Maruyama Shin opened his eyes.
Rain drizzled steadily outside the door, the candlelight inside flickered in the damp, frigid air. On the cold slabs around him lay corpses of various shapes and sizes, motionless and silent.
Where… am I?
A surge of chaotic memories flooded his mind. In a matter of moments, he understood—he had transmigrated.
This was the world of Naruto, a place defined by chaos, bloodshed, and death.
In times like these, war, upheaval, and slaughter were as ordinary as daily meals. The intertwining of blood and tears had become the world's bitter dessert.
He was now a ninja—a completely unremarkable genin of the Hidden Leaf Village.
But he also had another job: corpse collector of Konoha.
What exactly did that mean?
As the name suggested, while other shinobi fought on the battlefield for their village, people like him were assigned a different task—gathering the dead.
In the shinobi world, corpses weren't just bodies. They contained traces of jutsu, bloodline limits, and secrets locked in their minds—information that could be vital to any village.
Because of this, both sides in war deployed specialized corpse retrieval teams. Shin was one of them.
During times of peace, his job extended beyond retrieval. He maintained the bodies, touching up their appearance and preparing them for burial.
In any world, the dead deserved dignity. Before burial, the body had to be whole.
Once the village issued a death notice, families and clans would be allowed to reclaim their loved ones for burial.
His past self had been an orphan. His parents had died in a war. No matter how hard he worked, his mediocre talent had only earned him the rank of genin. Taking this job was just enough to survive.
There was no mistaking it—this was a morgue.
His eyes swept across the room, and a chill crept up his spine.
No matter how used to it one might become, being alone among so many corpses would always be unsettling.
But then he noticed something strange.
A corpse lay directly in front of him, a kunai lodged in its heart. From its chest, a faint white glow shimmered.
Is that... a soul?
Out of respect for the dead, he didn't move closer. He stood still, hesitant.
Souls were undeniably real in the shinobi world. Even Orochimaru, the "scientific" madman, had proven that much through his own terrifying research.
But knowing something existed was one thing. Accepting it was another.
Suddenly, a small blue translucent window appeared in front of him. It didn't block his vision, but it caught his full attention.
[White Corpse. Success Rate: 90%. Would you like to loot the corpse? (Current: 3/3, Daily: 9/9)]
[Yes / No]
"Huh?"
Staring at the strangely modern interface floating in midair, Shin chose to ignore how or why it had appeared. His heart raced with excitement.
Was this... a system?
Being thrown into such a violent world had left him anxious about the future. But the arrival of a system gave him hope—a path to survive.
He glanced at the corpse lying silently before him and, oddly enough, felt a hint of familiarity.
Familiarity?
The absurdity of the thought made him shake his head violently to dispel it.
Stop. Don't let your thoughts spiral. That leads to madness.
He turned to scan the morgue.
He noticed every corpse emitted a faint light, some white, some green, a few yellow.
He approached one of the green-glowing corpses.
Its face was pale, its bloodstained green flak jacket soaked in red. On its shoulder was a familiar red-and-white fan emblem.
"Uchiha?" Shin was a little surprised.
Normally, clans like the Uchiha or Hyuga would immediately retrieve their dead to prevent their bloodline secrets from leaking.
The village quietly approved of that practice.
But there were exceptions, like this one. The deceased had never awakened the Uchiha clan's kekkei genkai. That infamous "red eye disease" that drove the entire Naruto plot, giving birth to the so-called "Eye Wars of the Shinobi Villages"...
The Sharingan.
[Green Corpse. Success Rate: 60%. Would you like to loot the corpse? (Current: 3/3, Daily: 9/9)]
"White, green… what does yellow mean?"
The color likely indicated tier, correlated to strength, bloodline, or abilities in life.
He moved toward the only corpse emitting yellow light.
"Jōnin Miura?"
Coincidentally, he recognized this one.
The man had been an experienced jōnin of Konoha, once a personal guard to the Hokage and comrade of the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi. Though never Kage-level, his status as a jōnin was solid.
Even he had died?
The fall of such a powerful ninja was more than a death—it was a sign.
A signal that great unrest was returning to the shinobi world.
Shin didn't know the exact circumstances, but one thing was clear. If another large-scale war engulfed the Five Great Nations, someone like him—a small-time corpse collector—would be as helpless as a leaf on a stormy ocean, doomed to sink.
"Yellow must mean jōnin-level," Shin muttered, forcing himself to calm down.
