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Chapter 1: I'm Akira Uzumaki, An Isekai Protagonist

A.

A handsome young man with red hair and deep purple eyes stepped through the gates of Konoha for the first time. This was going to be his home now for the foreseeable future. Little did he know how much his life was going to change forever because of it.

…

Over 18 years ago, I had been reborn in this strange world with a System of all things.

A Restaurant System…

I have to admit to myself that I thought it was a pretty strange System to have, especially considering that I did not have my own Restaurant…yet. Since I was born, my System has only given me one task. I was to travel all over the world and improve my cooking skills.

And that's what I did. 

I was born in a small orphanage in the Land of Fire. When I was 13 years old, I left the orphanage to start traveling the world. Such a concept might seem incredibly dangerous, especially considering the type of world I was reborn into. The System assured me, however, that it would manipulate causality so that I would never be in danger no matter where I traveled on my journey to gain experience.

And I didn't encounter any dangers. In my 5 years on the road, I was never once attacked by bandits, vicious chakra beasts, or any rogue ninjas. Considering this world was packed full of all three, that was nothing short of a divine miracle.

"Welcome to the Village Hidden in the Leaves." One of the two Chunin gate guards greeted me. "If you'd like to request a mission you can do so at the main administration building in the center of the village." He said while pointing to it.

"Thank you," I replied while taking in the sights. I'd heard a lot about the Leaf Village on my travels. Despite being reborn in the Land of Fire, I'd never actually been here though. "Is that the Hokage monument?" I asked the two guards. It was basically Mount Rushmore but with ninjas…

The two Chunin looked at the mountain with reverence. "Yep! All of our village's Hokages are carved there! From the first to the current fifth!" One of them said.

"The fifth is Tsunade Senju, right?" I asked. I had heard many conflicting rumors about her throughout my travels. They ranged from her being the most beautiful woman in the world to the world's most degenerate gambler who squelches on all of her bets and debts. 

They nodded in reverence. "That's right. She's our current Hokage and the best medic in the whole world! She's amazing and has worked hard to keep this village together after–"

The other Chunin coughed and interrupted his partner with a stern glare. The Chunin who was talking stopped in alarm. "Er–nevermind."

"Is something wrong?" I asked. I was curious what that was about. That ninja just cut the other one off.

The ninja who was talking to me waved me off. "It's nothing. I'm Izumo, by the way. Can I point you anywhere in particular?" He asked me.

"Can you tell me where the nearest bank is?" I asked him.

…

The bank was completely empty and I was able to meet with a representative right away. I was in a private office in Konoha's main and only bank. An older portly man was sitting behind a desk and looking at me incredulously.

"Y-you want to open a restaurant here!? In Konoha!?" The banker asked me once again for confirmation.

I nodded. "Yeah, I heard Konoha was the strongest and most popular ninja village and I wanted to open my restaurant in a good location." I told the man. That was the excuse I had come up with at least.

The banker scoffed at me. "Konoha WAS the strongest village! That was until Orochimaru came and decimated half the village with his army of sound ninjas and gigantic snakes!" He spat out angrily. "Damn that man!"

"Wasn't that like two years ago?" I asked him. "Shouldn't the village have recovered by now?" Two years was a long time after all. I was surprised they haven't recovered yet. Especially with how wealthy the Land of Fire was compared to the other nations.

"Two years isn't even close to enough time to recover an entire economy! The village wasn't just damaged, it was shattered! Tens of thousands of civilians died and with them all of their businesses died to! The ninjas did a terrible job protecting anyone but their own!" The banker spat angrily!

"Oh, I wasn't aware of that." I muttered. "Did the Leaf ninjas really fail that badly to protect the other villagers?" I asked in disbelief. That was a monumental failure if true.

The banker snarled. "A bunch of my friends had died that day. I don't want to get into it, but let's just say the village had some traitors in the upper echelons. The traitors prevented the Leaf's forces from properly responding to the attack in time."

"I'm sorry to hear that." I said sincerely. I had been lucky to have been reborn with my System that protected me from harm for 18 years. I wasn't the type of guy to feel superior to other people just because I won the metaphorical lottery in this life.

The banker thanked me for my sincerity. "Listen, young man. You seem like a very well educated and nice guy. I don't want to see someone like you wasting away in a doomed village like this one."

I grimaced. "It can't be that bad can it?" 

"The majority of civilians that survived all ended up leaving the village and moving to the Fire Capital!" The banker told me. "Rumor has it that the Princess of the Land of Fire, who is the top contender to be its future ruler, thinks that the remaining Ninjas in charge of this village are all incompetent. She wants the village to collapse so she can build a new one under her own direct control." The banker told me in a hushed whisper. He made me promise not to repeat those words because that information wasn't supposed to be public.

This was all news to me. I had thought that this was a world entirely run by ninjas. The nobility seemed to have a lot more power than I had thought. I suppose it was because I hadn't ever interacted with any of them in my travels. 

"Then why is this bank still here?" I asked him. If the place was that bad, then they should just close down his bank and move to a better city.

The guy let out a sigh. "Contractually, our bank has to have a branch in every single city in the Land of Fire. I was the unlucky one who got stuck with managing Konoha's branch." He explained it to me. "Thankfully, I only have to be here another few months before someone else comes and takes my place."

"So does that mean that I can get a loan with really cheap interest payments? Some kind of economic incentive to open a business here?" I asked him. That's how it would have been in my last life at least. 

The banker sighed again. "You would think that, but you forget that the nobility wants this village to fail! Because of that. It's the opposite. If you want to open a business here, you're going to be getting some pretty brutal interest payments. Why do you think no one else is starting any business in this village? Every small startup is going to fail with the lack of customers and high interest rates." He said, doing his best to dissuade me. 

"Well shit…" I mumbled.

"Do you still want to open a restaurant here?" He asked me for the last time.

I grimaced. I knew I'd have to accept those higher interest rates. I'd just have to pay off my loan as fast as possible. "Yeah, I still want to. Where can I sign?" It's not like I had much of a choice anyway…

The banker looked at me with pity. "Don't come crying to me when your business fails, and you end up an indentured servant when you default on your payments. And don't think about running either! Our bank has more than enough money to pay for a team of ninjas to track you down and drag you off to the mines for the rest of your life!" He said, completely serious.

I cringed. The laws in this world were not even close to as forgiving as my previous life. Bankruptcy was not a thing here. I gulped at the thought of being a slave for the rest of my life if my restaurant failed, but I signed the papers anyway. I knew that it wasn't going to fail!

After all, I had a cheat in this new life…

[Quest Completed! Congratulations on getting a loan for your restaurant! +1000 System Points!]

[Be advised, the protection bestowed upon you will now only occur within your new restaurant.]

Nice! I grinned at the notifications that only I could see! With that amount of points, I could get some nice furniture in my restaurant and even upgrade my cooking talents. I was a good cook, but I wasn't a master yet. Maybe now I could be?

XXX

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