Chapter 1: The Last Crawl
The cold wind howled in front of Shrek Academy's gate, carrying with it a heavy silence that made the scene appear even crueler beneath the darkness of the night.
And on the stone ground, Ji Lin lay motionless.
Blood slowly flowed from the side of his head, while his clothes had been torn apart in several places until his frail body looked as though it had just emerged from a battle that shattered everything inside him.
His breathing was weak and uneven.
Every breath that escaped his chest came out with extreme difficulty, as though it consumed the final remnants of his life.
Several students had gathered not far away, yet none of them dared to approach.
The gazes directed toward him were complicated and unsettled.
Some felt pity.
Others merely watched in cold silence.
After all…
Ji Lin was nothing more than a boy without a martial soul.
A person from the Blue Star world who stubbornly entered Shrek Academy despite lacking any real talent.
But within the Academy of Monsters…
There was no place for the weak.
Suddenly, Ji Lin's fingers trembled against the stone ground.
Then, with immense difficulty, he slowly opened his eyes.
The pain ravaging his body nearly tore apart his consciousness completely, yet what truly burned within him was not the wounds…
But that overwhelming feeling of helplessness.
He slightly raised his head toward the dark sky.
And within his eyes, hatred slowly began to gather like darkness seeping into the depths of a frozen sea.
I will have my revenge…
His voice came out hoarse and weak.
Yet the coldness hidden within it instantly caused the expressions of several students to change.
Ji Lin gritted his teeth so hard that blood seeped from his lips, while his shoulders trembled violently from exhaustion.
If I'm given another chance…
His breathing stopped for a brief moment.
Silence spread.
Even the wind itself seemed to freeze in that instant.
Then his final words slowly escaped his lips, carrying a hatred so deep it nearly swallowed the entire night.
I will destroy Shrek Academy.
The reason behind all this humiliation was something he had never chosen for himself from the very beginning.
Ji Lin had not originally been born in this world.
He came from a distant world known as the Blue Star, a place completely different from the Douluo World where martial souls controlled the fate of humanity.
When he first arrived here, he believed his knowledge of the future would be enough to carve a place for himself.
He thought that possessing memories of the original story would grant him a chance to change his life.
But reality shattered those thoughts with painful speed.
In this world, knowledge alone held no value.
Only strength made others acknowledge your existence.
And without a martial soul…
No one cared who you were.
And Ji Lin possessed nothing.
No martial soul capable of awakening miracles.
No talent that could draw the attention of teachers.
No powerful background supporting him.
He was merely an ordinary boy who found himself inside an academy filled with true monsters.
At first, he tried to cling to hope.
He convinced himself that hard work could change everything.
And so, he remained within the academy no matter how much ridicule or contempt he endured.
Every day, he woke before sunrise.
He moved silently through the hallways and courtyards, carrying out the tasks others refused to do, while watching the geniuses from afar as they grew stronger day after day.
And every time he saw those talented individuals shining beneath the lights…
He could feel the enormous gap between himself and them.
But even that was not enough to make him give up.
Because something inside his heart continued resisting stubbornly.
Perhaps it was pride.
Or the remnants of a foolish hope that had not died yet.
But he refused to live the rest of his life as someone worthless.
And so, he decided to approach Tang Wutong.
It was not because of love or naive courage, but because he realized that the brilliant people of this world possessed the power to change the fate of those around them.
And for once…
He wanted to stop being someone invisible.
He thought that staying close to her might grant him a chance to stand within this world instead of remaining outside it, watching everyone from the shadows.
But there was something important he failed to understand.
Some people are born far beyond the reach of others.
And approaching them sometimes brings nothing but disaster.
That day, no one gave him a chance to explain himself.
The moment he was found near the training grounds, accusations rained down on him without end.
They said he had sneaked into a restricted area.
They said he intentionally interrupted their training.
Some even accused him of trying to spy on their techniques.
But the truth had never mattered from the very beginning.
Because the verdict had already been decided.
And Ji Lin… did not possess enough strength to object.
What he experienced afterward was not merely simple punishment.
It was a clear demonstration of the overwhelming difference between them and him.
A silent message telling him his true place.
Your place is not here.
Your place is beneath our feet.
He collapsed onto the ground while pain tore through his body, yet that was only the beginning.
Huo Yuhao showed no mercy.
As for Tang Wutong, even the way she looked at him was so cold that it suffocated his chest more painfully than the beating itself.
Then he was dragged before Mu En.
And the moment that man released his terrifying pressure, Ji Lin felt as though an entire mountain had crashed down upon his body.
The sounds of cracking bones rang out with horrifying clarity.
One of his ribs shattered.
His arm was violently dislocated.
As for his knees, they could no longer even support him enough to remain standing.
Yet despite all of that…
He felt that the thing truly shattered inside him was not his body.
But his dignity.
