Prologue

Sunagakure

This was one of the five major hidden villages. Most people reincarnating in the world of Naruto would find themselves in Konoha in fanfictions, but this was not the case for Kaito. He was born as an orphan. His parents were civilians who had died in the Third Shinobi War.

Using Gaara as a reference, Kaito knew that he was ten years older than the protagonists from the plot. However, this edge given to him to prepare for the incoming deadly plot was not enough. The reason?

His bloodline.

In the world of naruto, bloodline was similar to a template. With the same amount of effort, a civilian shinobi would only achieve a tenth of what a noble clan heir would be able to do. And that is an understatement.

Be it Sasuke, Gaara, Naruto or the others, they were far more powerful than the other shinobi who lacked bloodline like Tenten or Sakura. 

"Kaito! Are you okay?", Akane shouted 

Next to her, Koji Furuta, rushed over and checked his wounds.

Kaito nodded and wiped the blood from his kunai. Just like him, Akane and Koji were genins from the Sunagakure Genin Corps. Unlike genins from Konoha who could live and train in peace, Sunagakure was going through an economy crisis and even genins were forced to undertake missions.

The Sunagakure Genin Corps was similar to an army, only it was suited for shinobi. Chunin were like officers, giving off orders to the canon fodders. Naturally, Kaito knew better than undertaking dangerous missions as the captain of his team, and only chose patrolling missions.

However, in this world, even the easiest patrolling missions could lead to life and death missions.

This time around, Kaito managed to track the trail of genins from the land of Grass who were carrying information scrolls about the number of merchants going through a city called 'Jekerta'. Genins were probably given an easy spying misions, but died in attempt to complete them.

His teammates were covered in blood too. However, the blood was theirs, rather than their opponents.

"Have you taken their gear?", Kaito asked in a serious tone

"Yes...we did"

Akane and Koji could not hide their feelings of disgust after killing enemy shinobi, but Kaito showed no such signs. Like always, he remained stoic. While looting the headband and kunai from his enemy, he checked his teammates.

[Akane - Level 15 Sunagakure Genin]

[Koji Furuta - Level 18 Sunagakure Genin]

Akane was a ninjustu specialist specializing in futonjutsu (the art of wind release). She did not have large chakra reserves, but her control was pretty decent for a genin thanks to the harsh training regiment imposed by her captain. Her signature move was the use of giant wind shuriken, using her futon jutsu to accelerate her throwing speed and accuracy.

Koji was a puppeteer, and although he owned only one puppet which was quite basic, his arsenal was quite versatile. He was also a specialist in brewing poisons and antidotes, making him quite strong in prolonged battle.

Kaito then looked at his own status page.

[Kaito - Level 16 Sunagakure Genin

Experience: 1 865 / 3 200

Attributes:

Strength - 21 (+3) | Agility - 15 | Vitality - 16 (+2) | Chakra - 18 |  Chakra Control - 26 (+5)

Perks: Civilian Shinobi [D] (Chakra control increased by 5, EXP requirements doubled), Genjutsu Specialist [D] (Genjutsu profiency rises 30% faster, and genjutsu spells are 20% more effective)

Genjutsu: Sand Dream [D] (89), Silent Sand Steps [D] (80), Demon Plant Illusion [C] (28), 

Ninjutsu: Lightning Spark [D] (46)

Taijutsu: Sunagakure Genin Corps Taijutsu [D] (42)

Items: Sunagakure Headband [D] (+2 Vitality), Sand Goggles [D] (+3 Strength), Sharpened Kunai [E]]

When he first transmigrated in this world, he was beyond happy. The thought of limitless chakra possibilities and the fact that he had a system were great foundations to become a classic protagonist.

However, reality quickly caught up to him in the academy. Despite his effort, he was easily stomped by the noble clan kids, and eventually went into the civilian classes. From this point on, he trained even harder and focused his effort on genjutsu, since it did not require high chakra reserves and suited him quite well as he was good at chakra control.

The system was quite simple. Killing and completing missions granted him EXP, which he could invest in levelling up, or increasing the proficiency of his skills. Training also yielded gains, but they were ridiculously low compared to killing and completing missions.

Looking at his logs, Kaito sighed with pity

[Level 17 Kusagakure Genin killed: + 340 EXP]

It was one of the strongest genin he had killed, and it yielded a considerable amount of EXP. By training, he could roughly get 20 to 40 EXP a day, so it was equivalent to ten days of training. Yet, the reality was harsh. Because of his civilian perk, he needed twice as much EXP to level up as he would have needed as a noble clan heir.

From level 0 to 9, one would be considered an academy student or civilian based on his observations.

Genins were level 10 to 29.

As for chunins, they were all between level 30 and 60. Jonins were a bit different, at least level 61 but some of them were definitely above level 100. It seemed like there were jonins that were extremely strong, and Kaito had yet to encounter one that was above that. He had seen the Kazekage a few times already, but his level was filled with question marks, so he couldn't assess him properly. Most likely, the difference in levels was too different.

Three years. It had been three years since he transmigrated in this world. He graduated from the academy in three months, at the age of 11. He then joined the genin corps, and slowly became stronger with his teammates: Akane and Koji. 

Both of them were quite average, but thanks to his daily training and regular patrolling missions, they had slowly climbed the ladder and became part of mid-level genins. This was pretty decent considering that they were now 14 years old. However, this was far from the genius standards of this world. Their levels was proof of that.

Kaito also knew that levels were not everything. Although it granted 2 free attribute points, you could increase your attributes by training and items as well. Proficiency too, was very important in factors, if not more important than levels themselves.

Still, Kaito knew that his potential was limitless. Unlike others who would be stuck in plateau, he knew that as long as he trained hard, he would be able to level up and increase his skill proficiency. He might not have the greatest teammates, but at least they were submissive and reliable. He might not have an intructor to give him jutsus, but he could always save money and purchase it directly from the sand library.

At the end of the day, he just needed to grind some more.