Setting: Sunagakure.
Time: Night.
Event: A young ninja-in-training trying (and failing) to master the twelve ninja hand seals in twenty four hours.
If I had an audience, they would be cheering me on with utter certainty that I'll fail. Like a movie hero who attacks the main villain before the climax.
I began the night with the unique skill I'd honed to perfection – the art of relentless pestering. However, instead of using it on my unsuspecting mom, this time, my target was the set of twelve elusive hand seals.
The room was brightly lit by the full moon outside shining through my open windows. The light chased away the shadows on the walls as I sat on my bed, cross-legged, practicing the intricate yet nonsensical movements.
Each seal felt like a puzzle piece that refused to fit. Who in the heavens even named this shit? How in the heavens does this hand seal look like a hare, or a tiger, or a snake? They're basically ancient ninja gestures. Shouldn't these seals have been improved? They're a thousand years old for crying out loud!
In the glow of the moon, I couldn't help but try to move faster. How in the heavenly hells do these guys do it? The hand seals looked deceptively when seen on the screen – a flick of the fingers, a twirl of the hand, and voila! Jutsu unleashed.
That's a scam people! Reality was proving far more stubborn. My fingers contorted into shapes that reminded me of interpretative dance moves. It was a struggle to coordinate the movements without feeling like a fool.
Time was running out. It's been two days since the beginning of the challenge. I've got five days left to master these seals and achieve my mission.
As I persisted in my attempts, the room echoed with muttered complaints about the impracticality of ancient ninja techniques. Despite my genius status (I know it's self assigned but come on, cut me some slack will you?)mastering these hand seals felt like an ordeal beyond the reach of any S-rank prodigy.
"Taka, it's time to sleep." Mom appeared at the doorway before noticing my efforts. "What are you doing?"
"Practicing ninja hand seals." I kept my eyes fixed on my hands. "Do you have any tips?"
"Can't figure it out on your own?" She teased.
"Mom, do you have any idea how difficult these hand seals are?" I whined, the fatigue of my relentless pestering tactics now sinking in.
"Hand seals take time and practice, Taka. You'll get the hang of it," she reassured me with a gentle smile.
With a defeated sigh, I closed my hands into a final seal, deciding to resume my practice tomorrow.
As my mom approached to close my windows (something she had always done since I transmigrated), she caught sight of my rumpled bed. "Taka, close the windows. Let me make your bed."
With a sigh, I got off the bed. Frowning slightly, I realized something weird. "Mom, have you noticed? It's been a full moon every night for the past two weeks. It's almost like they have it on a loop or something."
Mom chuckled, "Well, the moon does have its own schedule, you know."
"But seriously, Mom, isn't it weird? Always full, always bright."
As I got up to close the window, I glanced up at the sky and nearly stumbled backward. Instead of the familiar round moon, there hung a giant rectangular mirror, reflecting the light of the sun like an isekai portal.
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"Mom!" I shouted, "the moon is missing!"
She walked to the window and looked up, a puzzled expression on her face. "Taka, the moon is right there."
"But, but... it's rectangular! Since when did the moon become a giant mirror?" What the fuck is going on? Naruto's moon is round right?
Amused, she ruffled my hair. "Taka, that's the moon. It's always been rectangular. That's the moon you've always been seeing."
I squinted at the rectangular reflection, my ninja instincts tingling with suspicion. "Are you sure? This isn't some kind of jutsu or illusion?" This is either the world's biggest genjutsu(did Madara change his plans?) or mom has some crazy gaslighting skills.
She burst into laughter. "If you wanted a bedtime story, you just had to ask."
I stared at the vanity mirror-shaped moon. "What bedtime story?"
"The story of Batman."
Wait, what? Batman? In the Naruto world? Did I miss something? "The story of Batman?"
"Let's prepare for bed," she gestured to the bed, "and I'll tell you your favorite bedtime story."
Could this be? My head was spinning as we made my bed. It can't be. For fear of what it would mean, I could not even vocalize the thought in my head.
Moving like a robot, I helped mom make the bed before I was tucked in. Mom sat beside me, cleared her throat and began.
"Once upon a time, during the warring clans era, there was a legendary ninja named Batman. He roamed the lands in search of stories and adventures."
"Batman? Like a bat?" I interrupted, trying to imagine a ninja with bat wings.
"Yes, like a bat," she chuckled. "But not a real bat. He was a skilled and mysterious ninja."
"Did he have bat jutsu?" Please say yes.
"No, Taka, he didn't have bat jutsu. He just liked bats."
"Oh, okay. Carry on." Fuck.
"Now, Batman heard tales of a nature spirit called Zetsu. It was said that if someone could assimilate its chakra, they would gain the power to absorb the chakra around them."
Someone is after sage mode, I see.
"After years of searching, Batman finally found and cornered Zetsu in the land of Whirlpool. Now, Zetsu was crafty. Despite Batman's skills, the nature spirit managed to escape."
"Aw, man! Did Batman catch him again?"
"Yes, after a chase lasting several years, Batman finally captured Zetsu in the river country and sealed him in a gourd of sake."
"Sake? Like the drink?"
"Yes, like the drink. How do you even know sake?" She eyed me as I shrugged. "Batman decided to celebrate, so he headed to a local tavern to relax. While he was drinking, he encountered an Uchiha. The Uchiha recognized what Zetsu was and wanted the nature spirit for himself in order to call out the goddess of the moon, gaining great power."
Kaguya? This is getting serious.
"In order to get Zetsu, the Uchiha challenged the drunk Batman to a drinking contest. If Batman won, he got a sharingan eye. If the Uchiha won, he got the nature spirit."
"Batman accepted the challenge. After a day of drinking, the Uchiha won. When Batman sobered up and realized he had been tricked, he decided to stop the Uchiha from achieving his dream."
"How?"
"He created a giant explosion seal. Its secret is known only to Batman. He flew up into the sky and blew up the moon!"
Fuck. Fuck! Let this be a fairy tale. "Why did he blow up the moon?"
"To prevent the Uchiha from using the power of the goddess of the moon. The next night, the world became so cold that Batman decided to build a new moon."
"Wait, wait, wait! He built a moon?"
"Yes, Taka. Batman used his skills in fuinjutsu to craft a new moon, and that's how our rectangular moon came to be."
Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to announce that I'm fucked. Totally fucked. "What happened to the nature spirit?"
"No one knows. Some say the Uchiha has it. Some say Batman stole it. Some say the gourd is lost in the river country." She gazed out the window with a soft smile. "It's time to sleep." She kissed my forehead. "Sweet dreams."
As the door clicked to signal her departure, I screamed into my pillow. Do you guys know what this means? It means that I'm not the first dude here. Someone's been here before. And this dude has fucked up the story line. Fuck!