Chapter 1: Foreign Realm (Revised)

  I suddenly opened my eyes and saw the wooden ceiling. The first thought that flashed through my mind was, am I dreaming?

  Tangled and chaotic thoughts, the word "dream" evokes not a scornful laugh at fantasy, but a cold, mocking intent, calm yet impossible to erase.

  A low voice echoed from the depths of his heart and flashed through his mind.

  Inaudible self-mockery, like an old broken record, keeps echoing the same words in my mind.

  Is that... my voice?

  ………….

  "Dreams", this kind of "illusion", how can people still believe in it?

  Maybe I'm still too naive?

  The dream is shattered, should I wake up?

  Knowing that "dreams" are shattered, should one just "forget" all of this?

  Once awake, "he" was truly gone, everything "he" left behind had been erased by them, even "memories", except... this "dream".

  Did we really think we "existed" before? In terms of the values of the world we live in...

  (………….)

  Immersed in that kind of foam-like falsehood...

  Even if all of this isn't true, it's the "real", "free" and "fleeting beautiful dream" that "he" left behind, and that "he" exchanged his life for.

  Even if "understood", it must be "deepened", this is "my" duty, and responsibility.

  I know all this is true, and they also deeply believe that it's real. If not for them underestimating "me", underestimating "me" too much, then how long will "I" continue to have this "dream"?

  Looking at their eyes, that feeling almost made me think they were the ones who were awake, and not "me".

  However, "I" still play the role of "me" dutifully.

  It's laughable that they can actually do something like this, right? It's laughable. No matter if it's for "him" or for the sake of this rare bit of humor, "I" should at least make some kind of response, shouldn't I?...

  Have you forgotten? This is a tribe that's so crazy, they don't have anything they can't do, won't do or dare not do.

  How could I possibly forget? "I" am the best proof of this sentence... or should I say that person!

  (…….)

  Chaotic and lawless sentences are entangled in my mind, and fragmented and trivial images also appear vaguely.

  "Who am I?"

  "I" have "memories", "I" have "feelings", but there is no way to connect the two, as if I am just coldly watching, not participating, not joining in, just looking, and can only look.

  Almost everything of mine seems to be blocked by a transparent yet real existing object.

  It's just that all of this... seems different now...

  That layer of matter has now... disappeared...

  That layer of restraint or protection has disappeared.

  A sudden surge of unfamiliar emotions and memories, accompanied by severe headaches.

  A wave of dizziness in my line of sight made me involuntarily close my eyes.

  My home...... No, where I currently "live", should be a small detached house?

  Three-story building, dark green exterior, 40.875 square meters of semi-courtyard, 5.212 square meters of small pool, 2.643 meters high wall, 14 trees, 25 clusters of camellia...

  Still lingering in mind...

  How much is true? How much is false?

  A spiral of reality and falsehood intertwined, filled with sharp teeth, constantly stimulating my consciousness.

  A purely white enclosed room, with a dark corner of an underground cellar, where did I think I was at first?

  A face with no expression, and a face filled with negative emotions, which one am I familiar with?

  The former, my memory is fragmented; the latter, my feelings are lost.

  Soaked in the struggle of completely opposite consciousness, forgot to eat, forgot to drink, over 40 degrees of high fever, close to collapse physical function.....

  How long can I keep this up... When a person has no hope of survival, time is just a number.

  Is it because "I" acted too well? Even fooling myself? So "I" shouldn't have had any expectations of them in the first place?

  Isn't it "I" who made this decision? Then what is the numbness in my heart?

  Nothing matters, even when the body is on the verge of collapse, it still can't make oneself care more...

  "My relatives" are also completely unaware, after all, even "I" myself am almost indifferent, in their eyes, I am just a private son who has not had any news for a long time and suddenly appeared after the death of his legitimate wife...

  "Perfect setup!"

  All the flaws were completely erased by that family, and "I" existed so naturally.

  How his "loved ones" would treat him was also within the expectations of that group of people.

  And "I", a "longing for family happiness, hoping to be integrated into this home's illegitimate child".

  That "reality" was once what I yearned for so much! Even now, the warmth that home exudes, even if it doesn't belong to me, still has a hold on me.

  Is everything really not true? None of it is true.

  Give "me" something that meets the promise but also maximizes the degree to which it can... so as to my "identity"...

