Chapter 1: I, Uchiha Sasuke, Acknowledge You as Team 7's Strongest!
Year 63 of the Hidden Leaf Village. A summer night.
The cicadas chirped endlessly. The bright moon hung atop the willow branches.
Land of Fire. Hidden Leaf Village. The Hatake residence.
Kakashi lay sprawled on his eternally single bed, forming the shape of a big "大", completely ungraceful. He was too lazy to even remove his signature black mask. His one visible, tired, dead-fish eye stared blankly at the familiar ceiling.
His mind couldn't help but replay the survival drill he conducted earlier that day — the final test for Team 7.Stealing the bells.A classic and nostalgic exercise.
Kakashi tugged at the corner of his mouth. For once, a rare trace of relief surfaced in his usually lifeless eye.
Though the process was full of chaos and complaints, in the end, those three little brats finally understood the meaning of teamwork.
"...Well, they're not bad kids after all."
He muttered to himself, tossing his beloved Make-Out Paradise novel aside.
An overwhelming tide of mental exhaustion surged over him. He yawned, his eyelids growing heavier by the second. Slowly, Kakashi closed his eyes, sinking into the depths of unconsciousness.
However—
Just as his consciousness was about to fully fade into sleep—
Kakashi suddenly jolted awake!
Something's wrong.
His dead-fish eye instantly sharpened like that of a hawk.
Pure instinct drove him as he shot up from his bed in a swift kip-up, his right hand instinctively reaching for his ninja pouch—
Empty.
His pupils shrank sharply as he finally registered his surroundings.
This… wasn't his cluttered bachelor apartment at all.
It was a massive, eerie, pitch-black chamber. The air was cold, carrying the stale scent of a space sealed away for far too long. Smooth black walls absorbed all the light around them, as though made from some unknown material.
In front of him stood a gigantic black screen, like that of a movie theater, but completely blank, radiating only a suffocating silence.
Behind him were row upon row of empty seats, extending into the depths of the darkness — like the abandoned audience seats of an old theater.
Where… is this place?!
Genjutsu?!
Kakashi's mind raced as he immediately attempted to mobilize his chakra. It worked. His chakra flow was smooth. Not sealed.
Without hesitation, he formed hand seals.
"Substitution Jutsu!"
Nothing.
It was like tossing a rock into the ocean. His chakra flowed, but the technique didn't activate. He remained rooted to the spot.
"Body Flicker!"
Still nothing.
It was as if his body was nailed to the floor. He couldn't execute a single jutsu...
"Release!"
Even trying to dispel a genjutsu was useless.
Not genjutsu? Not a standard sealing jutsu or barrier either?
Kakashi yanked up his forehead protector, fully activating his Sharingan to observe — but still, nothing abnormal.
What the hell is this place? Who brought me here?!
A surge of crisis rushed into his heart.
He was Hatake Kakashi — elite jonin of the Hidden Leaf, the Copy Ninja, an ANBU veteran, a battle-hardened shinobi.
And someone had abducted him from his heavily guarded home in Konoha without him noticing — completely suppressing his abilities?
This kind of technique... was completely unheard of.
As Kakashi rapidly analyzed the situation—
"Ah! Kakashi-sensei?!"
A startled yet timid voice rang out behind him.
Kakashi spun around instantly.
A few rows back, he saw two familiar figures in pajamas, staring at him in shock.
Haruno Sakura, her pink hair slightly messy, was wearing a cute cotton pajama set covered in little rabbit prints. Her big emerald eyes were wide open, her mouth slightly agape.
Beside her stood Uchiha Sasuke, dressed in simple dark-blue striped pajamas. He tried to maintain his usual cool, indifferent expression, but the slight crease in his brows and a hint of panic in his eyes betrayed his unease.
"Sakura? Sasuke?" Kakashi pulled his forehead protector back down calmly. "Why are you two here?"
"We… we don't know either!" Sakura looked like she was about to cry. "I was sleeping at home… I closed my eyes… and when I opened them again… I was here!"
She pointed nervously at the empty seats and the massive screen ahead. "Sasuke-kun and I have been here for a while… we checked everywhere. There's nothing here. No doors, no exits... only these seats and that big screen... Wuuu... Kakashi-sensei... what's going on?! Did an enemy catch us?!"
Sasuke didn't speak, but his face looked terrible. It was obvious he'd tried to escape or fight back — and failed.
He glanced at Kakashi, clearly hoping their experienced jonin teacher could provide some answers.
Kakashi's expression grew even more grim.
Even Sasuke and Sakura were dragged here? And in their sleep as well...
Wait—where's Naruto?!
A critical realization struck Kakashi, and his frown deepened.
Sakura and Sasuke were just fresh genin — perhaps easy targets. But he was a jonin. For someone to move him out of Konoha's fortified walls, from his own home, without him realizing — and suppress his abilities...
That's not something an ordinary shinobi could do. Whoever did this… their power was beyond terrifying.
Just then, Sasuke suddenly pointed toward the giant screen with a strange expression.
"Kakashi-sensei… look at the screen. Just now, it flickered for a second. I think... I saw that idiot Naruto's face."
He paused, sounding even more confused. "It... kinda looked like... Naruto's dream?"
"Naruto's… dream?"
Kakashi blinked, instinctively turning toward the giant screen.
And right at that moment—
The once pitch-black screen suddenly lit up without warning. The picture came into view.
It was — unmistakably — one of Konoha's training grounds.
At the center of the field, two twelve-year-old boys were facing off fiercely.
A spiky blond-haired boy in an orange tracksuit — Uzumaki Naruto.And a spiky black-haired boy with sharp, defiant eyes — Uchiha Sasuke.
