Konoha 63, Summer Night
Insects chirped, and the moon hung low on the willow branches.
Land of Fire, Konohagakure, Hatake Residence.
Kakashi was lying on his unchanging single bed. He didn't even bother to take off his iconic black mask, revealing only a pair of tired, dead-fish eyes, staring blankly at the familiar ceiling.
His mind couldn't help but replay the survival exercise from earlier in the day—Team 7's final test: the Bell Test.
"What a classic and nostalgic segment," Kakashi thought, a rare trace of relief appearing in his weary eyes as he pulled at the corners of his mouth.
Though the process was full of twists and turns and complaints, these three kids finally understood the meaning of companionship.
"Well, they're not bad kids," Kakashi muttered to himself, then rolled over and tossed his copy of Make-Out Paradise aside.
Mental fatigue surged like a tide. He yawned, his eyelids growing heavier and heavier. Kakashi slowly closed his eyes, his consciousness gradually sinking into darkness.
…
However, just as his consciousness was about to completely dissipate and he was about to fall asleep, Kakashi suddenly shuddered.
Something was wrong.
He instantly opened his eyes, and his lazy, dead-fish eyes suddenly became as sharp as a hawk! Almost instinctively, he jumped up from the bed, his right hand already reaching for the ninja tool pouch on his waist—
Empty?
His pupils suddenly contracted, and then he clearly saw his surroundings.
This wasn't his messy apartment at all!
This was an extremely strange, huge, dark room! The air was cold, with a scent that seemed to have been sealed for a long time.
The surrounding walls appeared to be made of some kind of smooth black material, absorbing all light.
In front of him was a dark screen, like a movie theater screen. At this moment, there was no image on it, only an unsettling silence. Behind him, rows of empty seats were neatly arranged, extending into the depths of the darkness, like an abandoned theater auditorium.
"Where is this?!"
"An illusion?!"
Kakashi's mind raced, and he immediately tried to mobilize the chakra in his body. It flowed smoothly; it wasn't sealed. Without hesitation, he quickly formed hand seals.
"Substitution Jutsu!"
No response. Like a stone sinking into the sea, the flow of chakra had no effect, and he remained standing. Kakashi's face changed.
"Body Flicker Technique!"
Still no response! His body seemed to be nailed to the spot, unable to perform ninjutsu…
"Release!"
The hand seals he tried to remove the illusion with also had no effect!
Not an illusion? Not a regular seal or barrier?
Kakashi quickly pulled open his forehead protector and observed with all his might using his Sharingan, but he found nothing unusual.
"What on Earth is this place? Who brought me here?" A strong sense of crisis surged in his heart.
He was Hatake Kakashi, an elite jōnin of Konoha, the Copy Ninja, a veteran of the Anbu, and battle-hardened. How could someone kidnap him from his home to this strange place without him noticing, and restrict his abilities? This method… was simply unheard of!
Just as Kakashi's brain worked rapidly, he looked around vigilantly, trying to find any clues.
"Ah! Kakashi-sensei?!"
A familiar female voice, filled with surprise and timidity, suddenly sounded from not far behind him.
Kakashi turned around abruptly.
He saw two figures in pajamas about three or four rows behind him, looking at him in shock.
Haruno Sakura, with pink hair, wore a set of pink cotton pajamas with a cute rabbit pattern. At this moment, her emerald green eyes were wide and her mouth was slightly open.
Next to her, Uchiha Sasuke, with black hair and black eyes, wore simple dark blue striped pajamas. Although he tried to maintain a cool expression, his slightly furrowed brows and a hint of panic in his eyes still betrayed his inner uneasiness.
"Sakura? Sasuke?" Kakashi calmly pulled down his forehead protector. "How did you get here?!"
"I, we don't know either!" Sakura looked like she was about to cry, her voice tearful. "I was clearly sleeping at home. As soon as I closed my eyes and opened them again… I was here!" She pointed to the empty seats around her and the screen in front of her, continuing in a tearful voice: "Sasuke and I have been here for a while. We checked carefully, and there's nothing here, and we can't get out. There are only these chairs and this big screen in front… Kakashi-sensei, what's going on? Have we been captured by some terrible enemy?"
