《Trying to survive in Hardcore Mode (Naruto-verse)》 Chapter 1: Office of Misplaced Souls Suddenly being somewhere else, wherever here actually was, is not a experience you wish on anyone. Still here our protagonist was, in front of a big desk with paperwork stacked high and an empty chair for the owner. Where am I? The most terrifying thing right now, was that he couldn''t do a single thing, he was stuck on the chair only able to move his head and even then he couldn''t open his mouth to shout for help or if there is anyone here. Why can''t I move? As the minutes ticked off, he slowly started to calm down, after all nothing was happening and started to inspect his surroundings. Nothing really stood out until he laid his eyes on some of the paperwork. He was totally floored by what he could see on the top of the document. Office for Misplaced Souls. Now this might be a shocker to most people but he just laughed it off, this had to be a prank. He might have had no idea where he was right now, but he knew his own health and he was in absolutely zero danger of dying. Perfect health since young and still in his twenties so no health issues. He had jobbed off and on in the past, still right now, he was in an off period and the most strenuous activity he had to do was walk down the street to shop for groceries. After bolstering his spirits with the idea that it is an elaborate prank or scam, but there still was a small doubting voice in his head saying the dreaded, what if it isn¡¯t. This time he couldn¡¯t calm down even after a long time had passed. Trying to distract himself, he got back to reading the document and noticed something that had escaped him the first time. The language the document was written in was foreign. Yet he could understand everything written on it. It was a brochure about the Office of Misplaced Souls. It stated that there were several choices to make as a displaced soul, reincarnating into a world with good starting conditions, joining the ¡°heaven¡± organization with extra benefits and preferential treatment earning points to make my next reincarnation better or taking temporary rest in paradise, with extended stay before getting inserted into the reincarnation cycle. Holy Moly, those are some nice choices. He wasn¡¯t anywhere near calm, but he still could think clearly. Hm, okay there are only two possible situations here. One, this is a prank, and nothing here really matters, his confidence in that situation was rapidly shrinking however. Second, it''s not a prank and real, and he should get the best deal he could get. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. So mentally preparing himself for a tough negotiation, to get maximum benefits. He started to make a list.
  1. Get more Information.
  2. Play the blame game.
  3. Play distraught and hysterical.
  4. Try to get a tour of paradise and other options.
Before he could get to create a fifth point on his mental list, he started to make out two voices getting closer to the office. First Voice: ¡°...another one. The people from Guardian Division sure are getting worse by the day.¡± Second Voice: ¡°I heard Geralt from there wanted to compete with you for the upcoming promotion, with all the displaced people they are letting through though, he has no chance at all!¡± Getting my first look at the two people, he was rather stunned one was a stunning blonde woman with real knockers and a figure to kill for, the other seemed to be a rather ordinary looking male, if there was not one glaring thing that stood out. Both of them were shining with white light, especially the male one. Male Voice: ¡°Hello, I am John Mason and will be your Reincarnation Officer today. This is my colleague Miranda Held, she is preparing to take over my position after my promotion, so she will not participate and only observe the proceedings.¡± Our protagonist tried to greet him back, but still couldn¡¯t move or say anything. ¡°No need to worry, we are allowed to read surface thoughts. Otherwise we would have to learn far to many languages to manage everyone.¡± ¡°We are very Sorry for your early demise and will forward your complaints to the guardian division.¡± Pause. ¡° You have already looked through the pamphlet, that is good, what are your thoughts on the choices?¡± It was like looking at someone on the phone, only hearing half the conversation. However for me it felt far worse, he was desperately trying to project his thoughts at them, to interject something, trying to get more information. Only to realise that something was wrong, they couldn¡¯t hear a thought of his or they were completely ignoring him. Suddenly he saw the guy smirking at him, and real bad feeling began to form in his gut. ¡°Ah, you don¡¯t like any of the choices? Well your in luck, we are currently running a beta project that might suit you.