Sakamoto Tatsuma was a transmigrator.
He was also a war orphan. Whether his parents had been ninjas remained unknown. His name, current residence, and living allowance were all assigned by the village.
The past few years had been relatively stable, but there was one thing that bothered Tatsuma deeply:
Why did he, Sakamoto Tatsuma, have a head of naturally curly blue-and-white hair?!
Unfortunately, this wasn't the world of Gin; this was the Naruto world. Otherwise, Tatsuma believed that with his own power, he could single-handedly stage a dramatic show worthy of the "Shishi F4."
As a war orphan in a dangerous world like this, Tatsuma initially spent a lot of time exploring his own talents and strengths.
He soon realized that aside from his dazzling smile and good looks—which won him the affection of elders—he had no other skills.
Thinking that his life would just be a story of being mediocre, everything changed a month ago when he woke up to find an acceptance letter to the Konoha Ninja Academy on his desk. That's when his "golden finger" activated—the Compliment Cult System.
System Panel:
Host: Sakamoto Tatsuma
Abilities:
Strength: 30/120
Speed: 43/248
Physique: 37/210
Wisdom: 100/200
Ninjutsu: 0/120
Genjutsu: 0/120
Stamina: 40/120
Hand Seals: 40/120
[Note: Minimum abilities for Genin = 100, Chunin = 1000, Jonin = 10,000]
Special Talents:
Space-Time: 20% (has some aptitude for space-time ninjutsu)
Ninjutsu Development: 10% (has some aptitude for developing new jutsu)
[Note: Special talents are calculated differently from regular abilities; percentages indicate acquisition chance]
The panel was simple and crude. Tatsuma even named the system himself. In a world where most systems revolved around looting and defeating enemies for rewards, his system required genuine compliments and "defeating" someone to acquire their talents.
Fortunately, "defeat" didn't always mean combat. Lately, Tatsuma had been forming one-sided match agreements with Minato Namikaze—running races counted as a match, which triggered system rewards.
As someone with all abilities barely over 120, Tatsuma knew the system was his only way to change his fate. Over the past month, he had "plucked" many talents from Minato.
Among them were the Space-Time and Ninjutsu Development talents. There was even a Ninjutsu Naming Talent (Minato Exclusive) 100%, but Tatsuma had decided not to take it. He didn't want to memorize and recite jutsu names.
Glancing at the slightly updated system panel, Tatsuma smiled genuinely at Minato, who had responded to him for the first time today as a "friend," and said:
"Are you going to keep training? I'm going to the training grounds to practice with the other ninjas."
Minato's eyes lit up. He regretted not thinking of this before and nodded enthusiastically. "Sure!"
Tatsuma's smile grew even brighter. The reason he brought Minato to the training grounds was simple: most of the people there were actual ninjas, and Tatsuma couldn't defeat them—training included. Bringing Minato along allowed him to "defeat" him and continue gathering system rewards. Watching Minato's innocent, unaware expression, Tatsuma added:
"Let's grab some breakfast first. My treat!"
"Oh, that's too kind," Minato said, glancing at Tatsuma's clothes. Both were wearing misprinted logo clothes, probably cheap knockoffs from a street stall. He immediately realized Tatsuma was from the same poor background as him and shook his head. "We can each buy our own breakfast. I don't want you to spend extra money."
Minato refused Tatsuma's offer but didn't try to return the favor either, knowing every penny of his allowance came from the village. He couldn't waste any. Once he became a ninja and had his own income, he might treat his new friend.
Seeing how sensible Minato was, Tatsuma shook his head, patted him on the shoulder, and offered an excuse: "I forgot my ninja tools today. Lend me yours, and I'll buy breakfast for you."
Minato noticed Tatsuma had no ninja pouch and, after a moment's thought, nodded. "Then you must remember to bring it next time. I heard we'll need it in class. By the way… are you also a student at the Ninja Academy?"
"Yeah. Starting tomorrow," Tatsuma replied.
The two small figures walked along a gradually busier street. At this time, Ichiraku Ramen didn't exist yet—it wouldn't open until Kakashi's teenage years. They bought a simple breakfast and headed for the nearest training grounds.
"Minato! Let's see who can finish 100 pull-ups first!""Okay!""As expected of you! Even your first try is fast… but this time I win!"Ding! Compliment and defeat your opponent. Acquire talents [Physique +3], [Strength +2]. Accept?"Yes!"
"Minato! Let's see who can finish 200 squats faster!""Okay!""You're amazing…"Ding! Compliment…
"Minato! Let's practice throwing shuriken! See who can hit the center first!""Okay!""You're incredible. Almost won… if it weren't for my weaker strength, I might've taken it!"Ding! Compliment and defeat your opponent. Acquire Special Talent [Projectile Weapon (Minato Exclusive) 20%]. Accept?
Tatsuma froze for a moment, surprised to see Minato had a limited-edition projectile weapon talent. He hadn't expected it—projectile talent should be generic, right?
But then he realized: with Minato eventually combining it with the S-Rank Flying Thunder God Technique to develop the second stage, having a projectile talent made sense.
"Yes!"
Tatsuma quickly accepted the talent. Instantly, countless methods of throwing weapons flashed in his mind—from kunai, shuriken, and senbon to flash bombs and even people!
Unlike regular talents, which only raised potential and required training to develop, special talents were granted immediately upon acquisition.
Some memories were fuzzy, likely because the talent acquisition wasn't complete, especially the human-as-weapon techniques. They would need to be combined with other ninjutsu.
Still, Tatsuma was very satisfied. He looked at Minato, who had now adjusted his mindset, and said:
"Minato, your talents are impressive."
Hearing Tatsuma praise him again, Minato gave a wry smile. This "friend" had spent the afternoon beating him in every area and kept praising him. Minato wondered if Tatsuma thought of him as a baby learning to walk.
But this time, Tatsuma's praise was genuine and enthusiastic. He continued:
"However, your throwing technique has flaws. I'll show you the correct method, and then we can continue competing."
"Ah? That's really… thank you so much, Tatsuma!"