"Night Maple-kun, Kushina's been taken!"
Night Maple looked at the group of young men and women who'd rushed over in a panic, when a flood of memories—familiar yet strange—surged into his mind. He froze on the spot.
He had transmigrated into the world of Naruto!
This was Konoha.
If he remembered right, the Second Shinobi World War had ended less than ten years ago!
Though undercurrents seethed, on the surface this was at least a rare time of peace.
As for Night Maple, he was just an ordinary genin.
His identity: a war orphan picked up by the Uzumaki clan on the road while they were escorting Kushina to Konoha!
The young men and women before him were shinobi of the same cohort as Night Maple!
Leading them were four people—Uchiha Mikoto, Namikaze Minato, and the Hyūga brothers.
Uchiha Mikoto and Night Maple were childhood friends; Mikoto was also Kushina's closest friend.
As for Namikaze Minato and the Hyūga brothers, they were peers from the same year.
From his memories, Night Maple knew that Namikaze Minato was the recent years' prodigy at mastering all kinds of ninjutsu. Though still ranked chūnin, his actual strength was already at jōnin level.
Tsk tsk, so this is the man who could become Hokage in his early twenties.
The Hyūga brothers were likewise standouts among the chūnin.
As for Night Maple, he was just an ordinary genin.
Just as Night Maple was digesting his memories, a line of text suddenly popped into his mind!
[System initiating. In view of the host's current situation, three starting options are granted!]
[Option One: Be a salted fish, look the other way, and stay far from the plot! Reward: C-rank taijutsu—Leaf Whirlwind.]
[Option Two: Create chaos, obstruct the rescue, and join the villains! Reward: Mangekyō Sharingan.]
[Option Three: Leave Konoha immediately and take part in rescuing Kushina! Reward: Supreme Starter Pack!]
[Task will be settled immediately upon completion!]
Night Maple's eyes widened in shock!
The real transmigrator's perk had arrived!
As expected, a system might be late, but it never fails to show up.
Night Maple began to think it over seriously.
This was a classic god-tier choice.
Being a salted fish was the safest—and also the lowest yield.
Leaf Whirlwind—wasn't that the exclusive taijutsu Guy taught to Rock Lee…?
That reward really was a salted-fish reward.
The second option looked tempting, but in practice it was a dead end.
Mangekyō Sharingan.
But Night Maple wasn't an idiot. With his current half-baked skills, he'd be grabbed before he could even cause any chaos.
Konoha's ANBU and Root were no joke.
Even if he somehow succeeded and awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, he still wouldn't escape Konoha's pursuit.
A non-Uchiha awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan? He'd be lucky not to get hauled off and dissected.
The third option—the Supreme Starter Pack—just the name sounded badass.
He didn't know what it was, but it couldn't possibly be worse than Leaf Whirlwind, right?
No way was he taking Leaf Whirlwind—the moves were way too lame.
Moreover, Night Maple had caught the wording: as long as he left Konoha immediately and took part in the rescue operation, the task would count as complete.
On that point, Night Maple had even asked the system.
The system's reply was that settlement by the system would prevail.
It's just that Kushina's kidnapping reeked of weirdness at every turn!
To say nothing else—how could a few little Cloud-nin infiltrate Konoha undetected and abduct Kushina, the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki?
Right now, Konoha had the still-in-his-prime Sarutobi Hiruzen, the young Legendary Sannin, and elites like the White Fang of Konoha.
It reminded Night Maple of the beginning of Naruto's story—the chūnin Mizuki who used Naruto to steal the Scroll of Seals, only to be beaten by Naruto's Multiple Shadow Clone Technique.
The two incidents were actually quite similar.
Whichever way you looked at it, it felt like someone had deliberately turned a blind eye.
Anyway, Night Maple had already made up his mind: within the scope of his abilities, he'd complete Option Three—leave Konoha at once and join the rescue of Kushina!
Uchiha Mikoto said guiltily, "Those bastards took advantage of our Uchiha clan's festival, when the guard was thin, and kidnapped Kushina!"
"I heard it was a Cloud plant inside our Konoha who took Kushina!"
Namikaze Minato frowned. "I'll go to Kushina's place first and see what's going on!"
As he spoke, Minato's figure flickered, leaving an afterimage as he vanished from everyone's sight.
Body Flicker Technique!
Everyone's faces showed envy.
"What a fast Body Flicker!"
"I heard the Third's secret arts have all been passed on to Namikaze Minato."
Night Maple knew it wasn't the Third's secret art, but the Second's Flying Thunder God Technique.
Though the Third looks lame in the anime, from Night Maple's memories his prestige in Konoha right now was at its peak.
Night Maple immediately looked at Uchiha Mikoto and the Hyūga brothers. "Let's go too. We'll search outside—maybe we'll find a clue."
Uchiha Mikoto glared at Night Maple. "You?"
Someone nearby snorted. "Night Maple, just stay in the village. With your level, you'd only get in the way out there."
"You dead-last want to play hero and save the beauty?"
"So weak—don't put on a brave face…"
Night Maple rolled his eyes and ignored them. He circulated chakra, gathered it to his feet, and sprinted toward the Konoha gate.
Gotta say, the D-rank standard Body Flicker is really slow—only about twice ordinary running speed.
Compared to the Yellow Flash just now, the gap was way too big.
Soon, Night Maple reached the main road leading into Konoha; from a distance he could see a crowd already gathered at the gate.
Night Maple thought it over: as a genin, there was no way he'd get through the gate.
Fortunately, he remembered a small path where you could climb the wall and slip out of the village.
So Night Maple immediately turned back.
Only, even the side path was guarded.
The guard was a young Uchiha Fugaku—the future father of Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Sasuke.
"Night Maple, what are you doing here?"
Night Maple hurriedly said, "Fugaku, look—someone over there!"
As Fugaku turned his head, Night Maple dashed straight past.
"Hey, don't go! It's dangerous outside—the Cloud have spies…"
Fugaku tried to grab Night Maple, but saw Mikoto and the Hyūga brothers heading this way too.
"Forget it. If the brat wants to run out and die, it's not on me!"
Fugaku shook his head and said to the approaching Mikoto and the Hyūga brothers, "What are you doing? You can't go out here!"
In the blink of an eye, Night Maple had already scaled the wall and slipped out of Konoha.
[Ding, left Konoha—task completion 50%!]
What should he do next?
Night Maple suddenly spotted a lock of wine-red hair on the ground.
"This is Kushina's hair!"
[Ding, clue discovered! Task completion 60%! Please continue your investigation, host!]