"Bruce, I heard you're finally emancipated."
A blonde girl leaned forward, trying to catch the attention of the boy sitting across from her. Bruce barely glanced up from the book in front of him and gave a short nod."Yes."
When he did not add anything else, the silence between them grew awkward. She cleared her throat and tried again.
"W Well… now that you're free, do you want to…"
Her words stopped when Bruce finally lifted his eyes. His stare was calm, cold, and completely unreadable.
"Janet. I already told you. I am not interested in getting into any relationship."
His tone remained even yet the rejection hit her harder than an insult. Her face flushed with anger. She slammed her hands on the desk and stood up.
"Can't you see I'm trying to be nice? And my dad helped you. Is it really so hard to go on one date as appreciation?"
Nearby students paused their conversations. Their eyes lit up with interest. Drama during school hours was entertainment. They wanted shouting. They wanted chaos.
But Bruce disappointed them. He lowered his gaze and returned to his book as if nothing had happened.
"Jerk," Janet hissed before storming off to her group of friends. They immediately circled her and began loudly insulting Bruce so he would hear every word.
Once the show ended, the classroom returned to normal. Scenes like this were nothing new in high school.
At the far end of the room, a chubby Asian boy leaned closer to his bespectacled friend.
"Peter… do you think he's gay?" he whispered.
Peter adjusted his glasses. "I don't know, Ned. Maybe he just doesn't want to get close to anyone after losing his parents."
Ned nodded sadly. "Yeah… that must be horrible. Losing your whole family in a car accident while you survive."
He went quiet when he realised Bruce was looking directly at him.
"Peter… is he staring at me?"
Peter blinked. Bruce's gaze lingered for a second before returning to the book.
"Uhh… yeah. I think so."
"You think he heard us?"
"Impossible. We're too far away and everyone is talking. There is no way he heard anything."
Peter glanced around. Students were chatting everywhere. There was no logical reason to think Bruce could hear them across the room.
But he was wrong.
Bruce had heard everything. He did not need superpowers. Reading lips was enough.
The school is planning a trip to Oscorp next week. Bruce flipped a page. So that means Spider Man is appearing soon. His eyes drifted to Peter. So this event follows the movie timeline. Not the comics. Though nothing is certain since this world is a mix of everything. Even mutants exist here.
His gaze shifted briefly to the girl he had just rejected. His thoughts turned colder.
Your father already took his share from me. If I was not trying to avoid suspicion, I would have made sure you never saw him again. That is the only appreciation you will get.
At least I will have more freedom for my work now. That thought calmed him.
It had been almost a month since Akira Uchiha entered the body of Bruce Milister. A month since he accepted his third life.
In his first life, he had been a normal teenager who loved fiction. Comics, anime, light novels, donghua. He was not an introverted shut in. He was actually outgoing. Everything changed the day he opened his eyes as an infant.
At first he was thrilled. He believed he was an isekai protagonist. The idea made him grin inside.
The excitement faded quickly.
It vanished when he learned he was an Uchiha orphan in the Hidden Leaf Village of the Land of Fire.
Anyone who knows Naruto understands that being Uchiha, Uzumaki or Senju is basically a death sentence unless you are the main character or close to one.
He hoped he might get a system. Something to help him survive. He had been born just before the Third Shinobi War and without strength he was destined to become disposable cannon fodder.
Reality struck like cold water. He had no cheat. No system. Only his Sharingan potential and his knowledge of the story.
It was not much but it was something. With his knowledge he thought he could carve out a safe life. Prevent the Uchiha massacre. Stop Itachi from destroying the clan. Avoid dying single. Many things.
But knowledge without power is useless. His hopes broke one by one.
He could not show talent early. Not when everyone was already talking about his classmate Shisui Uchiha. If another prodigy appeared, Danzo would remove him quietly and Sarutobi would look away because Akira was not related to any of his old comrades. Even if Akira acted loyal to the village, the Uchiha clan would see it as betrayal and pressure him.
Still, he was not helpless. Maybe because of his past life, his spiritual energy was above average and he awakened his Sharingan at five. He told no one.
The brighter you shine, the more hands try to crush you.
He trained in Taijutsu, Kenjutsu and Genjutsu. A style that matched his vision. Taijutsu gave speed and strength. Genjutsu worked naturally with his eyes. Kenjutsu let him finish enemies the moment they fell into illusions.
He was not bad at Ninjutsu. He simply did not have time to master everything.
Even so, he improved. Enough to survive his first major trial. The Third Shinobi War. He performed better than he expected. He even earned a title from comrades and enemies. Akira the Slayer. A name given because of the number of Hidden Sand shinobi he cut down in battle.
For a moment he believed he finally had the strength to change something. But surviving one challenge did not mean he could survive the next.
His confidence broke the day he was surrounded by masked shinobi during a solo mission. The moment he saw their movement and coordination, he understood the truth.
The ambush was planned.
And the ones surrounding him were Root operatives.
He fought with everything he had but he was not a Kage. He was a single jonin facing dozens of jonin level assassins trained by Danzo. With only a three tomoe Sharingan and no Mangekyo, the outcome was already decided.
Poison from insect bites spread through his body during the fight. He recognised it immediately as an Aburame clan toxin. Knowing the source did not matter. Knowing the antidote would not have helped either.
In the end, he died.
But death was not the end. It was the beginning of another life.
When he opened his eyes again, he was no longer Akira Uchiha. He was Bruce Milister. A boy whose entire family had died in a car accident.
Everyone perished. Including the original Bruce. And Akira took his place.
At that moment he had been overwhelmed. Shock. Regret. Anger. All of it mixed together until he could barely breathe. But he forced himself to calm down, because the television in front of him showed something that froze his heart.
A news report about the Fantastic Four.
That was when he understood the truth. He had not fallen into a middle difficulty world. He had skipped directly to a hell level world. A world filled with cosmic threats, monsters, gods, invincible heroes, and villains who could destroy countries with a careless gesture.
And worst of all, he had no superpowers. What travelled through reincarnation was only his soul and consciousness. Not his chakra. Not the Sharingan. Not even the physical abilities he had worked so hard to gain. For a moment he felt completely powerless.
But this time, fate did not throw him into the fire empty handed.
The moment he woke up, he heard a soft chime. A transparent screen appeared in front of him, visible only to him.
When he thought about its function, all the information flowed into his mind. It was a simple but terrifyingly useful gacha system. It required three points for a single draw and could give anything from the Omniverse. Templates, summons, powers, weapons, bloodlines, techniques, even knowledge. He would gain one point per day.
Three days later, desperate for something he could rely on, he used his first spin.
He was lucky. His first reward was a character card. For him, it was the best possible start. He had no intention of summoning anyone in this world. Without power he could not control them, and he had no idea if the summons would be loyal or have their own will. Or worse, both.
A character template, however, was different. He could absorb it into himself.
[Zabuza Momochi 67%]
The name floated on the screen infront.
His first card was Zabuza Momochi. One of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist.
Even though Zabuza was nothing special by Kage standards, and even though Akira in his past life had been stronger, this template was priceless. Through Zabuza he could access chakra again. He could use all the jutsu he had mastered in the Naruto world, except for those that relied on the Sharingan since he no longer had Uchiha blood.
Bruce stared at the assimilation percentage and muttered to himself. Just a little more. A few more assassinations and the process will complete.
The thought lit a quiet fire in his heart.
It had been more than a month since his first card. Even though the system allowed one spin every three days, he had not used it again. Instead, he saved his points. He wanted multiple cards at once. He also don't wanted to distract his mind from the progress of Zabuza's assimilation.
Let's go home and do the spin.
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