A Scam of a System

Mirai was stunned the moment he saw it. He smacked his lips, thinking the difficulty was a bit too high. He knew his own situation well, and he knew exactly how strong the other party was. Although Uchiha Itachi was young and the same age as him, his strength was far beyond Mirai's own.

One look at the SS-rank difficulty label was enough to understand. Besides, Mirai had never killed anyone before, and even if he succeeded, he would be dead for sure. Pass. Mirai chose to pass, clean and simple. There was simply no possibility of success. He had the Mall System to become stronger, not to seek death. Such challenging tasks were better left to others.

Even if Uchiha Itachi went on a killing spree, the worst he could do was run to the Third Hokage's house and refuse to leave, crying and snotting until someone did something about it. As a peripheral descendant of the Uchiha Clan who hadn't even awakened his Sharingan, surely no one would target him. This was the best strategy Mirai had come up with since arriving in this world and realizing the Uchiha Clan hadn't been wiped out yet and that he was just a fringe member. He felt he was truly brilliant.

This path was a dead end, so he might as well look at the next one.

[Optional Side Quest 2: To prevent the host from being killed, build a good relationship with Uchiha Itachi. Every ten points of favorability grants one point. Quest Difficulty: F-rank]

Mirai wore a speechless expression, thinking to himself: System, oh System, are you sure this is to prevent me from being killed? Why do both options feel like they were designed to get me killed? I'm not good at playing choice-based strategy games. Are you sure I can clear Naruto like this?

Forget it, he might as well accept this quest. With only these two options available, and needing to exchange for items—since he was weak and not a genius—he couldn't survive without his cheat.

[Ding--! You have accepted Side Quest 2. Your current favorability with Uchiha Itachi is (5/100). Quest Difficulty: F-rank]

Huh! Five points of favorability already? Could it have increased during that brief moment they nodded at each other earlier? If so, the other party was quite friendly, or perhaps it was because he also bore the Uchiha surname. Either way, getting the first point didn't seem far off. It was a decent start.

Although there were still many items in the Mall System he hadn't looked at, Mirai felt it was about time to return to the classroom. The mall was already open, so he could just study it carefully when he got home.

Mirai returned to the classroom, where the self-introductions were still ongoing, though they were about to end as it was already the last person.

Finally, everyone finished introducing themselves, and the Fourth Hokage smiled and said, "I have noted everyone's names. I hope you all study hard. The future of the village belongs to you. Work hard at your studies, pass the graduation exam, become true ninjas, and then protect our village!"

[Ding--! Main Quest triggered! For the sake of the host's safety, the host must graduate from the Ninja Academy as the top student within three years. Success rewards 10 points; failure results in erasure! Quest Difficulty: A-rank!]

"Thud!" Mirai's head hit the desk. Damn it! Are you really sure this is for my safety, and not because I'm a loser and you want to kill me off? You even brought up erasure! If I don't complete the quest, you'll kill me. Truly, this is for my safety, f*ck! What a scam.

Top of the class? You don't even look at who I'm in the same year with—Uchiha Itachi, known as the greatest genius ninja! I know my own strength; while I'm not a bad student, I'm definitely not a top-tier one. I'm just average among the average. Even if I work hard to graduate as the top student, I'll likely be targeted by certain people anyway.

Was choosing to kill Uchiha Itachi the right option after all? Uh, actually, begging the other party to let him win might not be bad either. Mirai suddenly thought of an extremely shameless method.

However, Mirai finally understood that there was no such thing as a free lunch in this world. Having a system seemed awesome, but he faced the threat of erasure at any moment. It looked just like the online games he used to play: the main quest was mandatory, while side quests provided the massive amounts of points needed to gain the strength to complete the main quest.

Although he was reluctant to be the center of attention, it seemed he really had to study hard. The dangers of the ninja world were one thing, but the system seemed even more dangerous.

"Everyone, let's start class. If you have anything you don't understand or find difficult to handle, you can come to the Hokage Office Building to find me. I'm usually there," Namikaze Minato said with a bright, sunny smile, looking truly handsome.

"Yes! Lord Fourth Hokage!" As the idol of all the students, Namikaze Minato naturally had high popularity, and almost every student in the class responded.

"Then I wish you all a happy learning life. Goodbye, everyone!" Namikaze Minato waved at everyone and then left. After all, the work of the Hokage was very busy, and the class officially began.

"Ahem! The Hokage is very busy, all for the sake of protecting the village, so you must all study hard and complete your assignments on time. If you don't pass the assessment, you won't be able to graduate. Every year, fifty percent of students fail to graduate! So, it is very likely that half of the people in this class will not be able to graduate and become ninjas." As soon as the Fourth left, the homeroom teacher, Nakamura Hino, straightened his back and put on a very serious teacher's expression.

"Fifty percent!" All the students were shocked to hear this number. They hadn't expected that becoming a ninja wasn't so easy; it seemed extremely rigorous. Everyone looked at the people around them, feeling that anyone could be the one eliminated.

Homeroom teacher Nakamura seemed satisfied with the students' expressions and added, "Therefore! From today on, you must work hard! Be diligent! Be persistent! Complete all your studies at the Ninja Academy! If I catch anyone slacking off, sleeping, not finishing homework, or not paying attention, you will be punished. Do you all understand?"

"Understood..." Children are easily frightened, but this was the only way to make these mischievous kids study seriously.