Naruto sat at his small dinner table with three empty ramen cups stacked to the side. In front of him was a slice of cheap birthday cake and a glass of milk. He poked at the cake with his fork and started singing quietly to himself.
"Happy birthday to me… happy birthday to me…"
His voice was low and a little off-key. He took a bite of cake, then washed it down with a sip of milk. The milk tasted slightly sour, but he ignored it. He had already eaten three cups of ramen. What was some sour milk.
He was halfway through another bite when his stomach made a loud, wet gurgling sound.
Naruto paused.
A second later, a sharp cramp hit him so hard he almost dropped his fork. His eyes widened.
"Oh no…"
Another cramp rolled through him, even worse than the first. He felt his stomach twist violently, like something was bubbling and churning inside him. He clenched his jaw and stood up fast.
"Damn it… maybe the milk really was expired…"
He barely made it to the bathroom. He yanked his shorts down and sat on the toilet just in time. What followed was ten straight minutes of pure misery. His stomach kept making loud bubbling noises while he sat there gripping his knees. The smell was awful. He kept grumbling under his breath the entire time.
"Stupid milk… stupid cake… this is worst birthday ever…"
While he was still sitting there suffering, something bright appeared in front of him.
A glowing blue window floated in the air above the sink.
SUPERZON
Welcome, new customer.
Your account has been created.
You have one unclaimed gift package.
Naruto stared at the floating text with wide eyes, still hunched over on the toilet.
"…What the hell is this?"
Another window appeared beneath the first.
Free Gift Package
Contents: Inspect Pill
Effect: Permanently unlocks the Inspect ability. Allows you to see detailed information about people, items, and food.
Would you like to claim this package?
He hesitated for a few seconds, then reached out and tapped Yes.
The window changed.
Gift package claimed.
The physical item will be delivered shortly.
Naruto blinked at the text. Before he could do anything else, the doorbell rang.
He groaned loudly.
"You've got to be kidding me…"
The doorbell rang again.
Naruto stayed on the toilet for another few minutes until his stomach finally calmed down enough for him to finish. He wiped, flushed, and washed his hands as fast as he could. The doorbell kept ringing the entire time.
When he finally opened the door, no one was standing there.But sitting right on his doorstep was a small brown package. It was only about four inches by four inches, wrapped in plain paper with a single blue stamp that read SUPERZON.
Naruto picked it up and looked both ways down the hallway. Empty. No delivery person. No sound of anyone leaving. He brought the package inside and closed the door.
He set it on the table and stared at it for a moment before carefully opening it.
Inside was a single small blue pill resting on a piece of black cloth. As soon as he picked up the pill, a new window appeared.
Inspect Pill
Effect: Permanently unlocks the Inspect ability.
Description: Allows the user to see detailed information about people, items, and food.
Naruto looked at the pill in his hand, then at the floating text.
After a few seconds, he put the pill in his mouth and swallowed it.
A warm feeling spread through his chest and settled behind his eyes.
Inspect has been unlocked.
He looked down at the empty ramen cup still sitting on the table from earlier.
Item: Instant Ramen Cup
Effect: Provides temporary fullness with very little nutrition.
Description: Cheap noodles meant for quick meals. This batch has been expired for several months.
He then looked at the small brown package the pill had come in.
Item: SUPERZON Delivery Package
Effect: Used to safely deliver small items.
Description: Plain brown package stamped with the SUPERZON logo.
Naruto sat down on the edge of his bed, still holding the black cloth. Another window appeared.
SUPERZON Balance
Current Funds: 2674 Ryo
Effect: The system tracks your all of the your money . Funds will be deducted automatically when you make a purchase and added automatically when you sell something.
He stared at the number for a moment. Then he focused on opening the main SUPERZON window.
The interface that appeared looked clean and simple. There was a large search bar at the top, a section labeled Trending Items, and several categories listed below like Powers & Abilities, Sword Styles, Fighting Techniques, Consumables, Injectables, Knowledge, and Custom Requests. On the top right corner, his current balance was clearly displayed.
Ryo: 2674
Naruto started scrolling.
At first, he was just curious. He clicked through the Consumables category and saw pills that could temporarily increase strength, speed, or even comprehension for a few hours. Some were cheap. Others were expensive. He kept scrolling and eventually reached the higher-priced items.
His eyes widened when he saw the numbers, abilities and techniques ranged from thousands of Ryo to hundreds of thousands. There was stuff that was also priced in the millions.
In the Powers & Abilities section, he saw things that made his heart beat faster. There was something called Ignition Ability (Fire Force world). The description said it was the unique way in which a pyrokinetic uses their ability to manipulate flames. Each person utilized their flames in a certain way, such as generating flames from specific body parts like their shoulders or feet, using their flames with certain objects, or creating special variants of fire like electricity, plasma, or explosions. It also mentioned that while pyrokinetics were immune to being burned by their fire, they could still feel heat.
He kept scrolling and saw something called Devil Fruit (One Piece world). The description explained that these were strange fruits that granted the person who ate them a unique power, such as the ability to turn their body into rubber, control gravity, or create earthquakes, but at the cost of never being able to swim again.
