"Whoosh!"
A beam of light flashed before his eyes, and Yueshu opened them.
The sky was pitch-black, and even the clouds had turned red. This place was unfamiliar, nothing like the azure skies in Yueshu's memories. It felt as though the entire sky were pressing down on him.
The sound of fire crackling filled his ears, accompanied by a strange smell.
"Where is this?"
Yueshu gritted his teeth. His head felt as heavy as if it were filled with lead, and he couldn't get up.
He strained with all his might, but still couldn't rise. All he managed was to roll over and struggle to prop himself up.
He swept his gaze around. The ground was scorched.
Small flames burned quietly here and there. The surrounding trees had been reduced to ash, and people lay scattered across the ground, one here, another there.
Most alarming of all, every one of them was drenched in blood, with half their bodies covered in black ash.
As far as he remembered, not long ago he'd been gaming at home all night. He'd only gone to catch up on a little sleep because he couldn't stay awake any longer. How had taking a nap landed him in a place like this?
"System binding in progress: 10%... 30%... 100%."
"System binding successful."
"Myriad Worlds Lottery System has successfully bound to the host's soul."
Myriad Worlds Lottery System?
One electronic voice after another suddenly rang out in his mind, making Yueshu shudder.
After spending more than twenty years as a shut-in, Yueshu knew exactly what a system meant.
It was an essential cheat for transmigrators. Almost all of them rose to the peak of life with a system's help after transmigrating.
The more he thought about it, the more excited he became.
So he'd caught the transmigration wave, too?
And he'd even gotten a system cheat. From now on, he'd rise to the peak of life. Just thinking about it was enough to make him grin in his sleep.
"System, tell me what you can do."
Like in the novels, Yueshu called out to the system in his mind.
"Replying to the host: the Myriad Worlds Lottery System can provide the host with items and abilities from countless worlds."
"So I can get abilities from other worlds, too?"
"That is correct. The Myriad Worlds Lottery System will help the host become the Lord of Dimensions."
"How do I get those abilities?"
"Complete missions. Depending on their difficulty, you will receive a certain number of lottery draws. Please explore on your own... As this is the system's first successful binding, the host will receive one free Myriad Worlds lottery draw."
"One free draw?"
"The Myriad Worlds lottery is the host's only way to obtain abilities from other worlds. Rewards are entirely random. SSS-rank rewards are the best, while E-rank rewards are the worst."
"Then draw."
"Certainly."
Yueshu conversed with the system in his mind. It hadn't given him much information, but at least he'd gotten a beginner's gift.
"Congratulations, host. You have obtained the ability: Rasengan (Rank A)."
"Lottery draw complete. At this stage, the host must explore this dimensional world on his own. The system will enter dormancy between lottery draws. Apart from that, it will only provide a status panel and a mission panel."
"—"
Yueshu had only just started to feel happy about drawing the Rasengan when the system announced it was going dormant?
"Hey, system, you're pretty useless."
"Wait."
Yueshu had barely called out before the cold electronic voice vanished from his mind.
Honestly, Yueshu hadn't expected things to turn out this way. The so-called system cheat had gone dormant barely a minute after appearing.
He sighed helplessly.
"Status."
Yueshu murmured the word, intending to check his current situation.
Name: Himeshima Tsuki Condition: Normal (The system restored all negative conditions upon successful binding.) Ability: Rasengan (Rank A) Combat Strength: Below Genin (??) Tip: Combat strength refers to the level of power one can bring to bear. The levels are, in ascending order: below Genin, Genin, Chunin, Jonin, Kage, Super Kage, Sage of Six Paths, and God. Each level has a range; not everyone within a given level is equally strong.
"—"
Yueshu was stunned. He hadn't expected the status panel to be so simple. Other people's systems listed all their physical attributes, but this panel seemed to say almost nothing. It even had a little tip.
"Just my luck. This thing's completely unreliable. My combat strength is only below Genin?" Yueshu complained, then stood up. The heavy feeling was gone.
The level descriptions had already given him some idea of what world he was in.
The gloomy surroundings made the place feel oppressive, and Yueshu felt a chill creep through him.
Just then, a gust of wind swept past.
A dark shape flew by, and Yueshu leaned slightly to dodge it.
