Chapter 1: Prologue
On Earth, there lived a boy, his life certainly left much to be desired but he also felt it could have been much worse . . . Until it became that much worse.
He was someone who longed to hold his own destiny in his own hands, a desire born out of his condition.
At a young age, he had been diagnosed with a strange illness, never before seen. He, who had been a boy with seemingly endless energy and a love for movement, suddenly began to lose his physical ability.
His body slowly stopped responding to his brain's commands and he was wracked by pain at every waking moment.
Euthanasia was prohibited by law and he was in no condition to travel to a place where it wasn't and so, he simply had to resign himself to withstand the doctors' best efforts to prolong his suffering.
In such a life, the fantastic world of anime was a small relief from the harshness of his life. The boy wished he could wield the fantastic powers the characters did, becoming invincible in the world.
He wished to fight, to move and destroy and to create but knew that would never happen. After all, even within the limited confines of the real world, he was incapable of doing practically anything.
At first the boy became full of hate and resentment.
Towards the doctors that prolonged his suffering, the family that abandoned him out of a desire not to see him suffer.
Other people that willfully wasted their existence despite having everything he did not.
And finally, the world, fated and the divine, whatever was responsible for his condition.
After a long period of that however, a period of peace came.
The pain became a fact of life as the boy became desensitized.
His ability to barely move and only for limited periods of time followed suit.
Humans were creatures with an incredible capacity for adjustment, some were at least and it seemed as though he was one of those.
The boy finally accepted the hand he was dealt in that life, came to terms with his situation and condition and reached what some might call a higher state of mind.
All he had to do now was live out his life, enjoy the few things he could enjoy in it while not letting himself be dragged down by the bad.
Easy to say, but he had attained the mentality required so he merely had to wait.
Until the moment came.
The boy felt a darkness deeper than usual as he was lulled to sleep by his medicine, and instinctively knew it was the end.
He was not fearful however, he welcomed it in fact.
Like beckoning an old friend, the boy invited Death in and passed away quietly in his sleep, praying for a more vibrant next life.
He was about to get his wish . . .
*
In a plane of endless white, a soul of gold awoke after the death of its earthly body.
Sitting up from its laying position, the soul was moved to tears. It was the boy who, at the price of life, regained his mobility as a disembodied soul.
Even his strange circumstances were not enough to deter him from standing up and running around the endless white plane, jumping with joy as he went.
He had yet to notice it but his soul form was the age just before his disease started to show its symptoms, the stage of his life that the boy subconsciously selected as his prime.
[It is good to enjoy your newfound state but I'm afraid your time in this plane of transition is limited]
A majestic voice, bereft of identifying characteristics but pulsing with divine authority, even if not oppressive in its nature.
Hearing this voice, the boy stopped his revelry though a smile still graced his lips. He had died and obtained the relief he so desperately wished for, that much he knew but it seemed he had yet to reach his final destination.
"Where am I?" He asked.
[This is a plane of transition. Here, your future will be decided.] The voice responded.
"Who are you?" The boy continued to ask.
[That is of no importance, neither my name nor my form can be accurately perceived by a soul such as yourself. I am here merely to offer you a choice, one that you have earned the right to make.]
"A choice?" The boy wondered aloud.
A foreign concept of a distant past. He had long been denied the right to make choices of any real significance.
[Indeed. Your life, as painful as it was, served a great purpose.] The voice once again resounded.
[Through your suffering, all your karma was cleansed and repaid while you yourself managed to let go of all attachments to earthly existence.]
[Not all souls are gold like yours. Only one who has undergone a personal Nirvana will gain such a resplendent soul.] It explained.
"There was meaning to my life . . ." The boy was not quite sure how to feel about that.
On one hand, it was good that he stood to gain something but . . . Assigning such worth to what he considered a waste of a despair inducing life left him feeling quite complex.
"So what is the choice I have to make?" He asked.
Even though he did not give it much thought, in the back of his mind, having the power of choice once more, a luxury he did not appreciate until he lost it, felt really good.
[Achieving Nirvana has earned you a place in paradise but there are those that prefer to remain within the Cycle of Samsara despite their enlightenment.]
'So the cycle of reincarnation and Samsara are real huh?' The boy thought to himself but a more important question arose in his mind.
