When my eyes opened, the ceiling above me wasn't the one I remembered. Wooden beams stretched across in neat rows, sunlight leaking through the shutters in warm strips. My body felt smaller, lighter, yet coiled with something waiting to burst.
I sat up slowly, the futon beneath me creaking. That's when it hit me: I wasn't home. Not my old home, not my old world. The sounds outside were wrong—vendors shouting about rice, children running with wooden kunai, the distant thud of ninja landing on rooftops.
I staggered to the basin near the wall and looked down.
A boy stared back at me.
Long black hair, straighter and heavier than I'd ever had, framed a face sharper than most. My eyes caught my attention most of all: steel-gray, cold and unblinking, carrying a weight they shouldn't have at this age. I wasn't ugly. No—if anything, I looked like the kind of boy who made people stare for a second too long. Not clan-born, no crest, no name worth repeating… but my reflection had a presence.
That's when the voice arrived.
[Ninja System Initializing…]
I froze. The words weren't spoken. They shimmered inside my mind like ink poured on water.
[Welcome, Renji. You have been selected as a Candidate.]
[Missions will be assigned. Completion grants Points. Failure may result in Punishment.]
My heart quickened. A system. In this world.
[First Mission: Physical Foundation]
Objective: 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats
Rank: E
Time Limit: 1 hour
Reward: +10 Points
Failure: Muscle strain (-10% speed for 3 days)
I exhaled through my nose. "So that's how it's gonna be."
Dropping to the floor, I started. My arms shook by twenty. Sweat stung my eyes by fifty. By ninety, my body screamed like it wanted to tear itself apart. But I kept going. I wasn't just doing reps—I was forcing a world to recognize me.
On the hundredth push-up, I collapsed flat, chest heaving.
[Mission Complete!]
[+10 Points Acquired]
A glow surged through me like fire in my veins.
[Distribute Points?]
"Five Strength. Five Agility."
The change was instant. My muscles tightened, my body lighter, quicker. I flexed my hand into a fist. If this was only the start, I wondered how far it could go.
The rest of the day moved like a test. I stepped into the academy yard by noon, where students my age trained. Wooden targets were littered with kunai. The air smelled of dust, sweat, and ambition.
Their chatter dimmed when I walked in.
Not because I demanded it—just because I carried myself differently. Calm steps, shoulders steady, eyes that didn't dart around nervously. People whispered anyway.
"Is he Uchiha?"
"No, no crest. Then who—"
I ignored them. My eyes drifted.
A flash of blonde hair caught the sun—Tsunade, laughing at something one of her friends said. Jiraiya stood not far off, already loud, already failing spectacularly at shuriken throws. And in the corner, Orochimaru watched in silence, pale and unreadable, his gaze dissecting every movement.
These were the ones history would call the Sannin. And me? I was just the boy no one had heard of.
For now.
The system pulsed again.
[Mandatory Mission: Surpass an Academy Peer in Combat Training]
Rank: C
Reward: +20 Points
Failure: -15 Reputation
Time Limit: Before sundown
I smirked. "You don't waste time, do you?"
When sparring began, I didn't hesitate. I squared off against one of the louder boys—bigger than me, cocky, thought he had the match before it started. The instructor barked for us to begin.
He rushed me with a wild swing. My body moved before I thought—sidestep, palm strike, kick. My strikes weren't flashy, but they were precise. Efficient. Each one carried the quiet weight of my training, my mission, my determination.
The boy stumbled back, eyes wide. The spar ended with my hand pressed to his chest, his balance broken.
The yard went silent. Then whispers spread.
"What…?"
"He's not from a clan…"
"How did he—"
The system chimed.
[Mission Complete — +20 Points]
[Skill Unlocked: Taijutsu Precision Lv.1]
I stepped back calmly, wrapping my arms across my chest as if the match had been nothing. Jiraiya gawked, Tsunade tilted her head with interest, and Orochimaru's lips curved in something close to a smile.
The day carried on. Optional side missions blinked now and then—help a neighbor carry supplies, practice shuriken, run laps. I did enough to keep the system pleased, to keep myself growing. The sun dipped lower, the village lamps flickered to life, and the air cooled with evening.
When I finally returned home, my body ached, but my mind burned with possibility. I lay back on the futon, eyes tracing the shadows across the ceiling.
The system's pulse lingered.
[Daily Summary: Missions Completed — 2 Mandatory, 3 Optional. Total Points: 32.]
A smile touched my lips.
"Not bad for day one."
My eyes drifted shut, exhaustion pulling me under.
Tomorrow would be harder. Tomorrow always was