Akumura stretched, the fluorescent lights of the office buzzing dimly overhead. It was past midnight—again. The stack of reports on his desk had finally been filed, and the boss, as usual, was nowhere in sight when the shift ended. He trudged out of the building, pulling his coat tighter against the chilly wind as he stepped into the deserted street.
As he crossed the road, he spotted a familiar figure leaning against a lamppost—Taji, his old friend and fellow corporate drone.
"Akumura!" Taji called, raising a half-empty can of beer. "Bar?"
Akumura hesitated. "It's late…"
Taji grinned. "Exactly why we need it."
They walked in silence for a bit before Taji broke into a rant. "You know our boss is a greedy bastard, right? Stalling our pay like we're idiots. I swear, one day…"
"Tell me about it," Akumura muttered. "Rent's due and my fridge has nothing but soy sauce."
When they reached the bar, the familiar stench of spilled alcohol and cheap cologne welcomed them. Three shots in, and Taji's mood took a sharp turn. He bumped into a teenager by the dart board.
"Watch it, punk!" Taji snapped.
The kid scowled. "Watch yourself, old man."
In a flash, fists flew. Akumura rushed to stop it, but in the chaos, the kid pulled a knife. Akumura barely saw the flash of silver before he felt a sharp pain in his side.
He collapsed.
The noise faded. The bar spun.
He could only think of one thing: watching Naruto as a kid. Funny enough, all he could remember were the filler episodes. He laughed bitterly in his mind, darkness swallowing him whole.
Then—blue.
A screen flickered in the void.
⮞ Do you want to live?
A trembling hand—somehow his—clicked "Yes."
⮞ Do you want to be powerful?
He didn't hesitate this time. "Yes."
The screen vanished.
Akumura gasped and sat upright. The scent of wood and herbs filled the air. He was lying on a wooden bed in a small room with stone walls and dim lantern light.
Then, like a flood, memories surged.
His name… was Ōtsutsuki Hamura.
He was ten years old.
He had run away from… something. Somewhere. He barely remembered collapsing just outside a village.
A gentle chime echoed in his mind.
⮞ Welcome, Host Hamura, to the Lego Ninjago System.
⮞ Objective: Become the next First Spinjitzu Master.
"What the hell is a First Spinjitzu Master?" he murmured aloud.
The system responded:
⮞ The First Spinjitzu Master is the legendary founder of Ninjago, wielder of all elemental powers, part Oni, part Dragon.
Before he could process it, the door creaked open.
A woman with kind eyes and a white sash stepped in. "Hello, child. You're awake."
"Who… are you?"
"My name is Chiaki. I'm the village nurse. You collapsed just outside the gate. We brought you in."
She checked his pulse and eyes. "You seem stable now."
DING!
⮞ Would you like to replace human genetics with: ◼︎ Quarter Oni ◼︎ Quarter Dragon
"…Yes," he whispered.
His body tensed, his vision blurred—and he blacked out again.
When he awoke, Chiaki was still there, wiping his forehead.
"You passed out again. Only for 10 or 15 minutes this time," she said softly.
"We need to take you to the village head. He'll want to speak with you."
She led him through narrow paths and wooden walkways to the village hall—a large structure nestled into the cliffside.
Inside sat an older man with a long beard and sharp eyes. He looked up.
"So. You're the boy they found at the gate."
Hamura nodded cautiously.
The man leaned forward. "We don't run a charity here. If you want to stay, you'll have to work. Labour, for now. Until we know more about you."
Hamura bowed his head. "Understood."
As he was escorted to the worker's barracks, he felt another chime in his mind.
⮞ System initializing training pathways… - Earth Element Unlocked - Spinjitzu Core Inactive - Oni-Dragon Awakening: 1%
He didn't know what this world was, or what it meant to become the "First Spinjitzu Master."
But for the first time since that fateful night at the bar—
He had a purpose.