[Congratulations!]
[Hidden Quest "The Outsider's Journey" — Completion Conditions Fulfilled]
[Rewards Obtained:
① "Player" Qualification
② Random Hidden Class
③ "Outsider" Title]
...
"You performed excellently, Shikage!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi sat behind the evaluation desk, nodding with a satisfied smile.
"With your talent and ability, becoming a regular teacher at the Ninja Academy feels like a complete waste of your potential."
"Are you really sure you want to work there?"
The words drifted past his ears, but Nara Shikage didn't answer right away. He just stared at the ground of the assessment field.
Looking at the glowing [Notification] hovering there, a flood of emotion hit him:
'Twelve long years… I finally completed the hidden quest.'
As the eldest son of the main Nara branch, he had every right to call himself outstanding—background, talent, the whole package.
But he knew better.
In this brutal shinobi world, that alone was nowhere near enough to live the peaceful life he wanted.
Having been a die-hard Naruto fan in his previous life, Nara Shikage understood exactly how dangerous the future was.
The Nara clan looked like a big name in Konoha on paper, but in reality they were just another side branch.
His own talent? Reaching chūnin at twelve was decent… but still mediocre next to the real monsters.
Of course, that was only when you stacked him against the absolute top tier.
Among regular shinobi, the early-maturing Shikage was still considered a genius.
Yet on the battlefield, it was always these so-called geniuses who died first.
Ever since he woke up in this world, that fear had never really left him.
No one understood the coming disasters better than he did:
The Uchiha Massacre.
The Chūnin Exam Incident.
Pain's Invasion.
The Fourth Great Ninja War.
The threats from beyond the sky.
And who knows what else after that.
Just the big ones he remembered were more than he could count on one hand—let alone all the random, sudden ways to die.
One mistake and even the Nara clan's eldest son could be gone.
That's why he'd trained like hell since he was a kid… and why he'd worked so hard to become part of Konoha, to build a solid reputation.
Serving as a substitute teacher at the Academy was part of that plan.
Training was for power.
Reputation wasn't just for connections.
More than anything, it was to finish the hidden quest—[The Outsider's Journey]!
[Hidden Quest: The Outsider's Journey]
[Requirement: Reach 100 Recognition from native residents]
[Progress: 0/100]
That was the very first thing he saw when he opened his eyes in this world. It became his anchor and his insurance.
Normal methods weren't going to cut it… so he decided to cheat.
Ten straight years of never letting up.
And now… it was finally done.
After flashing through the memories, Shikage eagerly pulled up his system panel and thought:
— View system rewards.
["Player" Qualification]
[Description: The system will fully digitize the user's body and abilities.]
— Open system panel.
[Status Window]
Name: Nara Shikage
Level: 0
Class: Shinobi, (Locked Random Hidden Class)
Fatigue: 10
Title: Outsider
HP: 100%
MP: 100%
Strength: 20 (10)
Stamina: 23 (10)
Agility: 27 (10)
Intelligence: 29 (10)
Perception: 26 (10)
Free Points: 0
A spark of delight flashed in his eyes as he read it.
— Health and mana in percentages. My body really has been fully digitized.
— A digitized body means no more fatal wounds in the old sense.
— Double class system? Hell, does that mean I can stack even more later?
— These five stats are pretty damn good for a twelve-year-old. Already way above average.
The panel also had slots for [Equipment], [Inventory], [Shop], and more, but they were all empty, so he only glanced before moving on.
— What's the random hidden class gonna be?
— Don't let me down now…
— Activate 'Random Hidden Class'!
The moment the thought hit, the class shell started peeling away.
[Hidden Attribute Detected: Shadow Affinity]
[Random Hidden Class confirmed as Legendary Class — Shadow Lord]
— Holy shit… this is top-tier.
His eyes flickered rapidly as he scanned the details.
[Class: Shadow Lord]
[Rank: Legendary]
[Exclusive Skills: Shadow Extraction (Lv.1), Shadow Storage (Lv.1)]
[Talent: Power of Shadow (Shadow Affinity × 1000%)]
[Compatibility: 0% (Higher compatibility unlocks more exclusive abilities)]
— Hell yeah. We're set.
Just this one hidden class already had him feeling rock-solid.
But the quest rewards weren't finished yet.
— Check Title: Outsider
[Title: Outsider]
[Attribute Bonuses:
① Absolute Adaptability (Grants monstrous adaptive ability)
② Absolute Learning Ability (Grants extreme learning talent)
③ Absolute Influence (Grants powerful influence ability)]
— Now this one's on another level entirely…
Shikage sucked in a sharp breath. He'd thought Shadow Lord was already insane.
But the Outsider title? It felt like someone had just flipped every cheat switch to maximum.
All the heavy anxiety he'd carried for years vanished in a heartbeat.
He had never felt so light, so free.
He had planned to lock in as a full-time Academy teacher after graduation to keep stacking recognition.
Now? No need.
The quest was done. He had way better options than teaching kids.
It felt like he'd been lost in thought forever, but in reality only a few seconds had passed.
Snapping back, Shikage was about to politely tell the Third Hokage he wanted to withdraw from the assessment.
Before he could speak, a furious voice exploded from the side.
"I refuse to accept this!"
Mizuki's eyes were bloodshot as he shouted:
"Lord Hokage, I refuse to accept this!"
"I request a shinobi duel!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned slightly, fingers brushing his smoking pipe.
"Are you questioning my judgment?"
"The entire evaluation was open and fair. Shikage's performance fully met—and even exceeded—every single criterion…"
"It's fine, Lord Hokage," Nara Shikage cut in with a gentle smile.
"I'm more than happy to have a shinobi duel with Teacher Mizuki."
— Perfect. I was just looking for a test subject to try out my new abilities on anyway.