---
"Welcome, little soul."
A bright light flickered, and a glowing sphere emerged from the void.
"W-Who… who's talking? Where am I?" A small puff of smoke appeared as well, but it was much smaller and far less impressive than the glowing sphere.
"Child, don't worry about who I am, or even where you are. I only came to fulfill the promise made at the end of your last life—I will grant your final wish."
"Huh? Last life? W-What was I in my last life? What was my wish?" the soul asked, trying to remember, but failing miserably.
"Your final wish… your final wish was to be reborn in a world of magic and powerful abilities. As promised, I will grant you that."
The sphere pulsed faintly with light, and a roulette wheel appeared before the soul.
"This is the wheel of reincarnation. The world has already been chosen based on your last wish, but now you must receive a special ability from that world. Think carefully, and this wheel will give you what you'll need most. You have three chances."
"Wait! Can we talk a bit first? At least tell me where I'm going—or who I was? How can you fulfill my wish if I don't even remember what it was?" the soul asked, almost begging.
But the sphere seemed to sigh.
"It's not that I can't tell you. But that was the agreement we made with your final breath. You said you wouldn't mind dying, as long as you could go to that world—even if it meant forgetting who you were."
"I said that? But why… I don't remember." The soul sighed, and silence fell, until the sphere spoke again.
"You must decide soon whether you'll follow through with our contract. If you take too long, your soul will naturally enter the reincarnation cycle, and even I won't be able to help you anymore."
"I-Isn't there really any chance? W-Will I at least remember this conversation in the next world?"
The sphere remained silent.
"…Alright then. I'll spin it."
The roulette began spinning slowly at first, then picked up speed.
Three indicators hovered over the wheel, marking several spinning phrases the soul couldn't understand. There seemed to be thousands of different entries flashing by.
The first indicator lit up and locked onto a word, while the other two kept spinning.
The sphere looked at the word and murmured approvingly.
"This first ability will be very useful to you. It's not something you wished for, but it will definitely serve you well—even in the final moments of the world. Excellent potential."
The little soul trembled slightly—perhaps disappointed that it wasn't something he had wanted—but the explanation gave him some comfort. He didn't ask what the ability was; since the sphere hadn't said it now, it likely wouldn't answer even if asked.
He continued watching the roulette, and his "heart" skipped a beat when the next marker lit up, displaying a name above it.
The soul immediately shifted his focus to the glowing sphere, which remained silent. But then, it shimmered and moved slightly.
"This isn't an ability, but it may grant you some advantages. It's not bad in any way. You wanted this once before, but what you received is only half of it, and in a different form."
"Oh? So that means it's something I at least wanted… that's good." The soul sighed, feeling a bit more at ease.
Finally, the last marker stopped. The air seemed to freeze for a moment, and the sphere moved in front of the final marker.
"This ability… is it not a good one?" the soul asked, breaking the silence.
The sphere trembled for a moment, then turned to the soul.
"This ability… it is good, but in the time you'll be living in, it's not a good thing to have. It will only bring you danger.
"That's why I'll seal it inside your body. It will awaken when the time is right, but I won't say what it is. Of course, even sealed, this ability won't be useless. It will nourish your body slowly, increasing your talents over time. You'll understand in the future."
"Incredible! What kind of ability is it?" the soul asked excitedly—then quickly regretted it. As expected, there was no answer.
"I'll tell you now what your abilities are and where you're going, alright? You will remember this conversation in the next world, so don't worry."
The soul nodded, eager to know where he was headed—though not really invested, since he wasn't sure if this was truly his wish. He was more excited to hear about the abilities.
The sphere approached and began.
"You're going to the Shinobi World—a world of magic, where magic is known as chakra. Every ability in that world relies on chakra as its fuel. Chakra is a mix of your physical and spiritual energy. Everyone is born with chakra—some more, some less—but not everyone can control it at will."
The soul nodded, understanding.
"Of course, you don't need to worry about that. Your first ability will be a type of Dōjutsu, or Kekkei Genkai, as it's known in that world. Your eyes will be able to copy any technique you witness. It's a weaker version of the eye you wanted, but it's specialized for copying—so it can mimic many abilities even that other eye couldn't."
"W-What? Copy other people's techniques? Wouldn't that be dangerous if someone found out?"
"Well, the world you're going to is dangerous, yes. But there will also be people who can help you stay safe. I suggest you use this ability wisely—at least until you're strong enough. Or place some personal limits on it."
"Got it," the soul agreed.
"Your next ability is tied to your chakra," the sphere continued. "Normally, only special individuals are born with a relatively high amount of chakra—like those from certain clans. However, you'll be born with chakra comparable to a tailed beast—well, half of one, to be exact. Still, that's a huge amount. And with this chakra, you'll develop a regeneration ability. It won't regenerate organs or limbs, but skin and non-fatal wounds should heal without issue."
"For your information, tailed beasts are among the beings with the highest chakra reserves in that world. You'll have half the chakra of the strongest one, so be glad."
"…Huh?"
The soul paused for a moment. "Just like the other ability… I guess this one comes with risks too, right?"
The sphere seemed to smile and nodded.
"Exactly. Since your chakra will grow from childhood to adulthood, your control over it will need to be trained and improved over many years. Also, there are people who seek out individuals like you for experiments—or to control you for their own purposes." The sphere seemed to be teasing him on purpose.
"But don't worry—I'm placing a visual limiter on your chakra. To everyone else in that world, you'll appear to have just above-average chakra, though it's actually far more. So there's no need to worry."
The soul finally let out a sigh of relief. This time, he didn't ask about the third ability—he already knew he wouldn't get an answer.
"Very well, everything is settled. I'll now send you to that world. Remember—you are not the protagonist, so the world will not favor you. Your chances of dying are high. That's why I recommend becoming strong as quickly as possible."
Before the soul could respond, his form began to break apart, and he soon vanished from that place.
The sphere that remained let out a sigh, then assumed the form of an old man with white hair and a beard.
"How did this boy get that lineage? The odds were one in a billion… I don't know if it's a blessing or a curse."
Looking at the third marker still hovering there, the old man sighed. On it, the words ********* glowed in gold.
---
Meanwhile, in a Konoha orphanage, a boy around six years old woke up in a fright.
"Am I… alive?" the boy said aloud, his voice sounding thinner than it should have.
He jumped to his feet, legs struggling to keep up, and ran to a large mirror.
But what he saw left him speechless.