"Why would one refuse to go to actual paradise?" He questioned.
[Paradise is a place of peace where meditation for further enlightenment is the main activity for its residents. Such a lifestyle does not suit everyone and some prefer to search for enlightenment within Samsara, from the lives and realms of the unenlightened.] The voice responded.
'A stagnant life of meditation . . . Yeah no.' The boy internally reacted.
"Meditation was one of those things taught to me to try and make living frozen in pain more bearable, spending an eternity doing what I have already been doing all my life but by choice this time, does not seem to be a future I'd like." He spoke with a firm resolve.
[I thought as much. As you lack the experience others who have reached enlightenment normally possess, owing to your previous condition, Samsara ought to benefit your further enlightenment more.] The voice said in response.
It then explained what exactly the alternative of returning to Samsara entailed.
[As an Enlightened Being, there are several benefits that others who reincarnate normally have no access to. Your full memory is always kept for example. You will also benefit from an incredibly powerful soul and spirit as well as immense physical potential.]
[These benefits manifest in the form of traits, a boon of enlightenment that can affect the body, mind and/or soul. They are, however, completely random though you will instinctively know what your traits are and their characteristics.]
[One can awaken up to three such traits though that is incredibly rare. Additionally, the nature and potency of one's traits is tied to the individual and are thus kept across incarnations unless further enlightenment is achieved.]
[You also have a constant innate awareness of your own state and abilities. This information can manifest in different ways however, typically in a way familiar to the individual. Those of worlds similar to yours have often had this ability manifest as a so-called status screen.]
[It is merely a way to track your current state and growth, nothing more.]
The voice concluded its explanation.
'A way to track progress is very useful since it will let me know if I'm going in the right way with my training and such. It is also motivating to see your progress show in an obvious way. And then 1 to 3 beneficial traits . . .' The boy pondered.
"Will my new life be decided at random as well?" He inquired while digesting the words of the voice.
[It will but you are granted basic knowledge of the world you are going into before you enter the cycle once more so you can make a more informed decision.] The voice responded.
"And when I die?" The boy continued with his inquiry.
[Your soul shall return here with your full memory and given this choice once more but the world you lived in will be beyond your reach unless you achieve yet a higher state of existence. Such are our rules of reincarnation.] The voice answered.
'So I'll never again see whoever I leave behind with my death . . . Not unless I am enlightened further, however I am supposed to accomplish such a feat . . .' The boy thought to himself but quickly swept those thoughts away. He had a whole new and hopefully exciting life ahead of him.
"What world would I reincarnate in then?" He asked the real question.
As soon as he did, images and words appeared in his head. Battles, fought by headband wearing people wielding the elements and performing various other superhuman feats through the power of chakra, a world he knew quite well from his extensive anime knowledge.
Even noobs would recognise such an anime however . . . The world of Naruto.
It was a rather dangerous world if one wanted to live their life to the fullest, wielding the skills of a shinobi but could he really deny himself such an opportunity because of its potential danger.
Death did not frighten him, pain and suffering were a constant companion of his, there was really nothing to deter him and so the choice was obvious.
In a world where might made right and his potential was assured by his enlightenment, he could live out all of his fantasies.
'I was just told that experiencing the various aspects of the Material Realm could help me in my journey to further enlightenment so I'll be sure to thoroughly enjoy everything this world has to offer me.'
And so . . . The was immersed in an abyss of never ending darkness.
As he sank further and further, a gate appeared, its features blurry, and once he crossed, the boy tasted light on his skin once again, reborn in a world for a different life.
*
Near a wooden building built on a forest clearing, several children could be seen scurrying about, playing with each other as a gentle looking woman, face showing the lines of time, looked over them with a snow white haired unnaturally perfect baby with gleaming violet eyes in her arms.
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Hey, Author here!
Just a reminder that you can read up to a FULL MONTH ahead of this site on pa-treon.
I'm trying to become a full time Author now and I'm not going to be starting any new novels just so I can make sure this one is properly completed.
Just so you know. While I would immensely appreciate your pa-treon subscription, the chapters will all eventually become available on this site.
Find those sweet advanced chapters on pa-treon.com/lusoba without the -