"Alright, then all the students have introduced themselves, and the teacher believes you will all become excellent ninjas in the future."
Itō Makoto was filled with confidence in his ability to teach this year's class well.
After all, the class had many children from major clans.
Even the Hokage's son and the child of Konoha's White Fang were among them.
With such promising seedlings, it would be hard not to produce results.
For a moment, Itō felt his future was shining brightly.
"Then let us begin our first day of study, the history of Konohagakure."
"The Konohagakure we live in now was established by the First Hokage, Lord Hashirama Senju, who led everyone to build it..."
Listening to Teacher Itō's passionate speech on the podium,
Ryoma looked at the book in his hand titled "The Will of Fire".
He glanced around at the children listening with great interest.
A feeling welled up in his heart, a faint sense of melancholy.
So this was the wonderful political education of Konoha.
Everything must be studied, to understand its meaning.
Ryoma picked up a book titled "The Will of Fire".
Opening it, he found its contents utterly devoid of substance. The history of Konoha had no chronological order.
It was just crooked and slanted, with the words "The Will of Fire" written on every page.
Ryoma, unable to sleep either way, took out the book "The Will of Fire" again. He read it carefully until midnight, and only then, from between the lines, did he see words.
The entire book was filled with two big words:
Pyramid Scheme!
Ryoma couldn't help but sigh. In his past life, watching Naruto was just for fun. Only after truly crossing over did he understand.
Where was there any peaceful, quiet time?
They only wanted us to carry heavy burdens and march forward!
Truly deserving of the title of the strongest genjutsu in the Naruto world: The Will of Fire.
Ryoma shook his head, shaking out the extra thoughts.
Since he had already confirmed the timeline he was in, the top priority now was to plan his own development path, and training plan.
After all, Ryoma did not want to die and have his path extinguished in the Third Great Ninja War that was about to happen.
What others said was their business, but his life was his own.
Who could guarantee that if he died this time, he could cross over again? What if he really kicked the bucket?
Getting stronger was urgent!
...
Creak~
Pushing open the home door that seemed to lack oil, Ryoma returned to the house he lived in now.
Although the house was not large, it had all the necessary daily supplies.
This was one of the keepsakes left to Ryoma by his parents.
Three years ago, Nara Ryoma's parents, under the leadership of the not-yet "Sannin" "Trio of Perversions", went to the Land of Rain and joined the battlefield at Amegakure.
They encountered and engaged in fierce battle with Hanzo the Salamander and the Amegakure ninjas he led.
The final result was that Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade were bestowed the title "Konoha's Sannin" by Hanzo the Salamander.
And Nara Ryoma's father, Nara Seiryu, and mother, Nara Yoshimi, remained forever on that battlefield.
It was precisely because of this that Nara Ryoma had been living independently from a young age for a long time.
Receiving relief funds from the clan every month, although life couldn't be said to be wealthy,
it was more than enough for food and clothing. He could even treat himself to a big meal as a reward now and then.
After all, the main responsibility of the Nara Clan was maintaining the normal operation of Konoha's entire medical system.
Generations of raising deer for Konoha, the Nara Clan's achievements in medicine were virtually unmatched.
And what is most lacking in war?
Of course, medicine to treat and save people!
Therefore, the Nara Clan would not be stingy with its own clan members, especially children who had lost their parents in the war.
Ryoma closed the door and locked it.
He walked into the inner room.
He prepared to begin practicing the secret technique unique to the Nara Clan: Shadow Imitation Technique.
Ryoma's father had been a Konoha Jonin during his lifetime, and his mother was also a famous medical ninja of the Nara family.
Therefore, Ryoma's treatment was naturally not bad. Since he was sensible, he had begun practicing the Nara Clan's secret techniques alongside Nara Shikaku.
However, Ryoma had a secret that no one knew.
That was when he practiced the Nara family's unique shadow secret techniques,
He could always see a different scene within his inner landscape.
