Shihōin Naraku hurried home amid the enthusiastic greetings of the many ninja.
His thoughts were now entirely on the system that had suddenly appeared, and he could hardly wait to learn everything about it.
Once home, Naraku entered a quiet room, sat cross-legged, and began asking in a low voice:
"System?"
[Ding! The promotion system is at your service!]
Hearing the system's voice ring out in his mind again, Naraku felt reassured. He really had not been hearing things.
He immediately devoted all his attention to the system, and soon gained an understanding of it.
As its name suggested, the promotion system naturally had to do with promotions.
Whatever position Shihōin Naraku held in Konoha, as long as it changed, he could earn chances to use the Lottery system.
A demotion would grant a fixed one draw, while even a lateral transfer would grant two.
Only a promotion granted the most Draw Chances.
Depending on the rank of the position, he could receive a minimum of three Draw Chances and a maximum of five.
With those Draw Chances, he could randomly obtain all kinds of powerful treasures, abilities, and other things from the myriad worlds through the system.
"Then let me see what good stuff you have first!"
As soon as Shihōin Naraku finished speaking, an enormous Lottery wheel appeared in his mind, bringing a dazzling array of Magical Items into view.
"What is all this...?"
"Ninjutsu, genjutsu, Byakugan, Sharingan..."
"Tailed beast chakra? You even have that? The Ten-Tails?"
"This is ridiculous. If you already have the Ten-Tails, wouldn't it be better to just put Kaguya Ōtsutsuki in here too...?"
Shihōin Naraku's eyes kept sweeping over the vast array of prizes, and eventually he murmured to himself.
"They're not just from Naruto?"
"Devil fruits? Is this... a Zanpakutō?"
"There's dragon slayer magic too... wait, Kaiō-ken?"
"Senzu Beans, the Flying Nimbus..."
Shihōin Naraku's eyes went wide. He could barely take it all in, because there were simply too many good things before him!
"I really want all of them!"
Shihōin Naraku admitted that he had lost his composure. The system's power had truly exceeded his expectations!
As a jonin of Konohagakure, and especially as Tsunade's personal disciple, Shihōin Naraku possessed not only top-tier medical ninjutsu but considerable strength of his own.
But even Naraku himself admitted that, at most, he ranked near the forefront of Konoha's many jonin. There was still a gap between him and the handful of strongest jonin.
The Shihōin clan simply had no powerful kekkei genkai, and Naraku knew that this was his limit.
But things were different now. The system's arrival would help Shihōin Naraku break through his limits and truly gain the strength to contend with the shinobi world's top ninja.
A heartfelt smile appeared on his handsome face. Looking at the various Magical Items on the wheel in his mind, Naraku spoke:
"System, how many Lottery draws do I have now?"
[The host has a total of twelve draws remaining!] [Friendly reminder: a Ten-Pull is more likely to yield Magical Items!] The two positions of deputy director of the Medical Department and deputy commander of the Konoha Anbu had earned Naraku seven Lottery chances. Added to the five from the Newbie Gift Pack the system had given him, he did indeed have twelve Lottery chances now. "Since a Ten-Pull is more likely to give me good stuff, let's begin. A Ten-Pull!"
[Ding! Begin the first Ten-Pull?]
"Begin!" As Shihōin Naraku finished speaking, the enormous wheel before him began spinning. The pointer passed over one prize after another that thrilled Shihōin Naraku. At that moment, he could not bear to blink. The densely packed wondrous treasures nearly made Naraku's eyes swim.
[Ding...]
[Congratulations to the host for obtaining the following rewards...]
[1. Fine Shuriken ×5!]
[2. Tasty Military Rations Pills ×5!]
[3. One thousand ryō (banknotes)!]
[4. Fire Release: Searing Migraine!]
[5. Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame!]
[6. One hundred ryō (coins)!]
[7. Lightning Release: Roaring Thunder!]
[8. Seven chakra natures (fire, water, wind, lightning, earth, yin, yang)!]
[9. Mera Mera no Mi!]
[10. Water Release: Exploding Water Colliding Wave!]
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for mastering four ninjutsu!]
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for completing all seven chakra natures!]
... Shihōin Naraku sat cross-legged in the quiet room as a pile of things suddenly appeared out of thin air on the low table before him. Loose banknotes and coins, clinking Shuriken, wrapped Military Rations Pills, and, most importantly, a strange-looking fruit. "So this is a devil fruit! The Mera Mera no Mi!" Naraku paid no attention to anything else and reached straight for the Mera Mera no Mi, taking it in his hand.
[Mera Mera no Mi: after eating this fruit, you gain the ability to control flames. Any part of your body can turn into fire! (The seawater in the Naruto world contains no special substance, so it will not affect the host.)] ```
"Good!"
The system's notification made Naraku even more satisfied with the Mera Mera no Mi in his hand.
What he valued most, in fact, was the Mera Mera no Mi's ability to turn his body into an element. It was something Naraku needed very much.
Although most ninja in the Naruto world were powerful, their bodies could be considered frail. Sometimes, even a tiny concealed weapon could finish off a powerful ninja.
Having fought in a shinobi world war, Naraku had personally seen powerful ninja die after concealed weapons struck their vital points.
That made the Mera Mera no Mi's elemental transformation extremely important.
"Urgh-"
Shihōin Naraku took a bite of the Mera Mera no Mi, and a strange, indescribable taste immediately filled his mouth, nearly making him vomit.
"This taste... urgh... it's disgusting!"
Even though he had prepared himself, Naraku was still defeated by the devil fruit's horrific taste.
After taking a moment to recover, Naraku opened his palm.
With a soft puff, a flame suddenly sprang to life in Naraku's palm.
Watching the flame dance in his palm, Naraku was very satisfied.
"If I got the Mera Mera no Mi on my first try, then in the future..."
At that moment, Naraku made up his mind.
He wanted a promotion!
He would work hard to get promoted!
From now on, no one could stand in the way of his promotions!
With his strength greatly increased, Naraku immediately began testing the Mera Mera no Mi's abilities. Naturally, he could not conduct those tests inside his room.
Boom!!!
Shattered stones flew as an explosive blaze suddenly spread, unleashing tremendous power.
Scorching heat instantly filled the air!
Only after a long while did the test site deep in the forest settle down.
Shihōin Naraku clenched his fists and looked around the test site, now a complete mess, nodding in satisfaction.
"With this much improvement, even if I haven't reached Kage level, I'm close!"
"The most important thing is the power of my fire release..."
At that moment, Naraku could declare with great pride that no one in the entire shinobi world was better at fire release than he was!
Before obtaining the Mera Mera no Mi, his greatest strengths apart from medical ninjutsu had been fire release and water release.
Fire release in particular was something few people in all of Konoha could claim to be better at than him.
And now, with the Mera Mera no Mi, not only was his fire release more powerful, but most importantly, he no longer needed hand seals to perform any fire release technique!
Just like the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, he could clap his hands together and whatever he called out would appear!
Of course, Hashirama Senju used wood release, while Naraku used fire release!
Naraku spent the next day familiarizing himself with his vastly increased strength.
Strength alone was the foundation of everything.
Before you continue