Chapter 104: System

The office felt smaller once everyone was inside. Tsunade sat behind her desk with the usual stack of reports pushed to one side, arms folded, golden eyes moving from Kael to the four unfamiliar women and back again. Shizune stood a half-step behind the chair, notebook ready but forgotten for the moment.

Kael kept the explanation clean and incomplete. A powerful external threat. Evidence of advanced mind-affecting techniques already used against Sand shinobi. A clear warning that the danger would mature within two years and could not be ignored. He said nothing about timelines, nothing about futures that had already burned, nothing about the true origin of the four standing behind him. Eida’s charm, thinned by exhaustion but still functional, settled over the room like soft fog. It did not rewrite Tsunade’s mind; it only smoothed the edges of suspicion until the Hokage was willing to listen without immediate interruption.

When he finished, Tsunade leaned back and studied him for a long time.

"Two years," she said at last. "And your only proof is the word of four people no one in this village has ever seen before."

"It’s enough to start preparing," Kael answered. "Surveillance teams. Research into large-scale sealing methods. Quiet coordination with the other villages so no one is caught blind. I’m not asking you to declare a war. I’m asking you not to waste the time we still have."

Tsunade’s fingers tapped once against the desk. The charm made the request easier to accept than it should have been. She gave a short nod.

"I’ll put people on it. Discreetly. You will bring me more concrete information as soon as you have it. And those four stay under observation until I say otherwise."

"Understood."

They left the office under the weight of that conditional acceptance. The hallway outside felt cooler. Sarada waited until the door shut behind them before she spoke.

"Where are we supposed to stay?"

She reached into a small pouch and pulled out a folded note. Kael caught a glimpse of the face printed on the currency—his own face, older, wearing the Hokage’s hat. Future money. Completely useless here.

"You can use my apartment," he said. "There’s only one real bed, but we can put down extra futons. I’ll stay at my parents’ place for now."

Himawari’s head turned sharply. "Parents? You mean they’re alive?"

The question landed harder than she probably intended. In the world she had left, both of those people were long dead. Kael met her eyes and gave a simple nod.

"Yes."

She said nothing more. The silence that followed was heavy with things none of them could afford to discuss in an open hallway.

He led them through the late-afternoon streets. The village moved around them in ordinary rhythms—genin arguing over training schedules, vendors calling out prices, the distant bark of a dog. None of it matched the conversation that had just taken place inside the Hokage tower. Kael unlocked the door to the small apartment he had claimed as Naruto and stepped aside so the four could enter.

The space was modest. One low bed, a narrow kitchen, a table, a single window looking out toward the training grounds. He pulled spare futons from the closet and dropped them on the floor.

"It’s not much, but it’s quiet. You look like you haven’t slept properly in days. Rest. I’ll get food."

They were too exhausted to argue. Sarada claimed the far corner. Himawari sat on the edge of the bed and stared at nothing. Eida simply lay down where she stood and closed her eyes. Only Sumire remained upright, moving toward the kitchen out of some residual need to be useful.

Kael left them there and walked to the nearest market. The system had been silent since the forest vanished. That silence felt deliberate. He waited until he was between stalls, out of easy earshot, before he spoke under his breath.

"All of this is happening because of you, isn’t it?"

For a moment there was nothing. Then the familiar blue text scrolled across his vision.

[Yes.]

"How?"

[Information cannot be revealed to the host until he achieves the required strength.]

"Then atleast tell me how many quests do I need before I can face Kaguya?"

[You must complete at least Quest 25/100.]

Twelve done. Thirteen more at minimum, and the clock in the real world was already running. Kael exhaled through his nose and kept walking. Another notification bloomed before he reached the vegetable stalls.

[System Upgrade started – 0%]

[System Upgrade started – 5%]

[System Upgrade started – 8%]

.

.

.

The percentage climbed in steady increments while he selected rice, vegetables, miso, and a few cuts of fish. By the time he paid and turned back toward the apartment the bar had hit one hundred.

[System Upgrade started – 100%]

[System Upgrade Done]

[Time limitation Removed: Host will no longer be under any time limit while completing a quest.]

[Multiple Quest: Host may now accept and complete multiple quests simultaneously.]

[Reward change: All future rewards will be related to power increases.]

The system had just made the path easier and heavier at the same time. No more ticking clocks, the ability to juggle several objectives at once, and every reward pushed toward raw strength. Useful. Necessary. And still tied to the same degenerate mechanism that had defined every step since he arrived.

He returned to the apartment carrying the bags. The main room was quiet. Three of the women were already asleep—Sarada on a futon, Himawari curled on the bed, Eida motionless under a light blanket. Only Sumire stood in the small kitchen, sleeves rolled up, trying to make sense of the unfamiliar layout of cupboards.

Kael set the groceries on the counter. The memory of how roughly he had handled her in the forest surfaced without permission.

"I’m sorry about earlier," he said.

Sumire looked over her shoulder. The caution in her eyes softened a fraction. "It’s okay, Naruto-san."

"Just Naruto. Whatever version of me you knew in the future... I’m not him. Treat me like anyone else."

She studied his face for a moment, then nodded. "Okay. Naruto."

"Where are the others?"

"Sleeping. They finally could." Sumire’s voice dropped. "After we arrived in this timeline, this is the first time any of us have been able to rest without looking over our shoulders. Thank you for helping us."

Kael gave a small, tired smile. "You’re my responsibility now."

Something in the way he said it settled deeper than the words themselves. The quiet respect that had always belonged to the Seventh Hokage in her memories shifted and attached itself, carefully, to the man standing in front of her.

He had just begun unpacking the rice when the new quest window opened in the corner of his vision.

[Quest 13/100: Fuck Sumire until she begs for more]

Kael stared at the text for a long second. The system had given him breathing room, multiple paths, pure power rewards—and then it had placed this in front of him the moment he showed basic decency.

He closed his eyes briefly and let out a breath that was half laugh, half resignation.

"You know," he murmured to the empty air, "I was starting to like you a little. Then you remind me you’re still a complete degenerate."

Sumire glanced over, polite confusion on her face. "Did you say something?"

"Nothing important." Kael opened the rice container and reached for a pot. "Help me with dinner. They’ll be hungry when they wake up."

Outside, the village continued its ordinary evening. Inside the small apartment, four survivors from a dead future slept or stood under the first real roof they had known since their world ended, and the man who had become the hinge between two timelines began cooking rice while a new quest timer—now mercifully blank—waited for him to move.

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Give me power!!! 🥺