Golden spiky hair, azure eyes, the iconic six-whiskered facial markings, goggles on his forehead, dressed in an orange jacket…
I've transmigrated into Naruto?!
Naruto's eyes widened as he gripped the mirror cabinet, staring intently at himself in the mirror, an expression of disbelief on his face.
"Could this be a dream?"
"I remember I was clearly working overtime at the company, revising a proposal for the client."
Naruto took half a step back and pinched his collagen-rich cheek, twisting it halfway.
"Hiss… Ow, ow, ow!!"
"It's not a dream, I really transmigrated!"
Naruto gasped, rubbing his slightly red and swollen cheek, a slow smile spreading across his face.
"So, I'm no longer the corporate drone Li Yiming, but the Konoha Prince, a walking human nuclear weapon, the Ashura Chakra Reincarnate, the Ninja World's savior — Uzumaki Naruto!"
Of course, Naruto had many titles, but in his opinion, none of them were as good as one identity: Hyuga Hinata's husband!
"Now I don't have to fight with netizens over a wife, because Hinata really is my wife."
Naruto felt his smile was harder to suppress than an AK47's recoil.
However, he quickly calmed down.
After all, the Ninja World was quite dangerous. The era of peace was fine, but once war broke out, lives were cheaper than grass. Whether you were an ordinary person or a Ninja, one careless mistake and you'd be dead.
"I wonder if my protagonist halo is still there."
Transmigrating into Naruto didn't necessarily mean he could rest easy.
What's more, there was still the Ōtsutsuki Clan in this world; even if he were invincible, there would still be enemies from beyond.
"Goggles… It seems the current timeline is before graduation from the Ninja Academy."
"Hmm, I can only lie low for now, reduce the butterfly effect, and gradually become stronger."
Naruto's gaze shifted from the mirror, sweeping across the messy room.
Disordered blankets, unthrown trash bags, leftover instant noodles, expired milk, indescribable color magazines…
Both were orphans, so why didn't the original Naruto have a cleanliness fetish?
Naruto muttered inwardly as he cleaned the room.
After the small one-bedroom apartment became clean and tidy, even his mood improved.
Naruto hid the color magazines under the bed, watered the potted plants, then moved to the window, gazing at the distant Hokage Rock, feeling the breeze. He instinctively put a hand in his pocket, wanting to light a cigarette to perk himself up.
After finding nothing, he came back to his senses.
Naruto frowned slightly, abandoning the idea of smoking, and continued to organize his thoughts.
"As a transmigrator, standing at the narrative level is my advantage, but I'm only limited to knowing the general story of Hokage, some classic plots. After all, 'History of Five Village Skirmishes,' 'Black Zetsu's Mother-Saving Journey,' and 'Legend of the Eyes' aren't called that for nothing; I can't remember the details at all."
"Moreover, Kurama is my cheat, but this cheat isn't strong enough."
"He's an ace in his youth, but by middle age, when played as a trump card, he doesn't have the effect of a royal flush."
As a legitimate transmigrator, how could he not have his own golden finger?
"System?"
"System, are you there?"
"Since I've transmigrated to Hokage, shouldn't I get an Ōtsutsuki bloodline?"
Naruto called out in his mind.
"Zzz… Zzzzz…"
A chaotic electrical current sound rang in his ears.
At this moment, the scene before Naruto's eyes flickered with a palm-sized pixelated image.
When the image stabilized and the pixels disappeared, an ancient and exquisite Bronze-level key appeared out of thin air, floating before Naruto.
"A key?"
Naruto reached out and grasped the Bronze-level key; it felt quite heavy in his hand.
A translucent window popped up from the Bronze-level key.
[Item: Underground City Key (Bronze-level)]
"A key to open the Underground City? Is this my cheat?"
Naruto stared at the pop-up window before him.
[Please open the Underground City within one hour, otherwise the key will disappear on its own!]
[01:00:00]
[00:59:59]
[00:59:58]
The countdown displayed in the pop-up window began without question.
