Sakamoto Tatsuma was a transmigrator.
He was also a war orphan. Whether his parents had been shinobi remained a mystery; his name, his current residence, and his living stipend were all provided by the village.
Life had been stable enough these past few years, but one thing deeply bothered him. Namely…
Why the hell did a guy named Sakamoto Tatsuma have to have a blue-white natural perm?!
Unfortunately, this was the world of Naruto as he knew it, not the world of Gintama. Otherwise, Tatsuma felt that with his own efforts, he could have personally kickstarted a grand drama featuring the "Joui Four."
Starting out as an orphan in the dangerous, ever-shifting world of Naruto, Tatsuma had spent his early days desperately digging for his own talents and strengths.
The result? He discovered that aside from having a bright, handsome smile that won over elderly grandparents, he had no other notable talents.
He had resigned himself to being a background extra for the rest of his life until a month ago. Upon waking up and seeing the Ninja Academy admission letter on his desk, his "Golden Finger" finally awakened—The Kudos Cult System.
Host: Sakamoto Tatsuma
Attributes:
STR (Strength): 30 / 120SPD (Speed): 43 / 248PHY (Physique): 37 / 210INT (Intelligence): 100 / 200NIN (Ninjutsu): 0 / 120GEN (Genjutsu): 0 / 120ENG (Energy): 40 / 120SEA (Seals): 40 / 120
[Note: The minimum attribute threshold for Genin is 100; Chunin is 1,000; Jonin is 10,000.]
Special Talents:
Space-Time: 20% (Possesses talent for Space-Time Ninjutsu, but not much.)Ninjutsu Development: 10% (Possesses talent for developing Ninjutsu, but not much.)
[Note: Special Talent calculation differs from regular attributes; it is recorded as a percentage of talent acquired.]
This was Tatsuma's system interface. It was incredibly sparse—he'd even had to come up with the name himself. In Tatsuma's eyes, this system was like a breath of fresh air.
In a "System Circle" dominated by tropes like plundering or looting drops from kills, Tatsuma's system was different. To acquire an opponent's talent, he had to offer them a sincere compliment and then defeat them.
Fortunately for Tatsuma, "defeat" didn't strictly mean a life-or-death battle. For instance, his recent daily "appointments" with Minato Namikaze—framing their morning runs as a competition—was enough to trigger the system rewards.
As a "cannon fodder" tier character with attribute caps mostly stuck at 120, Tatsuma knew this system was his only way to change his fate. Over the past few days, he had been shamelessly "fleecing" the sheep known as Minato Namikaze.
Both his Space-Time and Ninjutsu Development talents had been harvested from Minato. Actually, there had been a third one: [Ninjutsu Naming Talent (Minato Namikaze Limited Edition) 100%], but Tatsuma had flatly refused to collect it.
Usually, he would never pass up a talent he could utilize instantly, but he hadn't hesitated for a second to skip that one. He had no desire to stand on a battlefield reciting a "menu" of ridiculous, paragraph-long jutsu names.
Glancing at his slightly improved stats, Tatsuma turned his sincere smile toward Minato—his "friend" who had finally responded to his challenge today.
"Are you going to keep training later? I'm heading to the training grounds to watch the shinobi practice."
Minato's eyes lit up. He felt a pang of regret for not thinking of this sooner. He nodded immediately. "Count me in!"
Tatsuma's smile widened. His reason for bringing Minato to the training grounds was simple: the place was packed with shinobi. He couldn't hope to beat an actual ninja—not even in a simple drill.
But bringing Minato along meant he could "defeat" him over and over again to keep harvesting that sweet, sweet talent. Looking at Minato's innocent, oblivious expression, Tatsuma said, "Let's grab some breakfast first. My treat!"
"How could I let you do that?"
Minato looked at Tatsuma's clothes. Like his own, they were clearly street-stall knockoffs with slightly misaligned logos.
Correctly identifying that Tatsuma was in the same "struggling orphan" class as himself, Minato shook his head. "We should just buy our own. I don't want you spending your money on me."
Minato refused the treat, but he didn't try to act like a big shot by offering to pay for Tatsuma either. He was pragmatically aware that his money came from the village stipend; every ryo had to be accounted for.
If he were wealthy, Minato wouldn't have minded treating his new friend, but for now... that would have to wait until he became a ninja and had a real income.
Seeing how sensible Minato was, Tatsuma shook his head and patted the boy on the shoulder, inventing a quick excuse. "I forgot to bring my ninja tools today. If you lend me yours, I'll pay for breakfast."
Minato noticed that Tatsuma indeed wasn't wearing a tool pouch. After a moment's thought, he nodded. "Then make sure you remember your pouch next time. I heard we'll need them constantly once classes start. By the way, Sakamoto-san, are you also a student at the Academy?"
"Yeah. I start tomorrow."
The two small figures wove through the streets as the morning crowds began to swell. At this time, Ichiraku Ramen didn't even exist yet—it wouldn't open its doors until the era of a young Kakashi Hatake, over a decade away. They settled for some simple breakfast from a street vendor and headed straight for the nearest training ground.
"Minato! Let's race to see who can finish a hundred pull-ups first!"
"You're on!"
"As expected of you! To be that fast on your first set of pull-ups... but I win this round!"
[Ding! Praise and defeat your opponent. Attribute dropped: PHY +3, STR +2. Collect?]
...
"Minato! Let's see who can do two hundred squats faster!"
"Okay!"
"As expected of you..."
[Ding! Praise...]
...
"Minato! Let's practice shuriken targeting! Let's see who hits the bullseye first!"
"Ready!"
"As expected of you—it was so close! If your power were just a bit higher so the blade actually stuck in the target, I might have lost. That was a narrow win for me."
[Ding! Praise and defeat your opponent. Special Talent dropped: Ninja Tool Projection (Minato Namikaze Limited Edition) 20%. Collect?]
Tatsuma, who was already brainstorming the next competition, suddenly froze. He looked with surprise at Minato, who was currently standing with his hands on his hips, staring at the target with a helpless, self-deprecating smile.
Tatsuma hadn't expected Minato to have a "Limited Edition" talent for ninja tool projection. Shouldn't that be a generic skill?
But then he remembered the future: Minato's S-rank Flying Thunder God: Level 2, which relied entirely on his specialized kunai tosses. With that kind of legendary potential, it made sense that his projection talent was unique.
"Collect!"
The moment he confirmed, a flood of information rushed into Tatsuma's mind. He saw countless methods of throwing—from kunai, shuriken, and senbon, to flash bombs and even... people?!
Unlike regular attributes, which only raised his potential ceiling, Special Talents were "get what you grab." He gained the proficiency immediately.
However, the memories were slightly fuzzy—likely because he had only collected 20% of the talent. Specifically, the technique involving using people as projectiles was nothing more than a fleeting, blurry impression. It likely required the support of other ninjutsu to function.
Still, it was more than enough to satisfy him. He looked at Minato, who had already shaken off his disappointment. "Minato, your talent is amazing."
Hearing yet another compliment, Minato gave Tatsuma a wry look. Over the course of the afternoon, this "friend" had defeated him in every single category and then followed each victory with a compliment. Minato was starting to wonder if Tatsuma was treating him like a toddler learning to walk.
But this time, Tatsuma wasn't just being sincere—he was earnest.
"But your throwing form is off," Tatsuma continued. "Come here. I'll teach you the right way, and then we can keep competing."
"Eh? Really? That... thank you so much, Tatsuma-kun!"