¡± Chapter 2: Bureaucrat with too much Power ¡°Let me introduce you to the project. You must know, that there are several more options to reincarnate then what is listed on the brochure. However most of them are reserved for Heaven employees. For example the ¡°Gamer¡± Reincarnation, was very popular for a time. It has however received a lot of complaints in the past. Too overpowered, where is the challenge, I just don¡¯t feel the thrill anymore etc.¡± Slowly feeling the dread creep upon him as the officer continued to explain, how the Gamer was just to safe and cliche, and the employees, that spent their valuable points for an exciting holiday reincarnation were unsatisfied. ¡°So we have created a system similar to the Gamer, but with a twist depending on the difficulty level you choose. Currently we have filled out all beta reincarnations, with the exception of the hard difficulty level.¡± ¡°Ah, of course, my mistake, you are right I hadn¡¯t mentioned which world you would reincarnate into. The current beta test is run in the Naruto universe. It was a fairly popular story in your world, if I am not mistaken. It is perfect for our purposes, it has plenty of dangers, also we can give out different starting powers without breaking world immersion and making the reincarnated too powerful.¡± Damn, Naruto is a freaking dangerous world. I do not want to live there. ¡°Of course there are benefits to gain, as I have told you we employees get points as our wage, we can spend those on programs like these, as a beta tester you would be considered one of us. You are really getting a good deal here, you get to reincarnate with powers, and when you succeed you will get plenty of points for beta testing the project. We ordinary workers would have to spend a millennium working to get as much points as you get by testing, and even then you get extra beta-benefits.¡± ¡°Ah, thank you Mr. Wagner, I am so glad you decided to participate in the beta test, I am sure you will find success and an exciting reincarnation.¡± System Initializing: Chosen Difficulty: Hard Initializing: 1%... ¡°Mr. Wagner before I forget, you can always choose to change difficult levels later, however you will lose your beta-benefits doing so and after the beta test is finished there will be penalties. The System will have more information on that, make sure to inquire before deciding to take any drastic actions.¡± This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Initializing: 19%... ¡°Wow, John you are so amazing, I always hear from everyone how it¡¯s so difficult to deal with misplaced souls, but all of yours are so calm and collected. I hear a lot of people tried to get one of their charges to choose the beta program, but all of them failed. Yet you managed to do it within a day. So amazing!¡± The woman spoke for the first time. You could practically hear the admiration dripping from her mouth. ¡°Haha, I¡¯m just lucky, if the Guardian Division hadn¡¯t messed up. Giving Mr. Wagner here a deadly stroke, when he should still have a lot of his life left to live. And lucky for us, it was just in time for the deadline.¡± Initializing: 36%... ¡°John, you¡¯re promotion should be a done deal now, right? I heard the only other contender with a chance was from the guardian division. But with their messes and your success in filling the beta-project, he shouldn''t stand a chance.¡± ¡°I believe so. Hey Miranda how about we celebrate together, I know a nice restaurant we could go to in the evening¡± ¡°Only if you tell me the secret, of your success with the displaced souls. I will have to fill in your position after all.¡± Initializing: 73%... ¡°He, it¡¯s the chair, it is enchanted so it will calm them down and let them make rational decisions. It is of course all within the bounds of what is allowed. No forcing of emotions, no removal of bodily control, no tinkering with memories, you know the drill.¡± ¡°That¡¯s incredibly, I didn¡¯t think of that. Sure let''s celebrate.¡± ¡°Good, it¡¯s a date, I¡¯ll make the reservations.¡± Initializing: 94%... ¡°Ah, Mr. Wagner try not to waste your life this time, it would be a shame if it ended prematurely again.¡± He said with a smirk in my direction. Initializing: 100%... Starting: Character Creation Chapter 3: Difficulty Levels He was suddenly in a white space. The only thing that stood out was the words hovering directly in front of him. ¡°Welcome to the character creation process¡± ¡°Please choose your starting powers, you may choose one hard mode power or two normal-hard mode powers.¡± ¡°Wait a moment!¡± Finally he was able to talk again. ¡°I was told I could change the difficulty level.