Sasuke pov
Looking down at my new body, I couldn't help but mutter a curse under my breath.
Great. Just great.
I'd just used Possess for the first time in the Marvel world, and while the body looked like a regular teenage one, there was something… off. My chest didn't feel like it usually did. Instead of the familiar emptiness, there were now what the Chinese like to call "bunnies."
I stared for a few seconds, blinked twice, then groaned. "Why the hell am I in a girl's body?"
Now that I thought about it, the system never actually said I'd always possess a male body. Tch. That's on me for assuming.
Trying to calm down, I pulled up the Gacha System interface. Just like when I was in Cid's body, most of the functions were greyed out and unresponsive.
"Does this thing have some weird attachment to alleys or something?" I muttered, glancing around. Empty, narrow passage, broken pipes, flickering light. Yep, another alley. Déjà vu, just dirtier.
[Do you want to transfer the Assimilations to this body?]
[Yes] [No]
I clicked No before another notification popped up right after.
[Do you want to read the possessed memory?]
[Yes] [No]
I already knew how this went. Pain first, answers later. Gritting my teeth, I hit Yes.
The familiar burning sensation shot through my skull. It didn't last long, but it was enough to make me stagger, gasping for air when it finally faded.
"Huff… Huff…" I leaned on the wall, chest heaving, sweat dripping down my forehead. "Is this… fate?"
I realised whose body I was in.
Noriko Ashida aka Surge.
Out of all the people I could've possessed in the Marvel universe, I just had to end up in the body of an electric Japanese mutant girl.
Yeah, seems like lightning and I are really stuck with each other.
Going through her memories, it looks like she hasn't joined the X-Men yet. In fact, she's only thirteen, smuggled illegally into America by human traffickers. Real pleasant stuff.
Guess luck's the only reason she's still alive. Her powers awakened early, and she used them to shock her captors long enough to escape. Smart kid.
But she hasn't even tried going back to Japan. Not because she can't, but because she doesn't want to. Her parents' love turned to disgust the moment her mutation showed up. Typical. One spark, and suddenly you're a monster in your own home.
That disappointment, that rejection, it broke her connection to everything she once cared about. The kidnapping just sealed the deal, pushed her to cut ties completely and stay here, in a foreign country, alone but free.
Of course, life on the streets isn't some tragic movie scene. It's worse. People fight over scraps of food, over a spot dry enough to sleep without freezing. Every face hides an agenda, every helping hand usually expects something in return.
Noriko was lucky to have powers, but even that was a double-edged sword. She didn't dare use them unless she had to. The last thing she needed was attention. In this world, being different doesn't make you special; it paints a target on your back.
She was practical. Not brave, not naïve, just painfully realistic. She knew if someone found out what she could do, she'd end up in another cage. Maybe not as a victim this time, but as an experiment.
"So she couldn't cope with all that mental pressure and passed out," I muttered, a quiet sigh escaping my lips. Poor girl.
Sometimes, I can't help but wonder, do the bodies I possess die naturally? Or does the system make it happen?
The thought hits me every time, cold and uncomfortable, crawling under my skin like guilt trying to dig its way out. If this really is the system's doing…
I shake my head quickly, brushing it off before the thought can dig any deeper. "No point going down that road," I mutter.
Emotions won't help. Pity won't change anything. What matters now is understanding the situation, this new power, this body, this world. Priorities.
From what I remember, Surge's ability revolves around constant electrical absorption, her body acting like a living capacitor, storing charge until she releases it in devastating bursts.
Not exactly bad.
She was one of those mutants Marvel didn't seem to know what to do with. Powerful, but directionless, tossed into the background with a dozen others under Xavier's roof. I think she even fought Nimrod once. Can't recall the details, though.
Tremendous potential, yes, but also a giant target on my back.
Being a mutant means one thing in this world: enemy of humanity.
And while I couldn't care less about people's opinions, it would be really annoying if I had to deal with Hydra or S.H.I.E.L.D. agents knocking on my door every week, trying to "contain" me like some unstable bomb.
Forget it. I'll deal with that later. Survival comes first.
Opening the GACHA inventory, I skimmed through the list until my eyes landed on a particular item.
[Copy Card]
Perfect.
My gaze shifted to the Assimilation tab, the templates I was still syncing with. Two names glowed faintly: Kayden and Kakashi.
Both paused.
The choice wasn't hard. Kayden meant raw destruction, overwhelming force. But Kakashi... he was versatility, jutsu and flexibility. Exactly what I needed in this fragile new body.
I didn't hesitate.
[Selected: Hatake Kakashi]
The card shimmered in my hand, light twisting like silver threads before forming the familiar face of the Copy Ninja.
But there was a problem. This body wasn't technically mine, so I can't put the card on Assimilation without leaving my body in the Naruto world behind.
So instead, I used the other card.
[Imbue Card]
As I used Kakashi card together with it, the system chimed softly, a sound like static crawling across my skin.
I staggered, electricity dancing under my skin as something deeper awakened, something that didn't belong to mutants or Marvel at all.
A familiar warmth pulsed inside me.
Chakra.
Controlled energy flowing through invisible pathways, perfectly balanced.
A grin tugged at my lips. "Heh… looks like it worked."
Finally, even if someone tried to hit me with a mutant suppressor, I wouldn't be completely powerless.
At my core, I'm still a shinobi. And with Kakashi's template active in this body, I've got more than just chakra. I've got instinct. Experience. The kind of muscle memory you can't fake. Sure, I already had access to it back in my original body, but using those abilities there… well, let's just say it wasn't exactly an option.
Here, though? Here I can go all out.
Every jutsu, every chakra-based skill, except for Sharingan-related techniques since that's tied to bloodline, I can now use freely.
I can finally train, refine, and grow.
"Now then," I muttered, glancing around the dimly lit alleyway, "before I start training, let's get a proper read on this world."
Digging into Surge's memories, the timeline began to piece itself together. It was May 2003. The exact date didn't matter, not like Surge cared to keep track of birthdays while living off stolen bread and abandoned warehouses.
Still, some events stood out. The Fantastic Four were already active. Reed Richards, Sue, Johnny, and Ben, the cosmic guinea pigs of this world. No sign of Iron Man yet, though from what I recall, Tony Stark is already missing somewhere in the East. Which means the "genius billionaire playboy philanthropist" phase is just around the corner.
"So… is this world a mash-up of the comics and the MCU?"
Speaking of Magneto, this world's public enemy number one. The guy made humanity's fear of mutants worse than their fear of nuclear war. People compared him to Hitler.
"Sorry, Germany. Love your cars, but not your genocidal villains."
Aren't I doing the same?
I sighed, rubbing my temples. "Then again, every country's got skeletons in their closet. Japan's got its share too, and no, I'm not talking about the anime industry."
I caught myself before rambling further and exhaled through my nose. "Focus, idiot."
Something felt off, subtle, but there. The emotional swings, the reckless bursts of irritation I used to have, weren't hitting as hard now. It felt calmer.
"Hmm… maybe Surge's personality's bleeding through," I mused. "Or maybe it's just hormones."
Speaking of hormones... I looked down at my body.
I need to start training to increase the physical attributes of this body.
But before all that, let's get a tour of New York.
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Idea's for Marvel