Chapter 4 – Obtaining the Sharingan!
"System, what the hell is wrong with you? Why do you always give me options to become a traitor?" Izaya finally voiced the confusion swirling in his heart. From his bewildering transmigration to now, sitting on Konoha's main street, he was just one big question mark. Right now, he felt like cursing out loud.
But… even though Izaya had asked directly, the system offered no real explanation. It simply left a reminder in his mind that sounded serious but was essentially a bunch of nonsense.
"Ding! All selections released by this system are randomized. All task rewards are chosen by the Host independently…"
"Dammit!" Izaya mentally shut off the system notification. He decided to stop focusing on the system's erratic nature and instead turned his attention to the Chakra practice scroll in his hand.
But the moment he unrolled the scroll, he noticed a small figure standing in front of him. A little girl with her hair in twin buns, wearing a white silk dress adorned with delicate Chinese embroidery, was staring at him with wide, watery eyes. He hadn't even noticed her approach.
Four eyes met…
"Little one… who are you looking for?" Izaya asked, feeling a bit flustered by the sight of the tearful little girl.
"Waaah! Boohoo!" she wailed. "Big Brother, don't you want Tenten anymore?!"
In an instant, something completely unexpected happened. The unbelievably cute little loli suddenly rushed forward and threw herself into Izaya's arms, hammering his chest with her tiny fists while sobbing hysterically.
'What the hell?!' Izaya, who had zero experience with children, was thrown into complete disarray. At the same time, he was cursing the system inwardly. 'What kind of messed-up background did this stupid system set up for me?!'
"Wait a minute…" he thought, a realization dawning. "This little girl said she's Tenten?"
Looking down at the crying child in his arms, Izaya was stunned. Thinking back, he remembered that Uchiha Itachi had mentioned his identity earlier: "The boy who lives next door to Tenten's house…"
After murmuring to himself, a possible answer formed in his mind. "No, of course not," Izaya said quickly, trying to sound reassuring. "How could I ever abandon a cute little sister like you, Tenten?"
"Really?" Little Tenten looked up at him with her shimmering, tear-filled eyes, her gaze full of doubt. She circled around him once before continuing, "But before, Big Brother Izaya said he would take Tenten on a picnic out in the fields…"
'What the actual…? What's going on now?' Ten thousand cursed alpacas stampeded through Izaya's heart.
Because the system that brought him here had only given him the identity of a "Konoha civilian"—it hadn't provided any of the associated memories!
'Dog system! Get out here and explain to me what's going on!' Furious at the system's oversight, Izaya cursed it directly in his mind.
Whether it sensed his rage or it was just another coincidence, the system promptly responded the moment his thought finished.
"Ding! Unknown error detected. Initiating repair mode…"
"Ding! Repair complete. Compensating Host for losses incurred. Granting: Random Lottery Chance x1…"
*"Congratulations to the Host for winning the prize: Three-Tomoe Sharingan x2 via the random lottery."*
After reading these three system messages, Izaya was utterly dumbfounded.
Simultaneously, a flood of unfamiliar information suddenly surged into his mind.
Orphan… Konoha civilian… The oldest student in the Ninja School… Friends with Tenten…
It took nearly an hour for Izaya to finally sort through the jumble of new memories. And with that, he finally understood his detailed identity in this world.
A twelve-year-old who still hadn't managed to graduate from the Konoha Ninja School.
"Dammit," he muttered under his breath after the realization. Shaking off his frustration about his identity, he turned back to Tenten. "Little Tenten, your big brother has something important to do today. I'll definitely take you out to play next time, okay?"
"O… okay…" Seeing the anxious look on Izaya's face, Tenten didn't press him further. She simply nodded, clutching her practice kunai, and skipped off towards Konoha's public training grounds.
Now alone, Izaya made his way back to his "home," guided by the new memories in his mind.
Half an hour later, he pushed open the door to a simple, vacant wooden house. The sight that greeted him was stark and bare. Aside from some rudimentary wooden furniture, the room contained only the most basic daily necessities.
Seeing this, Izaya could only shake his head helplessly. He found a relatively clean spot and sat down cross-legged.
The poor living conditions didn't bother him much. They weren't his main concern right now.
What he cared about most was the Sharingan he had just obtained from the lottery.
This was, without a doubt, the best thing the system had given him since his arrival. More importantly, it was the only real capital he currently had to ensure his survival in this world.
While the Naruto world presented in the original story often seemed peaceful, Izaya knew that was just the view through the protagonist's lens. The hidden conflicts between the Five Great Ninja Villages, the brutal battles between ninja—it was all real, and far less beautiful than the story made it seem. These conflicts inevitably led to killing and death.
While Izaya wasn't opposed to being in the Naruto world, he wanted to live. He wanted to survive in this cruel shinobi world. And the only way to do that was to become stronger. To become the strongest. Only then could he survive encounters with the many elite jōnin, Kage-level fighters, and even god-tier ninjas. Only then would he be qualified to stand at the pinnacle of the ninja world alongside them.
And the Sharingan… was the foundation of his survival. That was the fundamental reason he cared so much about this system reward. What he gained wasn't just a Bloodline Limit; it was the means to stay alive.
"Ding! No hostile entities detected in the vicinity of the Host. Proceed to receive reward?"
After temporarily suppressing the melancholy in his heart, Izaya focused on the system prompt. Without a moment's hesitation, he firmly declared, "Yes, receive it!"
The moment the words left his mouth, a pair of scarlet eyes, radiating a dark and potent power, materialized in the air before him.
"So… this is what the Sharingan looks like?" Izaya whispered, a smile finally touching his lips as he gazed at the red orbs. Each pupil was a deep crimson, with a single, dark comma-like tomoe rotating slowly within. He was silent for a few seconds, utterly captivated, before he suddenly murmured, "They're… beautiful."
"Reward received. Integrate into the Host's body?"
"Yes!"
After appreciating the Sharingan's appearance, Izaya didn't delay. He directly chose to integrate the floating eyes into his own.
"GAH! Damn system! Why didn't you warn me the fusion process would be so painful?!"
As the Sharingan merged into his body, a searing, knife-like agony shot straight through Izaya's eyes and into his very soul…