Isekai

First of all, I just want to apologize for changing the story. Initially, this was a Deidara SI in Noxus, but I changed my mind. I think Deidara would fit well in Zaun as one of Vander's children (you know, he even has mutations and that robotic piece in his eye). Plus, the Arcane series would make my job easier.

Second: It's possible that if this fic ends up with many chapters, I might include characters that didn't appear in the series, like Seraphine, Janna, Mundo, Zac, Twitch, an alternate Warwick, etc...

x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x--x-x-x-xx-x-x-x

Here we were. Honestly, I thought that when you died, everything ended, that the worms ate you and that was it. I didn't expect consciousness after death. But here I am, in an infinite white space, without a body, without pain, but with thoughts.

Curious.

The last thing I remember before arriving here was being on the street, watching an AMV of Deidara's fight against Sasuke with Linkin Park music, when I noticed a child on the road. The car was coming too fast. I didn't hesitate. I pushed him with all my strength. The last thing I saw was a blinding light, and then, nothing.

Well, I don't regret it. At least I saved the child. But I never believed in heaven or hell.

Now that I think about it, that AMV left a bad taste in my mouth. Deidara's fight against Sasuke always seemed unfair to me. It was as if Kishimoto himself had genetically designed Sasuke to counter Deidara.

"That lightning is superior to earth... well, I guess Naruto doesn't follow the Pokémon type chart." Then there was the fact that Sasuke could see Deidara's nanobombs with the Sharingan, something that, as I recall, he had never been able to do before. "As if that wasn't enough, he spammed genjutsus until he won, and when everything seemed lost, he summoned Manda in 0.0001 seconds to escape an explosion with a 10 km radius."

Nah, that was blatant favoritism. Kishimoto was high.

Although, well, my favorite characters were always Deidara and Sasori. They seemed creative, different. Maybe I'm just being unfair to the author.

My thoughts were interrupted by the presence of someone in front of me.

An old man.

White beard, long gray hair, ancient clothing. His presence wasn't imposing, but he radiated an overwhelming calm. He looked like he was straight out of those tales where the wise old man grants you a prophecy or takes you on an adventure.

"So..." I began.

"That's right. I am God," he said in a serene voice. "I will give you the option to go to heaven or reincarnate in another world."

"Wait, wait... Like in those low-quality fanfics?" I asked incredulously.

The old man nodded with a slight movement of his head.

"Exactly. Since your death was heroic, I will grant you a wish. You can choose a character from anime or video games to reincarnate as. However, you cannot choose someone capable of destroying worlds or extremely powerful."

I didn't even hesitate.

"I choose Itachi Uchiha."

The silence became heavy.

The old man frowned. His voice resonated with a tone of exasperation that made me nervous.

"Itachi Uchiha..." he murmured. "Because everyone chooses the damn Itachi Uchiha!"

"Huh?"

"It's always the same. When they don't choose Goku, they choose the stupid lunatic who massacred his entire family, neighbors, and friends because he hated war. They have no imagination!"

I was a little offended.

"Hey! He did it because more people would have died otherwise! If I remember correctly..."

God sighed and muttered something that probably wasn't good for me.

"I've decided. This is for my entertainment, not yours. You will be a Naruto character, but not Itachi. You will have to train."

"You're not going to give me a system?" I asked foolishly.

God's gaze sharpened.

"No."

Crap. I'm not a fan of systems, but if I was going to reincarnate, I'd prefer to have one.

"I'm tired of this. I saw your past life, and I know exactly who you are. You liked explosives, right?"

My heart stopped for a moment. "Deidara?"

"I'm not a benevolent god, I'm the god of art. I reward artists. You have permission to wage wars and kill if you want. You'll need it in a world like Runeterra." "You also won't be that OP. Your speed won't be like Naruto ninjas. You'll be as fast as an untrained but talented person, nothing more."

"Wait, Runeterra? Can't I choose the world?"

"Nope, but I like you because of your taste in the fics you read, so... no system, definitely no system, but I'll give you an AI so you can remember the plot and help you make inventions. Think of something like ChatGPT or Deepseek but in your head."

"Goodbye, if you don't entertain me, I'll send you to hell," the old man casually bid me farewell, threatening me.

Before I could respond, the light enveloped me, clouding my vision, and I noticed my body disappearing.

x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x-x-x--x-x-x-x-x-x-x

My vision returned abruptly. At first, everything was blurry, but then the colors and shapes began to define themselves. Something was wrong. I could see better than ever. No more myopia.

But honestly, I'd rather be blind than see where I was.

A garbage dump.

But it wasn't the stench that disturbed me, but the malnutrition of the people around me. Men and women as skinny as skeletons, their clothes in tatters. Some staggering, with a lost look, like zombies in a video about the United States.

I tried to move and noticed something strange about my hair.

Blonde.

My heart raced. "It can't be."

I looked at my hands, and horror ran through me when I saw them.

Two mouths.

Alive. Moving. Sticking out tongues.

"AGH!"

The mouths made inhuman noises. With some mental effort, I managed to silence them.

"Crap..."

I was in Deidara's body. But not the adult Deidara I knew, but as a child.

Someone screamed.

I looked up and saw people staring at me.

No surprise. They looked at me like I was a monster. As if a demon had appeared in the middle of the garbage dump.

I didn't like it.

"What's the matter, never seen a mouth before?! Get lost!"

The sound of my own childish voice startled me. I had forgotten that I was now a child.

But I was lucky. The addicts and malnourished around me could barely walk. They staggered away, muttering things I didn't understand.

I sighed, trying to calm down.

"Damn God of art!"

Now I had to survive in this world. In Runeterra.

And without a system.

x-x-x

A comment helps me as much as a power stone. :)