〖Ding! If I said... this is my first mission... and it seems I got sent to the wrong place... this might not actually be the real Naruto world... would you blame me?〗
"Why the hell are you only telling me this now?"
Uchiha Kirin's face turned ashen. He felt like a ball of rage was trapped in his chest—he wanted to explode, but couldn't even muster the strength to shout.
〖The reason I kept it secret was because I was afraid that if you knew the truth while you were still weak, you'd lose the will to move forward. If that happened, we'd never be able to escape this world...〗
Kirin's eyes turned blood-red. In the end, he just let out a heavy sigh. He opened his mouth to speak but didn't know where to begin.
All he could do was ask the system if it could teleport him away from this world.
Unfortunately, the answer was no.
Not until it cultivated him into the strongest being in this world. Until then, neither the system—nor the so-called assistant—could leave.
That was the real reason it had kept everything from him from the start.
"I...!"
Even with the calm and collected mindset he'd just synchronized from his last simulation, Uchiha Kirin nearly lost it and cursed out loud.
But what's done is done. What could he do except keep walking the path toward ultimate strength, just as he'd planned from the beginning?
As for blaming the system... he didn't even know where to start.
On one hand, the system had pulled him out of a life that, while repressive, at least gave him food, clothing, and a semblance of peace.
And then it just dumped him into a world of war, killing, danger, and the constant looming threat of death—the Shinobi World.
Worse yet, it had even come to the wrong version of the Naruto world.
From the beginning, he'd suspected something was off. This world didn't feel like the real ninja world.
Now the system had finally admitted it.
But on the other hand... the strength he now possessed was all thanks to the system.
If it weren't for the system, he would've died during the Uchiha Massacre, just another forgotten corpse.
The more Kirin thought about it, the angrier he became.
"Do you even have a sense of responsibility? You didn't double-check the coordinates before isekai-ing me? You tossed me here without a word for three damn years! And when you finally show up—it's the wrong damn world!"
"Who's your superior? What department do you work under? Who issued your ID number?"
"I'm filing a complaint! A system like this must be reported!"
〖Ding! The assistant agrees to your complaint request—as long as we make it back to the System Management Bureau.〗
"How do I get there?"
〖Ding~ You may return either by surpassing this universe or by completing the system's cultivation mission.〗
Kirin didn't want to speak anymore.
He was silent for a long while, then finally asked, "Can you at least tell me… what kind of world this really is?"
〖Ding! In this world, the Ōtsutsuki God long ago transcended dimensions. The so-called Shinobi World is merely a specimen left behind after he remade this reality.〗
"A specimen, huh?
Then what about outside the Shinobi World?"
〖Beyond the ninja world lies the cosmic realm—but even that is just a showroom of planets, pieced together from various artifacts the Ōtsutsuki God collected across the multiverse.〗
"A showroom? Then tell me the truth.
In the previous simulation, the Shinigami said the Ōtsutsuki God had been slain by the combined might of the gods of the Shinobi World during the Primordial Divine War. Who was that Ōtsutsuki God?"
〖That was merely a decoy—intentionally left behind by the real Ōtsutsuki God to serve as an anchor for monitoring this world.〗
"Then tell me—how the hell am I supposed to surpass the creator of this specimen world, the true Ōtsutsuki God, while being constantly monitored? Answer me!"
Staring at the system's terrifying response, Uchiha Kirin felt completely hopeless.
His motivation collapsed, and he allowed himself to sink into the Thunder Abyss of the Eel Sage's sanctuary.
...
〖Ding! Please don't give up. There is still a sliver of hope...〗
Then, the system quickly listed a series of facts it had gathered about this world:
First, this universe was once home to the Ōtsutsuki God, the Naruto world, and the planet known as the Shinobi World.
However, after the Ōtsutsuki God transcended it, he rewrote reality and merged in numerous things from other worlds.
Even so, this universe still retained abundant resources. Given enough time, it was possible to cultivate another being who could surpass the world.
However, as of now, there were already several contenders for that opportunity within this universe.
Even among the Ōtsutsuki clan, there were multiple such individuals.
Fortunately, Kirin wasn't without his own advantages.
For instance, the real Ōtsutsuki God had long since disappeared—completely missing and disconnected from the clan.
And within this world, many treasures and cultivation legacies had been left behind—collected from countless worlds and scattered across stars and galaxies.
They were a legacy meant for the descendants of the Ōtsutsuki clan.
From the quality of these inheritances, it was evident that although the Ōtsutsuki God had transcended the universe, he hadn't gone too far.
There was still a chance to catch up.
Kirin could use this time to gather those legacies and grow stronger.
But here came the bad news.
These inheritances and resources were likely laced with traps or surveillance left behind by the Ōtsutsuki God. Using them could alert him—and risk his return.
However, the simulator could be used cleverly to avoid this risk…
But—Kirin's entire simulation system had never been meant to operate in a universe of this scale.
At its core, it was just a plug-in designed for the original Naruto world.
Now that Kirin's strength had reached planetary level, some of its numerical outputs had already started to bug out.
Although it was built with safety redundancies, they were only capable of handling up to "world-surpassing" power.
If another world-surpasser were to emerge in a simulation, it would cause the system to crash—and take Kirin down with it.
〖Ding! Please hold on. To make up for this failure, the assistant is authorized to break the rules if necessary, and will do everything in its power to shield the user from overwhelming threats—at least until the user is strong enough to survive on his own.〗
The Ōtsutsuki God had long transcended the world, while this system had only been designed for the original Naruto universe.
Whether it could hold up... only heaven knew.
...
After a long silence...
Natural energy-infused seawater gently enveloped his small body.
At the bottom of the sea, Uchiha Kirin opened his eyes again, sat up, and drew in the thunderous power of the Dragon Vein swirling all around him.
Powerful enemies lay ahead.
Many competitors—far stronger than he currently was—were already racing toward that one shot at surpassing the universe.
But giving up wasn't an option.
Lying flat wasn't a habit worth keeping.
Right now, he could feel a burning will to fight surging through his blood.
After tasting the thrill of true power, there was no going back to that cramped rental room from his previous life, no return to a life of contented poverty.
He had to fight. He had to seize that one chance to surpass the world itself.
Even if he failed—the worst outcome would be death.
At this moment, Uchiha Kirin found his resolve again. His hunger for strength became frenzied.
He wanted—no, needed—to transcend the world, to seize control of his own fate.
And, of course, most importantly...
To go to the System Management Bureau and report System No. 9527!
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