Chapter 43: A Difficult Task and a Crazy Reward
The third life experience game is about to begin. Host, please be prepared.
The difficulty of this life experience game is Entry-Level (High). Host, please take note.
Please be aware that if the Host suffers a fatal injury leading to death in Medium difficulty or above, it will affect the final evaluation of the game settlement.
Naruto, having received the prompt in advance, lay quietly on the tatami, covered himself with a quilt, and closed his eyes, waiting for the System to pull him into that milky-white space.
Thirty-second countdown starting now.
At the moment Naruto closed his eyes, his consciousness was pulled away again. When Naruto reopened them, he was in the familiar milky-white space, with the countdown echoing in his mind.
"I hope this life experience game will allow me to learn even more exciting things!"
...
"Itachi! Come look at your little brother; he's smiling at you!"
"Oh, okay..."
The five-year-old brat called "Itachi" by a beautiful woman was Naruto. He hadn't expected this life experience game to be set in his own world.
In fact, it couldn't even be called a background; this life experience game was Naruto's original world!
However, through the System's interference, Naruto had replaced Uchiha Itachi in some unknown way, starting a new, somewhat different life experience.
Naruto's lack of enthusiasm wasn't because he anticipated a life of babysitting, but because he had personally experienced the Nine-Tails Attack. He had indirectly witnessed the Nine-Tailed Fox in its prime and the brutality of that battle.
Before the Nine-Tails Attack occurred, Naruto had the chance to interact with his biological father, Minato Namikaze, while in the guise of Uchiha Itachi. The feeling of seeing him but being unable to acknowledge him caused Naruto great pain.
"He really is a lot like me!" Naruto felt this the moment he saw Minato Namikaze. "But he is too great, and I can't achieve that..."
Naruto saw himself clearly. Without the life experience game System, he would likely have been raised by Hiruzen Sarutobi to have a personality similar to Minato Namikaze's.
After all, to become Hokage as a commoner, certain traits in Minato Namikaze definitely had to meet Hiruzen Sarutobi's expectations. Otherwise, looking at Konoha's power structure, a commoner wanting to become Hokage wasn't just about being strong.
Only by meeting the political expectations of the previous Hokage, while possessing great strength and immense prestige, would such a possibility actually happen.
"Father, you were still a bit too foolish." This was what Naruto could least let go of regarding Minato Namikaze's death. "You trusted Hiruzen Sarutobitoo much, and you trusted the villagers you sacrificed yourself to save too much. What's even more ridiculous is that the teacher and Disciple you were so proud of didn't show any concern for your descendant!"
Although Naruto had deduced most of the facts from various pieces of information, his final judgment was somewhat biased.
Setting Jiraiya aside for a moment, Kakashi Hatake, Minato Namikaze's Disciple, had looked after the young Naruto more than once.
It was just that Naruto was too young then to remember. Moreover, Kakashi Hatake's personality had become somewhat obsessive after his father's suicide, making him a complete workaholic when it came to missions.
At that time, Kakashi Hatake, who had already joined the Anbu, had an endless stream of missions. Regarding missions as his life, he had no time for anything else.
If Naruto understood this, he would probably be a bit friendlier towards Kakashi Hatake...
"What's wrong, Itachi? Are you afraid of hurting your brother?"
Uchiha Mikoto was worried about Naruto's state. Since the Nine-Tails Attack, Naruto had been distracted all day. Not only was he absent-minded during training, but he also seemed somewhat cold toward his younger brother.
After Uchiha Mikoto spoke, Naruto naturally knew he had made a very simple mistake, but this simple mistake was fatal.
Quickly gathering his thoughts, a warm and comforting smile bloomed on Naruto's face. He shook his head and carefully took Uchiha Sasukefrom Uchiha Mikoto's hands.
"I've practiced how to hold a baby," Naruto's voice was very steady, a result of Uchiha Fugaku's teachings since childhood. "Besides, I really like my little brother!"
Naruto's personality had long been set, but his superficial acting was now perfected. No one could see anything unusual in his movements or demeanor.
After coaxing the month-old Uchiha Sasuke for a while, Naruto used the excuse of training to temporarily get away from Uchiha Mikoto and head toward the training grounds.
It wasn't just Minato Namikaze and the Nine-Tails Attack that troubled Naruto; the mandatory task the System had issued was also a factor.
Mandatory Task Issued: In this life experience game, the Host needs to complete a promotion task. Success allows the Host to experience higher-difficulty games; failure will temporarily revoke the Host's usage rights for 10 years. Please be aware.
The task content is as follows: Experience the Uchiha Clan Massacre as Uchiha Itachi and ensure you do not die. The System will rate the Hostbased on various actions during the task.
A rating below Medium is considered a task failure. The corresponding punishment will be automatically executed after the Systemsettlement.
A Medium rating or higher is considered a task success, but a Medium rating will provide no Experience Point rewards after settlement.
An Excellent rating is the best. Upon settlement, 100 experience points will be rewarded, and the Host can independently choose to obtain a certain skill from any character who appeared in this life experience game.
As soon as the task was issued, Naruto felt that the Uchiha Clan Massacre was not simple. Achieving an Excellent rating would be as hard as climbing to heaven; otherwise, the Systemwouldn't offer such a generous reward for it.
Yes, the Excellent reward left Naruto speechless; the scale of this reward was truly massive.
After all, there were so many characters appearing in this life experience game, including several powerful Kage-level Ninjas!
Moreover, Naruto specifically asked the System if a Bloodline Limit counted as a skill, and the answer was "Yes!" This immediately sent Naruto into his first bout of wild joy.
But Naruto soon regained his composure. He realized that the difficulty of this task might be two Ranks higher than he had anticipated.
However, after thinking quietly for a while, Narutohad a rough plan. Although it was immature and incomplete, it should be enough to handle the task and achieve a Medium rating.
After all, the task only required Naruto to experience the Uchiha Clan Massacre, not to prevent it. There was a lot of information hidden in that, and the range of maneuverability was much larger.
Therefore, Naruto planned to join the stronger side—the force that would cause the Uchiha's extinction. It was a "if you can't beat them, join them" kind of logic.
After all, a wise man submits to circumstances, and this was just a life experience; it shouldn't be taken entirely seriously.
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