¡± ¡°This is theoretically possible, however it needs the permission of the system admin to do so. Would you like to contact Admin Mason?¡± ¡°Hell, yes. I want to give the bastard a piece of my mind!¡± ¡°...Trying to connect¡­¡± ¡°System has failed to make contact with Admin Mason. Auto Reply Message is as followed: Don¡¯t disturb me, I am taking a hot piece out to dinner. If this is my newest employee, please ask the System, how changing Difficulty level worked for your predecessor.¡± Well if that doesn''t sound ominous. Well let¡¯s have it, how did it work out for him?¡± ¡°Your predecessor was not satisfied with the hard mode difficulty. Although admin Mason tried to stop him and prevent it from happening. Mr. Smith forced admin Mason to accept his decision by suicide, effectively returning him to the Office of Misplaced Souls, where admin Mason finally conceded to Mr. Smith and allowed him to join Nightmare Mode, however do to the suicide the beta-bonus was forfeited¡± ¡°Current recap of Mr. Smith¡¯s beta-test is as followed: Born in Amegakure, orphaned in his first year. Found by Hanzo in his second year. Sold to Danzo for help in defeating Akatsuki. One of his Rinnegan was extracted and implanted in Danzo in his third year, while the other was sealed. Third to seventh year, absolving Root training resulted in failure. Eighth year sold to Orochimaru in a trade that would guarantee the third Hokage¡¯s and Uchiha Clan¡¯s destruction.¡± ¡°Ah, System please explain the different difficulty levels to me¡± ¡°We are currently testing a total of seven difficulty levels.
  1. Easy Mode: System ensures a safe and happy life, it will interfere if any dangerous or detrimental situations occur.
  2. Easy-Normal Mode: System will interfere in any dangerous or detrimental situations.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.
  3. Normal Mode: System will not interfere in the life of host.
  4. Normal-Hard Mode: System will sometimes place host in dangerous situations.
  5. Hard Mode: System will sometimes place host in detrimetal situations and rarely in very dangerous situations.
  6. Hard-Nightmare Mode: System will often place host in very dangerous and detrimental situations .
  7. Nightmare Mode: System will try to place host in situations where he will suffer greatly and are very dangerous¡±
¡°So you are saying that you are not here to help me, but to place me in detrimental situation and will sometimes try to kill me.¡± At that moment he was starting to feel a new rising feeling of panic. ¡°That is a correct interpretation of the difficulty level. However that is but the secondary function of the system. The primary function is to help the host grow strong enough to overcome those situations.¡± ¡°So can I also get the information of the other beta testers?¡± ¡°Ms. Mores choose easy difficulty, she was born in a rich merchant family. By six year old she was hailed as a genius by her teachers. By twelve she was a vital part of her parents company. Marketing new and innovative products, the might of the company quickly rose. Right now at age eighteen she is the owner of the richest and most influential merchant power in the world. The companies influence is only outshone by the five great ninja nations¡° Woah that sounds like an awesome life. Wish I got easy mode. ¡°In easy-normal mode Mr. Simm''s was apprenticed to one of the most renowned weapon smiths in the Land of Iron. He is currently one of the most famous weapon smiths in the elemental nations.¡± Hm, he had a successful civilian life. ¡°Mr. Lawren in normal mode was born in Kumo to ninja parents. He finished ninja academy with above average grades. He is currently one of the more promising genins of kumo.¡± That sounds like a normal shinobi life. ¡°Ms. Noore in normal-hard mode is one of the orphans in Suna. Born the daughter of the third kazekage and inheriting the magnet release. As a member of the kazekage clan she was trained from an early age. She became a genin at age seven. One of her long term mission is training Gaara, often placing her in danger. At age eleven she is promoted to chunin. Currently she is preparing for the invasion of Konoha.¡± Damn to have to look after Gaara before Naruto used his talk-no-jutsu must be a pain. ¡°Mr. Jona in hard-nightmare mode was the only successful artificial life created by Orochimaru. Based on the DNA of the first Hokage he inherited his wood release. Shortly after his birth a Root unit raided the lab and he was indoctrinated into Root. At age six when Root gets officially shut down, he is adopted by agent Tenzo and joins Tenzo''s Anbu unit. At age eight, after the Uchiha clan massacre he is dropped from Anbu and ordered to the academy to make friends and live as a child. His identity gets exposed by Mizuki and during an outdoor survival exercise he gets abducted by Orochimaru, he is shortly after used for reincarnation by him to obtain Mokuton. He dies at age ten. He is currently in his second run through at age five. Born to Might Guy with a lesser Yang Body he is trained by his father day and night long.