Konoha, Year 63, Summer Night
Crickets chirped like a poorly tuned orchestra, and the moon hung lazily over the treetops.
In the Land of Fire, Konoha Village, at the Hatake residence...
Kakashi sprawled across his ancient bachelor bed like a starfish with no ambition, his signature black mask still clinging to his face. One dead-fish eye stared blankly at the ceiling, radiating exhaustion.
His mind replayed the day's survival exercise for his three Team 7 gremlins—the final test.
The Bell Test.
A classic, nostalgia-soaked tradition.
Kakashi's lips twitched into a half-smirk, his dead-fish eye glinting with rare approval. Sure, the process was a chaotic mess, full of facepalm-worthy moments, but those three knuckleheads finally grasped the sacred art of teamwork.
"Not bad, you little brats," Kakashi muttered, rolling over and yeeting his copy of Make-Out Paradise to the side.
Mental exhaustion hit like a tidal wave. He yawned, eyelids drooping like a genin after their first D-rank mission.
Kakashi's eyes fluttered shut, his consciousness sinking into the void...
...Until—BAM!
Something was wrong!
His eyes snapped open, that lazy dead-fish stare morphing into a hawk's piercing glare. Instinct kicked in. He launched off the bed with a ninja-worthy carp flip, hand darting to his kunai pouch—
Empty?!
His pupils shrank. This wasn't his messy bachelor pad!
He was in a massive, creepy dark chamber. The air was cold, reeking of ancient dust. The walls, made of some slick black material, swallowed all light. In front of him loomed a giant, movie-screen-sized void of a monitor, radiating ominous silence. Behind him stretched rows of empty seats, fading into a shadowy abyss like a forgotten theater.
Where the hell am I?!
Genjutsu?
Kakashi's mind raced. He tried to summon chakra.
Flowing normally. Not sealed.
No hesitation. Hands blurred through seals.
"Substitution Jutsu!"
Nada. Like throwing a kunai into the ocean.
"Body Flicker!"
Still nothing. His body was rooted, ninja techniques useless.
"Release!"
No dice. Not a genjutsu. Not a seal or barrier either.
Kakashi yanked up his headband, Sharingan spinning wildly. No anomalies.
What is this place? Who dragged me here?
A chill ran through him. He was Kakashi Hatake—Konoha's elite jonin, Copy Ninja, ex-Anbu, battle-hardened badass. Someone had yoinked him from his heavily guarded home, dumped him in this eldritch theater, and nerfed his skills?
Unheard of!
As his brain churned, scanning for clues—
"K-Kakashi-sensei?!"
A familiar, trembling voice cut through the silence. Kakashi whipped around.
Three rows back, two pajama-clad figures stared at him, jaws dropped.
Sakura Haruno, rocking pink bunny-patterned PJs, her emerald eyes wide as saucers. Next to her, Sasuke Uchiha, in minimalist navy striped pajamas, trying to maintain his cool-guy vibe but betrayed by a twitchy brow and a flicker of panic.
"Sakura? Sasuke?" Kakashi slid his headband down, voice steady. "Why are you here?"
"I-I don't know!" Sakura wailed, on the verge of tears. "I was sleeping at home, closed my eyes, and poof—here! We checked everything! Nothing but these creepy chairs and that giant screen! W-We can't get out! Are we captured by some terrifying enemy?!"
Sasuke stayed silent, face grim. He'd clearly tried escaping and failed. His eyes flicked to Kakashi, seeking answers from the veteran ninja.
Kakashi's expression darkened. Sasuke and Sakura too? Taken in their sleep? What kind of jutsu is this?
So subtle, so wide-reaching, it nabbed an elite jonin like him without a trace.
What's the enemy's goal? Why Team 7?
Wait—Where's Naruto?!
Kakashi's brow furrowed. Sakura and Sasuke were fresh genin, easy targets. But him? A jonin? Whoever pulled this off wasn't some run-of-the-mill ninja.
This is next-level.
