Chapter 03: In Bad Shape

Disclaimer:

"Dialogue"

'Thoughts'

-Author notes-

Chapter 03: In Bad Shape

"What are you doing here?" A young man wearing the Konoha bandana called out to him when he tried to get past the door.

"Huh? Am I not allowed? I have been told these were the training grounds of the village." Naruto pointed ahead.

There was a large forest area locked behind a gigantic wall and a large door with the number 44 on it.

"Are you trying to die?..." The young ninja stared at him in shock. "Behind that door is training ground 44! That one is massive and filled with dangerous beasts. Even a Chunin would not dare to enter there without proper preparation…not to mention, a troublemaker like you."

No one had mentioned this to him when he asked...

"Fine…" He sighed. "I just need a quiet place to train a bit. Where can I go? Oh, and I am not a civilian…from what the Lord Hokage told me, I have successfully graduated from the academy and will become a genin soon enough."

"You managed to graduate?!" The ninja was shocked to hear that.

"You seem to know me..." Naruto pointed out. He had no memories of this young man, not even fragmented ones.

"Everyone knows you! You are always causing problems and pulling pranks on the villagers," he shouted.

'A troublemaker?...is that who I became?' He was still considering if his current situation was a gift from some god who wanted to give him a second chance or…a punishment…

It was still hard to tell, but it would all depend on whether this body had any talent for martial arts.

Naruto turned around and walked away from the training grounds, ignoring the guard's attempts to call for him.

He would need to find a different place…a more desolate one where no one would bother him.

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He ended up traveling all the way north of the village. Behind the mountain that contains the carvings of the previous Hokages was a large forest that no one seemed to be using at the moment.

'This will do…' Naruto looked around the clearing. He could not feel any presence nearby. Not that he trusted his senses that much at the moment.

He began by performing some simple physical tests, like punching, kicking, lifting rocks, or jumping.

He continued to do this for two hours until he felt he had gathered enough information to assess his current condition.

All of the tests were greatly disappointing…

His physical capabilities were only slightly above what a normal human should be capable of doing.

Normally, that would not be so bad, but from what he had learned so far, he was supposed to be a ninja apprentice or something like that already.

'Shouldn't he be better trained?'

The only things this body appeared to be extraordinary in were stamina and regeneration.

The small cuts he got on his fists when punching a tree disappeared in a very short amount of time.

Also, even after all that physical activity, he didn't feel tired at all.

"That is quite interesting. How can this body be so out of balance?" Just in terms of stamina, he would be considered near an elite warrior, but the rest…

'At least I am still young…as long as I can train myself again, I should be fine.' He thought as consolation.

According to the identification he found while searching his apartment, he was just fifteen years old.

That was also the age he had when he entered his first sect.

Back then, he was just a useless boy from a farming village.

His life at the sect was not a pleasant one. By making resources very limited, the rules of that sect only favored the strong.

If you did not have the strength to protect your valuables, they would be taken away by others. This included not only cultivation resources but even food and water.

That was the life at the outer sect.

'If I hadn't found the Golden Scripture in those ruins…my existence would have been a terrible one…as well as a very short one.' The Scripture was also the reason for eventually being hunted down. After its existence became common knowledge, everyone in all Murim wanted to get their hands on it.

"Do I still have it with me?" He wondered if it had somehow followed him into this life as well.

The Golden Scripture was considered by many as a divine artifact that could become attached to the soul of its user, traveling with them forever.

So it was very likely that it was still somewhere in him. "There is only one way to find out..."

Naruto closed his eyes and focused on entering his inner mind. This was something he had done so many times before.

The inner mind was a mystical space where one could interact with the metaphysical and with one's own soul.

Darkness enveloped him. Slowly…shapes started forming around him, creating a structure…

"What is this?..." Since this body was still so young, he was expecting a completely empty space, or at least mostly empty.

But instead, he found himself in some kind of underground structure filled with running water.

"What is this place? And who did this?"