¡± Well that life sucks. Luckily mine should be easier. Hopefully the difference is big. Chapter 4: Starting Powers ¡° ¡°Host may choose one hard or two normal-hard mode powers.¡± Suddenly in front of him, a big list of around twenty-ish hard mode powers was displayed. Getting over his shock and inspecting the list, the ones that stood out to him were six: Three bloodlines: the Uchiha, Hyuga and Uzumaki bloodlines. With the Uchiha giving access to the Sharingan (increased perception, jutsu copying, if evolved, two unique powers & access to Susanoo), Fire & secondary Release, innate talent in genjutsu or ninjutsu. The Hyuga gaining access to the Byakugan (increased range and field of vision, able to see through objects) possible to evolve into Tenseigan, innate talent in taijutsu and chakra control. The Uzumaki bloodline gained chakra manifestation (Chains, swords, javelin...), increased vitality and chakra pool, innate talent in fuinjutsu, Water or Wind Release and longevity. Three releases: the Dust, Light and Darkness releases. Dust being one of the most powerful elemental ninjutsu releases, giving access to earth, fire and wind release, an innate talent in elemental ninjutsu and being a chakra sensor. Light Release being one that stood out because of it positive emotion manipulation, innate talents in medical jutsu and speed, fire release, clairvoyance, able to turn body into light, increased charisma and last but definitely not least attack with lasers! Darkness Release giving access to the ability to turn your body into shadows, innate talents in stealth, genjutsu, information gathering, intelligence, torture and interrogation. Ability to manipulate negative emotions, steal and store chakra and being a sensor. ¡°System if I choose one of the bloodlines, where in the clan will I be placed?¡± ¡°Placement will be according to difficulty mode, and will not be divulged until final choice of start up has been completed.¡± ¡°Hey System, in what timeline will I be reincarnated? During the Naruto-Manga timeline, Warring Clans or first shinobi war, this would definitely affect my choice.¡± ¡°All beta testers will be placed into the Naruto-Manga timeline.¡± With that info, the bloodlines were out, they had far to much baggage attached for his liking. The Uchiha were the lead antagonists, Orochimaru and Danzo wanted to possess them, one for their body the other just their eyes, and in addition the fiasco with the clan massacre. So nope to that. The Hyuga clan was a far safer options, if one only considered survival. However he had to considered the chance of being born in the branch clan and being branded with the caged bird seal. He didn¡¯t want to rely on luck to be born in the main house. Especially being in the ¡°I will place you in detrimental positions¡± System mode . This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it That left the releases. The Darkness release. Best selling points really are the innate talent in stealth and genjutsu, with a bonus for increased intelligence. If you add the ability to turn into shadows and sensor ability, it gives one an incredible survival package. Before making his final choice there were still some questions that had to be asked. ¡°System, are there any more information on the three releases, like a skill list or something?¡± ¡°No further information on the starting powers will be provided.¡± ¡°Fine, what about the normal-hard mode powers?¡± An enormous list appeared in front of me, which seemed to include nearly every bloodline and elemental release that existed. ¡°System are all the remaining bloodlines in the normal-hard mode?¡± ¡°No, there are also some in the nightmare mode available.¡± ¡°Oh, show me.¡± ¡°Yin-Yang release: Rinnegan, all elemental releases and 6-Path powers. Sage Body: naturally able to absorb natural chakra, Mokuton release. Yang Body: innate in Taijutsu, speed, stamina, strength and able to quickly heal all non lethal injuries, able to use 8-Gates without permanent injury. Kaguya-Descendant: three eyes, two Byakugan, one Rinne-Sharingan.¡± ¡°Ah, stop that¡¯s enough. I¡¯ll choose the Darkness release¡± ¡°Host has chosen Darkness Release. First Stage of set up has been completed. Host may now choose a normal mode power as his beta bonus.¡± ¡°Oh cool, show them to me.