Suddenly, Sasuke pointed at the massive screen, his face weirded out. "Kakashi-sensei, that screen flickered earlier. I swear I saw... Naruto's dumb face. It felt like... his dream?"
"Naruto's... dream?" Kakashi's gaze snapped to the screen.
BOOM!
The pitch-black screen flared to life!
A familiar Konoha training ground filled the display. In the center, two 12-year-old boys faced off.
Golden spiky hair, orange tracksuit—Naruto Uzumaki!
Black spiky hair, cold eyes burning with defiance—Sasuke Uchiha!
But something was off.
On-screen, Naruto stood with hands on hips, cackling like a cartoon villain. Around him, a hundred identical shadow clones smirked smugly at a sprawled-out Sasuke.
The screen-Sasuke, battered but not bitter, gazed up at Naruto with... admiration?!
Kakashi: "..."
Sakura: "..."
Sasuke: "..."
What the actual—?!
Then, screen-Sasuke spoke, voice dripping with sincerity:
"Whew... As expected of you, Naruto Uzumaki! I'm thoroughly defeated! Your strength surpasses mine. From today, I, Sasuke Uchiha, declare you the strongest in Team 7!"
Naruto's grin widened, his ego inflating to planetary size. Pointing at Sasuke, he howled, "Bwahaha! Sasuke, you're not that great! Thought you were hot stuff, huh? But I, Lord Naruto, crushed you easy! BWAHAHA!"
Pfft!
Real-world Sasuke's forehead vein throbbed, his face red with rage and embarrassment. "That idiot! Me, lose to him? And say that?!" If looks could kill, screen-Naruto would be sushi.
Sakura facepalmed, muttering, "Naruto, you hopeless moron..."
Kakashi's dead-fish eye twitched, suppressing a chuckle. This is absurd.
The tension eased slightly, thanks to the screen's ridiculousness.
But in the shadows, unseen by the trio, a black-haired teen in a ramen shop uniform grinned like a fox in a henhouse.
Shigu.
Before him, a system panel only he could see pinged like crazy:
[Ding! Emotional spike from Naruto Uzumaki! +300 Emotion Points!]
[Ding! Emotional spike from Sasuke Uchiha! +200 Emotion Points!]
[Ding! Emotional spike from Sakura Haruno! +50 Emotion Points!]
[Ding! Emotional spike from Kakashi Hatake! +50 Emotion Points!]
"Heh heh heh..." Shigu's smirk was wider than a Rasengan. "This Dream Master System is busted! Not only does it pull in the dreamer, but it drags their buddies in as audience! Double the emotions, double the fun!"
Shigu, a transmigrator, was once an overworked Earth therapist for troubled teens. Three years ago, he woke up in the ninja world—not as an Uchiha, not a Hyuga, not even a sidekick clan. Nope. A war orphan with zero ninja talent, adopted by Ichiraku's owner, living the glamorous life of kneading dough and washing dishes.
He'd tried everything—chakra training, workouts—only to realize he was a certified scrub. As Konoha 63 rolled around, with Naruto and crew graduating, the plot was about to kick off. Orochimaru's invasion, the Third's death, Pain's attack, the Fourth War... Shigu's noodle-making skills wouldn't save him from that chaos.
Just when he was ready to yeet himself to the countryside or pray for a Boruto-era timeskip, his cheat code finally activated:
Dream Master System
Level: 1 (700/100,000)
Dream Targets: 1
Audience: 3
Abilities: Pull targets into dream spaces, weave/edit dreams, convert emotions into points.
Points Shop: Swap for powers, bloodlines, jutsu, and more!
In short: craft dreams, stream them to an audience, and farm their emotions for upgrades.
His first target? The Nine-Tails' host, Ashura's reincarnation, future Seventh Hokage, and master of Talk-no-Jutsu—Naruto Uzumaki!
A kid starved for love, bursting with dreams. A walking Emotion Point goldmine.
Dragging in Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sakura as spectators? Genius. Their shock, rage, and cringe fueled the system like nobody's business.
Shigu eyed the screen, his crafted dream still rolling.
The show's just getting started.