Systematic Introduction

The first thing I noticed when I came to, was that the bed I'm on is pretty soft. Comfortable enough to make me want to sleep in, at least.

Being the man of simple pleasures that I am, I decide to indulge for a few moments. My eyes closed, the steady rhythm of my breathing, the slow beat of my heart, it pulls me into a familiar trance.

I used to meditate in my previous life. In fact, I tried to meditate every morning. I believed that it was a way to clear my mind and sharpen my thoughts for the day ahead.

Even so, I'm not surprised by the pinging noise that I hear ring in my mind.

Still, that doesn't mean it isn't annoying.

Quest Added!

[The Tutorial]

Objective: Go through the tutorial.

Sub-Objective: Open the stat page, open the inventory, and gain a skill.

Reward: 5 Stat Points, 1000 Exp, and 1 skill of your choice.

Cool, my first quest. The objective seems easy and the last reward sounds crazy.

Can I ask the system questions? I should have access to the UI now, so I should be able to, right? Might as well try it out.

In my thoughts, obviously. Don't want people to think I'm crazy because I made it a habit to talk to the system out loud or something.

Hey, system, what's up with the last reward for this very easy quest?

The system would like to remind the host that the system is still in Beta testing and things are still being worked out. Also, the host has set their game to Easy Mode.

Oh, yeah. I totally forgot about that. Okay then, easy mode might be too easy. I don't want life to be a struggle, obviously, but an occasional challenge could be fun, if I ever get bored.

Whatever, moving on.

Let's see, opening the stat page should be pretty easy, yeah? Just think… with a bit of effort, probably… stats. Oh, yep that worked.

Level: 1

Name: Toshiki

Title(s): Orphan

Race: Human

Age: 4

Health: 1900

([E]*100=Health)

Health Regen/Sec=5

(5*[Level]=Health Regen/Sec)

(Health Regen is not determined by stats)

Mana: 1900

([I]*100=Mana)

Mana Regen/Sec=8.8

(([I]/5)+(5*[Level])=Mana Regen/Sec)

Chakra: 3800 (LOCKED)

(([I]+[E])*100=Chakra)

Chakra Regen/Sec=3.8

(([I]/10)+([E]/10)=Chakra Regen/Sec)

S: 19

P: 19

E: 19

C: 19

I: 19

A: 19

L: 19

Perks: [Supernatural Capability], [Magically Inclined], [Cannibal], [Bloody Mess], [Silent Tread], [Paralyzing Palm], [Regenerative], [Perfect Touch], [Toughness], [Terrifying Presence], [Hunter], [Adamantium Skeleton], [Abominable], [A Good Rest]

Skills: [Mana Manipulation] Lv1, [Mana Sense] Lv1, [Track] Lv1, [Terrify] Lv1

Does [Orphan] really count as a title? Also, my stats certainly don't align with my age. The average stats of humans in this world is 3, my being four years old and having almost six times that, in every stat, could be a problem.

On the other hand, there are drastically more civilians than shinobi in this world. The total number of allied shinobi in the fourth Great Shinobi World War was around fifty thousand, if I'm remembering right, which I'm not sure I am, but there should be at least a million civilians.

A pinging noise alerts me that I've succeeded, so, I move on. Opening the inventory should be similarly easy.

Just gather a bit of will, put in a bit of effort, and… inventory.

Yep, success. Though it's empty for the moment, so there isn't a whole lot of excitement to be had.

Now then, how do I gain a skill? It should be through repeated action, right? In that case, the easiest one to get right now would be the go-to for most gamers.

[Observe] is a skill that's usually achievable by looking at something, or a couple of things, for a while and it allows the user to receive information on what they [Observe].

It's a decent skill in most 'Gamer' fics.

Sitting up, I'm not too surprised by my drastically changed height. I was already aware that I was now four years old after all.

Taking in the room as I shuffle over to the side of the bed and begin to stand, making sure to keep my movements very controlled in an effort to not break anything or fall over from my changed balance, I find myself a bit startled.

