He turned his gaze toward the Daimyō. "I only want his life. The rest of you leave."

  I stepped forward. "I won't let you."

  A sigh. "Then, like your friend... you will die."

  He moved. Faster than anything I had ever seen. I barely had time to react. My body screamed to move, but—

  A fsh of silver.

  A new voice.

  "Chidori!"

  A streak of lightning cut through the air, f the masked man back.

  Kakashi Hatake had arrived.

  The masked man stared at him, silent for a moment. Then, with a quiet whisper, he said,

  "Kakashi..."

  And vanished.

  I dropped to my knees. My hands were shaking. Tenma's blood was still warm on the ground beside me.

  The world blurred.

  I had failed.

  I was eight years old, and I had failed.

  That night, I didn't sleep.

  As I y awake, staring at the ceiling, ohought ed me.

  The mission was pleted. The daimyō was safely escorted to Konoha. And none of it mattered.

  I am not strong enough.

  I turned my head, gng at Sasuke, sleeping peacefully beside me. His small hands curled into his b, pletely unaware of the horrors outside.

  This world…

  This ninja world…

  It was wrong.

  And I would ge it.

  No matter the cost.

  I have to bee stronger.

  Strohan my father.

  Strohan Shisui.

  Strohan him.

  Some days ter-

  Shinko didn't speak for days after we returned. And then, one day, she simply left.

  "I 't do this anymore," she told me whe for the st time. Her voice was empty. "I thought being a shinobi meant strength. But it just means losing people over and ain."

  I didn't try to stop her.

  Because deep down, I uood.

  Shisui found me again that night, just like before, sitting on the rooftop, staring at the vilge below.

  "This isn't fair," I muttered, my voice low.

  Shisui sighed, sitting beside me. "It never is."

  I ched my fists. "I was strong enough to see it ing. But not strong enough to stop it."

  Shisui pced a hand on my shoulder. "Theronger, Itachi." His voice was quiet, but firm. "Not just for yourself, but for the people you want to protect."

  I looked at him then, something burning in my chest.

  I didn't want to just be strong. I wao create a world where people like Tenma didn't have to die.

  Where people like Sasuke would never have to experiehis pain.

  And that was the moment my path was set.

  No matter the cost… I would ge this world.

  ///////////////

  Hokage office , Konoha -

  Third Hokage closed the file in his hands with a quiet thud, letting it rest oable before fixing his sharp gaze on me.

  "I was reading your file," he said, his tone even but ced with curiosity. "Your birth, your parents, their lineage… but there's nothiraordinary about them. So tell me, why is your soul s?"

  I blinked, my mind stuttering for a moment. 'What the hell is he talking about?' I knew I had transmigrated, but I never sidered that my soul was somehow… special. A, here I was, sitting across from the Hokage himself, who seemed genuinely intrigued by it.

  Had something happened between my death and my arrival here?'

  My mouth went dry as I hesitated before asking, "Soul?" My nervousness eased slightly—at least he wasn't probing into the things I was trying to hide.

  Hiruzen studied me for several seds, his pierg eyes searg for something.

  'Was he trying to read my rea?

  My expression? Whatever it was, I had no answers for him. I was just as fused as he was.'

  Finally, he spoke again.

  "Your soul is strong—to. I've only seen something like this once before, in the First Hokage himself. Your soul is slightly inferior in quantity but equal to his in quality."

  A shiver ran down my spine.

  "I assume you feel exhaustion stantly, like you're dragging a rock through water with every step?"

  My eyes widened. A slow, creeping realizatioled over me. That was exactly what I'd been feeling for the past two years—this overwhelming, soul-crushing fatigue that g to me like a sed skin. If I hadn't known how strong people could get in this world, I wouldn't have even pushed myself to train this much.

  My head jerked in an involuntary nod, too stuo do anything else. I must have looked ridiculous because Hiruzen chuckled at my rea.

  "As I thought," he said, his voice ced with amusement. Then, his tourned serious. "The real reason you feel this exhaustion is because of your soul's overwhelming power. you guess why?"

  I sucked in a slow breath, f myself to think through the haze of emotions flooding my mind. 'So this whole time, my body wasn't just weak—it was struggling to tain my own soul. Will this st forever? Or will it stabilize iure?'

  I hesitated, then spoke, my voice ced with uainty. "Because my body is too weak for my soul?"

  Hiruzen nodded, his expression grim. "Correct. Your body—your vessel—isn't strong enough to tain the quality of your soul.

  Chakra is formed by bining physical and spiritual energy, which is why shinobi meditate to enhaheir reserves.

  Since your soul is strong, your spiritual energy is naturally high. That means, theoretically, you should have an abnormally rge chakra pool for ye."

  I frowhat made sense, but…

  "If that's the case, why isn't my chakra higher?" I asked, still trying to piece things together.

  'I was only showing him half of amount of chakra I have '

  'he didn't notice my real chakra level .Does this means I hide my chakra from even a Kage level Shinobi ? What is this power I have?'

  Hiruzen exhaled, folding his arms. "Because your body is still too weak. Right now, your chakra levels are far lower than they should be. But if you train seriously, your body will slot. By the time you reach fifteen, you should be able to ha. However—" his voice darkened slightly, "if you your training, your soul will start to deteriorate your body from the i. And you will die."

  A cold chill ran down my spine.

  I was walking on the edge of life ah this eime… and I didn't even know it.

  I ched my fists, my breathing shaky. If Hiruzen hadn't told me, I would've died again—just like before, without knowing the reason why.

  I forced my body to tremble slightly, my voiing out smaller than I intended. "W-Will I die, Hokage-sama?"