But... something about the scene felt extremely strange.
On the screen, Naruto stood with his hands on his hips, laughing arrogantly at Sasuke, who was lying face down on the ground. Surrounding Naruto were hundreds of identical shadow clones, all looking down at Sasuke with smug grins.
On the ground, Sasuke looked a bit battered. But instead of being angry or frustrated...
He was staring up at Naruto with an expression full of... admiration and acceptance?!
Kakashi: "…"Sakura: "…"Sasuke: "…"
The three spectators were utterly dumbfounded.
What… the hell is this?
Then, on the screen, Sasuke actually opened his mouth and said — genuinely, sincerely:
"Huff... As expected of you, Uzumaki Naruto. I... admit defeat. Your strength truly surpasses mine. From this day on... I, Uchiha Sasuke, acknowledge you as Team 7's strongest!!"
Naruto instantly burst into even louder laughter, so smug his nostrils were practically flaring to the heavens.
"WAHAHAHAHA!! Sasuke, you're not so tough after all! I thought you were something special, but turns out you got beaten by me, the great Naruto-sama, easy as pie! WAHAHAHA!!"
Pfft—
A giant vein bulged on the real Sasuke's forehead. His handsome face flushed completely red from a mix of rage and humiliation.
"TH-THIS IDIOT!!!" Sasuke trembled with fury. "I would NEVER lose to him! And even worse — I'd NEVER say something like THAT!!"
Sakura facepalmed, utterly speechless. "Naruto… is truly beyond saving…"
Kakashi's dead-fish eye stared blankly at the screen. His heart was utterly calm. In fact... he kinda wanted to laugh.
The oppressive atmosphere lightened slightly thanks to this absurd scene.
But while the three were caught up in the ridiculousness of Naruto's dream—
Far away, deep within the shadows of the theater where no one could see...
A young man with ordinary black hair, wearing a simple ramen shop uniform, smiled with satisfaction.
It was Shiyu.
In front of him, only visible to his eyes, a virtual panel flashed rapidly:
[Ding! Emotional fluctuation detected from Uzumaki Naruto — +300 Emotion Points!][Ding! Emotional fluctuation detected from Uchiha Sasuke — +200 Emotion Points!][Ding! Emotional fluctuation detected from Haruno Sakura — +50 Emotion Points!][Ding! Emotional fluctuation detected from Hatake Kakashi — +50 Emotion Points!]
"Hehehe..." Shiyu watched the numbers skyrocket, his grin stretching wider than an AK's recoil.
"Perfect! This 'Dream Maker System' is amazing! Not only can it pull the dreamer into a dream world... but it drags in their close companions as spectators too! Plus, I can collect the emotion points generated by the audience as well! Double the profits — absolutely delicious!"
His tongue flicked over his lips, eyes glowing with excitement.
He was a transmigrator.
Three years ago, he was just a normal guy back on Earth — a psychological counselor who specialized in working with troubled youth.
Then one day, he woke up in the dangerous, chaotic world of Naruto.
And worst of all —
He didn't reincarnate as an Uchiha, a Hyuga, or even a side clan like Ino-Shika-Cho.
He became a war orphan.
No bloodline. No background. Not even basic ninja talent.
His only stroke of luck was being adopted by Teuchi, the owner of Ichiraku Ramen, becoming his youngest son.
For the past three years, he worked in the ramen shop — kneading dough, boiling noodles, washing dishes.
Of course, he tried everything to follow the path of the usual transmigrator cheat route — secretly learning chakra refinement, training his body...
The results? Barely better than a civilian. Teuchi could probably still beat him in an arm-wrestling match.
He had no choice but to accept the cruel truth. He was trash with no ninja potential.
But time didn't wait for anyone. Year 63 of Konoha arrived. Naruto, Sasuke, and the others had just graduated from the academy.
The main storyline was about to begin. Thinking about what was coming soon — Orochimaru's Konoha Crush, the death of the Third Hokage... then the Akatsuki's hunt for Tailed Beasts, the Pain Invasion, the Fourth Great Ninja War...
Shiyu felt his scalp go numb.
With his current powerless state, even a stray shockwave from any of those fights could vaporize him.
He was ready to give up, pack his bags, run far away — or just lie flat and pray to survive until Boruto...
When suddenly — last night — his cheat finally activated.
[Dream Maker System][Current Dream Maker Level: 1 (700/100000)][Dream Target Count: 1][Audience Count: 3][Able to pull the target into a customized dream space (either their personal dream or a system-generated "Dream Theater").][Can read, edit, and fully control the target's dreams.][Emotions generated by the target and their close connections inside the dream will be converted into Emotion Points.][Emotion Points can be exchanged for abilities, bloodlines, items, jutsu — from any world across the multiverse.]
In simple terms — by creating and broadcasting people's dreams, Shiyu could collect their joy, anger, sorrow, and excitement, then use it to power himself up.
His first "dream" target was obvious —
The holder of the Nine-Tails, the Uzumaki bloodline, Ashura's reincarnation, future Seventh Hokage, Master of Talk-no-Jutsu, Konoha's golden child—
Uzumaki Naruto.
This guy was born craving recognition, love, and approval. His heart was overflowing with unfulfilled dreams and stubborn desires.
A walking emotional point generator.
And pulling in Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sakura as live audience members?
A masterstroke.
Naruto alone would've been great — but with three close spectators generating waves of "WTF," "rage," "pity," "disbelief," "confusion," and even "hilarity," the gains were exponential.
Shiyu calculated rapidly in his head while glancing back at the giant screen.
After all —
The show... was just getting started.