1 Chapter 1: The System
In the lush rustling bushes, a green figure flickered.
"Is this really normal? Does this happen to everyone? Is my sanity really not failing me? Wait, what's for sure, and what's not? Damn, why didn't I die, but ended up in some random and unfamiliar body?"
In a simple room with a wooden floor and shelves against the wall, on which real kunai and shuriken were laid out, a young boy of about twelve sat in a seiza pose on a futon. He had shining jet-black hair tied into a tail. What added to the surprise was his thick, dark eyebrows and overly round eyes with visible lower eyelashes, which were trembling and giving him a somewhat comical appearance at the moment. He was dressed in a white kimono shirt paired with dusty pants, revealing his fondness for traditional attire.
"I vividly remember how a heavy cabinet fell on me..."
The young man mumbled to himself as memories from his past life flashed through his mind.
Since childhood, he had been fascinated by martial arts masters from movies and cartoons. Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Bolo Yeung, and many other actors and heroic figures had inspired him to start training and pursue the path of a warrior. While he might not have been particularly talented in this field, he worked tirelessly until ill fate struck him...
On a particular weekend, the young karate practitioner was practicing his strikes in his room. Unfortunately, a stray attack hit a nearby antique cabinet, which he always hesitated to dispose of. The aging furniture immediately teetered and fell on him, causing the stunned young man to lose consciousness, only to awaken in a foreign body.
This led to one unanimous conclusion: no more home workouts!
"My hands, my hands... They're so thin, calloused, and small! And my voice, it's so high-pitched!"
The karateka boy whined with a tremor in his throat, gazing at his palms, which were illuminated by the morning sun streaming in through the open window in the room. His muscles ached as if he had just been beaten with sticks and tossed under a bulldozer. However, he quickly adjusted to the pain, as he had often pushed himself to the limit during training, feeling his bones creak.
"Alright! Pull yourself together!" With a sharp slap to his cheeks, the adult inside the young boy's body stood up on unsteady legs and closed his eyes with a sigh.
A martial arts master must maintain composure in any situation.
"To begin with, I should find out what I look like and then figure out where I am. A thorough reconnaissance is needed; premature conclusions shouldn't be made. What if I'm deep behind enemy lines, and I've been captured? Although the scattered kunai and shuriken suggest otherwise... Something's not right here... Nevertheless, I don't want to immediately brand myself as a 'reincarnator'..."
He couldn't complete his thought due to a sudden full-scale collapse in his mind. It was as if someone had dropped an information bomb on him. There was no other explanation...
The mature spirit literally trembled as foreign memories began to surface in his mind.
In his class, Rock Lee was considered an oddball by everyone else. He was a boy who couldn't become a proper Shinobi in a world where children were trained to be cold-blooded killers from an early age in special academies. Reckless training and a constant melancholic depression about the fact that Lee simply couldn't use Ninjutsu and Genjutsu. In addition, frequent humiliations from other children because of his personal weakness. Lee had no choice; he simply didn't have one.
In the end, Rock Lee couldn't take it anymore.
Sincerely wishing to prove to the world that one could achieve greatness in the Shinobi world through Taijutsu, the boy pushed himself too hard, depleting his life force entirely in his own body...
"Lee! You're a true man! It would be blasphemy to disregard your dream! I will become a Taijutsu master in your place, Lee! I will achieve what you've desired all your life! This is my promise!"
Clutching his fist over his heart, the newcomer didn't hesitate to let out a sympathetic sigh and the possibility of shedding tears. Why should he? He never dared to think that a character from the anime "Naruto" went through so many psychological problems before bringing a smile to everyone's face in the style of the Green Beast of Konoha. Lee's memories deeply touched him.
In childhood, while watching the adventures of the spiky-haired blond, you don't really notice the life struggles of the secondary characters. Their pains, defeats, and challenges on the path of a Shinobi. For the viewer, it's nothing. And the karate boy didn't really bother his head about such things. However, now everything was different...
After his death, he found himself in Rock Lee's body!
He himself was now Rock Lee!
Lee's fate was his fate, and no one else's!
[Ding~!]
Following the loud chime in his ears, the newly minted Lee jolted and began to look around frantically, assuming a fighting stance and feeling a tingling sensation in his temples. But the academy student couldn't find anything until a robotic and cold voice echoed in his mind:
[Hellish Exercise System loading. Please wait for interface connection: 1%... 5%... 15%... 30%... 60%... 80%... 95%... 100%...]
"What?" Lee asked himself in shock.
[Name: Rock Lee]
[Shinobi Rank: Academy Student]
[Health: 100%]
[Stamina: 90%]
[Chakra: 100%]
[Taijutsu Rank: C]
[Ninjutsu Rank: -]
[Genjutsu Rank: -]
[Inventory: Empty]
[List of Hellish Exercises: 1]
Just one second later, a holographic icon with various informational data appeared before the young man's eyes. Percentages and lettered ranks for abilities were displayed, just like the "List of Hellish Exercises: 1," which gave a hint as to what the system was named after and its main functionality.
"Oh my... I'm a reincarnator, I have a system, and on top of that, I'm in the body of a loser who can't use Ninjutsu and Genjutsu... What kind of clichéd nonsense is this?" Lee marveled in his thoughts, feeling a shiver run down his spine.
However, who was he to refuse a pocket and his very own cheat? It's worth mentioning that while the original Rock was a cool Shinobi, even the mighty Gates couldn't help him in his battle against Gaara, the jinchuriki of the One-Tailed Beast.
Though to be fair, the guy thinks that the author of the Japanese Naruto manga then just leaked Lee for the sake of showing the monstrosity of the Sand Village Shinobi.
"Alright... First, I need to see what these hellish exercises are all about... I have a feeling that the whole system is built around them..."
Lee whispered, then repeated the command out loud. However, when he didn't see immediate results, he repeated it mentally. To his joy, the system responded:
[List of Hellish Exercises: 1]
[Do 10 push-ups]
[Reward: Bronze Chest]
"Psh, sounds too easy!" Lee scoffed, completely unaware of the sadist behind the creation of such a merciless system...
