"Shigure, wake up… We're gonna be late!"
The repeated shouting finally woke up Shigure Uchiha, who was slumped over his desk in a deep sleep.
He lifted his head to see two boys—one chubby, one skinny—standing in front of him. They were in a bare, run-down classroom, completely empty aside from the three of them.
"Did you forget? Today's the graduation exam!" the chubby one said, his expression full of exasperation.
Graduation exam?
Right—Shigure suddenly remembered. Today was the day of the graduation test. He shot up from his seat.
"Eiji, Koji, let's go!" he said, already hurrying toward the door.
"Wait for us!"
The two boys ran to catch up with him.
Yes, Shigure was a transmigrator.
He'd been reborn into the world of Naruto—a universe he'd only ever known as an anime fan before.
Except this wasn't a cartoon. This world was real—far vaster, more detailed, and way more terrifying than the show had ever shown.
In fact, once you looked closer, a lot of things in this world were just downright horrifying.
And as if that wasn't enough, he'd landed smack dab in the center of this universe:
Konohagakure, the Hidden Leaf Village.
By most standards, that was a pretty good starting point.
A successful transmigration, good looks, decent physique—at first, Shigure had been thrilled.
But then he remembered:
This was a ninja world.
A world where lives were cheap, kids went to war, and the mortality rate was insane.
So, for the past two and a half years since he arrived, and with no cheat system to help him, Shigure had made one critical decision:
He would lie flat and stay out of the way.
Seriously, what choice did he have?
If he so much as shouted, "My fate is mine to command, not Heaven's!" he'd probably get hauled into an interrogation cell that very night.
Ninjas were ridiculously sensitive when it came to information.
A little suspicion was all it took to get yourself killed.
Some secret jutsu and techniques could extract information even from corpses.
Which is exactly why ninjas had to make sure their bodies were destroyed if they died.
So yeah—Shigure? Totally on board with staying low and out of sight.
And today was his final test.
All he had to do was fail the graduation exam, and he'd finally be free to live a peaceful life as a civilian.
Once you became a ninja, you turned into a tool of the village.
Even if the mission was a guaranteed death sentence, you had to take it.
Trying to leave the village? That made you a traitor, and you'd be hunted down.
Only as a civilian could you escape that brutal, high-risk life.
So from the very moment he arrived, Shigure had been working on a plan.
And now the opportunity was finally here.
As long as he put on a pathetic enough performance, he'd have a shot at "lying flat" for real.
With that in mind, Shigure walked toward the training field, his two best friends by his side.
The chubby kid was named Honda Eiji—his dream was to become the richest merchant in the ninja world.
The other, the stoic one, was Yamakawa Koji.
He came from a small ninja clan and was determined to restore his family's former glory.
Yep—after two and a half years of bonding, manipulation, and the occasional dose of emotional persuasion, Shigure had basically turned these two into brothers from other mothers.
As someone who'd casually watched Naruto back in his original life, Shigure had also seen some of the future key characters.
But his policy was to keep his distance.
Because in this dangerous world, the people who died fastest were the ones closest to the protagonists.
Unless you had protagonist-level plot armor, getting too close was just asking for death.
With his scrawny limbs and zero plot protection, Shigure was absolutely not getting involved with that mess.
Survival was victory.
Just look at Obito—when he was hiding in the shadows, he was untouchably cool.
The moment he showed up? His cool factor tanked, and he died not long after.
Or Madara—the king of keeping low.
Unstoppable while lurking.
Shows up in public? Gets betrayed by his own supposed heir.
Then there's the master of all masters—one who even kept hiding in the Pure Land (afterlife), and ended up winning the entire game.
The lesson?
Stay hidden. Win life.
With such legendary examples to follow, it's no wonder Shigure was determined to keep lying low.
The more you stood out in this world, the harder you fell.
Now, as for his skills…
Well, after two and a half years, anyone who looked at Shigure could tell—this guy was a total bottom-of-the-class slacker. The kind who couldn't even pretend to be a ninja.
And no, he wasn't like Obito who got labeled "bottom of the class" due to misunderstandings.