"What the—"
Yueshu cursed.
"Mission triggered: Kill the Amegakure Genin in front of you. Reward: one lottery draw."
The emotionless electronic voice rang out in his mind, and Yueshu froze for a moment.
"I didn't expect one little brat to slip through the net."
A voice came from ahead. Yueshu turned his gaze toward it.
A grown man in a cloth vest stood there, a Forehead Protector engraved with four vertical lines tied across his forehead.
"You waged war on our land just because we're weak? What great shinobi villages? You're nothing but a bunch of scoundrels!"
The man gritted his teeth. He looked utterly battered, covered in wounds, with blood staining half his body.
Clutching a Kunai, the man slowly walked toward him, step by step.
Yueshu's breathing quickened. He was just a shut-in; he'd never faced anything like this before.
"Damn it!"
Yueshu cursed. Other transmigrators got to show off all the way to the peak of life. Why had his transmigration gone so wrong? He'd run into an Amegakure shinobi right at the start, and from what the man had said, he seemed to have landed in a particularly bad time period.
"Not bad for a little brat. You really are from Konoha, aren't you?"
The man wore a sinister grin and charged at him, Kunai in hand.
"Konoha?"
Yueshu was dumbfounded, but he had no time to stand there gawking.
The Amegakure shinobi darted toward him again and again. Yueshu's hands trembled.
He took a deep breath and drew out the chakra within him. The Rasengan he'd just received was the only thing he had.
"Die!"
The Amegakure shinobi shouted, closing in on him.
Yueshu kept his eyes open. At just the right moment, he dodged the Kunai slashing toward him.
"That was close."
Yueshu panted heavily. He could hardly believe it. He was just a shut-in. Even though he used to be an athletic kid, could he really have pulled off that move?
He didn't dwell on it. Chakra surged out from within him and gathered in his hand.
The Amegakure shinobi seemed to sense the danger. Having lived through war, he wasn't about to wait for Yueshu to unleash a big move.
"Die!"
The Amegakure shinobi shouted and thrust the Kunai at Yueshu with his bloodstained arm.
His breathing slowed, and the man's movements seemed to slow before his eyes. Yueshu's gaze sharpened. He leaned aside and slipped past the edge of the Kunai.
The Amegakure shinobi's pupils contracted. In his eyes, a small figure was rushing toward him.
"Rasengan!"
With a shout, wind whipped around them. Yueshu drove the blue-white spinning sphere in his hand into the Amegakure shinobi's body.
The next second, the man went flying as if he were a sheet of thin paper.
With a crash, the Amegakure shinobi slammed into a tree, his body embedded in it.
Yueshu panted heavily. He hadn't expected to actually pull it off. It had felt instinctive, as if he'd been born knowing how. He'd really used Naruto's signature ninjutsu—the Rasengan.
The man in front of him collapsed with a thud. His gaze had already begun to dim. A spiral-shaped wound marked his body. There was no blood, but the sight was heartbreaking.
"Hahaha."
The man laughed weakly.
"What did we do wrong? Being weak? Was it because we're weak? Don't drag us into your affairs!"
Yueshu watched him from beside him. The man clenched his fists, tears of pure grief slipping from his dim eyes.
"Rest in peace."
Yueshu fell silent for a moment, then passed a hand over the man's face. The man's eyes closed, but a single glistening tear remained.
"Kill confirmed: Amegakure shinobi. Mission complete. Reward: one lottery draw."
The electronic voice rang out in his mind, but Yueshu felt little joy.
Smoke billowed all around, and mutilated bodies lay scattered everywhere. Their dim eyes were still open. The Forehead Protectors, half-covered in black ash, all bore four vertical lines, with only a few displaying other markings.
These were Amegakure Forehead Protectors, and the scorched earth beneath his feet was undoubtedly the land of Amegakure.
Yueshu gritted his teeth. As a seasoned shut-in, he knew what world and what era he'd found himself in.
There was no doubt about it: he was caught up in the Second Shinobi World War from Naruto. The conflict between the great shinobi villages had erupted in Amegakure, plunging its people into the depths of war through no fault of their own.
"War, huh?"
Yueshu murmured to himself. At that moment, he was the only living person in the area beneath his feet—
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