Kuro's head was resting on the ground, panting after a particularly hard training session. The sun filtered through the tree's leaves, kissing his pale skin with relaxing warmth, "Not good enough", he cursed, staring at his hands. They were shaking, heavily. This body really didn't have any talent. After a year at the academy, his physique had barely scraped into the realm that most academy students start with. His chakra was also not that impressive. His chakra control was decent, yes but where was his transmigrator's package? He didn't get to meet some benevolent R.O.B. or spin the wheel of fate. One day, he was rewatching the fight of Choji vs Jirobo, he closed his eyes and when he opened them again, he was in this childish body. He was excited when he realised where he was and then? Then he was terrified. The world of Naruto was a brutal one, one where only the strong can thrive. Being weak was a death sentence, a sin in this world ruled by the strong. He had to give it to Madara, this world really was rotten but what could you do? All you could do was try and become strong enough to survive.
But that was exactly the problem. He wasn't strong. With his talent, he would be an eternal genin and not in the way that Might Duy was, a secret powerhouse who could take on the seven swordsmen of the mist, no, he'd be doing D rank missions until Pain arrived and killed him.
"It isn't fair! Where is my system?!" he muttered, as he had done so many times since he awakened here but this time was different, this time it listened. A sharp pain formed behind his right eye and his whole vision went hazy for a moment, before a system screen appeared in front of him.
[We are sorry for our late arrival. Your body wasn't strong enough to contain the system before]
[This is the drop system! Every time someone uses a skill in front of you, they have a 1% chance to drop a proficiency point. The same goes for chakra and physique, which have that 1% chance every hour. The more skilled someone is, the higher the proficiency point's magnitude. Another way to get drops is by killing an opponent. Someone who dies has a varying chance to drop certain skills. Proficiency points can only raise the skills to the maximum threshold for a rank. For academy students, that is 10%, for genin that is 25 and so on. Practice can increase these skills though. Proficiency points vanish after 1 hour]
[Open the status window to see your current status]
"Yes! I got a motherfucking system, suck on that! Show me the status!" Kuro laughed, still on the ground, still exhausted from the training.
[Maishi Kuro]
[Age]: 7
[Chakra nature]: Water(1%)
[Chakra]: 125
[Physique]: 12
[Skills]: Taijutsu(2%), Chakra control(15%), Clone jutsu(5%), Substitution jutsu(5%), Transformation jutsu(5%)
"Okay… so I have a water affinity, not the worst out there… considering what the system said, my chakra control is in middle genin level and everything else is in the academy student bracket", Kuro muttered, "System… what is the physique of say… Tsunade?"
[Tsunade's strength is estimated to be 3000]
"three thousand? I have a long way ahead of me. Does the system have a storage? A shop?"
[The system does not come with any additional features]
"Bummer but still… I can work with that" Kuro's hand trailed over his brown hair and his dark green eyes shimmered, "I can grow strong like this. 1% didn't sound like much but in a world where jutsu's were so prevalent, it should be fairly simple to rise to become a powerhouse. For now though, I need to wash up, I stink"
Kuro pushed himself up with shaking arms and shuffled to his apartment, through the bustling streets of konoha. Over by the stalls, old lady Mey pressed a bag of fruit into his arms.
"I- I don't have any money on me!", he protested, trying to shove the bag back but old lady Mey wouldn't take them back.
"It's fine, Kuro. You are a growing boy, your body needs fuel and these fruits had a few imperfections too, they wouldn't have sold anyways", she said with a grandmotherly smile, which reminded him of his grandma back on earth, whenever she slipped candy into his hand. Just walking through the streets, he absorbed the small, golden orbs that the people dropped, proficiency points, chakra mostly, with one physique point. When he absorbed the physique point, he felt his fatigue list from his shoulders. He arrived at his apartment soon after and walked inside, setting the bag of fruit onto the table standing right at its corner and disrobed himself to go take a shower. Warm water rushed over his tired body, chasing away any lingering fatigue.
Kuro leaned his forehead against the tiled wall, letting the steady drum of water ground his racing thoughts. The system's translucent blue screen hovered obediently at the edge of his vision, fading in and out as if responding to his focus. For the first time since he'd arrived in this world, the future didn't feel like a dead end.
"So… it is real", he murmured, lifting his hands and watching the faint shimmer that accompanied the last absorbed chakra point. His chakra coils felt… fuller. Not by much, just three points but enough that he noticed the difference.
After drying off and pulling on a loose shirt and shorts, Kuro stepped back into his small living space. The apartment was sparse, a futon, a low table, a single shelf with academy textbooks stacked unevenly. He picked up one of old lady Mey's apples and took a bite, the crisp sweetness grounding him further.
For today, the training may have ended but tomorrow was a whole other beast. His mouth watered at all the proficiency points he might be able to snag as they learned how to be shinobi.