His name had once been Rio. Just Rio. A forgettable name, in a forgettable life.
He died on Earth—nothing spectacular. A car accident, maybe. Or a stroke in his sleep. He couldn't remember. The only thing he could recall was waking up to the cries of a newborn and the distant wail of alarms echoing across a burning village.
That was the night the Nine-Tails attacked Konoha.
That was the night he was reborn in the world of Naruto.
At first, Rio thought it was a dream. Then, a punishment. And finally, he accepted it for what it was: reincarnation into a fictional world as an absolute nobody.
No Uzumaki blood.
No Sharingan.
No Sage powers.
Just another orphan—one among hundreds.
He tried. God, he tried.
He enrolled in the Academy, hoping for a miracle. Hoping that maybe, just maybe, his chakra would awaken one day and some hidden bloodline would explode to the surface.
But reality didn't work that way.
At age six, the Academy instructor patted his shoulder with a sigh and said the words that broke him:
"You're not cut out to be a shinobi, Rio. I'm sorry."
So that was that. No ninja path. No jutsu. No hope of becoming strong enough to survive in a world built on war.
By thirteen, he was doing odd jobs just to eat. Cleaning dishes in ramen shops. Sweeping streets. Mending broken fences. Meanwhile, the kids his age—Naruto, Sasuke, Hinata—were already Genin, walking down the path toward greatness.
Rio? He was nothing more than background noise.
But he watched. He remembered the canon. And he counted the days.
Because there was one thing he knew for certain: the Chūnin Exams were coming.
And with them… death.
The Konoha Crush. Orochimaru. The Sand and Sound invasion. Hundreds of shinobi would die in the chaos. And Rio had no plot armor. No powers. No reason the story would keep him alive.
That's why, on the eve of the Chūnin Exams, Rio was packing his bag.
Not for war. For escape.
It was a quiet night. Summer heat clung to the village like a curse. Somewhere in the distance, cicadas buzzed, and a baby cried. The Hokage Monument glowed faintly under the stars.
Inside a small, broken-down apartment on the far edge of the village, Rio knelt by his futon, shoving a worn map into his satchel.
"Rice Country… maybe the Land of Iron?" he muttered, checking the routes out of Konoha. "Anywhere but here."
He paused, looking around at the tiny room he'd called home for thirteen years. The cracked walls. The paper-thin futon. The one chipped cup on the windowsill. It wasn't much—but it was his.
And he was leaving it behind.
Because staying meant dying.
He tightened the straps of his pack, double-checked his meager food supply (two rice balls, a half-loaf of dry bread), and stood.
"I've got three days tops before the invasion hits," he whispered. "I need to be past the southern forest before the fighting starts."
He took a deep breath.
Then—
Ding!
The world froze.
A strange chime echoed inside his skull. A glowing blue window flashed into existence before his eyes.
[Debt Collector System Binding Complete.]
Welcome, Rio. You now have the power… to make the world owe you.
Rio blinked.
"What the—?"
The window shimmered, then shifted.
Tutorial: This system allows you to issue "Debt Contracts" to others. Debts can be paid in various forms: chakra, items, favors… or even bloodlines.
Warning: All debts will be collected. One way or another.
Rio's heartbeat spiked.
"A system… finally? After thirteen years of nothing?"
He reached out instinctively, but his hand passed through the floating text.
He stared at the glowing window, disbelief tightening around his chest like a vice.
This had to be a hallucination. Chakra deprivation, heat stroke—something.
The system window shimmered again, lines of glowing text scrolling downward like an ancient contract being written by unseen hands.
Would you like to issue your first active Debt Contract?
[Yes][No]
Rio hesitated for only a moment before tapping Yes.
A new panel appeared.
Debt Contract Configuration
Debtor: [Enter Target Name]
Loan Type: Chakra / Item / Favour / Skill / Bloodline
Amount: [Specify]
Interest Rate: [1%-100%]
Time Limit: [Set Timeframe]
Penalty for Default: [System-Enforced / Manual Collection / Convert to Blood Debt]
Rio's fingers trembled.
"Holy shit," he breathed. "This is like… predatory lending, but with chakra and bloodlines."