Although Sasuke didn't say anything, his face was also very grim. He had obviously tried to leave or resist, but failed.
He glanced at Kakashi, as if seeking an answer from this experienced jōnin teacher.
Kakashi's expression grew more solemn.
Even Sasuke and Sakura were brought here? And they were taken in their sleep… What kind of jutsu is this?
'The range is so wide, and the effect so hidden, even I didn't notice it… What is the opponent's goal?'
"Wait, where's Naruto?" Kakashi suddenly realized the missing member and frowned even more tightly.
Sakura and Sasuke are just newly graduated genin, and they might be easily tricked. But he is a genuine jōnin.
He was transferred here from his home in the heavily guarded Konohagakure silently, and his ninjutsu was restricted… This is definitely not something an ordinary ninja can do! The opponent's strength is probably unfathomable.
At this moment, Sasuke, who had been silent all this time, suddenly raised his hand and pointed at the huge black screen in front of him, with a strange look on his face.
"Kakashi-sensei, look at that screen. It lit up just now, and although it went out quickly, I seemed to… see the face of that idiot Naruto." He paused, then added in an even more uncertain tone: "It feels like… what's playing on this screen… seems to be Naruto's dream?"
"Naruto's… dream?"
Kakashi was startled, and subconsciously looked at the huge screen in front of him again.
The originally pitch-black screen lit up without any warning. A picture appeared.
It was a familiar training ground in Konohagakure. In the center of the training ground, two boys around twelve years old were confronting each other fiercely.
The golden, spiky hair, wearing the iconic orange sportswear—Uzumaki Naruto. The black, spiky hair, with a cold expression and a light of unwillingness to admit defeat in his eyes—Uchiha Sasuke.
However, the two people in the picture at this moment seemed to be in a very strange state.
On the screen, Naruto was seen with his hands on his hips, laughing loudly at Sasuke, who was lying on the ground, in an extremely arrogant manner.
Around him, there were at least hundreds of identical Shadow Clones standing densely, each of them looking at Sasuke on the ground with a smug expression.
Although Sasuke, who was lying on the ground, looked a little embarrassed, there was no anger or unwillingness on his face. Instead, he looked at Naruto with an expression full of admiration and relief?!
Kakashi: "…"
Sakura: "…"
Sasuke: "…"
The three spectators were all stunned. What… what was going on?
Then, Sasuke on the screen actually spoke. He said to Naruto with sincere admiration:
"You are worthy of being Uzumaki Naruto!"
"I… I admit defeat with all my heart!"
"Your strength is indeed above mine. From today on, I, Uchiha Sasuke, would like to call you the strongest of Team 7!"
Naruto heard this and laughed even more proudly, his nose almost reaching for the sky. He pointed at Sasuke and laughed without any restraint:
"Wahahaha! Sasuke, you're not that good! I thought you were so powerful! But you were easily defeated by master Naruto! Wahahaha!"
In the audience, the veins on the forehead of the real Uchiha Sasuke suddenly popped. His handsome face flushed red with anger and shame.
"This, this idiot!!! How could I lose to him? And say that kind of thing?" Sasuke was so angry he trembled all over. If his eyes could kill, the Naruto on the screen would have been sliced into pieces by him.
Sakura was speechless and covered her face with disgust: "Naruto is really hopeless…"
Kakashi had his classic dead-fish eye, silently watching the screen. His heart was calm, and he even wanted to laugh.
The tense atmosphere was slightly relieved by the unfolding scene on the screen.
Just as the three of them were emotionally fluctuating because of the outrageous dream on the screen, in the distant and unobservable shadows of the audience, a black-haired boy wearing ordinary ramen shop work clothes showed a satisfied smile.
It was Shigure.
In front of him, prompts that only he could see kept popping up:
[Ding! The emotional fluctuations from Uzumaki Naruto were captured! Emotional value +300!]
