Card-Drawing System

Three children in the Hidden Leaf Village were bullying a blond kid.

Then the blond kid suddenly froze.

"Boss, did we beat this brat stupid? Why did he suddenly stop fighting back?"

"What are you scared of? Even if we beat this demon fox to death, no one will care."

The lead boy said this with a trembling voice, but his body honestly stopped moving as he slowly backed away.

The two companions exchanged glances and backed away as well.

On the ground, Naruto, who had just regained consciousness, frowned as he processed the memories in his mind.

His name was Naruto Uzumaki.

Did I transmigrate? And I'm Naruto Uzumaki?

Naruto instinctively frowned. Though his previous life had not been particularly fulfilling, at least he had never lacked food or clothing, nor had his life been in danger.

Damn it, why Naruto?

He cursed inwardly.

As everyone knew, Japanese anime could not escape the fate of bloodline theory in its later stages.

Simply put, under that kind of worldview, hard work was useless.

Naruto had been quite interested in Naruto as well.

When he watched the early parts, he found it easy to put himself in the character's shoes: no parents, and a container sealing away a demon.

Hot-blooded and simple-minded, he worked his way up step by step to become Hokage.

Yet later on, there was a sudden turn. The protagonist was the Fourth Hokage's son, and he even had an old godfather, the Sage of Six Paths.

It felt like he had swallowed a fly—more like some young master experiencing poverty for a while.

And in Naruto, bloodline determined a person's upper limit.

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

As for Naruto and the others, their late-stage strength had all been forcibly boosted by the Sage of Six Paths.

Their own efforts felt more like a joke.

Ding!!

Just as a storm began brewing in Naruto's mind—

He heard a voice in his head.

Naruto's eyes lit up. As a transmigrator, he naturally understood what this meant.

"A system?"

A panel suddenly appeared before his eyes.

Myriad Worlds Card-Drawing System!!!

Name: Naruto Uzumaki.

Cultivation Method: None

Draws Remaining: 1

Naruto was dumbfounded after reading it.

This panel was almost absurdly simple.

And what did draws remaining mean?

He tried tapping it with his mind.

An option immediately appeared before him.

Draw a card?

"Draw."

Nine cards suddenly appeared in the void.

Naruto froze, then instantly understood when he saw the scene.

A familiar Penguin-style gimmick.

This sight was far too familiar.

Before his mind could react, his hand had already subconsciously chosen the first card.

A new life, a new beginning.

He would start with the first card.

The card face spun and enlarged.

The other cards vanished in an instant.

Name: Great Surplus Immortal Zuo Ruotong.

Cultivation Method: Threefold Reversal

On the card was a white-haired man. His aura was ethereal, like immortal clouds, and his gaze was as calm as water.

Seeing this man, Naruto recognized him at once.

It's him.

Of course Naruto knew this man. As an old anime fan, he knew he was quite a controversial character.

Naruto recognized him at a glance, especially the cultivation method he practiced.

Reversing the innate state, ascending as an immortal.

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.

Threefold Reversal went against that path, reversing the innate state.

The idea was good, but accomplishing it was unimaginably difficult.

What left people most regretful was that Zuo Ruotong had clearly reached the third realm, yet ultimately chose to end his own life.

In Daoist terms, his Dao heart had shattered.

In the world of superhumans, cultivators pursued ascension into immortality.

And these immortals were not imagined out of thin air. Many people had truly achieved it.

The most recent was Wudang's founding patriarch, Zhang Sanfeng.

The belief of Trinity Gate was the same.

Since Trinity Gate's founding, nearly everyone had firmly believed in the sect's doctrine.

That was, upon reaching the third realm of Threefold Reversal, one could ascend and become an immortal.

So when Zuo Ruotong reached the third realm, he had not been happy. Instead, his Dao heart had shattered.

Because he had not ascended.

When Naruto saw this man, his expression froze for a moment.

As an ordinary person, it was difficult for him to empathize with the other man.

But in Naruto's view, Threefold Reversal was far more badass than the old Celestial Master's Golden Light Mantra.

Turning one's entire body into qi and slowing aging.

Ordinary attacks were already ineffective against it.

Calling him an earthly immortal would not be an exaggeration at all.

Even the old Celestial Master was still flesh and blood, while this man could already be considered an energy body.

With such an amazing ability, it was true that Zuo Ruotong did not think much of it.

While Naruto was lost in thought—

The card had already turned into a beam of light and entered Naruto's body.

Meanwhile, outside—

The three children had already run away in fear.

