Aoba of Yamashiro Arrives

Year 41 of Konohagakure

Ninja Academy

Jiang Ming stared at the last name on the notice board—Yamashiro Aoba.

He incredulously took off his red-framed sunglasses and rubbed his eyes hard before confirming that he had not misread it.

"No, I didn't even take the exam. How the hell did I get in? There has to be something shady going on..."

Jiang Ming opened his mouth, but reason stopped him from saying the rest aloud.

Even if it was only a supplementary admissions list, it had drawn plenty of onlookers. Who knew whether there were any Anbu among them...

Uh...

There might really be.

He was probably already under "surveillance."

As for hiding anything, he had never even considered it. Did he really think the Anbu were freeloaders?

Infiltration and disguise were required subjects at the Ninja Academy. Those who entered the Anbu were naturally the best of the best.

You could doubt the Anbu's strength, but never their professionalism.

At least until he was strong enough to say, "I don't eat beef," he should avoid saying anything that harmed unity.

"All right. Although I was already prepared to draw 'attention,' I didn't expect them to shove me into the Ninja Academy first. Still, that really is the Third Hokage for you, huh? Hehe."

Jiang Ming—no, he was now called Yamashiro Aoba.

He had transmigrated. Or rather, he had awakened the memories of his previous life.

Two years ago, after this body's parents died in action, he had forcibly extracted chakra and awakened the wisdom of his past life.

The good news was that this was a world whose plot he knew.

The bad news was that it was the Naruto World.

And he had arrived at a particularly dangerous point in time. The Second Shinobi World War had only just ended.

A few years from now, the Third Shinobi World War would begin.

And in Shinobi World wars, cannon fodder died the most.

Fortunately, he had not transmigrated into some nameless extra.

Not only did he have a name, but he also survived until the Fourth Shinobi World War. In the end, he would not even need to fight the Ten-Tails. He would form a team with the protagonist on Turtle Island, then end up doing odd jobs in the rear.

It was practically a free win.

That alone left him quite satisfied.

More importantly, Yamashiro Aoba was fairly handsome once grown up—he had ninety percent of Jiang Ming's looks from his previous life.

Come to think of it, that guy seemed pretty decent too.

Oh, right. What was that guy's name again? Jason something.

"Dimensional Carrier, Lord of the Space-Time Path, the great God of Interdimensional Heavy Trucks—Lord Jason Welton, Aoba."

As he was thinking, a mechanical voice sounded in his mind.

"All right, all right. You don't need to recite that guy's entire title every time."

Yamashiro Aoba found this rather troublesome. Recently, whenever he complained about that guy, the system would pop up to defend him.

Of course, this "system" was not the kind that could conjure all sorts of miraculous items out of thin air or grant its host absurdly powerful skills.

This system was an auxiliary chip from the future.

Its original name had been the CTB-9527 Auxiliary Sprite. Aoba thought it would be easier to just rename it: System.

As for his transmigration, it had been entirely an accident.

He had been struck by a stroke of luck.

Yes, literally.

He had been hit by a heavy-haul truck.

Could anyone imagine it? He had merely gone downstairs to pick up a delivery, and the moment he stepped out of the stairwell, a massive truck came charging straight at him.

In the final moment before losing consciousness, he had even wondered whether he had done something unforgivably evil to encounter something so absurd.

After losing consciousness, Aoba saw that heavy truck again in a void. Then, like a Transformer, it changed into a humanoid form right before him.

Jiang Ming, in his spirit form, was completely dumbfounded. What kind of bizarre development was this?

And in that form, the truck was even more oppressive.

Then it introduced itself. It was called Jason Welton, the God of Interdimensional Heavy Trucks, specializing in transporting transmigrators to other worlds.

Whether it was truly a god remained to be seen, but it definitely possessed the ability to send people through worlds.

Hitting him had been a complete accident. Normally, it delivered people on main roads, but this time, a miscalculation in the coordinates had sent it into a residential complex in the city. He had just happened to come downstairs at that moment.

The collision had inherently been without brakes. Its purpose was to send transmigrators to another world in an instant, allowing them to leave without any pain.

The people it usually hit were low-level grunts, corporate drones, and disposable tools—the sort with no family or friends, who would not be noticed even if they suddenly vanished.

A successful single noble like Jiang Ming had never been on its list. It had simply hit the wrong person.

But since it had hit the wrong person, so be it. Jason Welton merely expressed some regret verbally. As for reviving him, that was impossible.

Not to mention that so many people nearby had witnessed everything, there had also been more than a dozen surveillance cameras, and the information had already reached the higher-ups. It could make limited changes to information online and to the memories of ordinary people nearby.

But altering the memories of those higher-ups was difficult, and the cost was a little too high.

So it simply decided to roll with the mistake and give him this transmigration trip for free.

Jiang Ming's face alternated between green and pale, but the situation was beyond his control. After his thoughts raced for a moment, he could only accept it.

"Mm, not bad. I like talking to smart people most."

"..."

Jiang Ming rolled his eyes in anger, then pointed at his mouth.

Jason Welton's mechanical red eyes emitted a beam of light that scanned Jiang Ming. The latter discovered that he could speak again.

"Compensation."

Jiang Ming did not waste words and concisely stated his demand.

"Reasonable, but only within the rules."

"The rules, huh."

Jiang Ming silently committed that to memory.

After some negotiations, the two "people" settled on a film, television, or anime world that he knew.

His requirements were: soul transmigration, human, male, preferably starting from childhood, and not too ugly. That last point was very important.

Jiang Ming clearly stated his requirements, because those were the "rules."

Lastly, he wanted a cheat. However, Jason Welton's system quota had already been used up, and since Jiang Ming was not part of the transmigration sequence, he could not apply for a system allocation.

All of that was within the "rules." It had to act within the "rules."

However, as a transmigration deliveryman, Jason Welton had plenty of goods from various "systems" in its possession.

There were the common spiritual roots and sacred bodies found in novels, all sorts of strange talents, telekinesis and other superpowers, and even various miraculous items.

Yet after carefully examining everything, Jiang Ming chose only the "auxiliary chip" from the future.

"You're sure you want this? You should know that this is merely a chip used by future humans to assist with learning. It is not a system."

"Yes, that's right. I know it is only an auxiliary chip. Its learning function is precisely what I need."

"Learning? Then why not choose talents like [Three-Inferences], [Flash of Inspiration], or [Accelerated Thinking]? Even those special physiques could directly grant knowledge. Assistance cannot directly make it yours."

Jason Welton offered a "kind" reminder.

Only then did Jiang Ming feel that the being before him was truly an intelligent life-form, rather than some mechanically intelligent entity that had long been preprogrammed.

"No matter how good bestowed talents are, they are not truly mine. They might even create dependence. That is not what I want. Only knowledge will never leave me."

"Knowledge?!"

A terrifying smile appeared on Jason Welton's mechanical face.

"As you wish. The contract is established!"