Naruto Shadow Mage

The sun was setting; it was already dusk.

Every day, the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, an unchanging rule.

During wartime, the once-thriving village also had a cursed rule: someone had to die daily! While the entire village was shrouded in the shadow of war, silently mourning the heroes who had fallen, a small child, fed up with the gloomy atmosphere, sneaked out and hid in the deer farm of the Nara clan.

"Damn it! Downloading a game mod can lead to a time-travel accident? Why couldn't I just be sent to the Naruto world properly? Why choose such a dangerous time? The end of the Third Great Ninja War, followed by the Nine-Tails' attack—do you know how dangerous that is? People die, a lot of people die, you know?"

After a long rant, the child's mood finally improved a bit. But his mood worsened when he looked at the strange pattern on his right palm.

The child's name was Koshino. His previous name didn't matter anymore; he only knew that he was now Nara Koshino, a member of a branch family of the Nara clan in Konoha.

What? Doesn't the Nara clan have a branch family?

As a hardcore Naruto fan, Koshino believed he knew more about the Naruto world than Kishimoto himself, yet he didn't know the Nara clan had a branch family!

Even though the original story states that the Nara, Yamanaka, and Akimichi clans of Konoha are generations-long friends, with each generation's elite known as the "Ino-Shika-Cho" trio, and they always protect the Hokage. But after transmigrating, Koshino discovered that the idea of families protecting each other for generations was nonsense!

Take the mark on Koshino's palm, for example. It looked like the Nara clan's emblem but was a curse mark used by successive Hokages to control the Nara clan!

The function of this curse mark was similar to the Hyuga clan's Caged Bird Seal. Upon reaching the age of four, members of the Nara, Yamanaka, and Akimichi clans had to accept the curse mark under the supervision of the Hokage. Simply put, once the curse mark was activated, you lived if the Hokage wanted you to live; if the Hokage wanted you to die, you died with no room for resistance.

Among the Nara clan's branch families, the only fortunate aspect might be that the conflict between the main and branch families wasn't as deep as that of the Hyuga clan. After all, whether you were from the main or branch family, you lived under the Hokage's will, with your fate controlled by the Hokage. So, what was there to fight over?

Koshino had been here for three months and understood his background and the era of the Naruto world.

As a member of the Nara clan's branch family, Koshino's parents tragically died on the battlefield of the Third Great Ninja War shortly after he was born. Their only legacy was a ninjutsu scroll held by his uncle, Nara Shikaku. Since he hadn't attended the Ninja Academy, he didn't even have the qualification to view it.

This period was shortly after the Third Hokage had retired and the Fourth Hokage had taken over. The wartime policy hadn't changed; children could start training at the Ninja Academy at five.

This meant that Koshino, now four, only had to survive a few more months to enter the Ninja Academy and reclaim his parents' legacy from Nara Shikaku. Unfortunately, when Koshino heard this from Nara Shikaku, he felt nothing but increased depression.

Because in this world, Koshino was probably the only one who knew that the key to survival wasn't some family secret technique or hard work but a cheat!

Looking at the original story, it didn't matter if you were from the Nara clan. Even if you were a member of the prestigious Hyuga or Uchiha clans, what did it matter?

In the original story, the Hyuga clan members were less significant than the background characters. Even Neji Hyuga, the main character's brother-in-law, hailed as a genius, died just like that.

The Uchiha clan had it even worse, facing a massacre in a few years. Those without the Mangekyo Sharingan were embarrassed to survive to the end of the original story, and the survivors could be counted on one hand!

In the original story, who could truly control their destiny besides Naruto Uzumaki, blessed by fate and inheriting the legacy of the Sage of Six Paths' sons, Asura and Indra?

Whenever Koshino recalled the tragic stories from the original plot, he couldn't help but feel hopeless about the future. Thus, he decided to train diligently, fighting against his doomed fate as much as possible!

"Ugh, stop overthinking. No training without a cheat? Might get killed in the Nine-Tails attack in a few years! Better start training now than end up as cannon fodder later!"

Adjusting his mood, Koshino turned towards the carefree deer on the farm, envying their peace. He then clasped his hands together, forming a peculiar seal—the secret hand seal of the Nara clan!

"Shadow Imitation Technique!"

