Chapter 1

Glug.

As the drink went down his throat, the burning sensation spread from his abdomen to his lungs.

A wave of warmth dispelled the winter chill.

"Hic."

The young man exhaled deeply, leaning comfortably against the stone behind him.

On closer inspection, he wasn't quite a typical boy. His long hair flowed gracefully, though the scars on his face somewhat marred his appearance. But as he would say, a man's scars add wildness and charm.

Apart from his clean martial arts uniform and the sword strapped beside him, the only out-of-place item was a wine gourd.

For the young man, a sip during winter training was the greatest pleasure since coming to this world.

"Kaze, kids shouldn't drink."

Beside him, a boy whose cuteness was mixed with an unexpected maturity frowned and reached out, seeming to want to stop him, but eventually gave up.

His nasolabial folds moved slightly as he sighed.

His name was Uchiha Itachi, five years old.

And the young man beside him was his friend, whom he had met six months ago during shuriken training.

Kaze.

"That's something your mother should tell you."

Glug.

After a glance at this remarkable boy, Kaze looked away and took another sip.

"Unfortunately, I don't have one."

Unfortunately, I don't have one.

He said it so casually, with only a hint of regret and no sorrow.

Itachi's face showed a bit of guilt, as if he wanted to apologize.

After all, in his view, being an orphan was pitiful, especially in these times.

"Don't show that face."

Kaze calmly patted Itachi's shoulder. "Someone like me is fine."

"At least I don't spend every day sighing and frowning, worrying about things you don't need to worry about, and pondering the meaning of life."

"Aren't you tired?"

Sighing and frowning?

Itachi felt a bit embarrassed.

Indeed, today he had sighed more than usual after training.

The reason?

The village and the Uchiha clan.

Sigh.

After thinking for a moment, the boy with nasolabial folds sighed again.

"Here, have a sip too."

"Moderately numbing your nerves will give your brain a good rest."

"Trust me, it's the only way to sigh less."

When the wine gourd was thrown over, Itachi looked at his friend's serious eyes in shock.

He had already said that children shouldn't drink.

And given his personality, he wouldn't casually drink even when he grew up.

But if he refused a friend's offer, it might create a rift in their friendship.

Would this rift affect my friendship with Kaze?

After all, aside from Shisui, Kaze was the only friend he could truly talk to.

Young Itachi's brain was working frantically.

From the proffered wine alone, he had already thought of so many problems.

"Your biggest flaw is overthinking."

As expected.

Just from Itachi's flickering eyes, Kaze knew what he was worrying about.

Shaking his head, Kaze was about to take back the wine gourd, but a small hand stopped him and took it.

Really drinking?

Kaze's eyes widened, not expecting Itachi to really press the gourd to his mouth.

Glug~

As a large mouthful of strong baijiu went down, Itachi's expression changed from calm to firm, then from firm to puzzled, and finally from puzzled to terrified in just three seconds.

"Ah..."

With shoulders shaking violently, Itachi pointed at the wine gourd in horror.

"Yes, pure Erguotou that is ten times stronger than Konoha's so-called sake."

Kaze, content, took back the gourd and explained.

As a transmigrant, he couldn't stand the lightness of sake, which was no different from a soft drink.

But this strong baijiu suited his taste.

Of course, probably not many in this world could handle such strong alcohol.

"Ah!"

With a burning throat, Itachi sprang up and ran forward.

He needed to find some water before he really spewed a fireball.

What on earth was that?

Just thinking about the taste in the gourd terrified him.

He had secretly tasted his father's wine, but this was on a whole different level!

Watching Itachi's retreating figure, Kaze calmed down, raised an eyebrow as if making a decision, and then took a deep breath.

"Hey!"

His powerful shout seemed to freeze the snow-covered training ground. Itachi, with a flushed face, turned back to see what his friend was up to now.

Snowflakes melted instantly on his burning face as the boy with nasolabial folds heard something.

"Nice to meet you."

"My name is Kaze, a man destined to reach the pinnacle."

Extending his hand in a distant handshake, Kaze grabbed his sword and the wine gourd and vanished from the training ground.

A real friend?

Breathless and with a burning throat, Itachi finally nodded and hoarsely spoke.

"My name is Uchiha Itachi."

"Please take care of me!"

...

Mitarashi, in Japanese culture, refers to the purification area near a shrine where people wash their hands. Only the washing area beside a shrine can be called Mitarashi.

Of course, Konoha doesn't have many shrines, but the Mitarashi clan name has been passed down.

If we're talking about shrines, the Uchiha clan does have one, but it has little to do with the Mitarashi clan.

By this generation, after the Third Shinobi World War, the so-called Mitarashi clan had only one person left carrying the bloodline.

Anko, a girl five years older than Kaze, had just graduated from the Ninja Academy.

Whoosh!

As soon as she stepped into the yard, a figure darted to Kaze's side.

Staring at Kaze expressionlessly for a long time and then sniffing him, Anko confirmed one thing.

The little brother she picked up when she was a child had drunk again.

"You!"

With her hands on her hips, Anko pointed angrily at Kaze, seemingly wanting to say something.

"Shh, I just told someone today that no one would care if I drank."

Kaze glanced at Anko calmly. He appeared composed, but he felt warm inside. After all, Anko was technically his only family.

Being scolded by a family member...

Might be interesting?

Kaze thought so.

Unfortunately, he miscalculated.

Anko, unpredictable as always, wasn't concerned about the drinking but was angrily pointing at her forehead protector and then shaking Kaze's empty wine gourd.

"You promised to celebrate my graduation and drink together tonight, but you drank it all yourself!"

"Do you even care about your sister?"

"Who was it that raised you, putting in all that effort?"

"Where's your conscience?!"

So, you're mad because I didn't drink with you?

Kaze's mouth twitched.

And...

Are you sure you raised me?

Do you have any shame?

As a transmigrant, Kaze didn't need anyone to do such things for him.

Even if others could do it, he couldn't bring himself to let them.

Ignoring Anko, he tossed her a filled wine gourd and returned to his room.

At that moment, as he touched the sword beside him, a transparent template appeared before him.

Host: Kaze Yoru.

World: Naruto.

Unlocked Template of the King of Swords: Zaraki Kenpachi.

Unlock Percentage: 2.8%!

When the template progress reaches 5%, the first swordsmanship enhancement trait will be unlocked.

When the template progress reaches 10%, the next character template will be unlocked.

Swordsmanship Points: 50 points, which can be used to exchange for items in the system store or to advance template progress.

Daily Task: Swing the sword 1000 times, rewards 0.1% template progress (Completed).