The General Studies classroom at U.A. High School buzzed with quiet energy—the kind that came from too many bright minds packed into one room, each convinced they deserved to be in the Hero Course instead.
Yuta Akutami sat in the middle row, slouched back in his chair with the kind of lazy confidence that suggested he either had everything figured out or had given up entirely. His blue-gray eyes drifted over his classmates: Tanaka was scrolling through hero news on his tablet, Kimura was sketching costume concepts in the margin of his notes and Mrs. Nakamura was already done with class for the day and was kind enough to let the class devolve into controlled chatter.
Two others were in a heated whisper-debate about who would win in a Quirkless fight—Gang Orca or All Might.
"I'm telling you, if they're both Quirkless, Gang Orca's got the physique advantage," Sato insisted, tapping his desk for emphasis.
"You're insane. All Might's American training regimen would turn him into a tank," Yamamoto shot back.
Yuta snorted softly, amusement tugging at the corner of his mouth. If only they knew All Might's been running on borrowed time and sheer willpower for years.
That was the thing about being a transmigrator—or rather, a reincarnator with awakened memories. Everyone around him was living their lives normally while he sat there with spoilers for the next three years of their existence. It was like watching a movie you'd already seen, except the characters were real people and the plot involved actual life-or-death stakes.
*Still better than my old life,* he mused, twirling his pen. *At least this world has superpowers and—*
**PING!**
The sound echoed inside his head like a notification bell, causing him to nearly drop his pen.
> [SYSTEM REBOOT COMPLETE...]
> [USER RECOGNIZED: YUTA AKUTAMI]
> [DIMENSIONAL TRANSFER STATUS: CHECKING...]
Yuta's eyes widened slightly. He glanced around the classroom, but everyone was still absorbed in their own activities. The system interface was apparently visible only to him.
*Finally decided to show up, huh?* he thought, keeping his expression neutral. *Only took you a week after I got my memories back.*
> [Welcome to the Naruto Universe! Beginning initial power allocation...]
> [ERROR. ERROR. INCORRECT WORLD DETECTED.]
> [Host has reincarnated into: MY HERO ACADEMIA UNIVERSE.]
> [Processing... ... ... Oops.]
Yuta's pen stopped spinning. His smile slowly faded.
"'Oops'?" he whispered under his breath.
Kimura, who was sitting nearby, glanced over. "You say something, Yuta?"
"Just commenting on the beautiful symphony of intellectual discourse happening around us," Yuta replied smoothly, gesturing toward the Gang Orca debate which had somehow evolved into arm wrestling. "Truly, we are the future of heroism."
Kimura chuckled and turned back to his sketch.
*Alright, System,* Yuta thought, his internal voice taking on a dangerous edge. *Start explaining. Right. Now.*
> [Initial destination was Naruto World according to your reincarnation application, but due to a clerical routing error in the Omniverasal placement, you've been... misplaced.]
*Misplaced?! I'm not a lost package!*
> [We prefer the term "cosmic detour."]
*You're about to prefer the term "Cosmic lawsuit". And who the hell is we?*
> [Well ...]
*Hold on. I don't even wanna know.*
System: You were the one who asked.
*I had everything planned out! Chakra nature training, sage mode, maybe snag a tailed beast or two! And now you're telling me I'm stuck in a world where the main character breaks his bones every time he throws a punch?*
> [Again, deeply sorry for the inconvenience. But good news! You still have access to your Naruto Gaming Account! We can transfer over up to... one ability to compensate for the error.]
Yuta's eye twitched. Around him, the classroom noise seemed to fade as his focus sharpened.
*One ability?*
> [...Maybe two, if you don't file a complaint.]
*Oh. So I can complain huh?*
> [... Calm down. Before we do something we'll regret.]
*You mean before I do something you'll regret.*
> [Let's talk about this. It isn't as bad as it seems]
*Listen here, you glitched excuse for cosmic customer service,* Yuta thought, his mental voice dripping with the kind of cheerful menace that made people nervous. *You screwed up my entire reincarnation. I was supposed to wake up in a world where I could learn jutsu, befriend giant chakra monsters, bag a few sexy assassins, ride a chakra gundam and maybe prevent a few wars. Instead, I'm in a world where the number one hero is slowly dying, the main character is a self-destructive green-haired kid, and the current number two hero has serious daddy issues.*
Yuta had never been much of a My Hero fan. He hadn't even watched much of it. Was it an awesome franchise? Perhaps, no doubt. But every kid who grew in the days of the big four had dreams.
1, to wield a Zanpakuto.
2, to unleash Conquerors Haki,
3, to fire a Kamehameha
4, to have an armored susanoo.
Which was why when he found that ridiculous transmigrator ad on his laptop while playing his old Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm game at 2 am in his university dorm, he had filled it in despite regarding it as an absurdity.
And what would you know, it actually worked
> [Those are... surprisingly accurate character assessments.]