Behind Naruto, a black-haired little girl was nervously looking at Naruto, who was lying on the ground.

After hesitating for a long time, she finally spoke in a soft, sweet voice.

"Are you okay?"

Only then did Naruto come back to his senses.

He instinctively stood up and dusted himself off.

He looked around, but at first glance, he was drawn to the little girl behind him.

Black hair, pure white eyes, ear-length hair, and a chubby baby face.

Hinata Hyuga.

Naruto recognized her almost instantly.

At the same time, he understood what point in time this was.

This should have been Naruto and Hinata's first meeting. Though the hero saving the beauty routine was cliché, it had to be said that it worked very well.

"Thank you for saving me, big brother."

That soft, sweet voice rang out.

Naruto shuddered all over.

Her soft voice, weak and delicate temperament, rich little heiress status—

And that one word: brother.

Even Naruto, as he was now, felt completely wrapped around her finger.

I'm definitely claiming this child bride.

It was not that he lacked self-control. That "big brother" was simply too sweet.

"Cough, cough. It's fine as long as you're okay. What's your name?"

Naruto hurriedly coughed dryly.

"My name is Hinata Hyuga."

Her voice was soft and sweet, her eyes timid.

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

Naruto quickly introduced himself.

He also adapted to the role quickly.

After chatting for a while, the two children quickly became familiar with each other.

Naruto also learned about Hinata's current situation.

Because of what had happened with Neji's father, Hinata had run out and then been bullied by those three children.

Naruto had stepped forward to help her.

And so, that iconic scene of a hero saving the beauty had happened.

It just so happened that he had transmigrated over at that moment.

Just as Naruto was about to send her home—

A Byakugan maid came running over.

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

The maid looked at Naruto with a wary expression.

Naruto froze, while also noticing the look in her eyes.

Disgust and contempt.

Naruto immediately realized that she had recognized him.

He also thought of his current circumstances.

Danzo wanted to control the Nine-Tails' power, so he had spread rumors throughout the village that Naruto was the Nine-Tails Demon Fox.

And because the Third Hokage wanted Naruto to form bonds with others, he had not stopped it.

That was what had led to Naruto's current awkward situation.

Naruto instantly felt like he had swallowed a fly.

Damn it. I knew protagonists all had miserable lives, but there really weren't many as bad as Naruto's.

"Young Lady, that child is unlucky. Stay away from him if you see him again."

"But..." Hinata looked conflicted, wanting to say something...

But she had already been pulled away.

"Young Lady, hurry back. The clan head is getting worried."

With that, she pulled Hinata away.

Naruto frowned but said nothing.

He opened his panel.

Name: Naruto Uzumaki.

Bloodline: Uzumaki Bloodline

Cultivation Method: Threefold Reversal.

Draws Remaining: 0

Naruto froze. When he saw the cultivation method, he paused and carefully sensed it.

There was a current of qi within his body, circulating through fixed meridians.

What truly shocked Naruto was that he had a feeling he could now exist in gaseous form.

This was amazing. Naruto's eyes immediately lit up.

He had a way to save his life now.

But his expression darkened when he saw the draws remaining.

As his thoughts moved, a countdown appeared above it.

Three hundred and sixty-five.

Naruto instantly understood what that meant.

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

Naruto was speechless.

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

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

He could finally breathe a little easier.

As an ambitious young man, Naruto knew full well that without outside interference, it was difficult for humans to break out of their own circles.

Even as a transmigrator, it was the same.

In essence, he had merely entered a different circle.

He could not possibly change locations and suddenly conquer the heavens, earth, and air.

It was like a fish in water. It could not leave the water.

The strong within a world could not transcend it either.

As a transmigrator, Naruto did not want to remain in such a small world for the rest of his life.

Everyone had ambitions. The only question was whether they had the ability to fulfill them.

He lowered his head and went home.

Having inherited Naruto's memories, he did not reveal the slightest flaw.

He slowly made his way home.

All along the way, people avoided him as if he were a plague, whispering behind his back.

Even Naruto's composure could not stop him from frowning.

This felt even more blatant than the human flesh searches of his past life.

Naruto had no particular thoughts toward these ordinary people.

He cast them a cold glance.

He ignored them. The legends of cultivating immortality had long been carved into the bones of the Chinese people.

It would have been one thing if there were no opportunity, but now that he had one, Naruto naturally sought immortal cultivation and eternal life.

The Hokage's office.

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, sat there as smoke filled the room, obscuring his expression.

