Young Man, Become a Jinchuriki

A white light shone inexplicably within the chaotic darkness.

Bibi Dong gasped, her eyes snapping open as she clutched her chest, breathing heavily.

"Hah... hah..."

Was she... still alive?

As she panted, Bibi Dong stared at her palms, clenching and unclenching them in disbelief.

It was like a drowning person being pulled from the water; her lungs greedily drank in the oxygen. Not only was her body recovering, but her previously chaotic and blurred consciousness was gradually clearing.

Something was wrong!

Bibi Dong looked down at her body.

She was wearing her usual solemn and majestic Pope's robes, without a single stain or tear. This was definitely not the attire she had been wearing on the Jialing Pass battlefield!

What on earth had happened?

Where was she?

How was Xiaoxue?

Was this some contingency plan left behind by that Rakshasa bastard?

Bibi Dong's mind was a jumbled mess, but her years of training as a powerhouse forced her to calm down. She stood up slowly, her cold eyes sweeping across her surroundings while her soul power circulated through her body to assess her condition.

Sure enough, She was in deep trouble! She was currently nothing more than a mass of soul power!?

Bibi Dong's pupils flickered imperceptibly, and her face darkened. Whose handiwork was this? She was already dead; did that Tang Brat still refuse to let her go?

Her brain raced as she took in her current environment. The spacious area lacked any light source, the floor was covered in ankle-deep stagnant water, and the thick stone walls were lined with rusted pipes. It looked just like...

The sewers of Spirit City?

Accustomed to the palace cathedrals, it took Bibi Dong a moment to recognize this gloomy corner. She frowned; such a dim scene stirred up some unpleasant memories.

Clack.

"Who's there!?"

Footsteps echoed. Bibi Dong whipped her head around, but the moment she saw the intruder, her wariness turned to disappointment.

A child...

Standing before her was merely a boy with messy black hair and bright eyes fixed upon her. With his chubby cheeks, he looked quite like a porcelain doll.

He barely reached the top of her thighs, forcing Bibi Dong to look down to meet his gaze.

So weak.

Bibi Dong narrowed her eyes. This brat didn't even have ten levels of soul power; no wonder she hadn't sensed him immediately.

He wasn't the mastermind...

Was he just a child who had stumbled in by accident?

However, if even a brat like this could wander in at will, then the defenses of this place must have massive flaws!

With that thought, Bibi Dong crossed her arms, looking down at him with an arrogant tone. "Brat, are you a subject of the Spirit Empire? What is this place?"

"Huh?"

The child's shock vanished. After glancing around, he stared at her with a strange expression.

"It seems you haven't realized your current situation?"

"Brat, watch your tone!"

Bibi Dong raised her hand slightly, her thin lips parting. The soul power she had been suppressing leaked out, and even that tiny sliver triggered a purple-black storm within this eerie space!

She would teach this disrespectful brat a lesson.

The thought had barely formed when Bibi Dong's pupils constricted!

The rampaging soul power swept past the child without causing a single ripple, brushing by him like a gentle breeze...

"Did you do this!?"

Bibi Dong's face twisted into a hideous snarl, the words squeezed through her clenched teeth. The child across from her merely raised an eyebrow, his demeanor as natural as if he were chatting with a friend. "Uh? How should I put it? Not exactly... but strictly speaking, it does have something to do with me..."

Boom!

An invisible shockwave exploded in the confined space. The stagnant water on the floor surged high into the air, and the entire sewer was filled with violent soul power. If the previous vortex had been a storm, this was a hundred-meter tsunami!

Bibi Dong's fingers, coated in purple-black soul power, formed claws and stopped inches from the child's throat, unable to move a fraction further!

Clatter.

The crisp sound of iron chains rang out!

Countless golden chains engraved with mysterious runes erupted from the void, binding Bibi Dong's limbs and body tightly in the blink of an eye, pinning her in place.

Splash.

The water columns behind her collapsed, falling like a light rain.

"Nng..."

Bibi Dong suppressed a whimper born of intense agony, the veins on her forehead bulging as she desperately attempted to circulate the soul power within her body.

The chains rattled, yet remained unmoved, and unsettling black runic patterns crawled across her delicate, oval face when she wasn't looking.

The cheeky brat seemed to have anticipated this; ignoring the fire in Bibi Dong's eyes, he raised a hand and swatted her dangerous palm aside. "As I said before, you don't seem to grasp the current situation, do you?"

The flow of her soul power—and even her divine power—had come to a complete standstill under the binding of the chains! Bibi Dong lowered her gaze, staring daggers at the brat before her.

"Who exactly are you!?"

"Jiang Naruto. Just a nobody for now." He paused, as if remembering something, and declared loudly, "But I am the man who will become the Hokage!"

"That's just how it is, Dong Trumpet."

"Huh?"

"Jiang Naruto? That's the name, right?"

Inside a simple wooden house, an exquisite azure crystal ball sat in the center. A group of children stood huddled by the wall, awaiting the adult's instructions. The Spirit Hall soul master standing behind the crystal ball stroked his thick beard, flipping through the files in his hand.

Jiang Naruto nodded.

The village chief beside him seemed to feel this wasn't respectful enough, so he took over the conversation to explain.

"Yes, honorable Battle Soul Master. This is the child with the most promise in our village. Both his parents were soul masters, but..."

"Sigh..."

The village chief let out a long, drawn-out sigh.

