Chapter 1: Naruto Uzumaki

"Get out of here, you brat!"

Naruto had just spotted an interesting shop and was about to go inside when he was suddenly shoved backward, tumbling onto the ground.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" Naruto asked, utterly bewildered.

He didn't even know this shopkeeper. Why was he suddenly treating him like this?

Seeing a crowd gathering, Naruto decided to just lie there on the ground. He was only three years old, the prime age for being a mischievous brat. The shopkeeper had pushed him; unless he coughed up a fortune, Naruto wasn't going to get up.

"What are you doing here, you plague? I won't sell anything to you!" the unfamiliar shopkeeper shouted, pointing an accusing finger at him.

Hearing this, Naruto gave the shopkeeper a careful, uncertain look. It was true; he had absolutely no idea who this man was.

*Seriously, dude?*

Now Naruto was truly baffled. He was only three years old. Since his birth, he had barely stepped foot outside his door.

A plague? Was he referring to him? To Uzumaki Naruto, a weak, helpless three-year-old child?

Impossible. Absolutely impossible.

Resolving this in his mind, Naruto looked up, thoroughly exasperated, and demanded, "Open your eyes and take a good look at who I am! Look closely. Have you ever even seen me before? Calling me a plague..."

The onlookers turned their gaze toward Naruto, and a wave of whispers instantly broke out.

"Is that the kid?"

"Looks like it. Look at the whiskers on his face."

"Yes, it's him. That demon."

"It's him. The demon fox."

"Why is he still alive? Someone beat him to death."

Naruto's words seemed to have poked a hornet's nest. The crowd of strangers around him, rather than helping a defenseless child, joined in the hostility, even shouting threats to beat him to death.

"Hear that?" Confirmed by the crowd, the shopkeeper grew bolder. "Get lost, or I'll beat you to death!"

The sheer disgust in his voice was jarring, and the cold, deep-seated hatred in his eyes was even more chilling.

Fine. Great. Just great!

Seeing this, Naruto nearly laughed out of sheer anger.

*Picking on me because I'm an orphan, are you? Just you wait!*

Naruto stared intently at the shopkeeper and the shop's sign, carving them deep into his memory. Then, bowing his head, he stood up without a word, pushed his way through the crowd, and walked away.

On his way back, Naruto kicked at a pebble absentmindedly. He had felt a vague inkling of this before, always sensing that people were whispering about him behind his back. Naruto had assumed he was just being paranoid. After all, he was quite vain, and he knew it.

He hadn't expected his suspicions to be so real. What was even more unexpected was that, while he had thought they were gossiping about how handsome and flashy he was, they were actually whispering about their hatred for him.

*Damn it!*

Naruto cursed under his breath and continued to ponder. One person might have made a mistake, but when an entire crowd reacted the same way, there was no mistaking his identity.

Why did they harbor such immense malice?

First of all, he hadn't provoked anyone. Second, as a mere child, he hadn't even had the chance to do anything wrong. The only answer lay with the parents he had never met.

Realizing this, Naruto let out a long sigh. What on earth had his parents done to incur such divine wrath and human resentment? Why did the villagers hate him so intensely?

He had no idea. Even though he was a reincarnator who had crossed over when he was still in the womb, he remained completely in the dark about the grudges and conflicts of the older generation.

As for the events after his birth, limited by a child's brain capacity and development, he really couldn't remember much. He had a vague memory that right after he was born, some enemy seemed to have come knocking at the door. He had even been held in the enemy's grasp back then, which had scared him so badly he fainted.

And it was on that very day that he became an orphan.

*Hiss...*

Naruto sucked in a breath of cold air. Perhaps he really should thank his enemies in the village for not killing him, allowing him to survive to this day.

This... Naruto felt as though he had been dealt a hand straight out of hell.

"Damn it, why did I have to reincarnate in a dump like this?"

In his previous life, he had been a rising star in the scientific research community—or rather, an academic workhorse. He never expected that while accompanying his advisor to a conference in Japan, he would get hit by a truck during a quick stroll down the street.

Who could he even complain to?

He truly knew nothing about this world. However, the franchise seemed to be quite famous. Although he had never watched or read it, he had picked up a few tidbits from his classmates.

The title was Ninja... something, or was it something Ninja? Seems like it was called *Legend of Ninja*?

As for the characters, he only remembered two. Something like *Sasugay* and *Narudo*?

*Narudo... Narudo...* Doesn't that just mean Naruto?

"Could I be the protagonist?"

Wait. Naruto stopped in his tracks, focusing his mind entirely.

*If Narudo is me, who is Sasugay? Surely a story like this can't have two protagonists?*

"Could I be the final villain?"

Considering his current plight, Naruto suddenly felt it was highly likely. Under these circumstances, he almost felt like resetting his life.

"Oh, destiny! But even if I am the villain, I'm going to survive until the final chapter!"

Muttering this, Naruto felt an immense weight of pressure.

*System?*

With a silent thought, a virtual interface popped up in front of Naruto, visible only to him—even his cheat-code, the Nine-Tails, couldn't see it.

This thing was his cheat system, but up until now, Naruto had no idea how to use it. Because this garbage system required him to complete a quest before it could officially unlock.

[Initial Quest: Refine Chakra]
[Quest Description: You must possess Chakra to officially start the game.]

*Chakra... Chakra... Chakra!*
*Damn it, what the hell is Chakra anyway?!*
Garbage game.

*Growl...*

His stomach rumbled. The hunger in his belly diverted Naruto's attention. He reached into his pockets and pulled out a meager handful of coins. Only sixteen ryo.

"How is there only this much left? Didn't I have quite a bit at the start of the month?"

"Forget it. Guess I'll head to the docks... no, the forest, to find some food."

There was a fairly large forest on the mountain behind the village; he was bound to find something edible there.

Naruto rushed home, packed up a few essential belongings, and immediately fled. He had no intention of returning to this home anytime soon. It was one thing when he was ignorant, but now that he knew he had so many enemies, Naruto had to take precautions.

If some enemy couldn't stand the sight of him and decided to come to his door to finish him off, where would he go to cry? He couldn't stake his life on the mercy of his enemies.

Arriving at the back mountain, Naruto set up a small shelter in a relatively hidden and dry spot. This would be his home for the time being. Afterward, he gathered a good amount of wild mushrooms and vegetables, planning to brew a pot of soup.

Naruto didn't know much about wild mushrooms, only the common varieties he used to eat in his previous life. Besides, he had heard the old warnings about wild fungi, so he strictly avoided anything brightly colored, picking only what he recognized.

Next, Naruto took his newly purchased fishing rod and went to the river. He had bought this thing purely out of boredom because he had too much free time. He had originally planned to fish just to pass the time, but he hadn't expected it to come in so handy now.

However, now that his identity had been exposed, it would probably be difficult to buy things like this in the future.

An hour later, Naruto returned with a bountiful catch. His fishing skills were decent to begin with, and with the added boost of beginner's luck, he had managed to catch five large fish in a row.

Darkness fell early in the woods. Seeing the sky turn pitch black, Naruto lit a campfire and began cooking.

Half an hour later, Chef Naruto, who had been busy all afternoon, finally got to eat his grilled fish.

As for the taste... Well, it was edible.

*Sniff, sniff...*

"A ghost!"

A face suddenly popped up beside him, giving Naruto a fright.

"Don't be afraid. I'm just an old man passing by."