  "Should I thank those people for their excessive imagination?"

  Found thoughts gradually running in strange directions.

  …………..

  "Hehe! Always so easy to get distracted! Really interesting!"

  That soft and gentle voice, full of quiet warmth, seemed as if nothing could ever change it.

  "Daydreaming is just daydreaming, and describing his scratching face as stupid can be summed up in one word. Isn't that simple? Ah, saying stupid, isn't that too cheap for him?"

  She is still so mouthy, haha...

  "Alright, stop bullying him, can't you just say he's cute in a straightforward way? Geez."

  ………….

  A faint memory brought a smile to the corner of my mouth, but unexpectedly pulled out a full-body ache, and I unconsciously furrowed my brow.

  It doesn't feel like the heavy feeling of being seriously ill!

  I opened my eyes again, and the wooden ceiling in front of me was still there. I slightly moved my not very agile body, thinking it was because I had been sick for a long time. However, when I saw the pair of hands that appeared in front of my eyes, they were unmistakably a pair of small hands... In my memory, this scene had never appeared before.

  I relaxed my grip a few times, making sure that the opening and closing of my palm was based on my own will.

  This is indeed my handwriting... right?

  It's really small, and suddenly a strange thought flashed through my mind. This is my hand, it seems like I'm not even ten years old... no, five years old... then... what about my body?

  Struggling to sit up and take a look at his body, he found that he couldn't even turn over.

  As soon as it was pulled, a loud wail spread throughout the body.

  My limbs are extremely stiff and numb, like the pain when blood flows to a limb that has been compressed for a long time. Moreover, my ankle feels like it's being tied up by something, and I can only move within a very small range, which is not enough for me to make any big movements.

  I noticed that my hands were pale and had a familiar, almost eerie color, as if they hadn't been exposed to sunlight for a long time.

  Apart from this, there are countless scars and scabs, most of which are burns and bruises. In addition, on the wrist, there is a ring of red swelling with broken skin, even several layers of blood scabbing. The wound looks like it was rubbed by something rough, and there are also bite marks...

  I feel the familiar faint sweetness and bloodiness spreading from my mouth...

  What's going on with this body?

  I did the only thing I could do at that moment - I turned my head to the side, and indeed saw two very rough ropes, about one centimeter wide, on either side of me. One end was fixed to the bedhead on both sides, while the other end seemed to be loose and scattered around me, probably because it had been torn off?

  I quietly examine this body.

  ……..

  "You're still so calm, this is a good habit!"

  "Well, I guess being calm is my only advantage!"

  "What calmness! You're completely numb! Come here, let me pinch you and see if you'll react!"

  "Ah! How did you appear?"

  "What's wrong, aren't you welcoming me, your sister? Look at what time it is now!"

  "Get up (no), help me pick it up!"

  "Right! A gloomy face, doesn't match yours at all!"

  ………..

  The high fever seemed to have jumbled up my thoughts, and the faces in my memory also appeared blurry as if they had melted due to the heat.

  This body's abnormal weakness, the waves of swelling and pain coming from my limbs, made me understand that all these symptoms were not just because of illness.

  How has this body been treated?

  Suddenly, "bang" sound, caught my attention.

  I strained my neck to turn towards the direction of the sound and saw an elderly woman with a head full of white hair standing at the door, staring in my direction.

  The reason I don't say it's because of me is that I sense her slightly drifting gaze, full of disgust, disdain, nausea, and a hint of deep-seated fear...

  Are you afraid?

  To be honest, apart from fear, I've seen all other kinds of gazes quite often.

  They usually reveal themselves in front of "me" when they think "I" am not "awake".

  However, this woman still lacked one emotion - frenzy.

  Although that fervor eventually cooled down with my "ability far from their expectations"... If I didn't have any use, who knows... Hehe, I wouldn't have met "that person".

  The loud roar echoing in the cramped room easily pulled my thoughts back to reality, but I, who had always disliked being disturbed, still subconsciously furrowed my brow.

  "Monster! What have you done again?!"

  Monster? Are you referring to me? Or rather, the master of this body?

  But now it seems like I'm the master of this body?

  The woman rushed over, and I heard her muttering to herself in a very low voice: "It's terrifying, what kind of expression is that? It's really a monster!" At the same time, with an expression of disgust but also caution, she quickly tied the rope again.

