Naruto: Naraku Grows Stronger as a Beautiful, Tragic Side Character

Chapter 1: Chapter 1 Aspiring to Become a Popular Character

”Winner: Kakashi Hatake.”

At the Ninja Academy, the homeroom teacher’s booming voice announced the end of a sparring match.

”Both parties, form the Seal of Reconciliation.”

Without resentment or harsh words, the boy with black hair so long it almost covered his face silently got up from the ground, dusted himself off, and extended two fingers.

His fingers briefly met those of Kakashi, who stood opposite him with a short sword on his back and short white hair, before separating.

”Hatake is so amazing!”

”As expected of White Fang’s son!”

”Yeah, yeah, that was an Uchiha, and he won so easily.”

”Speaking of which, that guy really doesn’t act like an Uchiha; he’s so gloomy.”

Whispers and discussions rose and fell around them, mostly praising Kakashi, but some dissenting voices also emerged.

”If it were me, I would have won! Hey, Kakashi, fight me!”

Uchiha Obito, who was from the same Uchiha Clan as the boy who had just lost, adjusted his goggles, determined to bring honor to his clan.

Kakashi paid no attention to these external voices.

He simply glanced at his opponent, saw no reaction from him as usual, then turned and returned to the class formation, ignoring the dead last Obito’s overconfident challenge once again.

”Hey, you bastard Kakashi, you ignored me again!”

Kakashi was annoyed by him: ”Quiet down, sparring with you is useless.”

”What?! How dare you say that! Alright, come on, I’ll show you how amazing Lord Obito is!”

”Alright, Obito,” a little girl with two camouflage marks on her face tugged at Obito’s clothes, ”The next group is about to be arranged; don’t disturb the teacher’s class.”

”Okay, Rin.”

Upon hearing the girl’s advice, Uchiha Obito seemed to have had a switch flipped, immediately ceasing his antics.

The classmates were all accustomed to this, rolling their eyes to express their exasperation.

Every sparring class, Obito would declare his challenge to Kakashi, but he was either ignored by Kakashi or defeated within a few moves.

They truly didn’t know why he so brazenly claimed he would show Kakashi how amazing he was every time.

These theatrics did not affect the black-haired boy who had just lost the sparring match.

He was walking slowly to the other side with his head down.

As he neared the edge of the line, the children closest to him fell silent, moving a few steps away as if avoiding a plague god, wanting to distance themselves from him.

No one knew that before this sparring match began, the soul within the boy’s body had already been replaced by another.

Naraku returned to the team, staring blankly at a pebble on the ground... Naraku, a pure-blooded Chinese youth, died in a severe multi-car accident and was chosen by a system to transmigrate into this world, replacing the boy named Uchiha Naraku.

As a veteran anime fan and a ’fun-seeker,’ Naraku quickly realized which world he had transmigrated into shortly after regaining consciousness.

He was quite happy to see his ageless idol in his youth, but unfortunately, the timing of his transmigration wasn’t great; he had only been here for less than a day and already had to endure a beating in this class, and it was from his idol himself.

”System?”

Naraku tried to call out to his golden finger in his mind again.

[Hello, Transmigrator, the Popularity Achievement System is at your service.]

The cold, mechanical voice finally sounded in his mind, and Naraku breathed a sigh of relief, feeling much more at ease.

He had thought he hadn’t even gotten a cheat, but even though it was a bit late, it had come after all.

In this cruel, dark Ninja World where human lives were like grass, if he didn’t have power, he would probably die.

And he was an Uchiha, so even if he was lucky enough to not die in the Third Great Ninja War, he would be killed by the filial son Uchiha Itachi on the night of the clan’s extermination.

However, the Popularity Achievement System?

Does this mean he needs to gain popularity to become stronger?

In this Ninja World where strength reigns supreme, how would he gain popularity?

Does he have to become a celebrity?

[Transmigrator, you seem to have misunderstood. This system does not require you to gain popularity among the indigenous people of the Ninja World, but rather in another modern world, your popularity among the viewers of the naruto anime.]

?

I recognize every word the system says, so why can’t I understand them when they’re put together?

[Transmigrator, this is indeed the Ninja World you remember, but it has been linked by another system owner. The other party’s codename is ”animator.” The animator has no right to interfere with this world but can observe anything that happens in it, using it as a blueprint to extract, embellish, and produce animation, which is then broadcast in the animator’s world to profit.]

So, this world, though real, has long become the animator’s material library?

[Yes, Transmigrator, what you need to do is to gain popularity points from the audience in the animator’s world. popularity points can be exchanged for this system’s points, which you can use to purchase items you need in the system store.]

Why does it feel like we’re just hitchhiking?

[You can think of it that way.]

By the way, why would popularity points be something the system needs? Is this thing useful?

[Some face-slapping systems even need ’face-slapping points,’ Transmigrator, broaden your perspective.]

...Naraku was speechless.

[In fact, whether it’s the face-slapping points collected by a face-slapping system or the popularity points collected by this system, they are essentially born from human desires and contain special energy. You can refer to the ’wish power’ needed by gods and Buddhas for their incense path cultivation in some worlds to help you understand.]

Understood, understood.

Anyway, it’s like this; as long as I can live, it’s fine.

Naraku quickly accepted the facts and began to think about how to make himself a popular character.

By the way, can I just ask the animator to make me the protagonist?

[No, this system does not have permission to communicate with the other party.]

Oh right, we’re hitchhiking; how can we shamelessly order the driver to drive to our house?

No, maybe we’re not even hitchhikers; we’re train hoppers, the kind who get caught and have to pay a fine.

[...]

If I can’t take the back door, then I can’t. Anyway, I still remember the general plot outline of the Ninja World, and utilizing this will give me an advantage.

Naraku pursed his lips, trying to figure out what he should do next.

Although he didn’t know exactly which plotlines the animator would choose to animate, the main storyline shouldn’t be too different from the original timeline.

After all, who would ignore exciting events and only show trivial matters to the audience?

As long as he could connect with the main characters and participate in important events, he wouldn’t have to worry about not appearing or not gaining popularity.

He probably wouldn’t catch up with Minato Namikaze’s generation, but fortunately, he was in the same class as Kakashi.

Among his classmates, there were many familiar faces; most of the Jonin instructors for the Twelve Ninja Genin were there, and even Tsuchiko Brother and Rin were still alive and well among them.

Analyzing based on the development of the original timeline, among these people, the ones with the highest potential, the most arduous fates, and the most likely to receive high attention from the animator were only Kakashi Hatake and the current dead last, the future big BOSS Tsuchiko Brother.

But the latter even killed his own mentor, and Naraku politely declined, stating that he didn’t want to become a stepping stone for the other party’s revenge on the world.

Therefore, the only option was Kakashi.

Yay! Reborn, and I’m shipping myself with my idol!

Naraku pinched his thigh just in time, preventing himself from laughing out loud and ruining his current persona.

The original Uchiha Naraku was a gloomy, withdrawn, and unsociable person, rarely initiating contact with others.

Even with his clan member Uchiha Obito, he wasn’t familiar, always keeping to himself and being taciturn.

He couldn’t just ruin his persona as soon as he arrived; he needed to experience some things before he had a reason to slowly change.

By this time, the entire class had finished sparring, and the homeroom teacher called for the students to return to the classroom.

Naraku walked last, leisurely following them back, and sat down in the corner of the last row in the classroom.

After much thought, Naraku still hadn’t figured out how to naturally approach Kakashi.

Just as he was frowning in distress, he suddenly remembered that he didn’t seem to fully understand the system yet.

”Oh, right, System, do you have any other functions?”