Shigure had earned that title fair and square.
Soon, the trio arrived at the training grounds.
But something was off.
Way too many people were there.
The rooftops, walls, tree branches—everywhere you looked, powerful figures from the village were watching.
Most eye-catching of all was the man standing at the edge of the training field, surrounded by others.
He wore the Hokage robe and hat.
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
The top dog in the village.
But Shigure's eyes went to the man standing beside him—his right eye and right hand wrapped in white bandages, a cane in his left.
Danzo Shimura.
Ruthless, power-hungry, and completely without mercy—that was Danzo.
You could maybe afford to offend the "gentle" Third Hokage.
But Danzo? No way.
Shigure had always avoided him like the plague, especially since he had a thing for recruiting "genius" children into his creepy secret organization.
Thankfully, Danzo only liked geniuses.
Shigure? Certified trash-tier. No danger of catching Danzo's interest.
Otherwise, he'd already be planning his escape route.
When he'd first realized he'd landed in Konoha, his first instinct had been to run.
But the loose, casual village shown in the anime? Total lie.
In reality, the village was heavily guarded and monitored.
Even elite ninja couldn't leave without permission, let alone a civilian.
Once Shigure figured out how cruel this world really was, he gave up on the idea of escape completely.
Outside the village?
Worse than hell.
Civilians ate grass—or other people—when food ran out.
No blankets. Straw was a luxury.
No medicine. Disease meant death.
Bandits and war everywhere.
Average life expectancy? Not even 30.
By comparison, Konoha was practically paradise.
Safe, clean, and the standard of living wasn't half bad.
People died trying to move into Konoha.
Why on earth would he leave?
Besides… he'd already latched onto a rich family.
The only thing standing between him and a life of comfort was today's test.
Once he failed, he'd be free to live as a spoiled live-in son-in-law.
But if he passed?
Congratulations!
He'd be under Konoha's control for the rest of his life.
No base salary (unless you had a post), no pension.
Retirement only came from death… or a crippling injury.
Ninja mortality rates were terrifying.
Which was probably why people started dating in school and married by their teens—if they didn't hurry and have kids, the profession would die out from sheer attrition.
As these thoughts raced through Shigure's head, one by one, the other students finished their exams.
It was a real combat test.
You had to fight a Chūnin examiner to determine whether you passed.
That lame "throw a kunai and clone yourself" test from the anime?
Probably only introduced during peacetime.
Right now, in Year 42 of the Konoha calendar, war was already brewing.
The village needed cannon fodder.
They weren't trying to fail anyone.
So yeah—graduating was easy.
But what happened after depended on your performance.
If you stood out as a genius, top clans and instructors would fight to recruit you.
If you didn't? Enjoy a life of grunt work and suicidal missions.
Which was why every halfway-talented kid was desperate to be seen as a "prodigy."
Sure, it brought danger—but the rewards were real.
Of course, none of this applied to Shigure.
If he ever showed signs of talent, he'd be snatched up by Root in a heartbeat.
Why?
Because of his last name—Uchiha.
Yep. That clan.
The brooding, arrogant, overpowered, emo-poster family.
Of course, Shigure hadn't been born an Uchiha.
He'd taken the name after… marrying into the clan.
Yep. He was a kept man.
Total live-in son-in-law.
The original Shigure had hated it.
He'd tried to "prove himself" and ditch that identity—until he pushed himself too hard and died.
Which let our transmigrator take over the body.
To Shigure, that guy clearly hadn't been smacked around by reality enough.
What's so bad about living off a rich family?
People would kill for that chance!
Shigure, on the other hand, was loving it.
He planned to ride that gravy train as long as possible.
And if things didn't work out?
Worst case, he'd ask for a "breakup settlement." Either way, he'd come out ahead.
"Shigure Uchiha!"
A voice thundered from the training field.
It was their homeroom teacher, Sarutobi Nagawa, calling his name.
"Good luck!"
"Don't embarrass us!"
His two best friends shouted words of encouragement.
Even the usually stone-faced Koji managed a small smile.