Chapter 1: Transmigration
[High-priced brain collection. First come, first served...] ...
"I... transmigrated?"
Liu Sheng stared at his small, childish hands, then looked around at the unfamiliar classroom. Disbelief filled his eyes.
He couldn't remember doing anything special. Last night, he had simply gone to sleep comfortably.
Maybe this is just a dream?
"Next, Uchiha Sasuke!"
Just as he was thinking, a young man's voice called out from the front.
Liu Sheng turned toward the sound. At the classroom entrance stood a man wearing a Konoha forehead protector, with a prominent scar across the bridge of his nose and slightly tanned skin.
A cool, aloof boy in a blue short-sleeved shirt and white shorts was walking toward him.
"Uchiha Sasuke?" "Konoha forehead protector?" "Am I... in the Naruto world?"
The man should be Iruka Umino.
Liu Sheng quickly pieced together the situation from what he saw. He pinched his own arm — it hurt. This wasn't a dream.
"Looks like I really have transmigrated. And right now, I'm a student at the Ninja Academy... in the same class as Sasuke. Not sure if that's good or bad."
The good news was that Konoha was currently peaceful. The bad news was that the future wouldn't stay that way.
"I'll take it one step at a time," he thought with a sigh. "Why did they call Sasuke out?"
Curious, he listened to the whispers around him and soon understood — it was the graduation exam.
"I don't have any of Naruto's memories. I can't even perform hand seals, let alone ninjutsu. How am I supposed to pass this?"
As he hesitated, wondering if he had a system, Sasuke returned.
A moment later, Iruka's voice rang out again.
"Next, Uzumaki Naruto!"
"Uzumaki Naruto!"
"Naruto, Iruka-sensei is calling you. What are you spacing out for?"
"Huh? Me?"
When all his classmates turned to look at him, Liu Sheng froze.
He had assumed he had possessed a random nobody. He never expected to wake up as the protagonist himself.
What now? I don't know any ninjutsu! Am I supposed to save the shinobi world?
"Forget it... one step at a time."
With a helpless expression, he stood up and headed to the exam room next door. No matter what, he had to get through this test first.
"Don't be nervous, Naruto. Just do your best!"
As soon as he entered, a voice encouraged him. He turned and saw a young man with white hair tinged with blue speaking to him.
That must be Mizuki.
"Mm." Liu Sheng gave a curt nod, his face expressionless.
He knew Mizuki's kindness was fake — the man only wanted to use him.
Mizuki's face flashed with a hint of coldness at the indifferent response, but he quickly hid it.
"Let's begin, Naruto."
Compared to Mizuki, Iruka looked much more serious as he supervised the exam.
But Liu Sheng didn't care about that. Right now, the biggest problem was...
How do you make the hand seals for the Clone Technique again?
"What's wrong, Naruto? Are you too nervous?" Mizuki asked gently. "It's okay. Just focus."
But the next words from "Naruto" left both teachers stunned.
"Uh... what's the hand seal sequence for the Clone Technique again?"
"..."
Iruka and Mizuki stared at him, mouths slightly open.
"Naruto, this is an exam. Stop joking around!" Iruka said sternly. "Didn't you say you wanted to become a ninja? To become Hokage?"
"Is this how you take your graduation exam?"
Normally, Naruto's grades were terrible, but not knowing the hand seals at all was on another level. Iruka assumed he was just messing around as usual.
Liu Sheng sighed when he saw Iruka clearly wasn't going to tell him. "Alright, got it."
He prepared to make some random gesture just to get it over with. Since he was going to fail anyway, it didn't matter if it was right or wrong.
At that moment, Mizuki secretly made a hand sign and mouthed the word: 'Tiger.'
Liu Sheng paused, then copied him.
If he didn't already know Mizuki's true nature, he might have actually liked this teacher.
But unfortunately for Mizuki, he was a transmigrator.
Tiger seal...!
...
The classroom fell silent. Nothing happened.
Even though he had copied the seal correctly, Liu Sheng had no idea how to mold his chakra. Naturally, the technique failed.
"Naruto!"
"Get out. You fail!"
Seeing the furious Iruka, Liu Sheng shook his head and left the room, returning to his original classroom.
Young people these days really have no patience.
"That dead last definitely failed. He even made Iruka-sensei angry!"
"Failing is one thing, but making the teacher that mad? He must have pulled another prank."
"Pulling pranks during the graduation exam? Respect!"
Iruka's loud voice had carried into the classroom, and the students who already disliked Naruto began whispering.
Liu Sheng ignored them. They were just naive kids.
He walked straight to his seat and sat down without saying a word.
"Looks like I have to accept this new identity. Whether I like it or not, from now on, I'm Uzumaki Naruto."
He knew he would eventually have to take on everything that came with this body. A name was the least of it.
"I need to get used to being called Uzumaki Naruto. Otherwise, I won't even react when people shout for me."
As he was thinking, a crisp sound suddenly rang in his ear.
[Ding!]
[Transmigrator detected! Random system binding in progress...]
[Congratulations, Transmigrator! You have received the Little Ai System!]
[Ding!]
[Little Ai System, at your service!]
A system? Little Ai?
Naruto dug at his ear to make sure he wasn't hearing things, then asked inwardly, "Little Ai?"
[I'm here!]
"There's really a system?"
[I dare not open my eyes. I hope this is just my imagination~]
"..."
"Turn off the music."
[Understood, Master!] [Music has been turned off.]
Good news: He had a system. Bad news: It was a bit silly.
Naruto took a deep breath and continued, "Little Ai, what can you do?"
[Little Ai can do many things! I can play music, watch movies, search for information, chat...]
"Anything that can help me get stronger?"
[Yes, Master.]
[You have one beginner's gift package. Would you like to open it?]
"Open it!"
...