Chapter 27: Could It Be That I Am the Protagonist?

Page (1/3)

Back at the starting point once more—the Third Training Ground.

The trio of Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura stood, sat, or leaned against tree trunks in various poses, listening to their teacher Kakashi’s instructions.

Kakashi stood ramrod straight with his arms folded across his chest.

After sweeping his gaze over the three of them, each with a different posture and expression, Kakashi reminded them, “Meet here again at eight tomorrow morning. Bring your ninja gear bags, and don’t forget.”

He stroked his chin, adopting a thoughtful expression.

“Hmm. That’s all.”

Naruto climbed up from the ground and asked curiously, “What exactly is tomorrow’s mission, Teacher Kakashi?”

“Practice combat.”

“Oh.”

Naruto muttered under his breath. This was probably the real test for today, except he had somehow ruined it.

Practice combat?

They really did need it.

Otherwise, the teacher would not understand the students’ fighting abilities, and the students would not understand their teacher’s strength.

Forget trust—even cooperation would become a problem.

Was that good?

No, it was not.

“All right, then. That’s enough for today. Dismissed!”

With that, Kakashi turned and prepared to leave.

But Naruto had no intention of letting him get away so easily. You offend the abbot and think you can just walk away?

“Wait, Teacher Kakashi.”

Naruto called after him. His face twisted in pain as he staggered and swayed toward Kakashi, one hand clutching his stomach while the other reached out toward him.

“Teacher, I’m so hungry. I want ramen from Ichiraku.”

Kakashi dodged Naruto’s grasping hand and watched his performance without expression.

“If you want to eat, then go eat.”

“But I don’t have any money.”

Naruto gestured toward the other two and said miserably, “Besides, Teacher Kakashi said yesterday that I’d throw up today. I didn’t eat anything yesterday, and this morning I ran five hundred laps.”

As he spoke, he swayed several times, looking so unsteady that no one would have doubted he might collapse at any moment.

“Teacher Kakashi, I feel like I’m about to faint from hunger.”

Sakura came over to support him and spoke up as well. “Teacher Kakashi, I want ramen too.”

This was her second chance to eat with Sasuke, and she intended to seize it with all her might.

Hearing that, Kakashi looked at the third member of the team.

“What about you, Sasuke?”

“No... I suppose ramen is fine.”

Under Naruto’s hints and Sakura’s pleading gaze, Sasuke changed his answer.

“All right, then. I’ll treat you all to ramen.”

“Wonderful!” Sakura nearly jumped for joy.

“I want ten bowls!” Naruto shouted.

That night, at home—

Naruto returned with a satisfied burp.

Lying on his bed, he first opened the title he had obtained that day.

[Title: Genin
All Attributes +5%
Chakra ×120%
Chakra Recovery ×120%]

Page (1/3)

Page (2/3)

+5%, +20%, +20%.

Good grief. Was this the power of a title?

It was the first time Naruto had witnessed such an enormous boost.

All his other badges only gave him 0.1% or 0.2%.

This title went straight to 5% and 20%.

The numbers might not look impressive, but with his attributes sitting around three to four hundred, five percent amounted to fifteen or twenty additional attribute points.

And the most outrageous part was the chakra. A twenty-percent increase had directly given him more than two million extra chakra.

Two million chakra—the One-Tail Sand Spirit possessed roughly that much.

That was a little absurd.

No wonder the main quest took six years to complete.

And if even a Genin title was this powerful, how strong would the Chunin and Jonin titles be?

And then there was the even more powerful Fire Shadow title.

At that moment, Naruto suddenly found himself coveting the Third’s throne.

You know, becoming the Fire Shadow had always been my dream.

He closed the interface.

Naruto first went to the training space to greet the Nine-Tails.

At a glance, the Nine-Tails seemed to have grown rounder again.

Perhaps its color had something to do with the character “orange,” or perhaps it had been drinking too much cola. Lately, the Nine-Tails had put on a little more weight, showing signs of developing into a giant orange cat.

How could a mass of chakra even gain weight?

Could drinking cola and eating fried chicken actually increase chakra?

