1 Shirakumo, a world of blood awaits you.

It was a day like any other, the sun was shining and the wind was gently blowing within the village hidden in the leaves, Konoha.

The ninja academy had been doing some of their usual routines, testing the fledgling ninjas to see what their limits were and the like.

Today specifically, was a day when the students would have to be pinned against each other in one versus one combat, a skill that they must learn to excel at if they wish to live up to adulthood.

This is a usual thing at the academy, happens once every two weeks or so in order to assess each student's skill and how they compare to one another, as well as their improvements.

And right now, two boys had just fought each other in the academy's training grounds.

One boy was standing straight, completely unharmed, he hadn't broken a sweat during this encounter. While another one was laying down on the sand, covered in bruises, huffing for air uncontrollably after exerting himself way too much during the fight.

"That's enough." The voice of a man sounded, halting the fight between the two younglings, before continuing. "Minato wins, again."

The winner breathed out, looking down at his opponent who at the moment didn't seem to be able to move.

This loser had bright ruffled white hair and auburn-colored eyes, he had some large eyebags under them, but they still seemed adamant and full of resolve, definitely the look of a hard worker.

The rest of the students quickly made their comments upon the announcement.

"Minato won again, huh?"

"Same old, same old."

"Won't that guy learn that he has no chance?"

"Minato is the best in the class, and that guy is dead last."

"I'm surprised he has the guts to challenge him again and again during these one-on-one combat assessments."

"Maybe he just likes getting his ass handed to him?"

""Hahahaha!""

The class of students had a hearty laugh at the wounded boy's expense, he'd gotten used to it by now with how he is.

Always bad at the practical exams, mediocre at written tests, little to no friends and usually alone.

While Minato was the class Ace, he didn't hang around other people much so some ended up thinking of him as cool and chill, he is amazing at anything he does and the girls think he's handsome.

He is totally a polar opposite to the defeated kid, who simply looks like a zombie.

"I've still got... More in me!" The voice of the wounded boy groaned out, as he pushed himself to try and get up.

"Hey..." Minato, the other boy, chimed in, "You really don't know when to give up, do you Shiro?" He smiled wryly.

"Heh, hehe..." The boy stood up, grinning widely at Minato. "I won't get strong if I just take a beating and lay down, will I?"

The students started again.

"Oh brother, here he goes..."

"Stop it, you're embarrassing yourself!"

"I can't watch, this just makes me feel bad for the guy."

"I don't know if I should laugh or cry."

If there was one thing, this kid named Shiro had, it was guts. Although most in his class interpreted it as a lack of brain cells instead.

"Shirokumo! Stay down. I'll call someone to look at your wounds." The man from earlier piped up, halting the boy once more.

"I can keep going, sensei!" Shiro said, unwavering on this topic.

"No, you really can't." Minato said whilst suppressing a sigh and walking forth, using a hand to push on Shiro's chest and a leg to trip him over and down to the ground.

"Gah!" Shiro cried out as the air in his lungs left him.

He certainly couldn't get up this time.

Sighing, the chunin in charge of these ninja trainees spoke again. "Shirokumo, you're not going to get anywhere by mindlessly pushing yourself. You're only going to get hurt, or worse, harm your future teammates! Now stay there and wait for the medical staff to come patch you up."

"Fine..." Shiro grumbled, prompting a chuckle from Minato.

"Well, you did do better than last time, I'm sure you'll keep getting stronger yet, right Shiro?" Minato spoke kindly, he wasn't the type to mock someone that was trying their hardest.

"Oh, you bet! If it means wiping that smug grin off your face..." Shiro piped up, obviously trying to bicker.

"Hahaha! Well, I wish you good luck with that endeavor," Minato laughed heartily, "I won't lose though." He added at the end as he walked nearer to Shiro.

Crouching down, Minato whispered, "I'll see you after school, be at the place." He said and turned to leave, quickly making his way out of the academy's training grounds.

"Right..." Shiro agreed and allowed his body to relax, finally feeling all the fatigue from his earlier battle.

He'd gone toe to toe with Minato, again, for the thirteenth time in the academy, and the one hundredth fifty-eighth one in general.

