Prologue

There is a county surrounded by stone, it lies deep in deadlands where only the fools or the brave dare to set foot outside without a specific goal, a place where Shinobis are just the beginning of one's worst nightmare, where both the Sun and earth conspire together with Beasts to entrap and kill the unlucky ones.

The Land Of Earth has yet to see peaceful days, the elder civilians that live in the capital will often sigh in sadness while recording their tough childhood, when asked many would say that even their fathers and the father of their fathers had always been in dire circumstances, the threat of the Shinobi was something constant everywhere and at all time.

Legends spoke of a different era though, they reminded all of the Sage of the six paths, and the origins of Ninjutsu. The tales speaking of that Utopia, however, were merely considered to be a children's fairy tale, something to give hope to the lands ravished by war and famine.

Ishikawa Akira knew the truth. He had seen with his own two eyes in a television series, unfortunately, all that knowledge was useless as he knew nothing of the use of Ninjutsu, nor anything about the country in which he was reborn.

He was merely a baby, after all, bound by his shackles made of flesh.

"He is so beautiful, almost reminds me of the moon..." Ishikawa Kira, a middle-aged man, smiled at the sight of his sleeping son.

"True... I bet he will be just as handsome as his father, a threat to all beautiful ladies... fufu." Akira's mother, Ishikawa Haruko laughed as she carried him in her warm embrace, her tender eyes showering him with love.

"It's a pity that he was born in such an era, I doubt he will ever know peace..." Kira shook his head and frowned as he sat down on the nearby couch.

The two lived in a small stone house raised from the stone that lied beneath their feet, besides tables, chairs, and beds, there wasn't much inside the house, without Kira's Earth and Water Ninjutsu, it would have been impossible to live in this place.

"It isn't that bad..." Haruko put Akira in the cradle and turned back. "I heard that there has been some effort to unify the Warring Clans under one banner, perhaps life will get better at that time."

"The one called Ishikawa, isn't it? I heard about it too in the market, the Imperial Palace guards were speaking about him, they say he's someone from the Kamizuru clan."

"Kamizuru? Then... the Daimyo's faction must be quite ahead than the others, I didn't think that he would manage to suppress the war!"

Haruko was unable to comprehend the situation, for so long had the clans waged war and caused chaos and unrest in the country, it was the first time since those old times that the Daimyo had managed to gather so much military power in his hand.

The Land of Earth's situation was quite complicated, while it was considered a big country, the Shinobi clans residing inside it didn't care a lot for the Daimyo's authority.

The Warring States Period was how the wars between the countries were called, unlike the Land of Earth with its current internal conflict, other countries such as the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind had hired those powerful shinobi clans to work as their armies, these mercenaries fought for supremacy for quite a long time as those countries greed for land, resources and more increased every day in the past.

The Land of Earth, however, was never really able to participate in the war, the chaos inside came from the many clans that controlled certain areas of the country fighting one another to increase their territory control more natural resources.

The Kamizuru Clan was among the strongest clans, they specialized in controlling bugs, and were capable of wiping out an entire town in a single night without anyone noticing, initially they did very little for the country and mostly stayed to themselves, later this changed as the connection between the Daimyo and them increased thanks to a political marriage, and now, it seems that seed has sprouted into a powerful tree.

The Ishikawa family was but just one of the many small and civilian families surprised by the news, whether or not one clan was above the other was something that didn't matter for them, after all, and this piece of news was like a small dot of light, pushing away the darkness even if ever so slightly. That small amount of hope was much higher than any other time they felt it in the last years.

"Maybe we should leave the Land of Earth, perhaps that way it would be possible to give our child a promising future..."

Haruko smiled and sat on her husband's lap, looking at his eyes, she chuckled and gave him a passionate kiss. "I'll follow you wherever you decide to go, but please, think more before making a decision, I don't want unnecessary risks."

Kira nodded, a grave expression laid on his face. He understood her, not many were capable enough of leaving the country, among Shinobi he was considered Jonin, an elite among his equals, but that didn't mean he was invincible, much less capable of protecting two civilians along the way. Without help and permission from the powerful clans that rule the surroundings of the Land of Earth, it would be impossible to leave.

