I remember the moment I died — not because it was tragic, but because it was inconvenient.One second, I was finalizing the defense of my doctoral thesis, running through equations and projections in my head. The next, everything went black.
No warning. No pain. Just the sudden realization that even a man with an IQ over two hundred is just as fragile as anyone else.
Then came the light.
When I opened my eyes again, the world was… smaller. The air smelled of smoke and mold, and I couldn't move properly. My limbs were short, frail — the body of a child.
Before I could panic, something clicked in my mind.A voice, mechanical and emotionless, echoed in my thoughts.
[Welcome, User.][Initializing: Naruto Template System.][First Template Selected: Itachi Uchiha.][Template Sync: 5% Complete.]
A surge of warmth rippled through my body — fire, wind, and water swirling together like an awakening storm. My vision blurred for a moment, then sharpened into terrifying clarity. I could feel the faint pulse of chakra flowing through me — erratic, wild, but alive.
And then, the flood hit.
Memories that weren't mine poured into my skull — flashes of kunai spinning through the air, the rush of chakra igniting into roaring flames, the calm face of a boy standing over fallen enemies. Nine-year-old Itachi Uchiha. A prodigy. A soldier. A ghost in human form.
And now… me.
I sat up on a torn mattress in a small, dim room. Cracked walls, broken furniture, a flickering light bulb that buzzed like a dying fly. Gotham. Somehow, I knew this city. Even before the memories of this body filled in the gaps.
Apparently, my parents were caught in the crossfire between Batman and a gang of metahuman criminals. They didn't survive. The authorities found me in the rubble — another orphan in a city that chews children alive.
But unlike the rest… I wasn't ordinary.
My reflection in the dirty mirror confirmed it. Black hair that fell to my shoulders. Pale skin. Eyes that looked older than they should — calm, calculating. The same eyes that haunted the shinobi world.
Itachi Uchiha.
Except… not quite. I could feel the limitation — 5% sync. A genin-level Itachi. My chakra reserves were shallow, my Sharingan dormant, my body too small to draw out real power. Still, even this much felt intoxicating.
I raised my hand, focusing my mind the way the memories instructed. The chakra moved, sluggishly at first, then smoothly through the pathways in my arms. A spark of fire flickered between my fingers — real, tangible heat. I extinguished it before it could set the mattress ablaze.
I smiled faintly. "So this is chakra…"
In the distance, I heard police sirens wailing — Gotham's lullaby. Someone screamed in the alleyway below. This city was chaos incarnate. And me? I was a reborn genius with the mind of a scientist and the instincts of a shinobi.
The possibilities were endless.
[New Objective Unlocked: Survive in Gotham for 30 Days.][Reward: Template Sync +5%.]
I laughed softly. "Survive? In Gotham? That's the easy part."
Because for the first time in two lives, I didn't just feel alive —I felt unstoppable.