"Are you Mo Xie?"
Iruka Umino asked the moment he saw him.
Mo Xie's parents in this world had died on the very night of the Nine-Tails' attack, right after he was born. They had not even had time to name him before they perished, so when he finally learned to speak, he chose his own name.
"That's me," Mo Xie replied evenly.
"I'm a teacher from the Ninja Academy, Iruka Umino. I'm here to inform you that you've now turned six. According to Konoha's rules, you meet the requirements to enter the Ninja Academy. This is your enrollment notice. As for tuition, it has already been deducted from your relief stipend." As he spoke, Iruka Umino handed Mo Xie a sealed letter, then smiled warmly. "Your class information is inside. Remember to come to class on time tomorrow."
"Understood."
Mo Xie's expression did not change. He accepted the letter, answered with a single sentence, and closed the door, leaving Iruka Umino standing outside with a stiff look on his face.
"…Looks like I've run into a problem student," Iruka Umino said with a wry smile.
A day passed quickly.
With his golden finger awakened, Mo Xie poured all his energy into refining Energy Value, no longer wandering around as he used to.
Today, Konoha felt as lively as a festival. Parents wore bright smiles as they personally escorted their children to the Ninja Academy gates. A few orphans who witnessed the scene looked down, their eyes dim, self-conscious and quietly inferior.
Mo Xie was the exception.
In both his past and present lives, he had been an orphan. And with the mentality of someone who had lived two or three decades, he did not crave affection the way ordinary children did.
From the moment his golden finger awakened, he began to view his entire life as a game—one in which he was the only player.
Only by thinking that way could he fully apply the instincts and experience of a professional gamer.
He entered the Ninja Academy. He had already learned his class from the letter Iruka Umino delivered, so he found the room quickly.
When he opened the classroom door and stepped inside, he arrived early. Only a dozen or so students were present.
Mo Xie walked to the window seat in the last row and sat down. He opened the system interface, tapped Standby Mode, then closed his eyes and began cultivating.
Soon, more students filed in. Empty seats steadily disappeared. Half an hour later, the classroom was packed, and the once-quiet atmosphere grew noisy.
Children in this world matured early, but truly exceptional early maturity was still rare. Now that they had finally entered the Ninja Academy they had long looked forward to, they could not help feeling excited—after all, this was where they would learn the ninjutsu they had dreamed of.
Creak.
The classroom door opened again. Iruka Umino stepped in, and the lively noise instantly faded.
Humans were naturally wary in unfamiliar places. Before they fully understood the rules of where they were, even wild children—or clan children—would often become obedient.
"Good morning, everyone. I'm very happy to be your teacher. For the next six years, I'll be your homeroom instructor." Iruka Umino smiled gently. "Let me introduce myself. My name is Iruka Umino, a Konoha chūnin."
His voice pulled Mo Xie out of cultivation. Mo Xie opened his eyes and looked toward the front. His interest in cultivating had already faded. He had no intention of becoming dead last—more importantly, he wanted to test whether his class-changed body could refine chakra and learn ninjutsu.
"Before we begin lessons, we'll do something to help everyone make friends quickly." Iruka Umino continued with a mild smile. "We'll introduce ourselves one by one. We'll start with the first student in the front row. Please come up here."
"Me! Let me go first!"
Before the first student could even stand, an eager voice rang out. A blond boy sitting near the middle of the third row jumped up with his hand raised.
Iruka Umino looked at him with helplessness on his face and sighed. "All right. Naruto, you can go first."
That boy was none other than the protagonist of this world—Naruto Uzumaki.
"Awesome!"
With an excited cheer, Naruto Uzumaki ran up to the front. Facing his classmates, he adjusted the goggles on his forehead and shouted, "My name is Naruto Uzumaki! I'm six years old! My favorite food is ramen! What I hate most is ramen without seasoning! And my dream is to become—Hokage!"
As expected, his declaration immediately triggered a wave of laughter and mockery. Especially among the children who had been taught by their parents to hate Naruto Uzumaki, the ridicule came without restraint.
"Hahaha, Hokage? A monster wants to be Hokage? Don't make me laugh!"
"Yeah, yeah!"
Mo Xie rested his chin on his right hand, eyes half-lidded as he watched the scene unfold like a cheap play. His emotions did not ripple in the slightest.
Even knowing that Naruto Uzumaki was the chosen child of destiny, Mo Xie had no urge to approach him, no interest in befriending him.
In Divine Retribution, there had been a so-called War God—someone who fought bosses and cleared missions alone, never forming parties, never relying on anyone else. Even when challenging the ultimate boss, the Dark Emperor, he had done it solo.
That person had been Mo Xie.
He was a lone wolf—and the only player who could take a righteous, light-aligned War God and play him with a dark, chilling style.
In Mo Xie's understanding, darkness was noble, calm, silent, mysterious, and solitary. If this world was a game and he was the only player, then even alone, he could still stand at the peak through his own strength.
If he could kill the ultimate boss Dark Emperor by himself in Divine Retribution, then in this world, he could also kill the final boss—Kaguya Ōtsutsuki.
Right now, what he needed was the one thing every transmigrator needed at the beginning.
Time.