TN: I'll be editing the early chapters to improve naming consistency. Happy readings
Konohagakure, Ninja Academy.
Yoruha looked at the leaves outside the window.
He sighed inwardly. "It's been twelve years. I've already been in this world for twelve years. I never thought time would pass this fast."
Yoruha was a transmigrator. The moment he was born, he encountered the Nine-Tails Attack.
His parents died in the Nine-Tails Attack.
Six years later, he successfully entered the Ninja Academy.
There was nothing particularly different about him compared to the other students.
After entering the Ninja Academy, he had average grades, an average ranking, and the only thing worth mentioning was that he looked fairly good.
With his ordinary academic performance, he was basically invisible in class.
No one paid attention to him.
He wasn't like Sasuke, who took first place in every exam, nor was he like Naruto, the dead last who constantly drew everyone's attention.
Yoruha had no special encounters and lived through twelve years in an utterly ordinary way.
He also never showed anything remarkable enough to attract the attention of the Third Hokage or Danzo.
Nor had Root ever invited him out for "tea."
"Idle System activated successfully. Binding host: Yoruha."
Yoruha froze for a moment.
"A system?"
"Idle System, at your service."
Yoruha frowned, thinking for a second that he might have fallen under Genjutsu.
He bit the back of his hand. The sharp pain told him that he was not under Genjutsu.
"System, you're twelve years late."
Yoruha said it without any emotional fluctuation.
After all, over these twelve years, he had already come to terms with everything.
Who would have thought the system would only show up now?
The Idle System did not respond to Yoruha's words.
"What a cold system."
What Yoruha didn't know was that the Idle System had no emotions at all, nor any real intelligence.
Seeing that it wasn't replying, Yoruha didn't press the matter.
Instead, he asked, "What exactly can you do?"
Idle System: "This system is the Idle System. You only need to idle for a certain amount of time to receive rewards."
Yoruha smiled. "That's simple enough."
"Then how do I use it?"
Idle System: "You are already using it. The Idle System is currently serving you."
That surprised Yoruha a little. "I'm already using it?"
"I wonder what kind of reward I'll get."
After twelve years of life here, Yoruha was already very familiar with this world.
Whether he had the Idle System or not, he didn't care much.
Without it, he would just drift along and live. With it, he would live a little more freely. The difference was only slight.
He pulled his attention out of his mental space.
Looking at Iruka speaking at the front of the classroom, Yoruha thought, "So it's finally graduation. I wonder which team I'll be assigned to."
The graduation exam was about to begin.
The exam tested the Clone Technique. Though Yoruha's grades had been average these past six years, graduating would not be a problem. He had already mastered the Academy Three Basic Techniques.
Or rather, by this point, everyone in class had mastered the Academy Three Basic Techniques, except for someone like Naruto, who was affected by Kurama.
Iruka called from the front, "Now then, when I call your name, come next door."
"First, Sasuke."
Iruka called Sasuke first.
Ever since enrollment, Sasuke had always had the best grades in class.
His name was naturally first on the list as well.
Sasuke stood up expressionlessly, cool and aloof, hands in his pockets as he walked toward the next room.
A lot of the girls in class stared at Sasuke with lovestruck expressions.
"Sasuke is so handsome."
"Go, Sasuke!"
"Sasuke, I love you!"
...
Those girls were obsessed with Sasuke like fangirls chasing an idol.
Naruto, sitting below, glared at the cool-looking Sasuke through gritted teeth. "Damn it, that bastard Sasuke."
"What's so great about him?"
Shikamaru, sitting not far from Naruto, said listlessly, "Sasuke is first in the class. And he's been first forever."
"Shikamaru, sooner or later I'm definitely going to surpass him. I'm the man who's going to become Hokage!"
Shikamaru shot Naruto a blank look, then flopped onto his desk and went to sleep.
In the class, only Shikamaru and Kiba could really get along with Naruto.
No one else wanted to get close to him, including Yoruha.
The others kept their distance because of their parents' influence. Yoruha, on the other hand, simply didn't want trouble.
A few minutes later, Sasuke came back.
He had passed very smoothly.
Iruka had practically wanted to let Sasuke pass without even testing him.
As early as his first year at the Ninja Academy, Sasuke had already mastered the Academy Three Basic Techniques.
In Iruka's eyes, Sasuke was unquestionably the strongest student of this graduating class.
The exams that followed went just as Yoruha expected. Aside from Naruto, everyone passed without issue.
Afterward, the Third Hokage appeared and gave a speech to the students who had successfully graduated.
His words filled that group of children—who all had unrealistic fantasies about being ninja—with even more dreams about the ninja lives they were about to begin.
Naruto sat dejectedly on the swing beneath a tree, looking enviously at the classmates who had graduated successfully.
Not long after, Naruto disappeared from under the tree.
Yoruha thought, "He was probably lured away by Mizuki."
Yoruha had no intention of getting involved in Naruto's scroll-stealing incident.
On his way home from the Ninja Academy, he passed by Ichiraku Ramen.
Since he didn't feel like cooking for himself, he decided to settle dinner there.
But the moment he stepped inside Ichiraku, he ran into Iruka treating Naruto to ramen.
Yoruha had been in this world for twelve years already, and he had long since forgotten many parts of the plot.
He hadn't known Iruka would be treating Naruto to ramen at a time like this.
Yoruha was just about to turn around and leave—
when Teuchi, the owner of Ichiraku, called out to him.
"Yoruha, what are you having today?"
Yoruha ate at Ichiraku very often, even more frequently than Naruto did.
Over the years, he had gotten quite familiar with Teuchi.
Teuchi's voice drew the attention of both Iruka and Naruto.
Yoruha had no choice but to walk in.
"Hello, Iruka-sensei. Naruto, you're here eating ramen too?"
Both of Yoruha's parents had been ninja, and the money they left behind was enough for him to live a normal life until adulthood.
Usually, Yoruha deliberately avoided the times Naruto came here to eat.
In all these years, he had never once run into Naruto here.
When Iruka saw that it was Yoruha, he smiled. "Yoruha, you did pretty well today."
Naruto, on the other hand, wasn't familiar with Yoruha at all.
Yoruha's presence in class was about on the same level as Shino's.
Naruto didn't even recognize him. He had absolutely no impression of him.
After sitting down, Yoruha smiled faintly. "That's all thanks to your good teaching."
He said it with worldly tact.
Naruto frowned at Yoruha and thought hard for a long while, but he still couldn't remember who he was.
Yoruha didn't care.
Since Naruto genuinely couldn't place him, he leaned toward Iruka and asked in a low voice, "Iruka-sensei, who is he? Is he my classmate?"
Iruka had just been about to say something to Yoruha, but Naruto's question rendered him speechless.
The corner of his mouth twitched as he looked at Naruto.
"Naruto, this is Yoruha. You don't know him?"
Naruto laughed awkwardly. "Hahaha, Iruka-sensei, I really don't remember."
Naruto said it with complete honesty.