& & &

Akira stood tall on the small patch of grass, his dead eyes loosely watched the horizon, but they were clearly without focus. His white traveler robes fluttered with the wind and covered him from head to toe.

"Akira! Wake up! The caravan is leaving!"

Hearing Isamu's voice he frowned and left the slope. He went to the caravan and climbed over the first carriage, with the leashes in his hand he waited for the mercenaries to finish their preparation.

It didn't take long as Isamu soon climbed the ladders and sat down beside him.

Without waiting he lashed at the horses and they quickly started trotting forward.

Desert Vultures was a trading company situated in the Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning. Since the Grand Massacre, a certain level of Peace has been achieved and The Land of Earth borders had finally been opened up, finally allowing commerce to flourish among the two Countries connected by the Deep Passage Sea, unfortunately, Akira's parents didn't live long enough to see it.

Most of the rebellious clans had been wiped out, and those that bowed their heads joined forces and became part of Iwagakure, a party that had remained neutral throughout all of the conflicts without moving a single hand to help.

That, however, meant nothing to him, as it couldn't bring his dead parents back to life. Having been born without any talent whatsoever to become a shinobi, he had no choice but to live his life as a civilian as he waited patiently for opportunities.

Before dying, his father had tried to teach him how to use Ninjutsu, but although he was at the level of a Jonin, everything he had learned was through trial and error and he was a very talented person, it was impossible for Akira to learn the same way his father did, without Chakra Control Control practice methods and Exercises, it will be impossible for him to set foot in this path.

His father was a freak that relied on cheer strength from his Chakra and self-created Ninjutsus to trash very strong opponents, he had no formal training in Martial Arts whatsoever, and this became the reason why he lost his life to a mere squad of assassin Chunin while working.

Unlike him, Akira had only one thing to rely on.

He called it the Shinobi HUD.

[Ishikawa Akira]

Age: 10

Status: Civilian

Elemental Affinity: ?

Body: E+

Chakra: F-

Soul: (Unable to measure currently)

Skill Points: ?????

Skills:

Novice Riding (Lv 10/10) - Allows the user to ride horses and carriages. +100% Riding Control, +100% movement speed while riding, + 50% Increase in Reflex while riding.

[---]

When he willed it, the holographic display would come up out of nowhere and show him some information about himself such as his age and how powerful his body is.

It couldn't be seen by anyone but him and had come with a very powerful yet useless (at the moment) cheat. Due to the heavy requirements, Akira wasn't sure what could trigger the event which he called Skill Awakening.

The only time he had managed to learn a skill was after training Horse and Carriage Riding for a week in Desert Vultures headquarters. He had many theories on how it worked, but due to his poverty struck condition, he was unable to try any of these methods.

"Hey, Akira, take a look." Isamu, the blonde teenager with blue eyes laughed as he flaunted a golden wristwatch. "Cool, isn't it? I paid 200 thousand Ryo for it!"

Akira frowned hearing the company's young master. Isamu was from an aristocratic family, in the Land of Earth's social hierarchy that meant he was a special type of noble, but his position was only acquired and could only be maintained by wealth.

In a certain sense, the social hierarchy was basically:

Daimyo - Tsuchikage

Titled Nobles - Aristocrats - Iwagakure Clan Heads

Iwagakure Jonins

Every other shinobi

Civilians

Foreigners

Slaves

Being at the bottom was the worst, and the closer you were to the top, the better your treatment was.

"So pretty, it's almost capable of making me envious." Akira's answer was just as dry as the air, almost too rough for Isamu.

He still smiled nonetheless, for Isamu, one of the pleasures of life was showing off his wealth to people that would never manage to have just as much money as him. "Haha! Are you jealous? Well, you should be, this is something you'll never have!"

Akira ignored the childish comments of Isamu and focused on the road.

That however didn't mean he wasn't angered. Money was exactly the reason why he was currently unable to even try some of his cheapest theories about the Shonibi HUD's skill system.

Books were very pricey, especially the ones that taught something useful, and not just anyone could become a regular resident of Iwagakure to try and become the disciple of some clan, basically, most of the methods he could try were cut off for him until he had enough money to spare with something other than food, medicine, and clothing.

At some point, the horizon became blue and the mesmerizing landscape that met with the Sea became visible. They had finally arrived at Broken Sailors Port town.