The Card Draw System

Three children in Konoha were bullying a blond boy.

The little blond suddenly froze.

"Big bro, did we beat this kid stupid? Why'd he suddenly stop fighting back?"

"What are you afraid of? Even if this demon fox gets beaten to death, no one will care."

The leader stammered, but his body was already retreating, his actions betraying his words.

The other two exchanged glances and backed away as well.

On the ground, Naruto had just regained consciousness. He frowned as he tried to make sense of the memories in his mind.

His name was Uzumaki Naruto.

Did I transmigrate, or am I Uzumaki Naruto?

Naruto instinctively furrowed his brow. His previous life hadn't been particularly happy, but he'd had enough to eat and a roof over his head, and his life hadn't been in danger.

Damn it, why did I end up in Naruto?

He cursed inwardly.

As everyone knew, by the later stages, Japanese anime all seemed to fall into the same trap: the supremacy of bloodlines.

In short, hard work was useless in a world like this.

He'd been quite interested in Naruto, too.

When he first watched it, the story was easy to relate to: an orphan, with a sealed monster inside him.

Hot-blooded and clueless, he gradually became Hokage.

But then came a sudden reversal: the protagonist turned out to be the Fourth Hokage's son, and on top of that, the Sage of Six Paths was an old godfather pulling strings for him.

It felt like getting screwed over. It was more like a prince trying out life among the poor.

And in Naruto, bloodline determined a person's ceiling.

No matter how hard ordinary ninja worked, they could never surpass the Sage of Six Paths.

As for Naruto and the others, their strength in the later stages had been forcibly granted by the Sage of Six Paths.

Their own efforts seemed more like a joke.

Ding!!

Just as Naruto's thoughts were spiraling,

he heard a voice in his mind.

Naruto's eyes lit up. As someone who'd transmigrated, he naturally knew what that meant.

"System?"

A panel suddenly appeared before his eyes.

Myriad Worlds Card Draw System!!!

Name: Uzumaki Naruto.

Technique: None

Draws: 1

Naruto stared at it, completely dumbfounded.

The panel was almost absurdly simple.

And what did that draw count mean?

He tried tapping it with his mind.

An option appeared in front of him.

Draw a card?

"Draw."

Nine cards appeared in the void.

Naruto was startled, but he immediately understood what he was seeing.

A classic gacha scheme.

The sight was all too familiar.

Before he could even think, his hand had already instinctively picked the first card.

A fresh start.

Might as well start with the first one.

The card enlarged as it turned over.

The other cards vanished at once.

Name: Immortal Daying Zuo Ruotong.

Technique: Triple Inversion

The card showed a white-haired man, his bearing ethereal as an immortal, his gaze as calm as water.

Naruto recognized him at a glance.

It's him.

Naruto knew this man well. As a longtime anime fan, he recognized the controversial character immediately.

Especially the technique he practiced.

Reversing the natural order, returning to one's origin, and ascending to immortality.

As the saying went, the Dao gave birth to one, one gave birth to two, two gave birth to three, and three gave birth to all things.

Triple Inversion went against that order, reversing the natural course and returning to one's origin.

The idea was sound, but putting it into practice was incredibly difficult.

What Naruto found most heartbreaking was that Zuo Ruotong had clearly reached the third stage, yet in the end, he chose to take his own life.

In Daoist terms, his Daoist heart had shattered.

In the world of Outsiders, those who cultivated the Dao sought to ascend to immortality.

And this wasn't just an imagined ideal. Many people had truly achieved it.

The most recent example was Zhang Sanfeng, the founding patriarch of Wudang.

The San-Yi Sect held the same belief.

The San-Yi Sect had passed down its teachings to this day, and nearly everyone in the sect firmly believed in its principles.

They believed that reaching the third stage of Triple Inversion would allow one to ascend to immortality.

So when Zuo Ruotong reached the third stage, he hadn't rejoiced. Instead, his Daoist heart had shattered.

Because he hadn't ascended.

Naruto was momentarily stunned as he looked at the man.

As an ordinary person, it was hard for him to empathize with him.

But in Naruto's opinion, Triple Inversion was much more impressive than the Old Celestial Master's Golden Light Incantation.

It turned the whole body into qi and slowed aging.

Ordinary attacks were useless against it.

Calling him an earthly immortal wouldn't be an exaggeration.

Even the Old Celestial Master was still a flesh-and-blood mortal, while Zuo Ruotong had become something like an energy body.

With such an incredible ability, it was no wonder Zuo Ruotong hadn't been satisfied.

While Naruto was lost in thought,

the card had already turned into a beam of light and entered his body.

Meanwhile, outside,

the three children had run off in fear.

Behind Naruto, a little black-haired girl watched him lying on the ground, looking uneasy.