[Ding! The emotional fluctuations from Uchiha Sasuke were captured! Emotional value +200!]
[Ding! The emotional fluctuations from Haruno Sakura were captured! Emotional value +50!]
[Ding! The emotional fluctuations from Hatake Kakashi were captured! Emotional value +50!]
"Hehehe…" Shigure looked at the rapidly rising numbers on the panel, the corners of his mouth harder to suppress than an AK.
"It worked! This 'Dream Master System' is awesome! Not only can it pull in the dreamer, but also his close relatives as the audience! And the emotional value generated by the audience can also be collected by me! Double happiness!"
Shigure licked his lips, his eyes flashing with excitement.
He was a reborn person. Three years ago, he was just an ordinary psychologist on Earth struggling for life… well, he specialized in psychological counseling for various problem teenagers.
As a result, when he woke up, he found that his soul had traveled to the crisis-ridden Ninja World.
What's even more annoying is that he didn't become an Uchiha, a Hyūga, or even an Ino-Shika-Chō.
He was a complete war orphan, without any kekkei genkai, no background, and even his ninja talent was almost zero. The only lucky thing was that he was adopted by the owner of Ichiraku Ramen, the old man, and became his youngest son.
He is currently working as an assistant in the ramen shop, leading a fulfilling life of mixing noodles, cooking noodles, and washing dishes every day.
Over the past three years, he had tried various methods to change his fate like other predecessors who were reborn, such as secretly learning chakra refining techniques and trying physical training, but the effect was minimal, and he wasn't as strong as the old man who ran the shop.
In the end, he had to desperately admit a fact: he was just a useless person without ninja talent.
As time passed, the 63rd year of Konoha arrived, and Naruto, Sasuke, and other kids all graduated from the Ninja Academy, which means… the plot is about to begin.
When he thought that soon, Orochimaru would join forces with Sunagakure to launch the "Konoha Crush" plan, the Third Hokage would die in battle, and Konohagakure would suffer heavy losses.
Later, there would be the Akatsuki organization capturing the tailed beasts, Pain's Assault, and the Fourth Great Ninja War…
Shigure felt his scalp tingling! In his current powerless state, he was afraid any aftermath of a battle would crush him into slag.
Just when he was about to give up in despair, ready to pack up and run, or just lie down and pray that he could live to see Boruto… his "cheat" was finally activated last night.
[Dream Master System]
[Current Dream Fulfillment Level: Level 1 (700/100000)]
[Number of Dream Fulfillment Targets: 1]
[Number of Audiences: 3]
[Can pull designated target characters into a specific dream space (target exclusive dream/or "Dream Fulfillment Theater" constructed by the system)]
[Can read, weave, and even modify the target character's dream content]
[The emotional fluctuations generated by the target character and his close relatives in the dream space will be converted into "Emotional Value" and collected by the system]
[Emotional Value can be exchanged for various abilities, bloodlines, props, ninjutsu, etc. in the system mall…]
In short, it is to "make dreams" and "live broadcast dreams" for others, collect their joys, sorrows, anger, and happiness, and then use these emotional values to improve himself.
And the first "dream fulfillment" object he chose was naturally—the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki, of the Uzumaki Clan bloodline, the reincarnation of Asura, the future Seventh Hokage, the master of Talk No Jutsu, the Prince of Konoha… Uzumaki Naruto.
This prince, who has lacked love since childhood and longed for recognition, has too many dreams and obsessions in his heart that he wants to realize but cannot.
He is simply a walking treasure trove of emotional values.
And it was a stroke of genius to bring in Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sakura, the three people closest to him, as "audiences." After all, Naruto's emotional value alone might not be enough.
Bring in his teachers and companions and let them watch Naruto's dream together, and the various "speechless," "angry," "disgusted," "sympathetic," "shocked," "confused," and even "happy" reactions… are simply too many.
Shigure calculated silently in his heart, and at the same time, his eyes were cast on the big screen again.
His carefully designed dream is not over yet. The good show has just begun.