Chapter 1: Izayoi, Talent Trait System

Chapter 1: Izayoi, Talent Trait System

The Academy operated on a three-term calendar: the first term ran from April 1st to mid-July, the second from early September to December 31st, and the third from January 1st to March 31st.

Konoha Year 54, April 1st.

The Academy welcomed the start of a new academic year. Sixth-year students had already graduated at the end of March—some as official genin, others retaking the exam, while a few were fast-tracked into specialized departments or had left the ninja path entirely. Students from lower grades had officially advanced to the next level. Now, the freshly vacated first-grade classrooms would soon welcome new entrants who had passed the entrance exam.

Izayoi was one of them.

Unlike most newcomers escorted by parents or siblings, Izayoi was among the rare few arriving alone. While other orphans gazed enviously at students accompanied by family, Izayoi’s expression held no envy—only detached observation. His scrutiny wasn’t directed at their appearances, but at something visible only to him:

【Ninja Aptitude (White)】
【Chakra Control (Green)】
【Chunin Potential (Green)】

Whenever Izayoi focused his gaze on someone, faint bubbles materialized around them. These orbs varied in color and contained text matching their hue. Some people bore no bubbles at all—either due to complete lack of talent or possessing skills so rudimentary they fell outside the system’s scope, such as mundane civilian professions.

This was Izayoi’s “cheat ability.”

Though he lacked a surname, his name carried meaning. According to the orphanage director, he’d been named Izayoi because he was born on the night of June 16th. Raised in the village orphanage until age three, he’d learned basic literacy and survival skills before being taken to meet his biological parents’ graves. His parents, both orphans themselves, had no clan legacy to pass down. His father, a chunin, had died on a mission alongside his jonin-sensei. His mother had perished during childbirth, entrusting him to a doctor with her final breath—not to her husband or friends, but to the orphanage. The orphanage, backed by the village, had no interest in exploiting any inheritance he might have.

Izayoi felt no surprise at having to live independently from age three. After all, this world—known alternately as The Five Villages’ Eye Chronicle and The Tale of Black Zetsu’s Maternal Quest—was one where bloodlines reigned supreme. It was the story of the Otsutsuki clan’s internecine conflicts, a world where the Chosen Ones often walked alone.

Take the current era’s protagonist, for instance: a child who’d lived independently since age three and, at three years old, had already wandered snow-covered streets alone at night.

Izayoi harbored no despair over being a nameless orphan without a kekkei genkai. Because… he had his own cheat.

At age one, he’d awakened the Talent Trait System—his unique advantage. Beyond revealing the floating talent bubbles above others, it displayed a personal interface in his mind: a translucent panel visible only to him, even unreflectable in mirrors. This interface showed his personal stats and a beginner’s gift package, which he’d used at age three. Now, his profile looked dramatically different:

【Host: Izayoi】
【Talent Traits: Otsutsuki Bloodline (Red), Kage-Level Potential (Gold), Kekkei Genkai (Purple), All-Nature Chakra Body (Purple), Medical Prodigy (Blue), Chakra Control (Blue)】
【Points: 25】

While most people bore one or two talent bubbles—or none—Izayoi’s six traits were staggering. Originally possessing only the modest 【Chunin Potential (Green)】, he’d rewritten his fate at age three, becoming a prodigy unmatched in his era.

The Talent Trait System’s hierarchy—White, Green, Blue, Purple, Gold, Red—was his own classification. He suspected even higher tiers existed beyond Red, though their colors remained unknown.

The system’s core function allowed him to steal others’ talents through two methods. The first involved defeating opponents: equal duels offered high chances of acquiring low-tier traits and slim odds of high-tier ones; underdog victories guaranteed low-tier gains and high chances of high-tier traits; overwhelming victories had minimal chances of acquiring either. The second method was the beginner’s gift—a one-time free use to copy any trait.

Upon realizing he’d reincarnated into the Naruto universe—born in Konoha Year 48, June 16th, sharing a birth year with the Nine-Tailed Beasts’ generation—he’d immediately considered using his gift on Uzumaki Naruto. After all, Naruto was the world’s protagonist: reincarnation of the Sage’s son, inheritor of the Otsutsuki’s Sage Body, dormant Uzumaki bloodline, and Nine-Tails jinchuriki. With two “nuclear reactors” in his belly, his chakra reserves grew continuously, regardless of his ability to control them.

Copying Naruto’s 【Sage Body】 or any Asura-related traits would instantly elevate Izayoi’s potential. Uchiha Sasuke was another tempting option—the other reincarnated vessel of the Sage’s chakra, inheritor of the Sharingan’s “Eyes.”

Yet a chance encounter with a Hyuga clan member had momentarily made Izayoi reconsider.

Yes, Naruto and Sasuke were this era’s strongest talents, blessed with Kage-level potential and guided by Six Paths Sage power. They would inevitably become Kage-level or even transcend to Six Paths Sage status, surpassing even Hashirama and Madara.

But what about… beings beyond Earth?

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end