There were also cultivation techniques that promised to help someone strengthen their body and break through to higher realms. Sword arts with names like "Heavenly Demon Sword Style" or "Nine Heavens Sword Art" that costed millions of Ryo.
He spent hours just looking.
He didn't add anything to a cart. He didn't buy anything. He just kept scrolling, reading descriptions, and staring at the prices in shock. Some of the things he saw were so expensive he couldn't even imagine how anyone could afford them. Others were surprisingly cheap, he was fascinated and time passed without him noticing.
The sky outside slowly turned from black to dark blue, then to gray. Naruto was still sitting on his bed with the glowing blue screen floating in front of him. His eyes were red and heavy, but he couldn't stop looking. Every new category showed him something he had never seen before.
Eventually, he went to the restroom and decided to test the Inspect ability on himself.
Name: Naruto (Namikaze) Uzumaki
Age: 13
Description: A young shinobi from Konohagakure who carries the Nine-Tailed Fox within him. Despite being ostracized by most of the village, he possesses an unbreakable will and a strong desire to be acknowledged and become Hokage. He is in possession of the SUPERZON system, and suffering from malnutrition due to a strict diet of eating ramen and milk.
Naruto stared at the window for a long time.
Namikaze.
He had never been called by that name before, yet it said it was his name. And the system mentioned him having a Nine-Tailed Fox sealed inside him.
For years, people had called him a demon or a monster. Seeing it written so plainly made his chest stir. He suddenly wanted to know more about where this name came from and why the fox was sealed inside him in the first place.
He wasn't completely shocked, though.
The strange surge of power a few nights ago that he felt when he first used the Shadow Clone Jutsu against Mizuki… it made sense. Maybe he was drawing power from the Nine-Tails that was sealed in him.
He kept browsing until the sun was fully up. By the time he finally closed the system window, his body felt heavy and his head was foggy. He had gotten almost no sleep.
When he dragged himself to the Academy that morning, he could barely keep his eyes open. His head kept nodding forward, and he had to force himself to stay awake. Today was an important day after all they were being assigned their squads.
He tried to stay awake during the team assignment announcements, but his body finally gave out. His head dropped onto his desk, and he fell into a deep sleep.
When Naruto finally woke up, the classroom was quiet.
Too quiet.
He slowly lifted his head and looked around. The room was almost completely empty. Most of the students had already left with their assigned sensei. Only two people remained in the classroom.
Sakura was sitting a few rows ahead of him, looking bored and slightly annoyed. And near the middle of the room sat Sasuke, arms crossed, staring out the window like he didn't have a care in the world.
Naruto blinked a few times, still half-asleep. He rubbed his eyes and sat up straighter.
Did I miss everything?
He looked around again. No Iruka-sensei. No other students. Just Sakura and Sasuke.
'They must be my teammates.' He thought to himself
He let out a quiet groan and rested his chin on his hand. His body still felt heavy, but his mind was slowly waking up. Since there was nothing else to do, he decided to test the Inspect ability on the two people left in the room.
He started with Sakura.
Name: Sakura Haruno
Age: 13
Height: 5'3
Description: A civilian-born kunoichi with long, bright pink hair that reaches down to her lower back. She has fair skin and green eyes. Despite coming from a civilian family with no shinobi background, she possesses exceptional chakra control and a genuine love for ninjutsu. She dreams of becoming a powerful kunoichi who can stand on her own and protect the people she cares about.
She has a strong crush on Sasuke Uchiha and finds herself acting differently around him. She enjoys getting into arguments with Naruto because she finds his loud, over-the-top reactions annoyingly humorous and strangely entertaining.
Likes: Improving her chakra control, spending time with her friends, secretly reading romance novels, and being praised or acknowledged.
Dislikes: Being called "ugly" or "useless," losing control of situations, and seeing her classmates get seriously hurt.
Hobbies: Reading smut/romantic novels, training, and gossiping with Ino.
Dreams: To become a strong and respected kunoichi who is acknowledged for her own power rather than being seen as weak or only good for support. She wants to stand equally alongside her teammates.
Ideal Partner: Someone who respects her and doesn't treat her like she's fragile or useless. She is drawn to people who are smart, handsome/good looking, and strong like Sasuke, the Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze, and the First and Second Hokage!
Naruto stared at the description for a moment. It was strange seeing Sakura broken down so clearly. The part about her arguing with him because she found his reactions funny made him feel a little strange. It left a small, uncomfortable feeling in his chest.
But he was also surprised.
There it was again.
Namikaze.
His heart beat faster. He was jolted awake by that. Supposedly that was his name as well.
Could it be that the Fourth Hokage was his dad?
He decided it couldn't be true. Otherwise, he would have been raised in a better environment.
Surely… right?
After a few minutes, he decided to check the only other person in the room and looked where Sasuke usually sat.
Naruto focused, and the window appeared. However, it made his heart skip a beat.
Name: Satsuki Uchiha