[Yellow Corpse. Success Rate: 30%. Would you like to loot the corpse? (Current: 3/3, Daily: 9/9)]
Even at the jōnin level, success was only thirty percent.
No need to hesitate. Yellow was the highest tier he could see.
He decisively chose Yes.
[Failure!]
[Failure!]
Two straight failures.
"Is my luck really that bad?"
Probability said three chances should yield at least a 65% success rate. If he failed again, he might need to reevaluate his very existence.
Taking a deep breath, he reached out again, suppressing the discomfort of touching a cold, stiff body.
[Success! Obtained: Konoha Jōnin Miura Ichigō Experience Card (Rare)!]
It worked.
Now what?
Aside from the yellow glow vanishing, there was no visible change. He felt no surge of power, no new item in his hand.
"Maybe... here?"
After checking the system interface again, he finally noticed a small tab labeled [Panel] in the corner.
Curious, he tapped it.
Name: Maruyama Shin
Age: 13
Affinity: Fire
Rank: Genin
Stats:
Body: 10
Mind: 12
Ninjutsu: 12
Genjutsu: 5
Chakra Control: 15
Hand Seals: 15
Known Jutsu: Clone, Substitution, Transformation
Items: Konoha Jōnin Miura Ichigō Experience Card (Rare)
How should he describe this?
Looking at his stats, only one phrase came to mind, pathetic beyond words.
Still, that "Rare" card caught him off guard.
Anyone who played games knew anything labeled "Rare" was never ordinary.
All in all, not a bad first draw.
He returned to the Uchiha ninja's body and suddenly smiled.
"Why does this feel like opening loot boxes?"
Everyone knew loot boxes were addictive and he was no exception.
He had a good feeling this time too.
[Success! Obtained: Random +2 Stat Boost Card!]
[Success! Obtained: Diluted Uchiha Bloodline Card (1/3)!]
"Huh?"
Uchiha bloodline?
This time he couldn't resist. He immediately opened the panel again.
As his attention focused on the crimson-spinning card, detailed text appeared:
Name: Diluted Uchiha Bloodline Card (1/3)
Description: A member of the Uchiha clan who died without awakening the Sharingan. Their diluted bloodline was their final source of pride.
Effect: Collect 3 cards to unlock Uchiha bloodline.
Note: This is a cursed bloodline. Once used, there is no turning back. Proceed with caution.
No need to explain what that meant.
The Red Eye Disease. The Sharingan.
If you didn't awaken the Sharingan, could you even call yourself a proper Naruto isekai protagonist? As one of the strongest built-in hacks in the series, its importance couldn't be overstated.
Whether he could awaken it or not... didn't matter.
If others had it, he wanted it too.
Suppressing his excitement, he moved on.
Unfortunately, the third attempt failed.
Still, Shin was satisfied.
Probability-wise, things were playing out fairly.
The system hinted he still had three more draws for today.
He scanned the morgue again and finally chose a female ninja's corpse.
It was glowing white.
He picked her for a simple reason, the body was well-preserved, and... she was pretty.
[Success! Obtained: Standard Kunai x1]
[Success! Obtained: Elegant Earrings x1]
[Success! Obtained: Women's Undergarment x1]
"..."
It started off normally, but why had things suddenly taken a weird turn?
The kunai was fine. But earrings? Underwear?
Staring at the items in his inventory, Maruyama Shin was left speechless.
Right then, urgent footsteps echoed from outside the room.
Moments later, two figures appeared before him.
One was a medical-nin in a white coat. The other was a short boy with tired, droopy eyes and silver hair hidden beneath a face mask.
"Kakashi, the Hokage says that since this kid is an orphan, your squad will be responsible for his buri"
The medical-nin stopped mid-sentence, his eyes going wide with disbelief.
He stared at Maruyama Shin's hand.
It was resting on the chest of the female corpse.
Kakashi narrowed his eyes, a hint of disdain flickering across his face.
Shin also knew this looked very, very bad.
Worse, he had no idea how to explain it.
And yet, the moment he saw Kakashi, an absurd thought popped into his head—and slipped out of his mouth before he could stop it.
"Long time no see, Kakashi. So... where exactly is your dad buried?"
"…"
*********
Hey everyone! I'll be dropping an extra 1 chapter once we hit 200, 400 power stones! If you're enjoying the story, don't forget to spend some power stones. I'd really appreciate the support. Thanks a bunch!