An ANBU below was reporting Naruto's experiences that day.

"All right, you may leave."

The Third Hokage fell into thought.

He paid no attention at all to Hinata's encounter with Naruto.

Of course, it was not something the Third Hokage could arrange either.

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

His bond alone could not possibly restrain Naruto. Friends would be different.

Naruto did not yet know what the Third Hokage was thinking.

But he was already considering how he should train.

Naruto's growth path was simple. In the early stages, the Nine-Tails gave him cheats; later, his Six Paths godfather gave him cheats.

The only thing Naruto had truly trained himself seemed to be Sage Mode.

And even that was not perfect, since it had a time limit.

Only after he and the Nine-Tails became partners, with the Nine-Tails cheating by absorbing natural energy, did he attain a perfect form.

At that thought, Naruto immediately sat cross-legged.

He began to sense the natural energy in the air.

With the aid of Threefold Reversal, Naruto could easily sense the natural energy in the air.

But he knew deeply just how dangerous this world's natural energy was.

"Forget it."

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

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

Without the corresponding realm and strength, rashly absorbing the energy between heaven and earth would result in being assimilated by heaven and earth.

Naruto naturally understood this.

The earlier one began training, the better it was not necessarily.

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

What he could do now was develop Threefold Reversal.

Threefold Reversal had an extremely high ceiling, and what Naruto had obtained was the cultivation method and its realm.

As for how to use it, he did not know. This also fit his understanding: each of the Three Thousand Great Paths had its own insights.

Even with the same Golden Light Mantra, every person used it differently.

Some who reached the third realm of Threefold Reversal could be said to have achieved immortality.

In the current ninja world, no one could kill them anymore.

What he needed to do now was become proficient in using it.

Time flowed like water and vanished in an instant. Over the following days, Naruto became a shut-in and barely left the house.

The reason he barely left rather than never left was that he still needed food.

Naruto's food used to consist of expired products, but now that he had strength, there was naturally no need for him to eat such things.

That afternoon, Naruto left his home and headed toward the Konoha riverbank.

The moment he stepped onto the street, everyone once again looked at Naruto with hatred in their eyes.

Naruto instinctively frowned. He did not care about such looks, but who would like them? Unfortunately, his home was in the center of Konoha, so he encountered many people nearly every time he went out.

"Is that the demon fox?"

"Stay away from him."

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

Listening to their murmurs, a trace of killing intent flashed deep in Naruto's eyes.

But it was quickly concealed as he left the area at a brisk pace.

Even after Naruto had gone far away, many people behind him were still talking.

He arrived at the edge of Konoha Forest, a place where ninjas usually trained.

Naruto found a river and picked up a wooden stick.

He came here to catch fish.

Konoha's rivers connected to those outside the village, and the wild resources within them were abundant.

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

Naruto's strength was fairly decent now, even though he was only three years old.

But in order to conceal his strength better, he did not dare reveal too much.

A ninja's chakra flowed through the meridians of the physical body, so it was generally difficult for them to hide their strength.

But Naruto was different.

After obtaining Threefold Reversal, he had naturally opened up a dantian.

Under normal circumstances, the qi within his body was sealed in his dantian.

This made it nearly impossible for ordinary ninjas to notice.

He just did not know whether eyes like the Byakugan and Sharingan could see through it.

Although Naruto had never refined chakra, he already had chakra within his body. What he lacked was merely the method to refine it.

Moreover, the Nine-Tails was slowly eroding the seal. The chakra leaking from the Nine-Tails would unconsciously be converted by the seal into Naruto's chakra.

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

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

It was stored in his dantian.

Two ANBU were secretly monitoring Naruto.

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

This person was Kakashi. He had now joined the ANBU, and every ANBU member had carried out missions to monitor Naruto.

It was quite an easy assignment.

Therefore, these ANBU did not pay it much attention.

As the Hokage's direct ANBU, they understood the Third Hokage's intentions very clearly. So long as the jinchuriki did not face mortal danger, they would not intervene.

As for Naruto's daily life, that was even less something they could involve themselves in.

In their eyes, Naruto's current behavior was merely a child playing house.

Even Kakashi only frowned slightly.

To avoid exposing his strength, Naruto did nothing shocking. He first tried using the wooden stick to see whether he could catch fish.

The result disappointed Naruto. After several attempts, even with his skills, it was difficult to catch any fish.

Furthermore, resources here were abundant, and the large fish inside were around a meter long.

The smaller fish were even harder to catch.

Left with no choice, Naruto went ashore.