"First Hinata, then Sakura, followed by Ino, Tenten, Tsunade, Mei Terumi..."
"I don't have to collect them all, but I definitely need to max out everyone's favorability... But wait, isn't Hinata a bit too young for me right now? Wouldn't that be illegal?"
Konoha Village – Ichiraku Ramen.
A blond, blue-eyed boy lightly pinched the whisker marks on his cheeks, his eyes narrowed in thought as he waited for a big bowl of chashu ramen, mentally strategizing his grand "post-transmigration plan."
Yes—inside Uzumaki Naruto's body now lived the soul of a modern-day overworked office drone.
In his past life, he worked more than a horse, got paid less than chicken feed, ran errands all day fetching deliveries for his boss, and had to kiss up while working endless unpaid overtime.
If not for how brutal the job market had been in recent years, he might've already picked a good day to dump an iced Americano on his balding, middle-aged manager's head and let him experience what it truly means to "fix corporate culture."
So now that he's transmigrated into the Naruto world—no, not just any character, but the Sage of Six Paths' chosen son, the main character of this shonen titan…
Is it too much to ask to enjoy life a bit using his knowledge of the original story?
Of course, life wouldn't just be all about fooling around. There'd still be proper training, fighting monsters, using the Nine-Tails' cheat powers—none of that would be skipped.
After all, this life, finally, was for himself. No more bowing and scraping just to survive, no more endless, meaningless grunt work.
"Big bowl of chashu, coming up." Old Man Teuchi handed Naruto the steaming bowl, even throwing in an extra piece of pork.
"Today's the first day of becoming a ninja, right?" The ramen shop owner smiled warmly. "Good luck~"
Naruto returned the smile brightly and then eagerly lowered his head to slurp his noodles.
See? Even Otsutsuki Teuchi knew how to ride the protagonist's coattails. Why else do you think after Pain wiped out the whole village, his shop was the first to reopen? Why do you think he made it to the end of the story safe and sound?
Honestly, the world of Naruto isn't that different from Earth—
If you have a kekkei genkai (bloodline limit), you can strut around like a boss. No background or connections? Even being a messenger is a life-or-death gamble, and all you can do is give a bitter smile and tap out with both hands.
No matter how hard you work, your fate is probably to be resurrected by Orochimaru and Kabuto as disposable cannon fodder.
Just look at the past Hokage—every one of them had family ties or clan connections.
Thankfully, this time he was a true-blue, pure-blooded descendant of Asura.
With that thought, Naruto strode confidently into the classroom and picked a corner seat, eagerly scanning everyone inside.
Sunlight poured through the classroom windows of the Ninja Academy, casting a warm glow on the group of young graduates.
"Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba... they all look exactly like they do in the anime. Hinata keeps sneaking glances at me too. Yep, her affection meter must already be maxed out from the beginning."
"Sasuke really is worthy of the title 'coolest guy'—his looks are on point, no doubt about it. If a girl had transmigrated instead of me, she'd probably be licking his face right now."
"But wait, where's Sakura?"
Naruto looked around and finally spotted Sakura sitting calmly in a far corner, staring out the window.
Her neatly worn qipao and high ponytail gave her a clean, refined look. Her emerald eyes added a cool, aloof air to her presence.
Naruto frowned slightly. "What's going on with Sakura? Shouldn't she be fighting Ino for a seat right about now?"
He had a vague, uneasy feeling in his gut.
After all, a transmigrator's biggest cheat was their knowledge of the original story and characters. But if he'd been dropped into a Naruto world that wasn't faithful to canon… that would be a massive pitfall.
Who knows—what if some completely unrecognizable character just showed up out of nowhere and offed him on the spot?
"Come on, man, I just want to get a jōnin job and casually build a harem…"
Naruto winced internally and nervously tapped his toes on the floor.
As if sensing Naruto's gaze, Sakura glanced back at him.
Naruto felt a chill run down his spine and immediately whipped his head away—completely missing the way Sakura's eyebrows gradually knitted together.
Soon, the various jōnin instructors started showing up, calling away students from the classroom. The room grew quieter as more and more left.
According to the original timeline, Kakashi wouldn't show up until the very last moment.
At this point, Naruto was practically sweating buckets.
"The Konoha 12 all act like their canon selves. The jōnin instructors are acting normal too. Sasuke's on point. But Sakura... she's totally off!"
Naruto had been counting. Sakura had glanced in his direction twenty-three times.
Twenty-three times.
And the way she looked at him—it wasn't out of affection or curiosity—it was... scrutinizing?
Why would she scrutinize me?
Did I do something off?
Right. At this point in the story, the prank-loving Naruto should be placing a chalkboard eraser on the classroom door to prank Kakashi.
But I've been way too calm—too out of character for Naruto.
The current Naruto wouldn't just sit still like this!
Thinking quickly, Naruto stood up with a grin and casually walked to the front, grabbed the eraser and a chair, and set the trap on the door.
He exaggeratedly called out, recalling the original scene: "What the heck? Our squad leader's still not here? Looks like we gotta teach him a lesson!"
Sasuke glanced over with a look full of disdain. "As if a dumb trick like that would ever fool a jōnin."
Naruto grinned—yes! That's the perfect Sasuke-level arrogance I was waiting for!
Then he looked at Sakura again.
Her expression? Kind of like… she was watching a monkey in a zoo.
Come on, Shift, can't you give me some normal girl reactions here?
Naruto was full of internal complaints, but outwardly kept his cool. He slowly returned the eraser to the desk and said, "Sasuke's right."
Fine then. Time for Plan B to test her.
After a while, Kakashi finally showed up fashionably late. Then came the iconic rooftop self-introduction scene.
"I'll go first," Naruto volunteered right away.
Kakashi nodded. Sasuke and Sakura turned to look at him.
"I'm Uzumaki Naruto. I love instant noodles—especially braised beef, pickled chili, and sour cabbage flavors. My dream is to get a jōnin position, lead a squad, and spend the rest of my life goofing off."
Then he looked at Sakura, his gaze sharp.
Now, how will you respond?
Sakura didn't flinch. She calmly replied:
"I'm Haruno Sakura. I don't really like anything in particular, but I hate posers and cringey guys. I don't care whether I get an official position or not, but I hope Konoha's leadership stops discriminating against women."
Naruto felt like a hammer had slammed into his chest. He could hardly breathe.
She deliberately mentioned "official position"… her attitude toward Sasuke changed… she uses modern lingo… and the way she looks at me—it's like she's observing an exhibit…
A bold theory formed in Naruto's mind:
This Sakura… might be a transmigrator too!
Let's confirm it.
Naruto turned to her and asked suddenly, "...What changes, what doesn't?"
Sakura looked at him, eyes narrowing: "Signs depend on the quadrant."
It's true!!
Naruto gasped. Then asked again: "Miss, may I ask—where did you transmigrate from? I'm from Fujian."
"I'm from Sichuan-Chongqing."
"Ah, a Sichuan girl. Pleasure to meet you," Naruto cupped his fists.
Not a sweet Sakura girl, but a fierce Sichuan girl—famous online for being the type who could smack a man into rehab with a single flick.
At the same time, Naruto realized something very serious…