Chapter 1 You Can’t Play Me Like This

Weekends… a word that brings pure joy.

Especially for a working adult, it's a rare chance to relax.

Justin slept until noon, then he stretched lazily and got up from the bed with satisfaction.

He walked to the kitchen, took out a large bottle of iced cola, and took a big gulp from the bottle.

"Woohoo!"

The cool bubbles sliding down his throat was such a refreshing feeling.

However, at the next moment, Justin's eyes went black, and he completely lost consciousness.

Bang!

Half-dreaming, Justin felt something hit his head, jerking him awake.

When he opened my eyes, he saw a man wearing a headband with a swirl-like design, and a long scar on his face.

'What the… A gangster?'

Justin jolted in fear and quickly scrambled backward.

'Wasn't I at home just now? How did I get here? Did someone put drugs in my Coke?'

'But why did they kidnap me? I'm not a rich man, I'm just an average guy working a regular job!'

Justin's mind was a chaotic mess of questions.

"How many times have I told you? No sleeping in class." The scarred man scolded.

Hearing this, Justin was even more confused.

'Class?'

'My campus life ended years ago, so what class is he talking about?'

Looking around, he realized he was indeed in a classroom. However, the students around him were dressed in all sorts of odd outfits. There was even a girl admiring herself in a mirror with her hair dyed pink.

'What kind of school can be so open?'

"Naruto, why are you spacing out again? The graduation exam is coming up soon, and you are the worst student in the class. Put in more effort!" The scarred man said again, looking very disappointed.

'Huh? Naruto?'

Justin couldn't help but frown, 'It seemed that the other party was quite familiar with me, but I had no impression of having such a teacher. Besides, my name was Justin, not Naruto.'

'But the name Naruto sounded quite familiar, like I'd heard it somewhere before.'

'Oh, right! The protagonist of Naruto was called Uzumaki Naruto!'

Although it had been years since he'd last watched Naruto, when he thought of Naruto, his sealed childhood memories suddenly opened up and rushed out.

'The swirling headband and the horizontal scar… isn't this Iruka?'

'Could it be...'

Before he could finish his thought, Justin snatched the mirror from the pink-haired girl's hand. After one glance, everything became clear.

In the reflection, he saw himself in an orange outfit. His yellow hair was particularly eye-catching, and the three whiskers on his cheeks were also very distinctive.

'This…this is Uzumaki Naruto!'

'What was going on? Had he been kidnapped, or…had he transmigrated to another world?'

A storm raged within Justin. He had no clue why this had happened, 'I'd only taken a sip of ice-cold cola, and I hadn't done anything else.'

He strained to remember, replaying the moment he drank the cola, and suddenly his eyes sparkled with realization.

'Could it be... that I was so happy that I died?'

Justin couldn't help but smile bitterly, 'That one gulp of ice-cold cola really sent me soaring.'

'And now I'd landed in the world of Naruto, as Uzumaki Naruto himself.'

'Good grief…' Justin was speechless, 'This is too outrageous!'

"Naruto, give Sakura her mirror back. How can you bully a female classmate. Stand outside as a punishment!" Iruka scolded.

Justin coughed lightly, 'According to my memory, Naruto at this point was still the bottom of the class. How could I bully Sakura? It was really funny.'

After returning the mirror to Sakura, he stood up and walked out of the classroom.

With his back against the wall, he felt somewhat uneasy and, more importantly, had a sense of unreality.

When he watched Naruto in his childhood days, he had imagined what it might be like to travel into that world. But now, with a stable job, working from day to dusk to save for a house, he hadn't thought about anime for years.

Now that he was actually here, he felt pretty freaked out.

Even though he knew a lot about the plot of Naruto, he wasn't eager to live in this world. As a kid, he watched it for the fun of it, and didn't pay attention to the background of the times.

Now that he thinks about it, the world of Naruto is very chaotic. Fights break out over a disagreement, and people died very easily. It lacked the peace and stability of city life.

