A proud villager

The world of Naruto, Konoha, the Ninja Academy.

"Yang Cheng, tell us what lesson the story I just told taught you."

The Ninja Academy's model teacher, Umino Iruka, had called on him.

A boy in the back row who had been yawning nonstop reluctantly stood up.

Choji still wasn't plump enough...

He had done his best to hide behind Choji's rounded back, but Iruka-sensei had called on him anyway.

Since he had been dozing off the whole time, Yang Cheng hadn't heard a word of the story Iruka-sensei had just told.

As he watched Iruka-sensei's expression grow increasingly grim and wondered whether he would be made to stay behind and clean the classroom again today, something happened.

A girl beside him with her blond hair tied in a ponytail secretly slid a little note toward his seat.

After quickly skimming its contents, Yang Cheng answered just before Iruka-sensei could deliver his ultimatum.

"The Third Hokage's story teaches us to fight instead of running our mouths whenever possible. After all, villains die because they talk too much?"

Seeing Iruka-sensei's expression visibly sour at his answer, Yang Cheng hurried to salvage the situation.

"Then it's that if you can gang up on someone, you should never bother with a fair duel.

"After all, getting anywhere these days depends on your connections and who's backing you.

"Of course, I'm not saying the Third Hokage is some punk with no ninja ethics. I mean the other guy..."

At Yang Cheng's answer, quite a few students in the classroom couldn't hold back their laughter.

Their teacher, Umino Iruka, spoke with a livid expression. "What is all this nonsense?

"The Third Hokage's story teaches us that as long as we don't give up, miracles can happen!

"And what ultimately allowed the Third Hokage to defeat his enemy wasn't superior numbers, but the bonds we share in Konoha-the 'Will of Fire'!"

"What bonds? Didn't Konoha just have more people...?"

Hearing Yang Cheng's muttering, Iruka finally lost his composure.

He walked straight up to Yang Cheng and rapped him on the head with the thick textbook in his hand.

"Honestly, your grades are usually quite good. Why is your head always full of this nonsense?

"For sleeping in class and giving ridiculous answers, you'll stay behind to clean the classroom today. You'll also copy out the 'Will of Fire' twice when you get home and hand it in tomorrow."

Staying behind to clean was a punishment he had expected, but what the hell was the "Will of Fire"? Was that even one of their textbooks?

"Um... Iruka-sensei, do we have a book called the 'Will of Fire'?"

"It's what the Third Hokage said during the opening ceremony before your classes began."

When he learned that the so-called "Will of Fire" meant the long-winded brainwashing sermon the Third Hokage had delivered at the start of the school year, Yang Cheng's face fell.

If he remembered correctly, the Third Hokage had talked for well over half an hour...

"And don't expect your classmates to help you. As your teacher, I'm quite familiar with all your handwriting."

As Iruka spoke, he gave Ino, who sat beside Yang Cheng, a pointed look.

"Yang Cheng, what's wrong? I hardly ever see you dozing off. Did you not sleep well last night, or did you catch it from Shikamaru?"

After Iruka left, Ino quickly leaned over and asked in a low voice.

"It's nothing. I just went to bed a little late last night."

Faced with his childhood friend Ino's concern, Yang Cheng forced a smile as he answered.

In truth, however, it wasn't that he had slept badly. He had entered a mysterious space last night.

There, he had met two other versions of himself and learned from them about the cheat he possessed as a transmigrator.

That was right. Yang Cheng wasn't a native of the village... he was a transmigrator.

By the time he transmigrated into this world, both his parents were dead, perfectly fitting the background template of a chosen one.

Unfortunately, while he had a chosen one's circumstances, he lacked a chosen one's absurd abilities and potential.

Simply put, apart from being rather handsome, which helped him identify with this body a little, he was nothing more than an utterly ordinary orphan in the world of Naruto.

Eleven years earlier, the Nine-Tails' Rampage in Konoha had made his parents two of the ninjas killed in that disaster.

Only the village's survivor benefits and the Yamanaka Clan's care had allowed Yang Cheng to grow up and even enter Konoha's current "honors class."

The Second Hokage had founded the Konoha Academy, but that didn't mean every child in Konoha qualified to become a ninja.

That was especially true of his class. Its students came either from Konoha's elite Uchiha Clan and Hyuga Clan, or from other renowned ninja clans such as the Ino-Shika-Cho Clans, the Inuzuka Clan, and the Aburame Clan.

In the entire class, the only students with relatively ordinary backgrounds were probably him and Sakura.

Sakura, however, was a top student, while Yang Cheng had more or less gotten in through connections.

The main reason Yang Cheng's father had died during the Nine-Tails' Rampage was that he had saved Ino's father, Inoichi Yamanaka.

The two had already been good friends, and Yang Cheng's father had died saving him. As a result, Inoichi Yamanaka and his wife treated Yang Cheng like their own son.

Thanks to that connection between their elders, Yang Cheng had become Ino's childhood friend, growing up alongside her.

Of course, Yang Cheng thought the main reason Ino liked following him around might simply be that she was a sucker for a handsome face.

After all, the Ino-Shika-Cho Clans had been close for generations, and Shikamaru and Choji had also been Ino's playmates since childhood. Yet her attitude toward them and her attitude toward Yang Cheng were worlds apart.

As a transmigrator, Yang Cheng knew just how dangerous the world of Naruto was.

Living as an ordinary villager was fine, but who knew whether some guy who liked "carrying rice" might suddenly float overhead one day and make him feel pain too?

Or perhaps one day, even as an ordinary NPC, he would be strung up in a tree by some delusional lunatic and turned into nourishment for the Divine Tree.

Nourishment.

Yang Cheng didn't want others controlling his fate. Even an ant struggled to survive. Having finally gotten the chance to transmigrate, he would disgrace the whole transmigrator community if he didn't at least put up a fight.

Having perseverance and determination was good, but reality was often cruel.

As the saying went, the finish line you fought so hard to reach was often merely someone else's starting line.

In the world of Naruto, talent really fucking mattered!

Without red eyes or cataracts, without being a plant person or growing extra bones, without even an ordinary bloodline limit or a family legacy, a civilian ninja really struggled to get anywhere in this world.

Because of his mature mind, Yang Cheng had started training hard earlier than most people.

At first, he had indeed been hailed as a "genius." But once those "second-generation ninjas" really got going, they began catching up with him and overtaking him at a terrifying pace.