After hesitating for a long while, she spoke in a soft voice.

"Are you all right?"

Only then did Naruto snap out of it.

He instinctively stood up and brushed himself off.

He looked around, then immediately noticed the little girl behind him.

Black hair, pure white eyes, a short bob, and chubby cheeks.

Hyuga Hinata.

Naruto recognized her almost instantly.

He also realized when this was taking place.

This should've been when Naruto and Hinata first met. Rescuing a damsel in distress was clichéd, but there was no denying it worked.

"Thank you for saving me, big brother."

Her soft voice rang out.

Naruto shivered.

That soft voice, that timid manner, her wealthy-family background—

And then there was that "big brother."

Even Naruto couldn't help feeling completely charmed.

I'm definitely making her my childhood bride.

It wasn't that he had no self-control. That "big brother" was just too sweet.

"Ahem. Glad you're all right. What's your name?"

Naruto cleared his throat.

"My name is Hyuga Hinata."

Her voice was soft, and her gaze timid.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto. Nice to meet you."

Naruto quickly introduced himself.

He slipped into his role just as quickly.

The two chatted for a while and soon grew comfortable with each other, as children often did.

Naruto also learned about Hinata's situation.

Because of Neji's father, Hinata had run away, then been bullied by those three children.

Naruto had stepped in to help.

And so, the classic scene of a hero rescuing a beauty had played out.

Right at that moment, he had transmigrated.

Just as Naruto was about to walk her home,

a white-eyed maid came running over.

"What are you trying to do to the young lady?"

The maid watched Naruto warily.

Naruto was startled, but he noticed the look in her eyes.

Disdain and disgust.

He realized at once that she'd recognized him.

He also remembered his current situation.

Danzo wanted to control the power of the Nine-Tails, so he'd spread rumors around the village that Naruto was the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox.

The Third Hokage wanted to build a bond with him, so he hadn't stopped it.

That was what had left Naruto in such an awkward position.

Naruto suddenly felt as if he'd swallowed a fly.

Damn, I know protagonists always have miserable lives, but there really aren't many who have it as bad as Naruto.

"Young lady, that child is cursed. Stay away from him if you see him again."

"But..." Hinata looked conflicted, as if she wanted to say something...

But the maid had already pulled her away.

"Come along, young lady. The head of the family is waiting."

With that, she led Hinata away.

Naruto frowned, but didn't say anything.

He opened his panel.

Name: Uzumaki Naruto.

Bloodline: Uzumaki Bloodline

Technique: Triple Inversion.

Draws: 0

Naruto was startled when he saw the technique listed. He focused and examined it carefully.

There was a stream of qi inside him, flowing along a fixed network of meridians.

What truly amazed Naruto was that he felt he could now turn into gas.

That was amazing. Naruto's eyes lit up.

Now he had a way to protect himself.

But when he saw the number of draws, his expression darkened.

As he moved his mind, a countdown appeared.

Three hundred and sixty-five.

Naruto immediately understood what it meant.

"Damn, what kind of unreliable system is this? I can only draw once a year."

Naruto was speechless.

After this brief period of exploration, he had gained a basic understanding of the system.

There was no intelligence, only a lottery and a panel.

He felt somewhat relieved.

As a promising young man, Naruto knew very well that without outside interference, it was difficult for people to break out of their own circles.

Even as a transmigrator, it was the same.

In essence, he had merely switched to a different circle.

He couldn't just move somewhere else and suddenly rule the world.

It was like a fish in water. It couldn't leave the water.

The strong in this world couldn't transcend it, either.

As a transmigrator, Naruto didn't want to spend his whole life in such a small world.

Everyone had ambition. The question was whether they had the ability to match it.

He lowered his head and went home.

Having inherited Naruto's memories, he didn't let on in the slightest.

He made his way home at an unhurried pace.

Along the way, everyone kept their distance, muttering among themselves.

Even Naruto, with his considerable worldly experience, couldn't help frowning.

It felt even more blatant than the online mobbing in his previous life.

Naruto didn't have any particular thoughts about these ordinary people.

He cast them a cold glance.

He paid them no mind. The legends of cultivating immortality were etched deep in the bones of the Chinese people.

If he hadn't had the opportunity, that would have been one thing. But now that he did, Naruto naturally sought immortality through cultivation.

Hokage's office.

The Third Hokage sat there, surrounded by smoke that obscured his expression.

An Anbu operative stood below, reporting what had happened to Naruto that day.

"All right, you may go."

The Third Hokage fell into thought.

He hadn't paid the slightest attention to Hinata and Naruto meeting.

Of course, it hadn't been something the Third Hokage could arrange, either.

