Passive Skill Chakra Refinement
The sunlight over Konoha was almost painfully bright.
A crowd had gathered in front of the red notice board at the entrance of the Ninja Academy, completely blocking the road.
Raido pushed his way into the front row and scanned the list of comprehensive test results.
Finally, he found his name.
Ranked 170th.
It sat there near the bottom of the list, utterly unremarkable.
His chest felt stuffed with wet cotton. He let out a long, heavy sigh.
Raido turned away dejectedly and slipped through the crowd like an eel, dragging his feet as he headed home.
Only a few months remained before the graduation exam, and his current situation felt suffocating.
People always said transmigrators came with a protagonist's halo, destined to dominate the world the moment they arrived.
But Raido had already lived in the Naruto world for twelve full years.
He was the same age as Naruto Uzumaki and, unfortunately, had been placed in the same class.
As a transmigrator, he was practically a disgrace to the entire group.
His ninjutsu was mediocre.
His taijutsu was weak.
His chakra reserves were pitiful.
Every aspect of him could be summarized with one word.
Ordinary.
His only advantage was his good looks. At least in terms of appearance, he could rival that arrogant kid Sasuke Uchiha.
Aside from that, he had nothing.
Still, his handsome face did make him easy to recognize, and he had managed to become acquainted with several of the main characters.
Even if he remained weak in the future, the Seventh Hokage would probably show him some kindness thanks to those connections. At the very least, he wouldn't starve.
But after finally arriving in a two-dimensional world, living such a miserable life felt unbearably frustrating.
Raido refused to accept it.
He dreamed of changing his fate.
Unfortunately, reality stood like a thick wall in front of him.
Talent was something you were born with, and he had no impressive family background.
The Shimomiya Clan sounded respectable, but in truth it was a declining minor family with barely a dozen members. In Konoha, they were practically invisible.
The only somewhat notable member was a Special Jonin who constantly coughed, Hayate Shimomiya.
Because of their family relation, that frail man technically called Raido his younger cousin.
Sadly, Raido's talent was so poor that the two barely interacted beyond an occasional nod.
Raido pushed open the slightly worn front door of his house.
Silence greeted him.
His parents had died many years ago during the Nine-Tails incident, leaving other clan members to take care of him.
They handled the funeral, sent him a small monthly allowance, and even pooled money together for his Ninja Academy tuition.
Aside from a modest pension, the only thing his parents left behind was this aging three-room apartment.
The place wasn't large, but for someone living alone, it felt strangely empty.
Lonely, even.
Raido walked to the refrigerator, opened it, and pulled out a can of cold soda.
He hooked his finger under the tab.
Psst.
A puff of white mist escaped as the can opened.
Glug. Glug.
The icy drink rushed down his throat, and he finished more than half the can in seconds.
Then he collapsed onto his bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.
"Looks like after graduation I'm destined to be a forever-genin… drifting through life until the day I die."
[Ding! Activating the Divine Skill System…]
"Huh?"
The sudden mechanical voice in his mind startled him so badly that he jumped upright.
"Wait… is this my golden finger?"
System father! You finally showed up!
It had been twelve whole years!
Did you know how miserable those twelve years were?!
Raido's expression twisted between laughter and tears, making him look utterly ridiculous.
[Warning! Error detected!]
[Warning! Unknown error detected!]
"Hey, hey, hey! Don't mess with me! I won't complain anymore, okay?!"
Raido's nerves instantly tightened. His earlier excitement vanished, replaced by cold fear.
If the system crashed the moment it appeared, he might as well smash his head with a brick.
[Attempting system reboot…]
"Yes, yes, yes. Rebooting is good. Reboot fixes ninety-nine percent of all problems. It'll definitely work…"
Raido clasped his hands together and whispered a desperate prayer.
[Reboot failed!]
[System support functions severely damaged!]
[Shop module data missing!]
[Mission system missing!]
[Attribute panel missing!]
[Data loss detected!]
[Critical damage!]
"You've got to be kidding me…"
Raido's lips twitched violently.
"At least let me see what the complete version looked like!"
"If the auxiliary functions are gone, fine. As long as the core function still works, I'll accept it. Even a defective product is better than nothing!"
He gripped the bedsheet so tightly his knuckles turned white, staring at the flickering virtual screen in his vision.
The flashing red warning text made his heart pound like a roller coaster.
[Core logic module missing!]
[Critical error!]
[System collapse imminent!]
It's over.
Completely over.
If even the core was gone, what was the point?
A system that died the moment it appeared.
That had to be the most embarrassing cheat ability imaginable.
[Performing final inspection…]
[Remaining module detected: Skill Slot Loading Module]
Damage level: 70%. Attempting forced activation.
"Skill slots?"
What good was a crippled skill slot system?
And a partially broken one at that.
[Skill slots forcibly activated!]
[Available Passive Skill Slots: 7]
[Available Active Skill Slots: 3]
[Abnormal data detected in active skill slots. Attempt repair?]
"Repair?"
Why even ask? Of course repair it!
His once-perfect cheat ability had been reduced to a single fragile sprout. If he didn't fix it, even that last hope might vanish.
[Collecting remaining active skill data…]
[Active Skill 1: ▇ Gluttony]
Skill Effect: Corrupted data…
[Active Skill 2: ▇▇ Walker]
Skill Effect: Corrupted data…
[Active Skill 3: Great ▇▇]
Skill Effect: Corrupted data…
"Oh come on! It's all gibberish!"
Can this thing even be repaired?
[Performing deep repair on active skill slots. Estimated time: Unknown.]
Raido froze.
An unknown repair time meant those three seemingly powerful active skills might remain locked for a very long time.
Which meant he could only place his hopes on the remaining feature.
The passive skill slots.
[Passive Slot 1: Empty]
[Passive Slot 2: Empty]
[Passive Slot 3: Empty]
…
[Passive Slot 7: Empty]
Completely blank.
Even emptier than his wallet.
At least the active slots still contained a few lines of corrupted text, barely maintaining the illusion that something was there.
But these passive slots?
How could they all be empty?
Had everything inside them been completely lost?