In fact, if given a choice, he'd much rather keep his nine-to-five job than risk his life here.

But fate had other plans, and he knew he had no choice but to face the road ahead.

'Well, since I'm starting a new life, I need to adapt to this new identity. From now on, I am… 'Naruto'!'

Clenching his fist, Naruto began thinking about his future, mapping out a plan for his life here.

'The graduation exam is coming up soon, so I must be around twelve years old, which is right at the beginning of the Naruto. It seems that there are still many opportunities ahead.'

With his knowledge of the modern world, he thought he could build a successful business in Konoha and become a tycoon!

However, after a little planning, he suddenly snapped back to reality and realized that it was impossible to stop training!

The Kyubi sealed within him was a ticking time bomb. If the seal weakened, he'd surely die from the explosion.

In addition, there's Akatsuki that hunted down Biju. If the Kyubi is extracted from his body, he will definitely die.

And in the later stages, with Kaguya's appearance, if he and Sasuke hadn't worked together with the Six Paths' powers, the entire Naruto world would've been doomed. If that happened, he certainly wouldn't be spared.

No matter how he looked at it, it was a dead end.

The only option was to keep getting stronger.

However, as long as it does not interfere with his training, developing some side ventures wouldn't be a problem.

Of course, those things were for the future.

Right now, his main goal is to graduate from the Academy.

'From what I remember, Naruto's graduation this time marked his first real battle, where he learned the A-Rank Forbidden Technique, the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique.'

'But he only learned it after Mizuki tricked him into stealing the Scroll of Seals. Most importantly, it also resulted in Iruka getting injured. Although it was a close call and no one died in the end, if something went wrong and caused a butterfly effect, the situation would be disastrous.'

'This kind of risk should be avoided as much as possible. I don't want to die just after crossing.'

'Without a shadow clone, I can't complete the graduation exam. But if I wanted a shadow clone, I have to deal with Mizuki…ugh, what am I supposed to do?'

Rubbing his temples, Naruto looked troubled, 'Why do other people get OP abilities when they cross over, but I don't have a golden finger? Is it because I died from too much enjoyment? That can't be right!'

[Ding! Congratulations to the host for remembering this system. The Universal Medicine System has been successfully activated!]

As Naruto pondered his predicament, a mechanical voice suddenly echoed in his mind.

'What the—A system!'

Even Naruto couldn't remain calm, because he now has the system cheat code necessary for world travel!

'If I had known about the system earlier, I wouldn't have been so entangled and panicked.'

'However, this system seemed to have its own quirks, only appearing when prompted.'

'Good grief, this was absurd!'

'But hold on, what kind of system is this Universal Medicine System? Am I supposed to sell medicine for points? Or is it a 'get stronger by taking pills' kind of deal? That's too unoriginal.' Naruto had read plenty of novels when he's in school, and systems like that were as common as dirt.

[This system is indeed about getting stronger through taking medicine. If the host finds it unoriginal, you're welcome not to use it.]

'Oh? Getting sassy with me, are you?'

It was the first time that Naruto had seen such an unbothered system.

But he didn't have any other options… like being thrown into this world, he hadn't been given a choice. Who dies from drinking cola, after all?

"Fine, whatever. Since you're here, I might as well make use of you." Naruto said, resigning himself.

[If you're going to be so reluctant, why bother? You don't need to settle for this system. It can simply move on to another host, there's no shortage of travelers in the multiverse!]

[Ding! Universal Medicine System unbinding initiated!]

"No, don't go!"

Naruto suddenly panicked, but no matter how desperately he called, the Universal Medicine System's notification never sounded again.

The system came and went like a whirlwind, disappearing without a word.

'What kind of messed-up situation was this!'

He'd had high hopes when he thought he'd gotten a golden finger, but now all he felt was utter frustration. Thousands upon thousands of imaginary horses were trampling across his mind… this was beyond ridiculous!

"You can't play me like this!"