I'm… nineteen years old.
Just an ordinary student. A standard anime watcher.
After tidying up my room, I glanced at the clock—it was already 7:30.
Summer classes were about to begin.
"I'm heading out first!"
After saying goodbye to my family, I stepped out with a spring in my step.
Just around the corner of the apartment complex was the bus stop. I was running a little late, so I quickened my pace.
"Please, let me make it on time! I can't be late on the first day!"
But the moment I turned the corner, an ear-piercing noise rang out beside me—
"Beep! Beep! Beep!"
Before I could even turn my head, my eyes caught a glimpse of a gray truck—and a terrified driver struggling with the steering wheel.
"Ah, shit."
The world spun violently. A sharp, crushing pain spread through my entire body, followed by a piercing agony that tore straight through my chest.
My consciousness began to blur; everything went dark.
"Well… at least I bought insurance."
He already knew what was happening to him.
"Seriously… never thought something like this would actually… happen to me… ah… mom… sis… oh damn… my browser history… no, wait—who cares about fatal injuries when—"
His vision dimmed. The world sank into blackness. Even sound faded into silence.
"So this is it… I'm dying?"
A few seconds later, his heartbeat stopped.
---
On the Other Side
When he opened his eyes again, the first thing that came to mind was—
"Is this hell?"
The faint light in the room barely let him make out his surroundings.
Rough stone walls. A simple wooden bed, a chair, a small table—barely anything else.
"Where… am I?"
"I got hit by a truck, didn't I?"
He pushed open the creaking door. Sheets of heavy rain blurred everything outside into a gray haze.
Something about the downpour felt eerily familiar.
"This… this is the Rain—"
Suddenly, a searing pain tore through his skull. Memories began flooding in like a film reel spinning out of control—
Birth.
Training.
Being implanted with a salamander's poison sac.
Battles against samurai.
Clashes with shinobi.
Becoming the leader of Amegakure, the Hidden Rain Village.
Controlling the daimyō.
Resisting the dominance of the Five Great Nations…
and eventually igniting the Second Shinobi World War.
After a long while, he finally pieced everything together.
"So… I got isekai'd into the Naruto world? That truck—was actually the isekai express delivery?"
He slumped at the doorway for a long time before regaining his composure.
"I mean, sure, I've watched plenty of anime before… but living through it myself is a bit unreal."
Over the next two days, he sifted through the memories of this body's previous owner, replaying them like slides. When it finally sank in, he wanted to cry.
What was Naruto all about again?
Right—bloodline supremacy and Konoha's plot armor!
And Amegakure? It's basically a background prop village!
And who had he reincarnated as? None other than the current leader of the Amegakure—Hanzō of the Salamander.
Technically, his name was already Hanzō. His summoning beast was a venomous salamander, and after countless battles, the two became infamous together. The name "Salamander" became synonymous with him—an honorary title fused with his legend.
Hanzō the Salamander.
The Demigod.
In terms of accomplishments—he once led Amegakure to invade the Land of Iron, single-handedly conquering over half its territory. The samurai of Iron feared even the whisper of his name.
In terms of power—he fought the young Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru, annihilating their troops and suppressing all three of them at once.
At that time, the trio were already elite jōnin, the kind trusted to lead an army.
Whether or not "Demigod" was an exaggeration, there was no doubt—he possessed Kage-level strength.
Unfortunately, this once-proud demigod was eventually crushed by the combined might of the Great Nations.
His defiant will was worn away by the years, turning him into a power-hungry old man—a mere stepping stone for Pain's "awakening."
In the end, he was resurrected by the Reanimation Jutsu—only to be slain in a single strike by Mifune, the same samurai he had once defeated.
"Alright… so now I've sorted out the intel," he muttered with a sigh.
"Usually, in these reincarnation novels, people start off with some kind of cheat—
If not a powerful bloodline, at least in Konoha! "
"But me? I get dumped in the Rain Village! Is this some kind of joke?"
He paused, frowning. "Unless… my world was also written by someone like that…"
If that were true, then he, just a high schooler, had carried way too much pressure.
As a modern-day young man, his mindset was quite like Shikamaru's—
Be a regular shinobi, earn some money, get married, retire early, spend his days reading in peace… and die before his wife does.
But now? That dream was dead.
Marry? How???
Forget having kids—just kissing would be impossible with this damn gas mask!
What woman would ever want to get close to him?
"Ugh… just destroy everything already. I'm done."
Thus, another anime fan's dream died in Amegakure.
"Forget it."
Still, joking aside, he knew he had to accept reality.
Even without a cheat system, he already possessed the greatest advantage—
the Naruto storyline itself.
He knew the future.
And that meant he could change it.