Fox Demon

The clapper sounded three times, and Zhang Ming opened his eyes.

Inside a cramped apartment on a street in Konoha.

Before him lay a dim expanse; the Balcony Wind chimes stirred in the midsummer night breeze, emitting a lonely sound.

A foreign soul had descended upon Konoha, occupying the body of Naruto Uzumaki.

Ding! Slacker System loading...

7%

Zhang Ming's head throbbed violently, his vision blurred with a bloody red haze.

I haven't gone blind, have I?

Pain! Hiss!

It was just a game, did I really have to die from overwork? How am I supposed to go to work tomorrow?

I was just about to finish my internship and get hired full-time, I was so close to the end.

The pain slowly dissipated. Zhang Ming opened his eyes, and through the hazy light, his gaze fell upon a strange and cluttered room.

The air was filled with a faint stench, and the walls were covered in old, moldy, pale yellow wallpaper. Clothes and books were scattered messily across the wooden floor.

Zhang Ming seemed to realize something and looked down at his own hands.

His pupils dilated slightly. With a gasp, Zhang Ming fell backward.

My hands... they've shrunk?

System loading progress 13%

A mechanical synthesized voice rang out in his mind, and fragments of memory suddenly pierced Zhang Ming's brain, causing him to howl in pain and roll on the bed.

Voices kept drilling into his ears like ants, the agony nearly causing him to faint.

It's that kid, right? How disgusting!

I told you not to play with him. Who knows what that freak might do!

It was that fox demon who killed the Fourth Hokage.

Naruto, do you have the Will of Fire?

Lord Hokage is the strongest person in the village, the one who protects us. You should work hard too, Naruto, and strive to become Hokage.

"Hokage? Are you kidding me?" Zhang Ming's head felt like it was splitting open.

The surroundings were pitch black, save for two small holes in the distance.

He stumbled toward them, using all his strength to press his eyes against the gaps, only to see people outside—all sorts of people. Their eyes were filled with contempt, indifference, and ill-will.

Get lost! You monster!

I'm not selling to you! Get out!

Why don't you just die? How do you have the courage to keep living in this world! You monster!

Cold emotions mixed with pain surged into his heart; Zhang Ming nearly suffocated under the weight of it. He turned over, gritting his teeth and pounding his chest with all his might, finally managing to catch his breath.

System loading progress 17%

Opening his eyes abruptly, Zhang Ming lay on the bed and saw a panel slowly manifesting before him. Having read plenty of novels and played plenty of games, he roughly understood his current situation.

He had transmigrated, becoming Naruto Uzumaki from Naruto. He was likely still in the Ninja Academy stage, soon to face the genin graduation exam.

What comforted him was that while he had transmigrated, the system unique to an outsider was fully equipped. It seemed to still be loading—what was the system called again?

Whatever. Having a system is better than not having one.

Looking at the night scene outside the window, Zhang Ming had no heart for sleep. He rolled out of bed and fumbled to turn on the room's light.

With a click, the bright light dispelled the unease in his heart.

"From now on, I am Naruto Uzumaki."

He ignored the messy room and the foul-smelling table. No one could blame an unloved orphan for not tidying up; after all, there wasn't even anyone around to scold him for it.

Naruto sat at the desk, took out paper and pen, and tried to write a line, automatically mastering the Sakura script.

But Naruto could also understand it. He tried to speak a sentence, and it seemed there were several choices for the language he could use. He could switch between three or four languages, though that was useless in this world—knowing the Sakura script was enough.

He pulled open his clothes, but couldn't see the seal regarding the Nine-Tails on his belly. That was a bit troublesome—a double Four Symbols Seal.

The Nine-Tails' chakra leaking from the seal flowed through his extraordinary meridians, eventually converting into normal blue chakra.

Although he could temporarily use the Nine-Tails' chakra, it wasn't a long-term solution.

After thinking for a long while, Naruto wrote down a training plan on the paper. In this world, naturally, only those with great power had the right to speak.

Becoming as strong as possible would also help with his future growth.

Then there was life. Naruto scratched his head, stood up, and walked to the full-length mirror. Looking at the young face in the reflection, he bared his teeth and flashed a wide grin.

"Screw the Hokage!"

"Who wants to become something like that, protecting people who despise them? Keep dreaming, they might as well all just die! Bastards, trash!"

He vented all the negative emotions pent up in his heart, feeling his entire body lighten in an instant.

Becoming Hokage or whatever could wait, but it was necessary to at least ensure he lived a good life.

Comrades, the village, the Will of Fire—to hell with them all; living was meant for enjoyment. Once the system finished loading, he would be able to walk sideways through the village with no one to stop him.

Humming a tune, Naruto wrote down his genin training plan on a piece of paper.

"Become the flashiest guy in the village!"

System loading progress: 34%

The next day, the sun was bright.

The first thing Naruto did after waking up was pull up the panel to check the system's loading progress. This damn loading speed was just like a 2G network, truly infuriating.

System loading progress: 79%

Yawning, Naruto hadn't really slept at all last night. Seeing that it was already dawn, he could only drag himself out of bed to wash up.

He figured there were a few ninja theory classes in the morning, so he would just catch up on sleep while slumped over in the classroom. Anyway, Naruto was always like that in the eyes of his classmates, and no one would care about an ominous person.

After washing up, he spent another hour tidying up his room.

When choosing what to wear before heading out, Naruto hit a snag. His original outfit looked like that of a delinquent, and the big jacket was too hot to wear in the summer.

After a moment of hesitation, Naruto chose a casual black short-sleeved shirt paired with brown mid-length pants, leaving the goggles on the table behind.

He wasn't a genin yet, so he didn't have a Konoha forehead protector.

"I'm heading out!" He shouted to the empty room, receiving no response, but he didn't care; he slammed the door shut with a bang.

He lived in an old apartment building on Konoha Street, and to get downstairs, he had to navigate through winding alleys. Seeing the people standing in the Nikko, Naruto paused for a split second.

Until he saw the looks of distaste they cast his way, Naruto just shrugged indifferently and lowered his head, silently weaving through the crowd.

The expressions on the villagers' faces were cold and icy, their eyes glancing down at Naruto before snapping away.

System loading progress: 87%

At the Ninja Academy, Shikamaru scanned the crowd listlessly before his gaze settled on something. He nudged Choji beside him, pointing in a direction to signal him to look.

"Isn't that Naruto?" Choji stopped mid-bite with his potato chips. "Did he get beaten up on the way here again?"

"Probably." Shikamaru revealed a pair of dead fish eyes. "Those people are going too far."

Choji tossed the last potato chip into his mouth and crunched down.

The two of them swaggered forward, using the advantage of Choji's round frame to push through the gathered crowd; no matter how aggressive the people bullying Naruto were, they wouldn't dare offend the Ino-Shika-Cho clans.