Kiyoshi tilted his head to look out the window, his heart freezing through.
He had transmigrated to the Hokage's world, becoming an Uchiha, with less than two years left until the clan annihilation countdown.
Golden Finger? Not a single fart.
He pulled back his gaze and swept it over the front row.
Black hair, Uchiha clan attire, stinking face, arms crossed, ignoring everyone.
Sasuke Uchiha, the second pillar, the sole survivor after the clan annihilation.
The only one...
Kiyoshi bit down on his back teeth.
That meant on the night of the clan annihilation, everyone in the Uchiha clan besides Sasuke was going to die.
Including himself.
The moment he closed his eyes, images popped up: thirteen-year-old Itachi under the moonlight, his Sharingan as cold as ice, Anbu roots crawling in the darkness, and anyone who slipped through the net getting a finishing blow.
A weakling punk like him would most likely be disposed of like a stray dog-a single slash, not even getting a flashback sequence.
Fuck.
In his past life, he was just an ordinary sales rep who could only talk big. He couldn't do the Kamehameha, he didn't know Bankai, and Susanoo was completely out of the question.
What good was knowing the plot? Without strength, everything was useless.
He had transmigrated for six years, waiting every day, waiting for a system, waiting for an old master, waiting for a white-bearded man to jump out of a ring.
Not a single fart.
He obediently acted like an Uchiha child, eating, sleeping, pretending to be well-behaved, and walking a wide circle around Itachi whenever he ran into him in the clan.
In the six years since he transmigrated, he had long figured out what this place taught.
Ninjutsu basics, taijutsu training, chakra control-all combat classes.
There was no history, no mathematics, no language, and they didn't even teach "why," only teaching "how to fight." This place didn't look like a school; it looked more like a munitions factory.
Munitions factories don't teach cost. The Daimyo spent money and bought the lives of ninjas, but nobody taught those things-they only needed to know how to win.
There was a year and a half left until the clan annihilation.
"A year and a half... I need to get some power, anything will do."
He reached his hand out the window, and the sunlight fell across his palm.
"Gods, Buddhas, Jade Emperor, Three Pure Ones, Otsutsuki Kaguya, Sage of Six Paths... whoever gives me a Golden Finger so I can survive the clan annihilation, I'll do whatever..."
His voice was pressed very low, like a muttered grumble; no one heard it clearly.
"Next, Uchiha... Kiyoshi?"
Coming back to his senses, the whole class was looking at him. Up on the podium, Umino Iruka's gaze also landed on the back row.
He hadn't stood up yet.
[Ding-]
A sound exploded in his head.
It had nothing to do with Iruka, nothing to do with anyone present. It rang directly in his consciousness, crisp and clear-the exact sound he had simulated in his dreams countless times.
He froze instantly.
[Host detected.]
[Showing Divinity in Public System... binding in progress.]
Kiyoshi's eyes widened.
It was here; it really was here. After six years, he just knew a transmigrator couldn't possibly be without a system.
[Binding complete. Welcome, host: Li Jiahao.]
His brain lagged for a second.
The corner of his mouth twitched, then twitched again.
He tried to suppress it, failed, and let out an inexplicable laugh.
It was very short, just a puff of air. His seatmate glanced back at him.
He hurriedly tightened his face.
Li what?
Trembling, he used his mind to open the panel. In his consciousness, a translucent board floated up, with four large characters at the top:
Showing "Divinity" in Public System
Followed by a set of parentheses, looking closely:
(Divine Title: God of Jiahao)
His pupils exploded.
...What god?
The panel continued to jump with text:
[This system is exclusively titled by the "God of Jiahao". The "God of Jiahao" is the collective entity of thousands of Jiahao's beliefs, the conceptual incarnation of Jiahao culture in the multiverse. This system is dedicated to helping the host show off in front of people, stand out, accumulate face value, and walk towards the peak.]
A long string of text-what collective belief, what conceptual incarnation-did not sink a single word into Kiyoshi's brain.
He only remembered two words: Jiahao.
[Core functions: Face Value (positive feedback) and Awkwardness Value (negative feedback), both of which can be used to draw prizes in the prize pool.]
Staring at that name, his soul trembled.
God of Jiahao.
In his past life, his name was Li Jiahao. He ran sales for five years and people called him Jiahao for twenty-seven years. When he went home for the Chinese New Year, his relatives opened their mouths: "Jiahao, are you seeing anyone yet?"
Seeing a ghost, the girls around him all walked around him...
Now it was even better. He died once, time-traveled, changed worlds and names, and became the aloof Uchiha Kiyoshi. As a result, his golden finger was given by the God of Jiahao?
His biggest hurdle in his past life was this rustic name, and it was even used as a running joke online. In this life, his mother almost named him Jiahao, and he cried to death and made a fuss to death before grabbing the two words "Kiyoshi".-According to his mother's statement, a deity reported the name to her in a dream.
