Ren Akihara strolled through the streets of Konoha, hands tucked into his pockets as he made his way home.
His outfit was nothing remarkable.
Just a standard ninja uniform.
Yet somehow, the plain clothing only made his physique stand out more.
Broad shoulders.
A lean, powerful frame.
The kind of body built through years of relentless training rather than vanity.
Combined with his striking features, it was enough to draw attention wherever he went.
Especially from women.
“Wow, he’s handsome.”
“Look at those muscles.”
“He looks like he’d have incredible stamina.”
“Can you stop saying things like that around children?”
The women burst into laughter.
Unfortunately, that didn’t stop them from staring.
Ren wasn’t bothered in the slightest.
In fact, he was rather pleased.
One of the many reasons he loved his system.
Strength is temporary.
Being handsome lasts a lifetime.
And endurance…
Endurance creates happiness.
Ren nodded solemnly.
A perfectly balanced philosophy.
“Another month or so.”
“I should be able to use Feast again.”
The digestion process was painfully slow.
Physical activity helped.
Combat helped even more.
That was why Ren trained constantly.
And why he was always looking for an excuse to fight somebody.
Unfortunately, suitable opponents were becoming harder to find.
The System had its own rules.
The same opponent could only provide meaningful experience rewards three times.
After that, the gains dropped off dramatically.
To become worthwhile again, they needed to grow stronger first.
Academy students were currently ideal targets.
At their age, improvements came quickly.
Every few weeks, they became noticeably stronger.
Which meant Ren could harvest experience from them repeatedly.
After graduation, however…
Things would become less convenient.
On the other hand—
His eyes brightened.
There would be far more dangerous prey available.
“Wild monsters.”
Now that sounded promising.
Of course, the real problem wasn’t experience.
It was Feast.
As a Mythic-rank skill, its growth potential was absurd.
In a game, someone could build an entire character around an ability like this.
Reality, however, had introduced a complication he never anticipated.
A very serious complication.
His mouth was too small.
Feast required the complete consumption of a living creature.
The stronger the creature, the greater the reward.
More importantly, the entire target had to be consumed within ten minutes of activating the skill.
Apparently, once enough time passed, whatever counted as the creature’s essence dispersed.
At that point, Feast no longer recognized it as a valid target.
Which created problems.
Very large problems.
Even eating at maximum speed, Ren could only finish a fish weighing twenty to thirty pounds within the time limit.
But the truly powerful creatures of the Naruto world?
His thoughts immediately drifted toward legendary summons.
Manda.
Katsuyu.
Gamabunta.
Creatures so enormous they resembled living mountains.
There was no chance of consuming one within ten minutes.
Even if he ate until he exploded.
Most powerful summoning creatures in this world were absurdly large.
The only exceptions…
His thoughts wandered toward Mount Myoboku.
The two Great Toad Sages.
Instantly, his imagination ran wild.
Grilled frog.
Spicy frog hotpot.
Crispy fried frog legs.
A dangerous amount of drool gathered at the corner of his mouth.
Ren quickly wiped it away.
“Let’s focus on the System instead.”
A translucent blue panel appeared before him.
[Host: Ren Akihara]
Skills:
Feast (Mythic)
War Cry (Bronze)
Mountain Crusher Strike (Silver)
Experience Points: 42,428
“Draw.”
The System immediately responded.
[10,000 Experience Points consumed.]
[Drawing reward…]
[Obtained: Fireball Spell (Bronze)]
Ren’s eyelid twitched.
“I really shouldn’t have sent that guy so much random information.”
If he had only submitted overpowered ultimate abilities, would every draw have been incredible?
The System categorized rewards into seven ranks.
Bronze.
Silver.
Gold.
Diamond.
Master.
Legendary.
Mythic.
The gap between tiers was enormous.
Fortunately, rewards could be improved.
Given enough experience points, skills could be upgraded.
Bronze could become Silver.
Silver could become Gold.
And so on.
The problem was cost.
Unless Ren genuinely liked a skill, spending experience on upgrading weak abilities wasn’t worth it.
“Reroll.”
A new notification appeared.
[1,000 Experience Points consumed.]
[Reward changed.]
[Obtained: Floating Shot (Bronze)]
Ren stared.
“I don’t even use guns.”
“Again.”
[Obtained: Shadow Arrow (Silver)]
“I don’t use bows either.”
“Again.”
The rerolls continued.
Bronze.
Bronze.
Silver.
Bronze.
One disappointing reward after another.
Then—
[Obtained: Berserk (Gold)]
Ren stopped walking.
A grin slowly spread across his face.
Now this was interesting.
The System displayed the details.
[Berserk — Gold Rank]
Sacrifice rationality in exchange for enhanced physical performance.
Greatly increases offensive power.
Ren nodded in satisfaction.
Simple.
Direct.
Violent.
Exactly the sort of ability he appreciated.
“I’ll take it.”
The interface updated.
[Host: Ren Akihara]
Skills:
Feast (Mythic)
War Cry (Bronze)
Mountain Crusher Strike (Silver)
Berserk (Gold)
Experience Points: 11,765
“Only eleven thousand left.”
After a moment of consideration, he made another decision.
“Upgrade War Cry.”
[10,000 Experience Points consumed.]
[War Cry upgraded.]
[Bronze → Silver]
[War Cry — Silver Rank]
Unleash a battle cry that inspires yourself and allies.
Increases attack power and accuracy.
Can intimidate enemies and may cause temporary stun effects.
Ren studied the description.
Feast clearly originated from League of Legends.
Mountain Crusher Strike came from Dungeon Fighter Online.
As for War Cry and Berserk?
Who knew?
Back when he had been helping that mysterious game developer, he’d dumped mountains of information from anime, novels, games, and movies.
The source could have been anything.
Still.
The results were satisfying.
For now, that was enough.
The graduation examination was approaching.
And after that…
The real world would finally open its doors.
Hokage Office
The Third Hokage stood beside the window, slowly smoking his pipe.
His gaze rested on the village below.
Konohagakure appeared peaceful.
But beneath that peace, storm clouds were gathering.
The political situation throughout the shinobi world had grown increasingly unstable.
Border conflicts were becoming more frequent.
Relations between nations continued to deteriorate.
Anyone with experience could see where things were heading.
Another great war was approaching.
The possibility of a Third Shinobi World War no longer felt distant.
As Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi felt the weight of that reality more than anyone.
Age was beginning to catch up with him.
For the first time in years, he found himself seriously considering the future.
“Perhaps it’s time to begin thinking about a Fourth Hokage.”
A quiet sigh escaped him.
At that moment—
Knock.
Knock.
“Enter.”
The office door opened.
A Chunin stepped inside and bowed respectfully.
“Lord Hokage.”
“Ah, Aoki.”
Hiruzen smiled.
“The graduation candidate list?”
“Yes, sir.”
The Chunin handed over a folder.
“These are the students eligible for this year’s graduation examination.”
“Let’s see if we have any promising young talents.”
Hiruzen accepted the file and opened it.
The very first page contained a photograph.
A tall boy.
Black hair.
Sharp eyes.
A physique more suited to an adult shinobi than an Academy student.
Below the image was a name.
Ren Akihara.
The Third Hokage raised an eyebrow.