"Naruto! I know you're here, you damn demon fox! Come out right now and hand over the Scroll of Seals!"
A figure landed heavily on a nearby tree branch—Mizuki's face twisted in rage, spewing curses and resentment.
He'd been tracking footprints along the trees, and they led him right here… but then stopped cold. No trail ahead. He didn't buy it. Mizuki was convinced Naruto hadn't erased his trail—he didn't have the brains for that. No, the brat must've gotten tired from running and was hiding nearby.
"Tch. That damn fox is around here somewhere. I know he heard me!"
Mizuki was getting desperate. He'd been chasing after the Scroll of Seals for too long. Konoha's ninjas weren't amateurs—if he delayed any longer, reinforcements would arrive, and his escape route would be sealed. He had to grab the scroll now or he was done for.
"Damn it, that old bastard is fast!"
"I was just trying to learn a few more jutsu—he's already catching up?"
Satoru cursed silently as he crouched in the bushes, staying perfectly still. Mizuki might've been trash-tier by the story's standards, but for a fresh transmigrator still in the early stages of power-up, he was no joke.
Sure, he could already use Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu, and he probably had enough firepower to take Mizuki out in one go… but he wasn't looking to be the hero just yet. Iruka was definitely on his way—and honestly? Let him take the first hit. Let Mizuki waste some chakra, throw a few punches, tire himself out.
Strategic patience, baby.
While Mizuki muttered and fumed outside, Satoru decided now was the moment to call the system.
He'd just arrived in this world, and according to every web novel he'd ever read, this was the perfect time. Eyes shut, heart focused, he called out in his mind:
"System, are you there?"
No suspense, no delay—right on cue, a mechanical voice echoed in his brain:
[Ding! System binding initiated.]
[Congratulations, Host. System successfully bound. Welcome to the Naruto World!]
[System Notice: Host can sign in once per day for a random reward.]
[Sign-in has three tiers: Daily, Weekly, and Monthly. The higher the tier, the better the reward.]
[All rewards are Naruto-world exclusive—ninjutsu, ninja tools, bloodlines, forbidden techniques, and more.]
The voice echoed coolly in his head while Satoru grinned like an idiot.
"Let's freaking go! With the system in hand, the world's basically mine!"
He remembered one system novel he read years ago—dude signed in for ten years straight, and even the guard dog became a demon emperor.
As for the MC? Gods, ghosts, whatever—they all got one-shot. If he needed a second move, it meant the opponent was already top-tier.
[Initiating today's sign-in...]
Satoru clenched his fists in anticipation.
[Sign-in successful!]
[Congratulations, Host. You've received: 5 Kunai and 5 Explosive Tags!]
...
His grin froze.
"...The hell is this crap?"
Where were the divine weapons? The broken jutsu? The secret bloodlines?
He got… basic starter gear?
"Is this a damn tutorial drop?"
Satoru could only laugh bitterly. Every other protagonist got martial arts manuals and cultivation techniques from day one, and he got… the equivalent of a free wooden sword.
Then his eyes twitched.
"Detonating tags?! Why didn't I learn the Multiplying Explosive Tags jutsu first?!"
If he had, he could've turned one tag into infinite bombs. He could've stuck one to Mizuki's crotch and blown him sky-high! A direct shot to make him the First Hokage—the kind even Tsunade couldn't heal!
Just imagining it made his stomach hurt… and not from laughter.
"Damn, if I become Hokage one day, and people bring up how I got chased through the village by some chūnin clown like Mizuki? Total reputation killer."
Now he understood why the Jade Emperor got pissed when people brought up how he once got beat by a monkey. Black history ruins legacies.
"Naruto!" Mizuki's voice cut through the air again, loud and threatening.
"I can see you! Stop hiding! Hand over the Scroll of Seals, and I might let you live! Otherwise, don't blame me for what happens next!"
Satoru peeked through the leaves. Mizuki stood out in the open like an idiot, kunai in hand, scanning the forest as if expecting Naruto to pop out like a cartoon character.
He was confident Naruto was close—he just couldn't pin down where. The trees were tall, the grass was thick, and everything looked the same. Even Mizuki's dumb brain knew time was running out.
The scroll had been gone too long.
Konoha wasn't the kind of village to shrug off a theft like this. Even if Mizuki got the scroll right now, there was no guarantee he'd make it out alive.
His face twisted darker.
From the bushes, Satoru watched him closely.
He really wanted to jump out and bash Mizuki's face in. Turn him into Pigsy from Journey to the West right here and now.
But he held back.
Iruka was close. Anbu might be watching. He didn't want to expose himself yet.
"Play the long game," he reminded himself.
"Today, I'm the rabbit. Let them wear each other out first."
After giving it some thought, Satoru decided—fine, he'd stick to the plot for now and let Iruka take center stage in the fight against Mizuki.
After all, the Third Hokage had gone through all the trouble of setting up this whole drama. Wasn't the point of it all to win over the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki's loyalty to the village?
If Iruka didn't jump in to block that kunai for him, deliver his heartfelt speech, and cry a little while teaching him about the Will of Fire—how was Naruto supposed to become a proper Konoha brainwashed child soldier?
That was the foundation of Konoha's strategy!
As a veteran Naruto fan who'd watched every clip on Douyin and rewatched all the highlight reels, Satoru had formed his own opinions about the characters and their roles. And now that he was here, living it?
He wasn't about to follow the script like some NPC.
He was a transmigrator.
Not some holy fool trying to carry the Will of Fire on his back.
He had one goal: live his own life, and show the world a different kind of Naruto story.
"System, I've got a question," he said mentally while Mizuki was still distracted and hadn't noticed him.
"Since this is my first-time transmigrating and binding to your system… are there any extra bonuses besides the daily sign-in?"
As someone who'd read countless webnovels, Satoru knew the routine like the back of his hand.
There are always hidden rules.
If you don't ask, you don't get anything.
If you do ask? Boom—secret rewards, hidden upgrades, overpowered gear.
Most of these systems were straight-up scam artists.
"Don't ask, don't give."
"Ask, and you shall receive."
He wasn't one of those clueless newbies who got jerked around by the system. He knew how this game worked.
[Ding! Congratulations, dear host! As this is your first-time binding with the Naruto World System, you've been granted access to system storage space!]
[Storage space: Unlimited capacity. Please check and use freely!]
Knew it.
A smug grin stretched across Satoru's face.
"These system bastards are all the same. Total con artists."
"If you don't ask, they pretend it doesn't exist. But the moment you do? Suddenly the vault opens."
"And they always give something good just to make you think you're being rewarded."
Still, he wasn't going to complain. He'd asked. He'd received. And the reward?
Unlimited storage space.
Now he could start collecting items, scrolls, jutsu, corpses—whatever he wanted.
This transmigration thing might just turn out very nicely.
...
TN:
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