Why was I killing myself working odd jobs at age five? Why was a toddler hauling crates and scrubbing floors until his hands bled?
Sure, I needed to eat. Starving wasn't on my to-do list.
But the real reason was the Blue Panel hovering in my peripheral vision.
The Character Card System.
The cheat was simple but broken: I could equip a Character Card and literally become that person. Same stats, same jutsu, same combat experience.
The catch? It was a rental.
One card, one use. Once the Chakra bar hit zero, the card evaporated, and I went back to being a skinny, malnourished orphan.
Honestly? I wasn't complaining. For a nobody like me to wield Kage-level power even for five minutes was a miracle. If it gave me permanent power right off the bat, that would be too easy.
But "permanent" wasn't impossible.
The fine print in the user guide was clear: Collect three identical Character Cards, and you can permanently extract one ability from that character.
That was the endgame. But to get there, I needed Gold.
The only way to get Gold was Daily Quests.
And the system was stingy. It didn't just hand out quests; I had to trigger them. That's why I ran around the village like a headless chicken, asking for work. Scrubbing a floor might trigger a "Clean Up" quest. Moving crates might trigger "Manual Labor."
Each quest dropped about 30 Gold.
I'd been grinding like a madman for months, scraping together every single coin.
"Finally... I can stop looking over my shoulder."
I stared at the three S-Rank cards floating on the screen. A knot of tension in my chest started to loosen.
The Ninja World was a meat grinder. Konoha looked peaceful now, but I knew what was coming. Orochimaru's invasion. Pain turning the village into a crater. The Fourth War.
And the big one. The Nine-Tails Attack.
It could happen tonight. It could happen in a month. That paranoia had kept me awake more nights than the hunger.
I hadn't taken a day off in weeks just to hit this number before the deadline.
3,000 Gold.
My first card wasn't going to be some C-Rank fodder. I was going straight to the top. S-Rank.
These guys were the apex predators. The ones who changed maps when they fought. With one of these cards in my back pocket, Fuchigami Ryu didn't have to be afraid of anyone.
Well, for one fight, anyway.
"Don't get cocky," I muttered to the empty room. "It's a one-time save. If I use it, I'm back to square one."
I couldn't rely on it forever. My own strength had to catch up eventually. Using a nuke to kill a fly would be a waste. If some random Genin tried to mug me, wasting an S-Rank card would be idiocy.
I reached out and tapped the detailed info for the cards.
First up: Minato Namikaze.
[System Guide: Character Cards]
Ranks: S, A, B, C.
Loadout: 2 Skills, 1 Ultimate.
Mechanic: Upon equipping, you gain a separate Chakra Pool matching the character's reserves. Chakra drains slowly over time. Using skills drains it faster. When Chakra hits 0, transformation ends.
Warning: Damage exceeding the card's durability will forcibly eject you from the transformation.
Note: If your base stats exceed the card's, your stats won't be lowered.
I skipped past the tutorial text. I'd memorized it weeks ago. The "Secret Scroll" tab was still greyed out—probably unlocked at a higher level.
I focused on the Yellow Flash.
[S-Rank Card: Minato Namikaze]
Skill 1: Flying Raijin – Instant Slice: Throw a marked kunai and instantly teleport to it, executing a rapid multi-directional slash. Requires high reaction speed.
Skill 2: Godspeed: A variant of the Body Flicker technique enhanced by Minato's reflexes. Ultra-high speed, low Chakra cost, long range.
Ultimate: Space-Time – Spiraling Flash Super Round Dance: (Okay, the name is ridiculous, but the effect isn't). Throw multiple marked kunai, teleporting between them while charging a massive Rasengan. devastating burst damage.
I quickly checked Hiruzen and Jiraiya.
Hiruzen was a turret—massive AoE elemental jutsu. Jiraiya was a tanky all-rounder.
But Minato? Minato was survival.
If things went south, Flying Raijin was the ultimate "Get Out of Jail Free" card. As long as I didn't try to be a hero and sacrifice myself against a Bijuu, Minato's kit guaranteed I could run away from anything.
It was a stripped-down version—no Sealing Chains, no Sage Mode, no Wind Style. Just pure speed and the Rasengan.
"That's enough," I whispered.
I tapped [Purchase].
The gold coins on the counter vanished. A card materialized in my hand.
It was heavy, with a golden border. The artwork of Minato Namikaze moved slightly, like a holographic trading card, humming with suppressed energy.
I slotted it into the [Equipped] slot on the panel.
A wave of relief washed over me. I finally had a gun in a knife fight.
I stepped out onto the small, rotting balcony. The night air was crisp. I leaned against the railing, looking up at the stars.
A shooting star cut across the sky, trailing fire as it headed toward the Hokage Rock.
Down on the street, I saw a couple of neighbors point up and clasp their hands, making wishes. The village was peaceful. Lanterns glowed warm orange in windows. People were laughing, drinking, enjoying the calm after the Second War.
It was beautiful.
I felt a strange sense of belonging. Not because of the Will of Fire or any of that propaganda, but because for the first time in two lives, I had a home. I had a job starting tomorrow at Ichiraku.
If I could just survive the Nine-Tails attack, I'd have twelve years of peace. Twelve years to grind, to collect cards, to get strong enough so I didn't have to run.
I closed my eyes, letting the cool wind hit my face.
Future's looking bright.
BOOM.
The sound wasn't just loud; it was a physical impact. The ground shook so hard my teeth rattled.
My eyes snapped open.
I looked toward the center of the village. The "shooting star" hadn't vanished. It had crashed.
And rising from the smoke, towering over the buildings, were massive, thrashing orange tails.
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