"Buzz…"

"Buzz…"

As Koshino channeled his chakra, his shadow stretched in the sunlight, quickly connecting with a deer's shadow ahead. Undoubtedly, Koshino was using the Nara clan's signature secret technique, the Shadow Imitation Technique, which extended one's shadow to bind an opponent, making them mimic the user's movements.

If any Nara clan members were watching the Koshino train, they would be amazed!

Even during wartime, a child starting training at four couldn't easily change their chakra nature to Yin Release, which suits the Nara clan's techniques. Koshino, who had been training for just three months since transmigrating, had altered his chakra nature, possessing the potential to perform the Shadow Imitation Technique, a talent even Nara Shikamaru didn't have in the original!

However, just as Koshino felt the deer's body completely immobilized and was about to make it mimic his movements, a sudden "snap" echoed!

Instantly, Koshino felt like a nerve in his brain snapped, followed by waves of pain!

"Damn, failed again? As a transmigrator, with the only advantage being mental energy, I couldn't even master the Shadow Imitation Technique in three months. Isn't that embarrassing for a transmigrator?"

Others might be amazed by his training speed, but Koshino wasn't satisfied. He knew there were too many geniuses in the original story!

Not to mention the distant ones, just the nearer examples.

Kakashi Hatake became a Genin at five and a Chunin at seven; by ten, he was developing S-rank ninjutsu. Isn't that crazy?

Uchiha Itachi, a Koshino peer, was a genius who awakened his Sharingan at eight and held the powerful Mangekyo Sharingan as a teenager!

Since the day he transmigrated, Koshino had set Itachi and Kakashi as his targets to surpass, using all means to obtain a chance to view his parents' scroll from Nara Shikaku.

But apart from memorizing the chakra training method and the Shadow Imitation Technique, Koshino trained day and night with his adult mindset, maintaining only five hours of deep sleep, combining his superior mental energy. Yet, he still couldn't successfully perform a simple Shadow Imitation Technique. How could Koshino be satisfied?

Moreover, the barrier to Koshino's growth wasn't effort but talent!

It was his physical limitations!

Being just over four years old, with a Nara clan body that didn't stand out among the clans, and physically inferior to the Uchiha and Hyuga clans, Koshino's chakra volume was only a third of an average Genin's, even with superior mental energy forcibly gathered in his meridians. It was a miracle he could initially perform the Shadow Imitation Technique, and fully mastering it would take months of accumulation.

Enduring the backlash from the failed Shadow Imitation Technique, Koshino silently stared at the curse mark on his right hand, sighing, "If Uncle Shikaku hadn't planted this curse mark on me a few days ago, wasting some of my physical energy, I might have started the next stage of the Nara clan's secret techniques by now."

"No choice. It wasn't Uncle Shikaku's wish to mark me; it was the rule set by the successive Hokages. Now, I can only try the self-torturing training like Lee. I don't ask for much, just that my physical energy increases after training so that I can master the Shadow Imitation Technique quickly!"

Ding!

"Dear player Koshino, congratulations on consuming 1000 energy points and successfully activating the Level-Up Accelerator App, binding in progress…"

"What?"

Preparing to head to the nearby training ground, Koshino was stunned by the sudden voice in his mind, then ecstatic!

"Turns out I have a cheat! And the Level-Up Accelerator App works awesome!"

Suppressing his excitement, Koshino asked the system, "APP, can you exchange for the Rinnegan?"

"Sorry, no such service."

"APP, can you exchange for jutsus? I want to exchange the Flying Thunder God Technique and Shadow Clone Technique!"

"Sorry, no such service."

"APP, I want to do weight training. Can you manage that?"

"Sorry, no such service."

"Then what can you do?"

After continuous inquiries and disappointments, Koshino's joy of obtaining a cheat was almost extinguished.

When Koshino felt that relying on the knock-off app was less useful than his training, the Level-Up Accelerator app finally surprised him!

"Player, APP binding successful. Your current instance is 'Naruto.' Energy consumption reward: Tree Climbing Training Card x1, Water Walking Training Card x1."

"Player, when conditions are met, you can freely modify your skill training progress. Would you like to modify now?"

"Yes!"

Finally, after understanding some of the app's uses, Koshino was exhilarated and immediately ordered, "APP, I want to modify my physical attributes; simply upgrade to Sage Body!"