying the faint footsteps was a childish female voice. The boy scrambled up and turned his head to see a girl with her hands on her hips.

She looked about the same age as him, with short black hair that reached her shoulders. Her features were quite delicate, but her still-childish face was full of seriousness.

"Am I not standing guard? Shizune." Otonashi glanced at his new teammate, whom he hadn't known for long, and slowly got up and slung the straight sword leaning against the tree onto his back.

"Besides, we're in the second line. In front of us, there are geniuses like Hatake Kakashi who have opened up a search line. It's better for us unrated guys to take this opportunity to rest and recuperate."

The girl named Shizune was choked speechless. Compared to her peers who had been promoted to Chunin last year or the year before, she, who was still a Genin, was indeed quite unskilled.

But after thinking about it for a moment, she felt that she shouldn't be lectured by this 'junior' who was only a year younger than her but had repeated two grades.

"Hanyu Otonashi, I really don't know if you were replaced halfway through. You were so talented when you first entered the academy!" Shizune chased after the boy who had repeated a grade into a junior despite being in the same class, which made Otonashi, who had just jumped to the ground, pause in his steps.

Super strong chakra control, astonishing chakra volume. When he first entered the academy, everyone thought that Hanyu Otonashi would graduate several years early like Hatake Kakashi, and then be promoted to Chunin before the age of ten. No one expected him to have such a high start and such a low finish. If Instructor Hinata hadn't picked him out, he might have muddled through until the end of the war.

"By the way, I even heard that you went to learn medical ninjutsu. Are you doing this on purpose?" Shizune asked with a frown, without her usual gentleness.

"How is that possible? I'm just not good at some things. Let's go quickly. Instructor Hinata is already waiting impatiently." Otonashi turned his head to the side, revealing a smile as he ran into the forest.

There was no deep meaning, nor was it laziness. He was just quietly making a fortune. In this ninja world full of cheaters, it would be suicidal to run around without fully exploring the potential of this body. In order not to be crushed by the cheaters, he had practiced harder than anyone else over the years.

Now that his mental power had been initially achieved, he naturally joined this Third Shinobi World War to accumulate experience.

The two of them ran through the forest, faintly feeling gazes coming from all directions. Those were hidden sentries in the shadows. The ninja camp was not as lax as it seemed on the surface.

After a few minutes, the view ahead suddenly opened up. A pool of clear blue water could be seen, with dozens of ninjas stationed beside it. Most of them were wearing multi-functional ninja vests. They were either standing or sitting, either assigning tasks or resting.

After the war between the Land of Wind and the Land of Fire began, thousands of Konoha ninjas gathered at the southwest front line. These fresh troops undoubtedly pushed the Shinobi World War to its climax. There were nearly ten camps like this one.

Passing through a checkpoint composed of several Chunin and confirming that they were not spies infiltrated by transformation jutsu, the two arrived at a tent on the edge of the river. There were also two people here. The middle-aged man in a black ninja uniform had a pair of white eyes without pupils. He was the Jonin of this newly formed Team 17, Hyuga Hinata. Beside him was a boy with black hair and black eyes.

The boy had a pair of beautiful phoenix eyes, and on the back of his clothes was the pattern of a red and white fan. He smiled and waved, "Otonashi, Shizune, you're finally back."

"Sorry, Shisui. We were delayed by a little chat." Otonashi smiled casually, very friendly to this teammate.

Uchiha Shisui. Even though Otonashi didn't have much impression of him, he still thought he was a true genius. He graduated at the age of seven and participated in the war as a Genin. In addition, he was friendly, and the two had a good relationship.

"Chatting? You just arrived at the front line. What could you and Shizune have to talk about?" Shisui asked with some doubt. After spending several months together, he always felt that this companion was overly mature.

"Just some idle talk. By the way, do you want to play a game of cards?" Otonashi conjured up a deck of poker cards like a magic trick. If he had made any changes to Konoha over the years, it would be to increase the types of gambling.

"Enough. We are currently on a combat mission. There is no need to mention unrelated matters." As the team leader of this three-person team with a huge age gap, Hyuga Hinata interrupted somewhat sternly.

Jonin were limited. This kind of ninja team was naturally something that only elites were qualified to enjoy. Ordinary ninjas were just consumables. The nearly thirty-year-old head of the Hyuga branch family glanced at the three Genin under his command. They all had impressive backgrounds.

There was no need to mention the genius of the Uchiha clan. That Shizune was also a disciple of one of the legendary Sannin, Tsunade. Only this Hanyu Otonashi was somewhat unfathomable to him. He was on the battlefield for the first time, but he didn't show any nervousness at all.

Was it the composure brought about by talent? But why did he fail the graduation exam twice?

Hyuga Hinata didn't bother to think too much about it. He took out a scroll with an expressionless face and said, "The mission just assigned by Lord Orochimaru. Team 17 will take over the scout mission of Team 12 on the right wing. Check your equipment. We're leaving immediately."

"Yes."

The three of them quickly nodded. Not to mention Shizune, even Uchiha Shisui began to nervously check the equipment on his body, making sure that the explosive tags, kunai, military ration pills, and other items were properly worn. Only Otonashi was still not nervous, looking around.

"Hanyu Otonashi, didn't you hear my order?"

"Instructor Hinata, I already checked everything when I was standing guard just now. I guarantee that every piece of equipment is in its best condition." Otonashi patted the vest on his body. He was actually looking for Orochimaru just now.

This one of the Sannin was now the commander-in-chief of the Konoha front line, and he had obviously heard of his name in his previous life. It was just that all kinds of rumors made people afraid to rely on him.

His words left Hyuga Hinata with nothing to refute. He could only frown and warn, "I've heard all the rumors about you in the academy. But if you're careless on the battlefield, you'll die."

"I understand. Thank you for your guidance."

Otonashi nodded lightly, obviously prepared. He reached out and touched the already whitened hilt of the sword behind him, delicately and gently.

Finally, it's today...

He remembered that when others were still learning to walk, he was already studying hand seals. He took a deep breath and followed Hyuga Hinata out of the camp and into the dense forest.

The only one a person can rely on is himself!