Wait…
Disappear on its own?
"Does 'disappear on its own' mean the system will unbind!?"
Naruto quickly asked.
No answer.
No new pop-up windows appeared either.
"If I don't open the Underground City within an hour, I might lose this golden finger. I can't afford to gamble."
"Bronze-level, in games, is often the lowest quality level."
"Does that mean the difficulty isn't too great?"
"Theoretically speaking, the system shouldn't immediately throw me into some hell-level difficulty, right?"
Naruto's expression shifted between cloudy and clear before he gripped the Bronze-level key.
The Underground City must be opened!
But he had to be fully prepared.
"I still have almost an hour, I need to get some weapons."
Naruto put the Bronze-level key in his pocket and prepared to go out.
"Oh, right, my wallet."
He turned back and took out a frog wallet from the drawer, revealing a satisfied smile.
It was bulging.
And quite heavy.
Although Naruto was unpopular in the Village due to the rumors of the Nine-Tails, he had enough money, at least to sustain his life, and even had extra money to buy limited edition ramen.
He left the house and searched for a Ninja tool shop along the street.
There were many villagers along the way, but they all avoided Naruto as if he were a snake or scorpion. Some villagers whispered, and some even pulled their children aside, sternly warning them to stay away from the "Nine-Tails."
Naruto ignored them, clasping his hands behind his head, almost walking with a swagger of defiance.
As a transmigrator, his mindset was completely different, okay?
If he hadn't mastered Kurama's power, then as the strongest human nuclear weapon, he would be timid on the first day of transmigration, but on the second day, he wouldn't eat beef.
Naruto didn't dwell on the villagers. After finding the Ninja tool shop, he directly bought a pile of kunai and shuriken.
He felt the shuriken were a bit too short, so he added a straight-bladed ninja sword.
"Boss, check out, how much?"
Naruto dumped a pile of Ninja tools onto the counter.
The Ninja tool shop owner glanced at Naruto, unable to hide his disgust, and said nothing, lowering his head to read the newspaper again.
Silent treatment?
"If you don't speak, don't blame me for a zero-yuan purchase."
Seeing this, Naruto sneered inwardly, immediately packed up, and carried the valuable Ninja tools out of the shop.
"Hmm, no sound?"
"Hahahahaha, you ran away with your tail between your legs, didn't you?"
"Little Nine-Tails, you're too green to fight with an adult."
The Ninja tool shop owner shook his newspaper, triumphantly raising his head.
The next moment, he saw the empty shelves, his expression stiffened, and his face instantly turned green.
For the rest of the time, Naruto went on a massive shopping spree.
"Boss, I want explosive tags, not many, just a stack!"
"No money?"
"You're really a great person!"
"What's the best armor you have? Give me a set."
"Give me a few soldier pills too."
"The villagers of Konoha Village are so warm-hearted, they don't want me to spend money, how can I be so rude?"
…
Forty minutes later.
Naruto returned to his humble abode carrying a package taller than himself.
With a "thud," he set down the giant package. Naruto clapped his hands, exhaling in relief, wiping the sweat from his forehead. He couldn't be happier, as if long-suppressed frustrations had finally been released.
"Still ten minutes, time to equip myself."
Naruto put on his newly bought chainmail, then donned his orange jacket over it. He originally had one Ninja tool pouch on his right leg, but feeling it wasn't enough, he tied another one to his left leg.
The left leg Ninja tool pouch held small shuriken, the right leg Ninja tool pouch was stuffed with explosive tags, his belt was full of kunai, and a ninja sword was strapped to his back.
Armed to the teeth!
Perfect!
[00:04:33]
"Everything is ready, all that's missing is the east wind."
Naruto glanced at the countdown pop-up, locked the doors and windows, drew the curtains, and pulled out the Bronze-level key from his pocket.
Without a moment's hesitation, Naruto took a deep breath, gripped the key handle, and inserted the key head into the void.
"Open the Underground City!!"