*And that's not even mentioning the fact that my mother—my actual, loving, hardworking mother in this world—got crippled by some serial killer with a katana complex just one week ago!*
The system interface flickered, as if uncertain.
> [We... I had no control over local world events...]
*Five abilities,* Yuta thought firmly. *I want Five abilities from my account, or I'm going to find a way to hack into whatever cosmic network you're running on and leave such a scathing review that you'll never transfer another soul again.*
> [That's... that's not how the system works...]
*Try me. I've got nothing but time and spite right now.*
The interface went quiet for a long moment.
[... Three powers ... and you only get to pick from the playable characters you have already unlocked at your last save progress state]
Yuta's smile faded.
Thinking it through, he had only unlocked up to chapter 5 in the game, which was up to the Hebi arc. The unlocked characters at that point were Naruto, Sakura, Kakashi, Sasori, Might Guy, Rock Lee, Deidara, Sasuke, Hidan, Kakuzu and Itachi. Naruto didn't have Sage Mode, Rinnegan Nagato hadn't appeared yet, and the truly God tier powers like flying Raijin, Edo Tensei and the likes were nowhere to be found.
After all, he had only downloaded the game to play out of nostalgia and hadn't taken it seriously.
*If I had known, I would have played Boruto Shinobi striker.* He clicked his tongue with squinted eyes
"Four abilities."
> [... Negotiation accepted. Four powers allowed. Choose wisely.]
*That's more like it.*
Before Yuta could respond, the sharp ring of the class bell cut through the air.
Nakamura-sensei closed her attendance tablet with a sigh. "Alright, that's enough for today. I expect your essays on Quirk classification by Monday. Dismissed."
"Finally!" Tanaka groaned, stretching his arms. "I thought she'd keep us another hour."
"Bro, it's literally 3 PM," Yamamoto said.
"Exactly. Child labor hours."
The group laughed as Yuta slung his bag over his shoulder. Guess even at the best school in Japan, everyone counts down the clock.
He grabbed his bag and the notepad he'd been absentmindedly scribbling potential power combinations in during class.
*I'll choose later,* he decided. *First, let me see what kind of world I'm really dealing with.*
He let the flood of students carry him toward the door, but instead of heading toward the General Studies wing, he took a detour toward the hero course section.
He had a feeling he was about to witness something interesting.
---
The hallway leading to Class 1-A was packed.
Yuta leaned against the wall, watching the scene unfold with the detached interest of someone who'd read the script in advance. At least fifty students had gathered outside the door, their voices creating a low buzz of excitement and anticipation.
"Think they're really as impressive as the news made them out to be?" someone whispered.
"They survived a villain attack," another student replied. "That's gotta count for something."
"I heard one of them has an explosion Quirk. Probably thinks he's hot shit."
Yuta grinned. *If only you knew.*
The door to Class 1-A slid open with a soft *whoosh*.
Bakugo Katsuki stepped out, and Yuta had to admit—the guy had presence. Even without knowing his personality, you could tell from his posture and expression that he was someone who'd never backed down from a fight in his life.
Unfortunately, he was also someone who'd apparently never learned the concept of situational awareness.
"They're scoping out the competition, simple-minded fools," Bakugo said, his voice carrying that distinctive blend of arrogance and irritation that made him so uniquely unlikeable. "At least now you know what a future pro looks like."
*Oh, here it comes,* Yuta thought, his grin widening.
"Now move it, extras."
The crowd exploded.
"EXTRAS?!"
"Who does this guy think he is?!"
"Someone's got an ego problem!"
Yuta watched Bakugo's expression shift from smug superiority to confused annoyance as the crowd pressed closer, their voices rising in indignation.
*Classic Bakugo,* Yuta mused. *All the tactical awareness of a rabid honey badger.*
"Wow," he said, just loud enough for the students near him to hear. "And here I thought U.A. students were supposed to be smart. Guy just united half the school against Class 1-A in a single sentence."
A few students turned toward him, and Yuta flashed them his most charming smile.
"I mean, strategically speaking, it's almost impressive. Like watching someone speedrun making enemies."
One of the students—a girl with a plant-based Quirk, judging by the small flowers in her hair—giggled despite herself.
"That's... actually kind of accurate," she admitted.
More students were turning toward him now, and Yuta could see some of the anger in the crowd shifting toward amusement.
*There we go. Crisis management through comedy. Gojo would be proud.*
In the distance, he could see a purple-haired student—Shinsou, if he remembered correctly—approaching the crowd with the kind of confident stride that suggested he was about to make the situation infinitely more interesting.
*Time to go,* Yuta decided. *I've got a hospital visit to make.*
He pushed away from the wall and headed down the corridor, leaving the crowd behind. As he walked, he pulled out his phone and checked the time.
*2:47 PM. Visiting hours end at 8. That gives me plenty of time to see Mom and figure out what I'm going to do about... everything.*
His hand unconsciously moved to his pocket, where he kept his mother's hospital card. The one that reminded him every day that this world wasn't just a story anymore.
It was real. And it was personal.
---