"Huff... Huff..." Breathing heavily after everyone had left the training grounds, Shiro couldn't help but think to himself, 'Damn that genius asshole... He really doesn't pull any punches, does he?'

Around six months have passed so far since he and Minato became friends, or the equivalent of that at least, they were reading buddies.

Minato has always been more of a loner, he enjoyed reading books in his spare time rather than socializing with the rest of the students. And Shiro knew that, which is how he got close to him.

Back when Shiro's parents were still alive, they'd bought him quite a few books as per his request, as he'd wanted to learn more about the world and the like.

The plan eventually leading to him getting close to a book worm who'd later become the fourth hokage.

Those two had initially bonded after Shiro recommended a book to Minato, it was the very first piece of literature written by a young Jonin named Jiraiya.

An exceedingly interesting book, as Minato said, he'd suddenly become a fan of the author. And due to him finding the book through Shiro, they became friends.

This was truly a cunningly executed plan on Shiro's side.

It's a good thing that he himself was a fan of Minato in his past life, else he'd never have known that the guy enjoyed reading as a kid and that Jiraiya's books were his favorite.

Truly, that knowledge has been a blessing to his poor soul.

It really got him thinking though, 'I swear, since coming to this world, that's the one thing that's gone well for me. My new family were outsiders, People dislike my hair color, my parents ended up dying on a mission, I got enrolled in this stinking academy only to find out I'm in one of the worst timelines too!'

Meeting the young Minato was all he needed to know in order to guess what timeline he was in, and it was a bad one for him...

'The bloody second ninja war is on the horizon! I've got like a few years at best, fuck, if I get deployed there, I'm dead!' Shiro continued his thoughts.

He'd been reincarnated in the world of Shinobi, however, he himself doesn't even know how he got here.

He never met a god, he never got to choose any sort of power or anything of the sort, nor was he born within a famous and rich family like the usual novel protagonists he read so much about in his past life.

Heck, he didn't even know how he died.

'I'm just a nobody with a hair color that sticks out, no Kekkei Genkai, no Doujutsu, no special talents! Nothing! Just regular ol' Shirokumo... God damn it.' He kept grumbling in his head, the situation really wasn't bright.

Ever since he'd been enrolled in the ninja academy, he'd put in everything he had to train himself, knowing full well that he needed to if he wanted to survive, but it really didn't seem to be working all that well for him...

He was mediocre at best, not good at ninjutsu and absolutely terrible at genjutsu. His taijutsu was below average too.

He's really not been enjoying his time in this world, like one might guess.

However, the friendship he'd managed to make with Minato had really helped him a lot. Every day the two would go out together and either read or train, Minato obviously being the one to help with Shiro's training.

That mere act, all the tips he had been giving out to the boy, and the positive outlook on improvement, have truly made Shirokumo quite a bit stronger after six months. Even though he wasn't special, he was at least good enough now to call himself average.

Despite his very young age, Minato was already above most chunin ninja, and was still growing stronger with every passing day, a thing that none of the other students or teachers had noticed yet.

But Shiro did, oh he sure did, with every punch and kick that came on each following day, he could certainly see it...

The guy was improving at a rapid rate.

"I swear... One day I'll land a clean hit in that perfect jawline of his..." Shiro grumbled in annoyance on the ground.

"Hahaha, I'm sure you will do that someday, Shirokumo." The voice of a young girl sounded from above him, prompting Shiro to move his gaze.

The sun shone brightly in the sky, obstructing his gaze and not allowing him to spot the person's features.

However, he didn't need to see this girl's face in order to verify her identity.

"Are you mocking me, Kurisu?" Shiro asked, smiling slightly at the girl's presence.

She was the one person who didn't laugh at him, which he appreciated.

"Of course not, why would I?" The girl named Kurisu seemingly smiled, speaking with a tad of sarcasm.

She then crouched down to get a closer look at Shiro. "You did well today, good job, you hard working snowflake."

Once she'd gotten closer and had obstructed the sun light with her bodyframe, her facial features became visible to Shiro.

She had a pretty face, clearly soft skin and long, silky black hair.

Her most noticeable feature being, her pale white eyes.

"How I wish I at least had the Byakugan..." Shiro murmured, gazing at the two eyes with deep longing.