In a dense forest.
A red-haired little boy who looked no older than five held a short blade, swinging it over and over.
It was high noon. The sun blazed mercilessly, and sweat had soaked through the boy's clothes.
"This weather is awful. It's so hot."
Uzumaki Shin couldn't help complaining, but he continued swinging his blade. It was only the sun—how could something like that stop him from pursuing strength?
"Shin, I knew you'd be here. You're practicing with your sword in this heat? Aren't you afraid of getting heatstroke?"
A little head peered out from behind the tree behind Uzumaki Shin. Then a little girl bounced over to him.
At the sound of her voice, Uzumaki Shin stopped and turned around, looking helplessly at the pretty, adorable girl before him.
"Kushina, I don't have time to play with you right now."
Kushina puffed out her cheeks. Her plump, rosy face showed a hint of displeasure, and the way her cheeks rounded made her look so cute that Uzumaki Shin couldn't help thinking so.
"Shin, you used to always play with me. Now you don't even pay attention to me."
Tears glistened in Kushina Uzumaki's eyes, as if they might spill over at any moment. Uzumaki Shin immediately felt a headache coming on.
"Kushina, do you think I want to work so hard practicing swordsmanship in the middle of the day? I don't have a choice."
Uzumaki Shin sat down, picked up his water bottle, and took a drink to replenish the fluids he'd lost.
Unlike the carefree Kushina Uzumaki, Uzumaki Shin was a transmigrator.
Somehow, he had ended up in the world of Naruto, reborn as a newborn baby.
When he first learned that he'd been transported to this dangerous world, where one person's death could wipe out an entire village,
Uzumaki Shin had despaired.
Luckily, he hadn't been reborn as a civilian. He had been born into the Uzumaki Clan of the Land of Whirlpools. But even being part of the Uzumaki Clan came with its own dangers.
It was just after the First Shinobi World War, and the Second Shinobi World War hadn't yet begun. The story was still decades away.
And this seemed to be around the time the Land of Whirlpools would be destroyed. Uzumaki Shin had tried to work out when exactly it would happen, but he didn't know the precise date. It probably wasn't far off.
All he could do now was find a way to grow stronger and improve his chances of surviving the coming destruction of the Land of Whirlpools.
Having come to this world, Uzumaki Shin wasn't willing to simply die like this.
"Shin, is there something troubling you that you can't talk about?"
Seeing the troubled look on Uzumaki Shin's face, Kushina asked him what was wrong.
"Kushina, if I told you that the Land of Whirlpools and the Uzumaki Clan would face disaster before long, would you believe me?"
Uzumaki Shin looked up and spoke to Kushina seriously.
"How could that be? You're joking, right, Shin?"
Kushina looked at him as if he were joking.
Uzumaki Shin shrugged. Even Kushina, who trusted him more than anyone, didn't believe him. The other members of the Uzumaki Clan certainly wouldn't, either. That meant the destruction of the Land of Whirlpools was unavoidable.
Uzumaki Shin wasn't well liked. No one would believe what he said.
Ding!
Suddenly, a mechanical voice rang out in Uzumaki Shin's mind, making him shudder.
"Copy System successfully activated. I am pleased to serve you, Master."
Hearing the voice in his mind, Uzumaki Shin suddenly grew excited. So he had a cheat of his own after all!
But he'd been in this world for five years already. Why had the system only awakened now?
"Shin, what's wrong?"
Kushina had keenly noticed the change in Shin and immediately asked him what was going on.
"Nothing, Kushina. I just remembered I have something to take care of. I'll definitely play with you tomorrow. I'm heading out now."
Shin leaped onto a tree, then vanished from sight after a few quick bounds.
Kushina's mouth fell open. With moves like that, he was probably better than an ordinary Genin. The rascal was so strong and hadn't even told her! Kushina angrily clenched her fists.
"If you don't play with me tomorrow, you're dead!"
After leaving, Shin didn't go home. Instead, he headed to a secluded stream and began checking out his system.
"System, what can you do?" Shin asked nervously.
If the system was useless, he'd be better off without it!
"This system is called the Copy System. It can copy anything, including another person's ninjutsu, chakra, and Kekkei Genkai."
Shin's eyes lit up. In an instant, Uchiha Madara's Rinnegan and Otsutsuki Kaguya's nine-Tomoe
Rinnegan flashed through his mind.
The various overpowered Mangekyō Sharingan abilities, Otsutsuki Kaguya's immortality, all kinds of powerful S-rank ninjutsu and Kekkei Genkai—Shin's eyes grew brighter and brighter.
"Wait, there must be conditions for copying, right?"
Shin came back to his senses. Once he'd calmed down, he asked the system. There was no way he could copy things without any restrictions.
"Each copy requires a Copy Card. Copy Cards come in three types: Common Copy Cards, Advanced Copy Cards, and God-tier Copy Cards."
"Common Copy Cards can copy ninjutsu up to and including B-rank, as well as the chakra, physical fitness, and so on of Jonin."
"Advanced Copy Cards can copy ninjutsu and secret techniques up to and including S-rank, as well as the chakra, physical fitness, and so on of Kage Level shinobi. They can also copy some ordinary Kekkei Genkai, such as Scorch Release and Lava Release."
"God-tier Copy Cards have no restrictions. They can copy anything."
"How do I get Copy Cards?" Shin asked eagerly.
"There are two ways. The system gives you one Copy Card each year. Whether it's a Common Copy Card, an Advanced Copy Card, or a God-tier Copy Card depends entirely on your luck."
"The other way is to choose whether to accept a task based on your own wishes. Completing it earns you a Copy Card. Tasks are not compulsory. You decide whether to accept them, and there is no punishment for failure."
"Getting one every year is pretty good," Shin said with a grin. His system really was generous.
And the tasks weren't compulsory, with no punishment for failing. That put Shin at ease.
Shin hated being constrained. He didn't want some inexplicable system task tying him down. Even if the system were powerful, he wouldn't like that.
"By the way, System, is there a starter gift?"
Shin's eyes lit up. Surely there was supposed to be a starter gift.
"You received your starter gift when you were born. You should have noticed it."
Shin froze for a moment, then asked tentatively, "Could it be the Sage Body?"
The Sage Body was the Kekkei Genkai of the Uzumaki Clan. Everyone in the Senju Clan and the Uzumaki Clan had one, but Shin's Sage Body was different. It was stronger than everyone else's.
"That's right. When the system brought you to this world, it gave you the Perfect Sage Body."
Shin couldn't hide his delight. A Perfect Sage Body—didn't that put him on a par with the God of Shinobi, Senju Hashirama?
The great Hashirama had relied on his Perfect Sage Body and the Wood Release he developed to beat down Uchiha Madara, who had an Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, and the Nine-Tails in its Complete Form.
Wouldn't he eventually have Senju Hashirama's strength? With the system's help, surpassing Hashirama and becoming one of the Six Paths didn't seem all that difficult.
His future looked bright!
PS: Please support the new book with some flowers.
Before you continue