"To obtain soul rings, his parents went into the Soul Hunting Forest and never returned. Their bodies were never recovered, so we could only erect a cenotaph... Now, only the child is left in the family..."

And that wasn't all; the child had actually cried himself to death from grief.

Six-year-old Jiang Naruto blinked. The dark humor running through his mind would probably scare the life out of anyone if they could hear it.

That's right, he was a transmigrator. In his previous life, he was an ordinary student rushing to finish his graduation thesis in the dorms, only to be struck down by a stray bolt of electricity from a faulty transformer.

After dying, he had the good fortune to transmigrate into this boy of the same name who had cried himself to death. Half a year had already passed.

The past was beyond recall.

Over these six months, his desire to return had slowly faded. Since he was here, he might as well settle in and live a good life in this Douluo World.

"Is that so?" The Spirit Hall soul master seemed to be stirred by the memory and couldn't help but add a few words. "This is common. Cultivation for a soul master is arduous; one never knows when an accident might strike."

With that, he beckoned to Jiang Naruto.

"Child, hold out your hand."

Jiang Naruto extended his right hand, and the hexagram array at his feet lit up under the soul master's guidance.

It felt like being reborn from a broken shell; Jiang Naruto felt a shackle within his body crack, and with a burst of effort, he shattered it completely.

Specks of starlike soul power appeared on Jiang Naruto's palm, and a pitch-black chain suddenly shot out from his palm, giving the village chief a start.

"A chain?"

The bearded soul master glanced at this unremarkable martial soul and muttered, "It can be considered a weapon-type martial soul. You can use it like a whip."

"Let's check your soul power."

Jiang Naruto lingered on his martial soul for a moment before pressing his palm against the azure crystal ball at the bearded man's urging.

Light ignited deep within the crystal ball, rapidly climbing to cover half of it before the speed slowed down significantly.

Compared to the children before him, the radiance was exaggerated—the glowing eyes of the village chief and the soul master were proof enough—but Jiang Naruto's heart only sank further.

This level was far from enough.

"Not bad! Not bad!"

"You have real talent, kid! Your innate soul power is actually level six—three levels higher than mine were at your age!"

The bearded soul master shouted in excitement, but Jiang Naruto ignored him, his brow furrowed in thought.

Bibi Dong had already been the Pope for five years. By the timeline, Tang San was at least six years old. Jiang Naruto couldn't remember many details of the original plot, but he knew Tang San would definitely become a god before the age of thirty.

This speed... it was too fast...

He didn't seek fame or status among the lords; he just wanted to survive in this chaotic world. In another ten years or so, the various factions on this continent would be locked in a brutal war, fighting until they were at each other's throats.

Was he supposed to just be cannon fodder when that time came?

If his innate talent wasn't enough!

Then he would make up for it with hard work!

Jiang Naruto pursed his lips, frantically searching his memory for details about the original Douluo story, until...

"Little Ming! Little Ming!"

Someone shook Jiang Naruto's shoulder. He finally snapped back to reality, looking up in a panic. "Oh? What is it? Uncle Village Chief?"

"Are you stunned silly? The master is asking you a question!"

None of them noticed Jiang Naruto's brief anomaly just now. The village chief's wrinkled face was full of smiles as he spoke, gesturing toward the bearded spirit master beside him, who was equally beaming.

"Little one, would you be willing to come to our Spirit Hall? With your talent, getting into Spirit Hall Academy won't be a problem. Do you know about Spirit Hall Academy? It is—"

The bearded spirit master rambled on, singing the praises of Spirit Hall Academy.

His words were half-professional, half-sincere.

Discovering a little genius versus delivering a little genius to Spirit Hall—could the bonuses possibly be the same? Besides, Spirit Hall Academy was the number one academy in the world, and Spirit Hall itself was the holy land for spirit masters on the continent. How could joining Spirit Hall possibly be bad for him?

Facing this fanatical Spirit Hall spirit master, Jiang Naruto patiently waited for him to finish before putting on a hesitant expression befitting a six-year-old child.

"Um... I'm just a rough kid from a small place, I'm afraid I'd get bullied there. I think it's fine to just go to school here in Nuoding City."

The bearded spirit master wanted to persuade him further, but then he thought, what could a six-year-old possibly understand?

Once he reached the right age and saw the students of Spirit Hall Academy with their superior spirit rings, dominating the competitions, he might even beg to join Spirit Hall Academy himself. There was no need to waste his breath now.

"Sigh... fine. You don't understand the greatness of Spirit Hall Academy yet. When you're older and wiser, just come find me."

With that, the bearded spirit master waved his hand dismissively, still looking slightly dissatisfied.

"Thank you, sir."

Ignoring the village chief's puzzled gaze, Jiang Naruto stood obediently among the group of children who had already finished their awakening.

The awakening ceremony continued.

[Ding!]

Just as Jiang Naruto withdrew his gaze, a cold, electronic voice rang out in his mind.

Could it be?

The system!

The system that could punch Asura and stomp on the Sea God?

Before the joy in Jiang Naruto's eyes could fully surface, the cold electronic voice continued, [Naruto: Better Naruto System at your service!]

Eh?

Naruto? Naruto?

Jiang Naruto's head buzzed. He glanced at the spirit awakening ceremony still ongoing not far away, then looked down at the spirit mark on the back of his hand...

Oh no! This system might be an idiot!