The room is… not how I would have pictured the room of a four year old, even one that does happen to live in the world of Naruto.

It is spartan, almost completely undecorated. The walls are a mild gray, but don't look like they've been painted in ages. A dresser with one of the drawers a bit open at the bottom sits in the corner. The closet door is open and in it I can see a few jackets hung up by hangers.

The bed I was just laying on is a small twin sized bed with a thin, but still warm solid black soft cloth covering, the sheet covering the mattress is a dark gray, similar to both the pillow case and the walls.

My bedroom certainly wasn't this depressing when I was four my first time around. I knew because my first mother had many photos.

Walking out of my room, I saw it all connect with a single bathroom and a kitchen that had a small table with a single seat in the middle of it.

I realize that the fact that I'm an orphan could contribute to my lack of a last name, but being four years old should not contribute to me having an apartment to myself, no matter what canon bullshit says that Naruto got the same treatment.

Even if he did, he was a village pariah and the kyuubi jinchūriki, whereas I am, at most, a random orphan child.

Am I emancipated or something?

Checking the clock on the stove in the middle of the kitchen in the apartment that is now mine, what a sobering thing for a four year old to do, I find out the time.

Five in the morning.

I sit at the small table in the middle of the kitchen, put my hands over my face, and think.

Time passes and as it does, bits of memory enter my head and slot, almost seamlessly, into place.

I am Toshiki, an orphaned child of a single ANBU mother who died just eight months ago, two months after I turned four years old. I was placed into an orphanage and given a monthly stipend due to my mother's service. That stipend was placed into an account that I could not access until I became of age or emancipated.

Five months after I was placed in an orphanage, I filed for my emancipation and was evaluated for a month before it was declared that I was capable of taking care of myself and given access to the account that held the funds that the village had allotted to me, alongside the remaining money in my mother's name.

Using that money, I moved out of the orphanage and bought an apartment, which took a month alone given all the paperwork that needed to be viewed and signed seeing as I was only four years old.

I have been living in this small, drab apartment for a month now.

I have no friends and my only goal is the single minded focus to follow in my mother's footsteps.

Damn, that is depressing. Also, mildly unrealistic coming from the time that I do. Then again, both physical and mental development in this world is drastically affected by chakra.

Skill [Mental Damage Resistance] Re-Acquired!

Oh, look at that, that is both depressing and not what I was going for.

'Re-Acquired', huh? That would mean that Toshiki had it before I arrived. And judging by how there aren't any other skills showing up, I'm guessing that that was either the only one he had or the only one high enough to carry over.

Whatever, I'll check later how high it is. For now though, does that count as a mission complete?

Would you like to turn in Active Quest: [Complete the Tutorial]?

Yep, sure would. I don't want to collect on that skill of choice just yet, though. Right now, I want a shower and then we'll go from there.

The hot water felt good, but the original Toshiki's desire to follow his mother had made him apply to the academy, which starts at 7:30 and ends at 17:00.

Knowing that the academy accepted a four year old gives me a pretty good idea of what time I'm in.

The third Great Shinobi World War should be about to break out or in full swing. Depending on the age Kakashi is, this could be either great or really not so great.

What isn't great, is that the previous Toshiki was a big fan of shorts and I am decidedly not.

He has a few pairs of pants, a few more suited for Shinobi work than others, but I think I'll take the pair of black harem pants and put some tape on them at my ankles or something.

They're relatively comfortable and don't really restrict my movement, so I'll probably just wear them, wash them, and then repeat for a while. At least, until I decide to go and get some more comfortable pants.

Having dried myself and dressed after my shower, it was about 6:30, which gives me about an hour.

Walking to the academy would have taken about fifteen minutes before my stats were updated to 19. Speed walking could cut about three minutes off of that. Running there would have reduced the time by eight minutes. Again, all before my stats became 19.

So, even before attaining the stats that I currently have, I would have been able to make it to the academy pretty easily.

That leaves with a pretty good idea of what I should spend my hour on.

Hey, system, I know what I want my reward skill to be.