Under those cold gazes, he felt like nothing more than garbage thrown onto the wrong road.
And in the end, he was cast outside the gates of Shrek Academy without the slightest care.
Like something that had completely lost its value.
Like a person… who should never have dared to dream from the very beginning.
At that moment, the academy gate stood tall behind him, cold and towering like a wall separating two worlds that could never meet again.
It made no sound.
Nor did it grant him even a final glance.
But suddenly—
Ji Lin's fingers moved against the stone ground.
Very slowly, they clawed into the bloodstained stones while his exhausted body trembled violently beneath the freezing cold.
Then he began dragging himself forward.
A small movement.
Heavy.
Yet it was enough to create even the slightest distance between himself and that gate.
His skin scraped against the rough stone, tearing open even further, while a long trail of crimson blood stretched behind him across the gray road.
And still, he did not stop.
He pulled himself forward with his right arm first, then painfully dragged the rest of his body behind it while his knees scraped against the ground until the sensation within them gradually began to disappear.
Every movement ignited pain through his nerves like fire.
And every breath leaving his chest felt as though it could be his last.
But despite all of that…
He continued crawling.
Another meter.
Then another short distance.
The night grew colder, and the wind became harsher until even his fingertips slowly started losing sensation.
Yet one thing inside him refused to collapse.
His will.
And with every slow movement that dragged his body farther away from Shrek Academy…
Memories began flooding through his mind one after another, as though his entire past had returned to tear him apart for one final time.
The first person to appear in his memories was Tang Ya.
His childhood companion.
The girl whose eyes had never known the presence of sorrow, and whose laughter could scatter even the darkest days.
How many times had she stood before him enthusiastically, raising her small fist with confidence while hope shone brightly inside her eyes?
"One day, we'll restore the glory of the Tang Sect… just wait."
She was always the one pushing him forward whenever he hesitated, as though she believed in him more than he believed in himself.
And as the years passed, that quiet relationship slowly began to change.
It was no longer just a simple friendship.
Something deeper had silently started growing between them—a feeling neither of them dared to give a clear name to.
Then came Ling Luochen.
Cold and calm like eternal ice.
The girl before whom everyone stood with caution and respect, as though merely approaching her could freeze their very breath.
But whenever she sat beside him…
She was different.
She would quietly listen while he told her stories about heroes and legends from his old world.
And with every story, her gaze gradually softened without her even realizing it.
To the point that she had begun imagining herself as the heroine within those tales…
And in those fantasies, she always saw him as the person standing beside her in the end.
At first, she thought it was nothing more than a passing amusement.
But as time passed, her heart no longer saw it that way.
Then came Jiang Nannan.
The gentle girl who hid her exhaustion behind a quiet smile while carrying the burdens of life alone upon her shoulders.
When she reached the edge of despair and was prepared to sacrifice herself for the sake of curing her mother, the entire world had already closed its doors in her face.
But Ji Lin extended his hand toward her without hesitation.
He helped her.
He stood beside her.
And he asked for nothing in return.
From that day onward, a warm feeling slowly began to slip into her heart whenever she looked at him.
Then came Zhu Lu.
Proud and stubborn, someone who did not easily give her respect to anyone.
She believed that only strength deserved acknowledgment.
Yet Ji Lin, with his strange knowledge of the future and the advice he gave her during the most critical moments, gradually made her look at him differently.
Little by little, she started caring about his presence far more than she should have.
To the point that she never even noticed when curiosity turned into genuine attraction.
As for Zhang Lexuan, she was different from all the others.
Mature and calm, carrying within her eyes an intelligence that made speaking with her strangely comforting.
Their conversations often lasted for hours without boredom ever appearing.
Quiet discussions.
Deep conversations.
And sometimes, playful remarks from him that caused the corner of her lips to rise into a faint smile, hiding emotions she had never openly admitted.
Then finally…
Came Xiao Xiao.
The girl who loved food more than anything else in the world.
How many times had she sat beside him with sparkling eyes while he offered her desserts brought from Earth—things this world had never tasted before?
At first, she approached him only because of those strange flavors.
But as time passed…
His very presence became something she eagerly looked forward to.
Six girls.
Six different memories.
And every one of them left a deep mark upon his heart until forgetting them became impossible, no matter how hard he tried.
And because of that, even while crawling across the cold ground stained with his own blood, he refused to let himself stop.
He dragged his body forward with unbearable difficulty—one arm moving ahead, then the other—while leaving behind a long crimson trail stretching through the darkness like an open wound carved across the face of the night.
The trees slowly passed beside him.
And the cold grew harsher with every meter.
But Ji Lin continued.
Kilometer after kilometer.
Until the lights of Shrek Academy completely disappeared behind the distant forest.
A full ten kilometers.
Ten entire kilometers spent dragging his shattered body across the frozen earth.