But after this encounter, he began to wonder whether he should find Naruto a few friends.

A single bond with him wouldn't be enough to keep Naruto tied down, but friends would make a difference.

Naruto knew nothing of the Third Hokage's thoughts.

At that moment, however, he was already thinking about how he should train.

Naruto's growth was simple enough: in the early stages, he relied on the Nine-Tails to cheat; later on, he relied on his Six Paths godfather.

The only thing Naruto seemed to have truly trained himself was Sage Mode.

And it wasn't perfect, either. It had a time limit.

Only after he and the Nine-Tails became partners did he gain the ability to absorb Natural Energy with the Nine-Tails' help and achieve the perfect mode.

At that thought, Naruto immediately sat down cross-legged.

He began sensing the Natural Energy in the air.

With Triple Inversion supporting him, Naruto could easily sense the Natural Energy around him.

But he knew all too well how dangerous the Natural Energy in this world was.

"Better not."

"It's too early. There's no rush."

Naruto opened his eyes, a trace of wariness flashing in them.

Without the proper level of cultivation and strength, absorbing the energy of heaven and earth recklessly would only end with him being assimilated by it.

Naruto understood that well enough.

Training wasn't always better the earlier you started.

He was only three years old. There was no need to hurry.

For now, all he could do was develop Triple Inversion.

Triple Inversion had a very high ceiling, and Naruto had received both the technique and the cultivation level.

As for how to use it, he had no idea. Besides, that fit with his understanding: the Great Dao had three thousand paths, and everyone had their own insights.

Even the same Golden Light Incantation manifested differently in each person's hands.

Some who reached the third stage of Triple Inversion could be said to have achieved immortality.

In this Ninja World, no one could kill him now.

All he had to do was learn to use it proficiently.

Time flowed by like water. In the days that followed, Naruto became a homebody and hardly ever went out.

The reason he hardly ever went out, rather than never, was that he still needed food.

In the past, Naruto had lived on expired food. Now that he had some strength, there was no reason to keep eating that stuff.

That afternoon, Naruto left home and headed for the river in Konoha.

The moment he stepped onto the street, everyone once again looked at him with hatred.

Naruto's brow furrowed instinctively. He didn't care about their stares, but who would enjoy them? Unfortunately, his home was in the center of Konoha, so nearly every time he went out, he ran into a crowd of people.

"That's the demon fox."

"Stay away from him."

"If you don't behave, he'll eat you."

Hearing them talk, Naruto's eyes flashed with killing intent.

But he quickly suppressed it and left in a hurry.

Even long after Naruto had gone, the people behind him were still gossiping.

He reached the edge of the Konoha Forest, where ninja usually trained.

Naruto found a stream and picked up a stick.

He had come here to fish.

The rivers in Konoha connected to the river beyond the village, and the wild resources were plentiful.

There were fish, shrimp, and all sorts of other creatures.

Naruto was fairly strong by now, despite being only three years old.

Still, he didn't dare show too much, lest he reveal his strength.

A ninja's chakra flowed through the body's meridians, making it difficult for them to conceal their strength.

But Naruto was different.

After obtaining Triple Inversion, he had naturally opened a Dantian.

Usually, the energy in his body was sealed inside it.

That made it nearly impossible for ordinary ninjas to detect.

He just didn't know whether eyes like the Byakugan or Sharingan could see through it.

Naruto had never refined chakra, but he already had chakra in his body. All he lacked was a method for refining it.

On top of that, the Nine-Tails was slowly eroding the seal. The chakra that leaked out was unconsciously converted into Naruto's own chakra by the seal.

That was why Minato had sealed the Nine-Tails inside Naruto.

So, after obtaining the cultivation method, the chakra in his body was instantly transformed into a special kind of energy.

It was stored in his Dantian.

Two Anbu operatives were secretly watching Naruto.

One of them, a white-haired man, frowned.

It was Kakashi. He had since joined the Anbu, and every Anbu operative had been assigned to watch Naruto at some point.

It was an exceptionally easy assignment.

So the Anbu didn't take it particularly seriously.

As direct subordinates of the Hokage, they knew the Third Hokage's intentions well. As long as the Jinchūriki wasn't in mortal danger, they wouldn't intervene.

As for Naruto's daily life, it was even less their place to interfere.

In their eyes, Naruto was just playing at being a child.

Even Kakashi only furrowed his brow slightly.

To avoid revealing his strength, Naruto did nothing extraordinary. First, he tried using the stick to see if he could catch any fish.

The result disappointed him. Even with his skills, he had a hard time catching fish after several attempts.

Besides, the stream was rich in resources, and the big fish in it were about a meter long.

The smaller fish were even harder to catch.

With no other choice, Naruto climbed back onto the bank.