In the empty glassland, a young man stared incredulously at the screen floating in front of him.
For several seconds, he did not move as if something was forcing him not to. He barely even breathed.
The screen was only a few steps away, hanging in the air without any visible support. It glowed with a pale blue light that illuminated the dark atmosphere around him. Strange symbols covered its surface, but somehow, every word was clear to him.
His eyes slowly widened. Then his lips began to tremble. Suddenly, tears slowly gathered in the corners of his eyes.
"Is that..."
His voice cracked.
He swallowed hard and leaned closer.
"Is that my System?"
The moment those words left his mouth, his hands started shaking. No... It was his entire body trembling.
He had waited for this. No. He had begged for this. For an entire year, he had lived in fear, wondering if he had made the worst mistake of his life. And now, finally, something had appeared. Something that looked exactly like the thing he had been waiting for.
A System.
His chest rose and fell rapidly. Then the young man suddenly clenched both fists.
"I," he said.
"Inuzuza Koga!"
He shouted his own name with tears running down his face.
"Finally!"
Then he laughed.
"Hahahaha!"
It was not a calm laugh.
It was the laugh of someone who had been carrying an entire mountain on his back and had suddenly been told he could put it down.
"Yes... I, Inuzuza Koga, won’t have to do one hundred push-ups, one hundred sit-ups, one hundred squats, and run ten kilometers every single day anymore!"
His voice echoed through the room.
"I don’t have to suffer anymore!"
Koga wiped his eyes with his sleeve, but more tears immediately followed.
The truth was, he was a transmigrator!
Sent into this Ninja Story Novel. It was a story he had loved in his past life. He knew the plot. He knew the major characters. He knew the dangerous enemies. He knew which places would eventually become battlefields and which people would rise to become terrifying monsters.
Koga had thought that being a transmigrator meant he had been handed an advantage.
Instead, he received nothing.
Yes! Nothing!
No chakra. No special bloodline. No legendary inheritance. No ancient master was waiting for him. No powerful parents.
His family did exist, but that hardly helped.
The Inuzuza Clan valued talent above almost everything else. If a child showed enough talent, the clan could invest enormous amounts of time and resources into them.
If the child had no talent? The clan would not waste its resources.
As mentioned before, Koga had no talent.
At least, not the kind that made people look twice.
His chakra was so feeble that people usually perceived him as an ordinary villager. His body was just so so. His bloodline offered him nothing special. And as if that were not enough, he had not even been sent to the village where the story’s main character lived.
That single fact had destroyed one of his biggest advantages.
He knew the story. But what good was knowing the story when he was nowhere near the main cast? He had been sent to a low-level Ninja Village that barely mattered in the original story.
Koyagakure
The Hidden Wilderness Village.
A village so weak that a minor villain, passing through, annihilated it.
It was only mentioned—nothing more. Now he’s in it, and he can’t do anything about it. What can a mortal like him change?
Should he tell them the village will be struck by a passing minor villain in the future?
Koga had spent countless nights lying awake, staring at the ceiling.
What if, because of his existence, a major war reached this place? What if one of the powerful characters decided to attack? What if the village became collateral damage? What if he died before he ever had the chance to use his knowledge?
Those questions had followed him for an entire year.
But now...
Koga placed a hand against his chest. His heartbeat was still wild. Yet, his eyes are full of determination.
A System meant hope.
As long as he worked hard, complete the missions tasked by it, he could deal with anything. That was how these stories worked. The System gave the protagonist a chance. The protagonist struggled. The protagonist completed missions. The protagonist became stronger. Then, eventually, everyone who had looked down on him regretted it.
Koga’s lips slowly curled upward.
"That’s right."
He stared at the screen.
"As long as I work hard, I can deal with anything."
His eyes burned with determination.
He had no chakra? The System could solve it. He had no bloodline? The System could solve it. He had no powerful background? The System could solve it. He had been born in a weak village? That did not matter anymore. He had finally received his cheat.
Koga took a deep breath.
"Let’s begin."
The screen suddenly flickered.
Koga froze.
A line of words appeared.
DOWNLOAD INFORMATION COMPLETED.
Koga blinked.
"Download?"
He stared at the message. Then he nodded. "Whatever."
He was not a stranger to Systems in novels. Maybe it had downloaded information about him. Maybe it had downloaded his memories to assess him. Maybe it had downloaded some kind of method prepared for him.
He was ready for anything.
"System, activate."
Nothing happened.
Koga frowned.
"System?"
Still nothing.
He waited.
Then the screen moved.