¡± ¡°Inheritance type: genjutsu, taijutsu, fuinjutsu, ninjutsu, medical ninjutsu, torture & interrogation, stealth, tracking, chakra sensing, information gathering, kenjutsu, shurikenjutsu... Or get absolute chakra control, huge chakra pool, one additional elemental release...¡± Now here he could make a quick decision, although absolute chakra control, the chakra pool or any Inheritance would be valuable. If he had learned one thing through the manga and fan-fictions, it is that fuinjutsu is without limits. ¡°I¡¯ll pick the fuinjutsu inheritance.¡± ¡°Very well. Setup is finished. Creating body and history of host.¡± Chapter 5: First Steps System: Bloodlines have been chosen. Randomizing other body variables. ¡°All random variables have been assigned. Character Sheet has been established. Host¡¯s body will now be created.¡± ¡°Hey, System can I see that character sheet?¡± Name: Nara-Uzumaki, Miyako Gender: Female Age: 5 years Bloodline Abilities: locked Inheritance: locked Databook: Ninjutsu: 0 Taijutsu: 0 Genjutsu: 0 Intelligence: 0 Strength: 0 Speed: 0 Stamina: 0 Hand seals: 0 Advanced Databook Tactics: 0 Stealth: 0 Torture and Interrogation: 0 Tracker: 0 Sensor: 0 Fuinjutsu: 0 Infiltration: 0 Medical Ninjutsu: 0 Chakra Control: 0If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Chakra Pool: 0 ... Bio: Daughter of Uzumaki Ren and Nara Kata. Uzumaki Ren became a fugitive after the fall of Uzugakure. Ren met Nara Kata during his mission to observer Kirigakure movement after the third Ninja War. They became lovers and wanted to move to Konoha. While trying to arrange the immigration of Ren Uzumaki, Nara Kata died during the Kyuubi incident. Leaving Ren pregnant near Kirigakure territory. System: Body has been creating, inserting Host into the world. ¡°Wait, what do you mean I am female, I am clearly a male.¡± System: In the beta all difficulty modes higher than normal gender is swapped. Before he could start cursing the System for this new and very much unwelcome change the white world around him started to transform. Slowly outlines of objects started to take form around him, while the endless white expanse began to take color. Until in the end he stood into a very rural looking children room. System: Tutorial one started. Get used to implanted memories. Remaining time fifteen minutes. ¡°Urgh, ahh that hurts.¡± his now squeaky childish voice groaned out. He just suddenly had the worst headache in his life. It felt like his head was going to explode. It only settled after a few minutes. And now he understood what implanted memories the system meant. Memories about the past few years, were crowding in his head, coming and going incredibly quickly. Very few memories left a lasting impression, a birthday party, the first time he was allowed outside to see the little village we lived in, playing on the beach, chasing a neighbor''s cat. The activity he did most often was reading and writing. He might have only been a kid but he already did love reading all the books he could get his young hands on. On top of that his mother had started him early on with writing and even some calligraphy. Over all most of the memories were mundane and boring, but happy, everyday family moments. There was however one that stood out to his former adult mind. A few months ago his mother convinced him with a huge pack of his favorite sweets to sit down in a huge seal that filled the entire basement floor. It took several hours, in which he had to sit still, while she wrote a complex seal on his upper body. It ended in a very awesome way as the seal contracted and left a stylized whirlpool tattoo on his stomach, that soon after disappeared. The little spectacle at the end of the sealing was very exciting for his younger self. His mother was very secretive about it, even after plenty of pleading and whining he got nearly nothing out of her. The only information she gave him, was that it is a family tradition and he would get told more when he is older. Then she diverted his attention by giving him his promised reward. While he continued to inspect his memories he was suddenly interrupted by the reminder of the System. System: Tutorial one has been finished. No reward given. ¡°System, if I didn¡¯t gain a reward for completing the tutorial, when will rewards be given out? Also what kind of reward can I expect to get?¡± System: ¡°When host is placed into dangerous or detrimental situations host may gain rewards after he resolves them. Rewards may range from new jutsus, unlocking of bloodline abilities, access to new fuinjutsu, new perks, new equipment and many more.¡± System: ¡°Tutorial two will now start. Get used to the new body and explore your home. Time limit 15 minutes.