The alley reeked of stale pizza and wet cardboard. Kenji Tanaka, hunched over his sketchbook, didn't notice. His charcoal danced across the page, capturing the stark, broken geometry of the urban landscape. He was lost in a world of his own making, a quiet refuge from the city's constant, frantic energy. A faint tremor, a sound like a distant drum, rattled the bricks around him. It was a familiar feeling in this city—the prelude to another super-powered brawl. Kenji just tightened his grip on the sketchbook.
A scream tore through the air, shrill and close, followed by a guttural roar that shook the very ground. This wasn't a distant tremor anymore. It was here. He glanced towards the alley's mouth and saw it: a monstrous, obsidian creature with four razor-sharp limbs, a void where its face should have been. Behind it, a shimmering, violet tear in reality pulsed, spitting out smaller, insectoid horrors.
The sound of shattering glass and a familiar, booming voice echoed from the main street: "Hulk smash!"
Kenji cursed under his breath. He scrambled to gather his things, the irrational urge to escape overriding his usual detached observation. But he was too slow. A blinding wave of violet light erupted from the portal, a silent, concussive force that slammed into him. He hit the brick wall with a sickening crack, the world dissolving into a haze of white light and ringing silence. His body felt like it was being pulled apart at the seams, every atom unraveling.
He gasped, a breath he hadn't realized he'd lost, and slumped to the grimy asphalt. The violet light was gone. A cold, metallic voice, clear as a bell, echoed in the hollow space of his mind.
[Naruto System Activated.]
Kenji blinked. A semi-transparent blue screen flickered into existence directly in front of his eyes. It was like a video game interface, glowing faintly in the alley's gloom.
[Host: Kenji Tanaka. Welcome to the Path of the Ninja.]
He squeezed his eyes shut. It had to be a hallucination, a concussion-induced fantasy. When he opened them, the screen was still there, now paused on a single, urgent line:
[Mission Alert: Survival. Objective: Evade hostile entities for 5 minutes. Reward: 10 EXP, Basic Chakra Control Manual.]
Hostile entities? He finally managed to push himself upright, his head throbbing. He looked around. Two of the insectoid creatures had scuttled into the alley, their many eyes gleaming with predatory hunger. They were twice his size, their jagged mandibles clicking in the silence.
One of them let out a high-pitched chitter and lunged.
Panic seized him. He stumbled backward, his mind racing. Evade? How? I'm just a guy with a sketchbook!
The creature's clawed limb tore through the air where he'd been a second before. He scrambled away, tripping over a pile of trash bags. He felt a weird, electric impulse in his mind, and a new message flashed.
[Tip: Focus your inner energy. Visualize a connection between your spiritual and physical being. This is known as Chakra.]
Chakra? He remembered the word from old cartoons he'd watched as a kid. Handsigns. A vague, half-forgotten image of a ninja flashed in his mind. He brought his hands together, forcing his fingers into an awkward cross-shape. He closed his eyes, focusing on nothing but the feeling of his own desperate heartbeat.
A strange warmth bloomed in his gut, a faint tingle that spread through his limbs. It was barely perceptible, but it was there.
[Chakra Control Initiation Complete. Reward: Minor Chakra Boost. New Skill Unlocked: Basic Chakra Channeling (Passive).]
A vibrant blue bar appeared at the bottom of his vision. It was almost full.
[Chakra: 100/100]
He had no idea what it meant, but the surge of energy gave him a jolt of adrenaline. The creatures below were still closing in. He needed to move, to get to the fire escape. But his legs felt heavy, stuck in the mud of fear.
Then, a new voice, a more commanding one, echoed in his mind, not from the System, but from the raw will inside him. Don't think. Just act.
He took off, a blur of motion fueled by a power he couldn't comprehend. He wasn't just running anymore. He was escaping, surviving, becoming something new.