Koga’s eyes suddenly widened because... strangely, the floating screen slowly rose. Not coming close but literally levitating slowly up in the sky.
It passed above his head, then continued upward. Higher. Higher. Higher.
Koga’s mouth slowly opened.
"What?"
The screen kept climbing. It reached the treetops, then the clouds, then the sky.
Koga was flabbergasted.
The screen was still rising.
And then...
It began expanding. Not sideways like a normal screen, but across the sky. The pale surface stretched farther and farther until it covered the clouds.
Koga’s face became stiff.
"What the hell?"
The screen expanded again. And again.
Within moments, the entire sky above him had become a gigantic glowing surface.
Koga stood beneath it like a tiny ant staring at a wall that had swallowed the heavens.
His heart gave a hard thump.
"This isn’t right."
He rubbed his eyes and looked around, but nothing changed. The enormous screen remained there.
Koga scratched his head.
"Wait."
His expression slowly became serious.
"Isn’t this supposed to be my System?"
He had read enough System novels in his past life to know how these things usually worked. The System appeared in front of the protagonist, only the protagonist could see it. The System gave missions, the protagonist completed them, and the protagonist became stronger. That was the script.
This?
This was not the usual script.
"Hey!"
Koga shouted at the sky.
"System!"
The massive screen did not respond.
"System!"
Nothing.
Koga cupped his hands around his mouth.
"What are you doing up there?!"
Silence.
He stared at it for a while. Then he sighed.
"...Fine."
There was no point shouting at a giant screen.
Koga crossed his arms.
"I’ll wait."
He had spent an entire year waiting for a System. He could wait a little longer.
What Koga did not know was that he was not the only person staring at the sky.
In the whole Hidden Wilderness Village, people were going about their ordinary lives.
A merchant was carrying boxes. A group of children were playing near a training field. Several ninjas were returning from a mission. A woman was hanging clothes outside her house. An old man was sitting beneath a tree, enjoying his tea.
Then the sunlight disappeared.
A gigantic shadow rolled across the village. The children stopped playing. The merchant looked up. The woman holding a piece of clothing froze. The old man slowly lowered his cup.
"What..."
Everyone looked toward the sky.
The sight made the entire village fall silent.
The heavens had been covered by an enormous screen. And nowhere was this more shocking than among the four great clans of Koyagakure.
The Inuzuza Clan stood outside their compound, surrounded by their ninja wolf partners. The wolves raised their heads and growled, their ears standing straight as their eyes followed the enormous object above them. The clan members exchanged cautious glances.
"What is that?"
"No idea."
"Is it an enemy attack?"
"Can you sense chakra from it?"
"No."
That answer made everyone even more nervous.
A little far, The Karasu Clan reacted at nearly the same moment. Their Ninja Bird partners spread their wings and cried loudly, some of them taking flight to investigate the strange phenomenon. Vultures circled overhead while their partners watched the sky with narrowed eyes.
The Yukiju Clan was no calmer. Snow Leopards moved restlessly around their masters. Mountain Lions growled as they stared at the enormous screen. Even experienced Ninja could not understand what they were looking at.
Then there was the Kuma Clan. Their Ninja Bears stood among them like living walls. One particularly large bear raised its head and gave a low, rumbling growl. The clan members instinctively tightened their grips on their weapons. The four great clans were not the only ones frightened.
The entire Hidden Wilderness Village was terrified but was still watching.
And then...
The screen flickered.
Every voice in the village disappeared.
A massive line of words appeared across the heavens.
OVERLORD RANKING
The words were so enormous that everyone could see them clearly.
A second line appeared.
WELCOME, PEOPLE OF KOYAGAKURE.
The village exploded into noise.
"What is this?!"
"Who did this?"
"Is it Genjutsu?"
"Don’t look directly at it!"
"Dispel it!"
Several Ninja immediately formed hand signs.
Chakra surged.
"Release!"
Nothing happened. The screen remained. Another line appeared.
THE OVERLORD RANKING HAS DESCENDED UPON THIS WORLD.
The people stared. The screen continued.
COMPLETE THE MISSIONS AND GAMES OF THE OVERLORD RANKING. RECEIVE REWARDS. GAIN POWER. GAIN TREASURES. GAIN KNOWLEDGE. GAIN NINJA ARTS. GAIN BLOODLINE ABILITIES.
The crowd grew louder. Then the final statement appeared.
BECAUSE WITH THIS OVERLORD RANKING, EVEN THOSE WITHOUT CHAKRA MAY BECOME NINJA!