¡± He tried standing up, but to his shame actually immediately fell down on his bottom. Several tries later he finally stood on small shaking legs and took his first steps. He had been focusing on the memories so he hadn¡¯t properly inspected his new surroundings and was thus quite surprised to step onto something hard and promptly fall onto his face. ¡°Ahhh, fuck that hurt¡±, his toys had been strewn all over the floor, they may not have been Lego pieces, but there were plenty of wooden blocks, a ball, even some puppets. Well, said short it was absolutely cluttered. Up to now he had been in a kid¡¯s room, well according to his new memories, his room. There was a small futon to sleep in, a children wardrobe, a low table, to read and write on, a cupboard with scrolls that contained his handwriting from writing practice with his mother. Last but certainly not least was the empty box that should have been filled with all his toys. After a few minutes of walking around all the toys and tripping over his own feet, he finally found salvation after opening the door. A clear corridor, no toys or anything on the floor to stumble on. Giving a childish whoop of joy he started running up and down the corridor. ¡°This is sure a lot easier with nothing on the floor.¡± Chapter 6: Dangerous Situation Now having a modicum of control over his own mobility, he began to search his new home. The first room he found was the bathroom. It had everything you would expect inside. He decided to take some time to look at his new body. Having finished the exploration of the house she put a chair under one of the windows to get a look at the village. It was a typical fishing village. If she consider everything she had been told by her mother and experienced herself, there was only one village on this island. The island itself was between the Kirigakure territory and former Uzu. The village was in the middle of the former trade route between Kiri and Uzu so in the past it was quite prosperous. This however stopped when Uzu was destroyed. Today most of the town was empty, the nearest trade route passed them several days travel away. System: ¡°Tutorial two is finished. No rewards given. Starting third tutorial. Survive a dangerous situation!¡± She was still looking outside, so she clearly saw the fireball before the sound of the explosion reached her. The aftershock knocked her of the chair. She was frozen in shock down on the floor, panic had consumed her, her mind was utterly blank.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Holy shit, ninjas are attacking the village! ¡°Miyako! Where are you?¡± her mother¡¯s panicked shout echoed through the house. ¡°Here! In the living room.¡± Miyako quickly answered. Uzumaki Ren ran to her daughter, picked her up and quickly made it to the basement door. ¡°Listen to me Miyako! You need to hide and not make any sound at all. This is very important make no noise at all, do you understand? Otherwise the bad men will find you.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± she was absolutely terrified, she was beginning to shake as the reality of the situation became clear to her. She was in the Naruto-verse, murder happen all the time around here. And with the system she would probably never find peace here. They went down into the basement, where her mother stopped in front of an unremarkable bookshelf. She then took out a dagger, pricked one of her fingers and drew a small seal with the blood. This opened a small storage compartment. The walls were lined with standard ninja weapons and a pile of what might have been explosive seals. Uzumaki Ren took the ninja tools and seals, than pushed the dagger she had used to prick her finger into her daughters hands. ¡±Just in case you need to defend yourself, while I am away. You can open the seal by pressing your blood against the door for ten seconds. Don¡¯t go out until you hear me or it¡¯s been quiet for more than a day, ok?¡± Miyako was shaking, and all she could do to answer was nod her head, still in horror at the situation she had so suddenly found herself in. Uzumaki Ren hugged her daughter and whispered her farewell into her ears. ¡°Mommy loves you. Be strong my little darling. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll make me proud.¡± Tears streamed down Miyakos face as the compartment door closed and she saw her mother for the last time. She spent a small eternity in the room contemplating her miserable future, when she suddenly heard and felt an earth shaking explosion upstairs. Then the seal her mother had drawn onto her started to shine brightly. It expanded all over her body and then started to change and twist, which was extremely painful. She barely managed to keep from making any noises before passing out from the pain.