  I originally wanted to struggle symbolically, but I thought about it and gave up. Firstly, I don't think this body can compare with an adult in terms of strength, secondly... I'm lazy.

  "And untied the rope again! Causing me to re-tie it, fortunately the chain on my feet didn't come off, so I don't have to tidy up anything. If only I had done this from the start!... What are you doing, monster!"

  Yes, it seems like she's not talking to anyone in particular, it feels like she's just talking to herself.

  But I always feel that her muttering behavior is like... mustering courage?

  Never mind, what does it have to do with me anyway?

  I moved my re-bound hands again, wanting to test them out. As a result, apart from finding out the range of movement, I also got several more cuts on my wrists.

  This kind of rough cow tendon mixed with iron wire rope is still more painful than I imagined!

  "How annoying! I really don't understand why adults let this monster live, something like this should have been eliminated a long time ago." The woman muttered to herself as she fiddled with what appeared to be milk on the table, then forcefully shoved the bottle into my mouth.

  It's scalding hot, almost boiling, and it was inserted directly into my mouth. I feel like some parts of the inside of my mouth have already been scalded.

  The tip of the tongue sends a message to the brain that this doesn't taste like milk.

  It's very thin, and there are some strange powder clumps. The taste seems to be a bit off too, with an eerie sweetness faintly mixed in with what can barely be called the flavor of milk...

  Well, this is really quite special and has a very interesting flavor.

  Anyway, I've never been too particular about food, as long as I'm not hungry.

  After all, as long as I can maintain my basic physiological needs, I won't mind being on a drip forever. This milk may not be like the normal kind, but it's still much better tasting than medicine, so I don't have much to complain about.

  Besides, I don't think I can get any other food to eat at this point.

  This is just food, merely food.

  I held the bottle steady and ate slowly, savoring the strange taste.

  I glanced at the starry sky through the hole in the ceiling, and finally decided that this meal was breakfast, because I heard "him" say that the first meal of the day is breakfast, so based on this definition, and the degree of hunger of this body, this should be "this body's" breakfast today!

  After resolving a small doubt of mine, I looked at that woman with the corner of my eyes, after all she was the first person I saw so far.

  This observation only noticed that although she had a head of pure white hair without any impurities, which almost only appears on elderly people over 70 years old. However, judging from the appearance of this older woman, she looked at most in her fifties, and what she wore was very strange, neither modern nor retro style.

  The elderly woman who was holding a can of milk powder and a thermos flask seemed to have noticed that I was looking at her.

  "What are you looking at! You disgusting monster, I finally tied you up so you wouldn't move around, and yet you managed to break free from me. Next time, I'll definitely bring more ropes to tie you up." The older woman walked over, pinching my short right arm with her fingernails several times, some of which even drew blood.

  The milk bottle, which was already barely being held up, slipped out of my grasp as my hand went numb from the pain and rolled to one side, naturally falling off the bed and breaking open, with the splashing milk even getting on the elderly woman beside me.

  "What's wrong with you, it's so hot, and yet this monster dares to loaf around, if you don't want to eat then just don't! You won't even need to eat at night!" The auntie scolded me loudly while cleaning up the broken pieces.

  It turns out that most of the injuries on this body's hands came from this, I finally understand, and I haven't eaten much yet... I roughly know why this body is so weak and fragile.

  The older woman quickly turned around and left after cleaning up the fragments.

  Judging from her behavior just now, I'm not surprised she didn't prepare another dish for me.

  Finally, I vaguely heard her whispering.

  "Disgusting monster! I don't want to be in the same room as this monster, it's better if it just dies already! I really can't understand why the Third Hokage would let a creature that has killed so many people stay in our village. Has he been the Hokage for too long and become senile?!"

  Kakashi? Third Generation? Monster? Me? Shadow of Fire?

  Is this "Naruto"?

  I am "Whirlpool Humming Person"?

  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

  February 3rd Diary:

  It's more than doubled in length... Chapter 1 has been almost completely revised, and at the same time, I've added a new article that I just wrote. Does anyone have any opinions or suggestions? The more people who give me advice, the smoother and faster my revisions will be.

  This article was originally over 2,000 words, and after editing it down to this, well, I don't know what else to say.