And the result.
The sugar daddy.
Was called... the God of Jiahao.
[Detected violent fluctuations in the prospective host's emotions.]
[Warm reminder from the God of Jiahao: A name is just a code name. A true powerhouse is himself in any BGM.]
Be your sister, Kiyoshi cursed in his heart. But his shoulders still shook, and he quickly bit his lip.
Wait.
What the "God of Jiahao" meant... using this system... wouldn't it be...
The panel jumped on its own.
[System prompt: The host's behavior in front of outsiders needs to fit the "Jiahao" persona to maximize currency earnings.]
[When it is time to play "Jiahao", you must go for it.]
His vision went dark.
He just wanted to curse the damn system into a crash.
The panel jumped again.
[System prompt: Doubt detected. Simulation calculation: Without system intervention, host survival rate.]
The panel brought up an image.
A moonlit night, the Uchiha Clan Compound. A seven-year-old boy cowered in the wardrobe, shaking like a sieve. The door opened, a Root mask squeezed in, and sword light flashed.
[Simulation result: Survival rate of the Uchiha Clan Massacre: 0.0003%.]
[Note: This 0.0003% is the probability of a missed slash when finishing off the corpse.]
Silence.
He closed his eyes.
In his past life, he ran sales and drank with clients until his stomach bled. In this life, he was a good child, praised by adults for being sensible, while calculating in his heart how to survive the Uchiha Clan Massacre.
He had been acting in both lives.
Now this damn system said: Keep acting, play "Jiahao".
Embarrassing? Embarrassing.
But alive.
Being alive was more important than anything else.
He opened his eyes.
He stared at the ceiling for a while.
His lips moved without making a sound.
...Fine, Jiahao, I accept.
[System prompt: The host's mindset is in place, binding is completely finished.]
[God of Jiahao: Congratulations to Li Jiahao (current name: Uchiha Kiyoshi) on taking office as host. The first lesson is coming right up. Are you ready?]
He cursed blooming flowers in his heart.
The panel flashed.
[God of Jiahao: Go ahead and curse. The uglier you curse, the faster you will adapt.]
Kiyoshi lowered his head and coughed to suppress a smile.
His fingers tapped twice on the edge of the table, then tapped twice more.
He stood up with eighteen pairs of curious eyes prodding him, and walked toward the podium, every step feeling like he was heading to the execution ground. His knees were a bit soft.
It was nothing-just grow stronger and survive.
He stood on the podium, facing the whole class.
Iruka retreated to the side, ceding the podium to him with an encouraging smile on his face.
Eighteen pairs of eyes stared straight at him in unison.
Kiyoshi took a deep breath.
Just act.
He spoke up, his tone low, word by word.
"My name is Uchiha Kiyoshi, and I was born to stand at the peak."
After saying it, he froze first.
The peak?
An unlucky bastard who had transmigrated over and waited six years even for a Golden Finger, standing at the peak?
Some cheesy quote he had scrolled past eight hundred times in his past life had actually popped out from between his own teeth.
It was too pretentious, fucking way too pretentious, pure Jiahao!
He opened his mouth, wanting to salvage it, but not half a word popped out, and then...
"To save face for you guys, just call me Bro Hao."
No one answered. A pen in the front row rolled clattering to the floor, and nobody picked it up either.
Three seconds later, Naruto was the first one who couldn't hold it in, slapping the desk and laughing so hard he rocked back and forth. "Hahaha, Bro Hao! Uchiha Bro Hao!"
The potato chips in Choji's mouth dropped onto the desk, and he stared at Kiyoshi with wide eyes, crumbs still hanging from the corner of his mouth.
Sakura Haruno covered her mouth, her shoulders shaking.
Sasuke's face was dark, his brows knitted tightly together, his lips moving as he silently said something-judging by the lip shape, it was probably "psycho".
Shikamaru scratched his head and sighed. "Ah... another troublesome guy..."
Hinata Hyuga lowered her head, her shoulders shrinking, her face turning so red it was practically smoking.
Iruka coughed twice to maintain order. "Quiet, quiet!"
Yet the corners of his very own mouth couldn't stop twitching either. It was truly unwatchable that someone from the honorable Uchiha Clan could pull off such an awkward stunt.
Kiyoshi stood on the podium with a deadpan face. His throat tightened, and his palms were covered in sweat.
His toes clawed desperately inside his shoes, probably building a three-room apartment by now.
On the way back to his seat, the whole class's gazes were nailed to his back.
He sat down, the legs of the stool scraping against the floor with a screech, but he didn't care.
He hadn't been this embarrassed in both lifetimes combined.
If you aren't going to give me good stuff, System, you... you-
Even as a ghost, I won't let you off!
[System Prompt: Beginner quest completed. Settlement and a ten-pull will take place in the next round.]
Before you continue