There were nine samurai masks of different forms, quietly floating within Ryoma's inner landscape.
In the center of the nine masks, surrounding them, was a larger red samurai oni mask. It felt as if just one look at it had the ability to steal one's soul.
When this situation occurred the first few times, Ryoma had tried to subtly ask his distant uncle, Nara Shikaku, about it.
After all, anime was just anime. The Ryoma now was in a real world.
It was still normal for there to be situations his previous life didn't quite understand.
Maybe even Kishimoto-sensei himself didn't know exactly how their secret techniques were practiced.
What if this was the exact effect required by the Nara Clan's secret technique?
But from Nara Shikaku's mouth, Ryoma had never heard of the existence of these masks.
Nor had he ever mentioned that this scene would appear in the inner landscape when practicing the secret techniques.
So Ryoma began trying to sense and comprehend the secret of the masks himself.
At first, Ryoma couldn't last very long, because every time he tried to use his mental power to perceive the masks.
He would find that during this process, both his mental power and chakra were consumed extremely quickly.
But soon, Ryoma was pleasantly surprised to discover that the harder he worked to perceive the masks, the faster his progress was.
This is much more enjoyable than the tedious chain repair work I do myself.
"But these masks feel familiar, like I've seen them somewhere before."
After being drained by the masks multiple times, Ryoma voiced the question in his soul.
Just the day before Ryoma went to the Ninja Academy for school, Ryoma once again lay exhausted on his bed.
But he could feel it, he was almost there.
The mask on the outermost edge was about to react!
He said he would do it, and he did.
Ryoma sat cross legged on the bed, prepared to be "drained dry" once again.
As Ryoma entered his practice state, he directed his mental power towards the foremost samurai mask.
Ryoma was pleasantly surprised to find that the previous sense of absorption and obstruction was gone.
Replaced by a natural, effortless feeling.
"I've finally fed you to the full."
Ryoma revealed a relieved, doting smile.
Afterwards, he noticed that the foremost mask had gained a slightly more substantial feel. The light it emitted was a bit brighter than the other nine masks.
The details on the mask also became clearer. For a moment, Ryoma felt like he made eye contact with this mask.
As mental power and chakra continuously flowed in, although the mask seemed to gain a bit more solidity, Ryoma himself felt nothing much besides getting increasingly tired.
"Nani!! That's it?!!!"
"I thought you were the toughest one. Why pretend to be a yakuza for no reason?"
Ryoma thought in powerless fury in his heart.
Not believing it was hopeless, he once again felt himself being drained dry.
Ryoma helplessly opened his eyes, and was almost scared to shout for his grandma by the scene before him.
In the originally small room, on the floor, on the table, on the windowsill, and even on the bed.
There were over ten mysterious figures clad in black, in ninja attire, some crouching, some standing.
Only a pair of crimson pupils and bluish-green skin were visible, presenting an aura that kept strangers at bay.
Ryoma looked at this scene before him, shocked.
No wonder the mask looked so familiar.
This darn thing is the Shadow Corps!
Good heavens, did we switch channels?! Why is the power of Jackie Chan Adventure here in this world?
Seeing Ryoma come to his senses and staring at them, all the Shadow Corps soldiers instantly appeared before Ryoma.
They uniformly knelt on one knee in a posture of worship.
Ryoma looked at the scene before him, his jaw once again dropping uncontrollably again.
---
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Author's Note: About the Shadow Corps.
The Shadow Corps featured in this book is a crossover element from the animated series Jackie Chan Adventures. Here's a brief introduction to help readers understand this power system:
Abilities:
▶ Can appear/disappear from shadows instantly.[LITTLE CHANGE IN THIS NOVEL.]
▶ Obey their master without question
▶ Expert in combat, stealth, and reconnaissance
▶ Can travel through and merge with shadows
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[9 TYPES OF SHADOW CORPS IN CHAPTER 3]