Shanks'd in Naruto

'FUCK! Does this mean I actually died?! Hopefully, yes... Maybe now my family can finally find peace...'

That was his first thought.

Every fan of anime, manga, and especially fanfiction had imagined it before—being reborn in one of their favorite stories. Dreaming of their own powers, crafting their own character.

But actually being reincarnated?

Sabaku was on the verge of a panic attack.

"Take deep breaths, Sabaku. You're safe. You survived the ambush, though you were badly injured. Just breathe—everything is okay."

And so, Sabaku did exactly that.

Deep breath in. Deep breath out.

'Fuck! This is not how I expected my day to go...'

Slowly, he calmed down—or at least, as much as he could under the circumstances.

The man beside him nodded in satisfaction and then spoke. "Good. You're in Forward Camp Number 2, more precisely, the field hospital. My name is Fujin, and I'm a medic here. I don't know how much you remember, so I'll give you a quick rundown."

Then, he began explaining. How Sabaku's unit had been ambushed by Hatake Sakumo and a group of Konoha-nin. How Chiyo had managed to drive them back. How the survivors had found Sabaku afterward and brought him here.

"Are you in pain anywhere?" Fujin asked, noticing the mixture of confusion and lingering panic on Sabaku's face.

Old habits from his hospital days took over, and Sabaku responded automatically, "My left arm hurts."

"Phantom pain," Fujin said gently. Then, with a significant look, he gestured toward Sabaku's left side.

Sabaku followed his gaze.

And his eyes widened in horror.

Where his left arm should have been—there was nothing. Just empty space.

'Fuck! Did I seriously get Shanks'd in Naruto?!'

'Did I at least get Conqueror's Haki out of this? Are my hair red? Do I have a cool scar over my eye? Or am I just some cheap knockoff who only got the missing arm part?!'

Sabaku's mind spiraled into full meltdown mode.

'But hey… at least I lost my arm before Sasuke and Naruto made it mainstream. Maybe I should go rogue and call myself the One-Armed Bandit...'

Sarcasm and self-deprecation were the only things keeping him from losing his damn mind.

"Get some rest. You've been granted two months of leave to recover. After that, you'll likely receive new orders. Tomorrow, you'll be sent back home."

Fujin gave him a nod and then moved on, probably to his next patient.

That left Sabaku completely alone.

Alone with his thoughts.

Alone with his rapidly crumbling sanity.

'Home? That would be fucking nice, wouldn't it... but first, I need to calm the hell down. Calm down!'

'I'm here now. Naruto is definitely not in some nice, peaceful, flower-filled world. And on top of that, more and more memories from the original Sabaku are surfacing...'

'Did I kill him? Or is this some fanfiction-type soul fusion thing?'

'I need to get my shit together. What do I actually know about Sabaku? Who am I in this world?'

Hours passed as Sabaku did nothing but sort through his thoughts, trying to piece together his new reality.

He was in the middle of the Second Great Ninja War.

And if this world followed the original story, the war would drag on for several more years.

Of course, there was always the possibility that his meta-knowledge was useless here… but hope was the last thing to die.

"Please don't let this be some weird fanfiction fusion of multiple worlds," he repeated like a mantra in his head.

His chances of survival would be much better if he had insight into the future—especially when he thought about the horrors of the third and Fourth Great Ninja War and the threats still to come.

Akatsuki, Madara, way too many Edo Tensei Kage… and, for some reason, aliens. The Otsutsuki…

'Seriously, what was Kishimoto smoking? He had the perfect final boss with Madara, and then boom—space aliens. But whatever. Not like I can change that.'

But his first concern wasn't some far-off war or interdimensional invaders.

It was survival.

He had to get a lot stronger if he wanted to live life on his own terms.

And from the moment he realized he was now in this world, one goal had stood above all others—he wanted to explore.

He had spent far too long trapped in a single place—whether it was a hospital bed or Sunagakure.

He wanted freedom.

But freedom was something only the strong could afford.

And right now?

He was far from strong.

At the Academy, he had taken a chakra paper test. His affinities were Wind and, to a lesser extent, Fire.

Both were common among Suna-nin, nothing particularly special. But they were solid foundations to work with.

He also had sensor abilities—a valuable skill. And his chakra control was exceptionally good, thanks to the rigorous training of the original Sabaku.

But that was where the good news ended.

Because his chakra reserves?

Very below average for a shinobi. Maybe barely hitting "decent" for a Genin his age.

'Great. I'm basically just a male, Sunagakure version of Sakura. Good control, weak reserves… fantastic. Let's hope I don't end up an irrelevant side character in this story too.'

At least the original Sabaku had been aware of his weaknesses and had worked hard to compensate for them. His jutsu selection was interesting, especially since he had developed a technique entirely on his own.

'Honestly… ninja creativity really went downhill by the time Naruto's generation rolled around.'

Sabaku had mastered a total of six jutsu.

The first three were the basic Academy techniques—Kawarimi, Henge, and Bunshin no Jutsu.

He could perform all three without hand seals, something the original Sabaku had taken great pride in.

Then there was Sunagakure no Jutsu.

A signature technique of Sunagakure. Simple, yet vital for desert survival. Unfortunately, it required both hands to perform…

And for now?

That meant it was useless to him.

Next was Shunshin no Jutsu.

A fundamental shinobi technique. But in combat, it was probably far more valuable than any of the Academy jutsu.

And this was where Sabaku had invested most of his training time.

And it showed.

Even veteran Jonin had praised his skill with Shunshin.

But his approach had never been about speed.

He wasn't aiming to be the fastest. He definitely wasn't a Shisui Uchiha.

No—his mastery was different.

Maximum efficiency.

Minimal chakra consumption.

Sabaku had refined his Shunshin to such a degree that, despite his limited chakra reserves, he could use it all day without exhausting himself.

And then—his greatest achievement.

A jutsu entirely of his own creation.

Shinkirō no Jutsu.

The Mirage Jutsu.

Unlike Naruto's generation—where shinobi mostly relied on the techniques of their teachers or ancestors—Sabaku's generation had been different.

Nearly every student in his class had developed their own unique jutsu.

They had even received dedicated lessons for experimenting and crafting new techniques.

But among all his Jutsus, Shinkirō no Jutsu had been Sabaku's crowning achievement.

His personal masterpiece.

It made him invisible.

The jutsu was based on the principle of the mirage, an effect constantly observed in the desert. When hot air hovered over cold sand, light bent in a way that created illusions. Puddles of water, floating cities on the horizon—things that weren't really there.

Sabaku had copied this effect—using chakra. How exactly he had managed to do it, the new Sabaku had absolutly no idea.

By channeling his chakra, he precisely altered the temperature of the air around his body, creating layers of warm and cold air that redirected light. Instead of reflecting off his body, the light curved around him, making him disappear from plain sight.

A jutsu so complex in execution that anyone who had ever tried to learn it from Sabaku had given up after just a few minutes, preferring to stick to simpler techniques—like spitting fire and air balls.

'Holy shit! This jutsu has insane potential! If only it could also hide me from sensors like the Mujin Meisai of the Second Tsuchikage…' Sabaku thought, already beginning to plan.

The good thing was, even if he considered the jutsu only half-finished, he could already use it effortlessly. All it required was a single one-handed Ram seal to activate.

Finally, he couldn't resist the temptation any longer.

A grin spread across his face as he brought his fingers into the Ram seal.

"Shinkirō no Jutsu," he whispered, grinning from ear to ear—

And for everyone else, he slowly faded from sight inside the tent.