And only there…
Did his strength finally collapse.
His face fell against the damp soil while his body trembled violently before his breathing gradually weakened.
Every exhale escaping his chest felt heavier than the last.
Even so, his lips moved once more.
I won't forget…
His voice was barely audible.
I will never forget.
Those were not merely hateful words.
But a true vow.
A vow carved deep into his soul with blood and spirit alike.
If this world refused to grant him a place to live…
Then he would seize one with his own hands.
Even if he had to turn his soul into an eternal flame that would never extinguish.
His vision slowly began to blur.
The sounds around him became distant and distorted, as though they were coming from the depths of a dark sea.
The cold gradually crept into his limbs.
And something heavy began pulling him away from reality.
Away from the earth.
Away from everything he had ever known.
But despite all of that…
Those six faces still remained within his heart.
Warm.
Clear.
And for that reason alone, he refused to die here.
A faint, hoarse laugh suddenly escaped his lips.
What bitter irony…
He closed his eyes for a moment while his fingers trembled against the dirt.
This is my true nature, isn't it?
A bitter smile appeared across his pale face.
A contradictory man… selfish… and cowardly.
He breathed with difficulty before continuing in a broken voice.
Perhaps everything I did looked noble in the eyes of others…but in the end, I only did it for myself.
He laughed again.
But this time, the sound felt hollow and exhausted.
And in the end… I even managed to run away.
His eyes lowered toward his shattered body.
I crawled for more than ten kilometers…
My legs are destroyed.
My spine is broken.
And now…I can't even stand anymore.
A sharp bitterness tightened around his chest.
All I can do… is crawl.
Silence lingered for a long while.
Then suddenly, his fingers slowly moved toward his pocket.
There…
He felt something small that was still with him.
An envelope.
A letter he had never been able to open no matter how hard he tried.
With a trembling hand, he pulled it out and turned it over between his fingers several times while his vision became increasingly blurred.
And finally…
He took a slow breath.
Then began opening it.
To his surprise…
The envelope opened easily this time.
And the instant he lifted his eyes—
The world disappeared.
There was no longer any forest.
No earth.
No pain.
Only an enormous void surrounding him from every direction.
A silent and strange space, as though it existed beyond the boundaries of reality itself.
And before him…
A massive wheel appeared, slowly rotating within the darkness.
Faint letters glowed across its surface before clear words gradually formed above it.
You only have four spins.
His pupils shrank slightly for a moment.
But he did not hesitate.
He raised his hand toward the wheel and pushed it with every last bit of strength he had left.
It began to spin.
Faster…
And faster…
Until it turned into a vortex of light.
Then its speed gradually slowed.
Until it finally stopped.
One name illuminated before him.
Naruto.
And in the very next moment, a black box quietly appeared before him.
It looked simple from the outside.
Yet the energy radiating from it made his heart tremble violently.
He immediately opened the box.
Inside was an ancient scroll, and beside it lay two cards bearing the symbols of two clans.
The Uchiha Clan.
And the Senju Clan.
Ji Lin first reached toward the card carrying the Uchiha symbol.
The instant his fingers touched it, the card vanished directly into his body.
And in the very next moment, a strange heat exploded inside his eyes.
It felt as though his very blood had ignited, as though something ancient sleeping deep within him had finally begun opening its eyes.
Clear words appeared within his mind.
Uchiha Clan Bloodline acquired.
Special Gift Included: Mangekyō Sharingan — Tsukuyomi, Kotoamatsukami, and Kamui.
His body trembled violently, yet his hand did not stop.
He reached toward the second card bearing the symbol of the Senju Clan.
And the instant he touched it, an overwhelming life force surged into his body—completely different from the deep coldness of the Uchiha bloodline.
It was warm.
Heavy.
And filled with inexhaustible power.
His shattered bones began producing faint cracking sounds, while the blood that had nearly frozen inside his veins started flowing fiercely once again.
The words appeared in his mind once more.
Senju Clan Bloodline acquired.
Special Gift Included: Hashirama Senju's Sage Body — Wood Release.
Then a third card quietly appeared.
Only one name was engraved upon it.
Itachi Uchiha.
Ji Lin's eyes flickered for a moment before he touched it without hesitation.
The card vanished into his body, and in that same instant an enormous flood of knowledge surged into his mind.
Itachi's techniques.
His methods.
His combat experience.
His calmness within battle.
And his ability to read his enemies before they even moved.
All of it poured into his consciousness as though it had always been part of him from the very beginning.
Finally, Ji Lin turned toward the ancient scroll.
The Forbidden Technique Scroll.
He extended his hand and slowly opened it.
A brilliant light exploded from within, swallowing the entire void.
Hand seals.
Ninjutsu.
Forbidden techniques.
And knowledge that did not belong to this world.
And in that moment, Ji Lin understood the truth.
He had been reborn.