With that question turning over in his mind, Naruto prepared to explore the game’s final feature.

The Duel Arena!

[You have entered the Duel Arena.]

[Here, you may challenge opponents and participate in the ranked ladder. Players near the top of the rankings may receive fixed rewards.]

The moment he entered, two enormous buttons appeared before Naruto.

[Matchmaking] / [Ranked]

He tried clicking [Matchmaking].

[Searching for a match...]

It continued displaying the same message.

Just as he had expected. Everything was within his predictions.

Fortunately, no opponent could be found. Otherwise, Naruto would have had to investigate whether there were any other players left in the entire shinobi world.

He clicked [Ranked], but the result was the same.

This seemed to be a completely useless feature.

After searching for a while, Naruto discovered a ranking board.

Four rankings: Heaven, Earth, Man, and Yellow.

These corresponded perfectly to Genin, Chunin, Jonin, and Fire Shadow.

Naruto was rather curious about the rewards, but since no one could battle him in ranked matches, he had no record and could not enter the rankings—let alone access anything else.

Seriously?

The Duel Arena he had waited nine years for was nothing more than this?

Naruto was speechless.

Could this be yet another useless feature?

Page (2/3)

Page (3/3)

Unwilling to give up, Naruto continued exploring for a while and discovered a new mode that seemed accessible.

[Training Mode]

He clicked to enter.

The interface suddenly changed. A five-minute countdown appeared at the top, while character thumbnails were displayed below.

[Please select a training target.]

Although the thumbnails were tiny, Naruto could still make out several familiar faces among them.

Third Fire Shadow—Hiruzen Sarutobi

Kakashi Hatake

Were these all opponents he could challenge?

They were certainly non-player characters from this world, and relatively famous figures from the original story.

If that was the case...

What about me, Uzumaki Naruto?

Someone like me—a Nine-Tails jinchuriki—should surely have a named entry, right?

Naruto began searching for himself, and several results appeared one after another.

Uzumaki Naruto (Genin, age twelve): Exactly the age he was now. He should have just graduated from the Ninja Academy.

Uzumaki Naruto (Genin, age sixteen): Wait, I was still a Genin at sixteen? Oh, this must be the Naruto from the original story. In that case, never mind.

Uzumaki Naruto (Genin, Six Paths, age seventeen): What does Six Paths mean? The Sage of Six Paths?

Uzumaki Naruto (Seventh Fire Shadow, age thirty-two): Wait, what? I became the Seventh Fire Shadow?

The more Naruto looked, the more bewildered he became. How had he become the Fire Shadow? Wasn’t he supposed to be the ultimate villain?

No.

The work was called Fire Shadow Ninja, so the Fire Shadow had to be the protagonist.

Could it be that I’m the protagonist?

Then what about Sasuke?

Uchiha Sasuke (Genin, age twelve): Yes, that makes sense.

Uchiha Sasuke (Missing-nin, Hawk Squad, age sixteen): Hmm? A missing-nin?

Uchiha Sasuke (Dawn, age sixteen): What was Dawn? That outfit looked familiar. Several of the people he had seen earlier had been dressed the same way.

Uchiha Sasuke (Six Paths, age seventeen): Six Paths again?

Uchiha Sasuke (World Traveler, age thirty-two): Huh? Retired?

Naruto had thought he already understood this world fairly well, but apparently he had still been far too ignorant.

He did not even know who the protagonist of this world was.

Naruto had always guessed that Sasuke was probably the protagonist of the Fire Shadow world, while he himself was some sort of villainous final boss.

The basis for that guess was that he, Uzumaki Naruto, was hated by the entire village, while his body housed the Nine-Tails—a tailed beast that might deceive him into walking toward destruction at any moment.

And Sasuke?

He had been born as the young master of the Uchiha clan and had been handed the script of a massacre—no, the annihilation of his entire clan.

That was unmistakably the treatment reserved for a protagonist.

And yet now he was being told that Sasuke had defected and become a missing-nin, while he himself would become the Seventh Fire Shadow in the future?

What?

So it turned out that I, Uzumaki Naruto, am the true protagonist?