Konoha, the Ninja Academy.
Beneath the dim light of the office, a teacher was still hunched over his desk, yet to leave.
“Villain…”
“A good villain…”
Masahiko wrote for a long time before finally collapsing onto the desk.
“Fuck! Why did it have to be a villain?!”
The next moment, he got up, crumpled the paper in his hand into a ball, summoned the panel, and, still unwilling to believe it, looked it over several more times:
【Life is a stage. Welcome to the grand stage of Naruto.】
【You must conform to your character role in order to step onto the stage and become an appearing character in Naruto: Part One.】
【When your performance is cut into the footage, you will receive salary rewards.】
【Note: The more popular the character, the more footage they receive, and the better the rewards.】
【This reward updates by episode.】
【Your character role is “Villain.”】
Below that was his attribute panel.
【Yagyu Masahiko】
【Age: 17】
【Kekkei Genkai: None】
【Secret Techniques: None】
【Skills: Body Flicker Technique (Proficient), Clone Technique (Proficient), Transformation Technique (Proficient), Substitution Technique (Proficient), Kunai Throwing (Proficient)】
A rather glaring panel.
And this was the result of Masahiko’s unremitting effort ever since he awakened his memories seven years ago.
After working hard for seven years, he had no choice but to admit—
In this world, the word “talent” truly was at work behind the scenes. Especially after awakening the panel today, he felt it all the more keenly.
After seven years of effort, every ninjutsu and taijutsu technique he could get access to had only reached proficiency. As for chakra-nature ninjutsu he could not access…
He had no way of knowing what his talent was like in that regard.
Fortunately, seven years of training had continuously improved his physical fitness. Though his taijutsu could not be reflected on the panel, compared to others of the same rank, it could be considered excellent.
Thanks to this, he had successfully passed the Chunin Exam.
There was no helping it.
In his previous life, he had only been an ordinary university student.
In this life, he was merely a civilian ninja. His parents had died early in the war, and even getting into the Ninja Academy had taken him enormous effort.
Kekkei genkai, secret techniques—he had none of them.
The few ninjutsu he had mastered were all standard fare for genin and chunin. He had not even had the fortune to learn a single exceptional jutsu.
He had painstakingly trained in swordsmanship, only for the panel not to acknowledge it.
Masahiko had the feeling that his efforts had been misplaced.
Especially this panel—
At first, he had actually been very happy.
Thanks to years of training and cultivation, both his taijutsu and ninjutsu were not bad, and relying on that, he had become a chunin this year.
After spending half a year, Masahiko had finally passed the exam to enter the Ninja Academy and become a taijutsu teacher.
This system allowed him, as a teacher, to come into contact with the “protagonist” earlier and enter into the performance of a role.
Besides.
In this profession, there was a peer worth learning from.
Iruka!
That ninja, relying on his relationship with Naruto and a few heartfelt words, managed to live all the way to the finale of the entire Naruto series, while appearing on screen from time to time.
This showed that, as an “early-stage supporting character,” strength did not determine screen time. What mattered was whether one got along well with the protagonist.
But—
He had never expected that his role would be “villain”!
“Fuck that!”
“Villains are people too!”
“Why can’t I get Iruka’s script?!”
Yagyu Masahiko slammed his fist angrily onto the desk.
A few seconds later, he took several deep breaths in succession and calmed down.
“No, wait!”
“Being opposed to the protagonist doesn’t mean I have to be opposed to everyone else!”
“As long as I go against Naruto, then in theory, I fit the villain role.”
“No matter what, I have to get through ‘Part One’ first. I can’t be written out or vanish from the story this early.”
After Masahiko calmed down, his thoughts opened up, and his ideas became clear.
What kind of person could steal the spotlight?
Someone so handsome that one glance made them unforgettable.
Or someone so ugly to the extreme that one glance made them unforgettable.
The latter had nothing to do with Yagyu Masahiko.
Although the original owner had been a civilian, he was very handsome and often received love letters from women in the village.
After transmigrating, Masahiko had been even less interested in such things, constantly working hard to train, improve his taijutsu, and increase his strength. His image management had fallen far behind.
But now—
Gazing at the firelight, Masahiko’s eyes filled with hope as he thought to himself, “An outstanding great villain should first have an outstanding image.”
After that, he placed the paper over the flame, lit it, and burned it to ash.
…
An outstanding villain had to begin with image management.
To put it simply—
Start from the head!
Early the next morning, Yagyu Masahiko walked out of the barbershop and headed toward the Ninja Academy.
His hair and face had undergone a full round of grooming, making him look even more handsome and dashing than usual.
He had only just reached the school gate when…
A blond child was sneaking around with a bucket in hand.
Yagyu Masahiko raised an eyebrow.
Target sighted!
An opportunity!
Without the slightest hesitation, he changed direction and walked over.
“Heh heh—”
“I, Uzumaki Naruto, am the man who’s going to become Hokage, and they actually dared to…”
Naruto let out a strange laugh as he muttered to himself.
Just then.
Smack!
A hand landed on his shoulder, and at the same time, a chilling voice came from behind him:
“Hey, brat!”
“Ahhh!!!”
Naruto was so frightened that his whole body trembled. The bucket of ink in his hand was subconsciously thrown at the other party.
But.
Masahiko turned his hand, and a kunai slipped into his grasp. In the blink of an eye, it hooked the handle of the ink bucket. Then, with a graceful flourish, the kunai shifted backward in a small half-arc…
In the end, not a single drop of ink spilled out!
Of course Yagyu Masahiko could have easily caught it with his hand, but he had still chosen to do it this way.
For no other reason—
It was cool!
This was how one got screen time.
He held the ink bucket suspended from the kunai, his gaze cold as he looked down at the boy constantly backing away in front of him.
“So you’re…”
“That rumored brat, huh!”
Meeting his gaze, Naruto immediately gnashed his teeth, thick anger surfacing on his face.
Then he lowered his head gloomily, gave no answer, turned, and fled backward.
After running a short distance, the blond boy turned around, stuck out his tongue, and made a face. “Bleh, bleh, bleh! Come catch me, idiot!”
With that, he sped up and ran off.
Yagyu Masahiko did not chase. He merely watched him coldly, as if looking at someone completely unrelated to him.
Only after the other party had left did he drop the act.
“Whew!”
“Better to make others suffer a little than to suffer myself.”
The corners of Yagyu Masahiko’s mouth lifted slightly as he carried the ink bucket toward the gate.
At the school gate.
“Good morning, Masahiko-sensei!”
“Good morning, Mr. Nagano.”
Masahiko lifted the ink bucket. “I confiscated this from a blond brat. Could you help dispose of it?”
When the gate guard heard this, anger surfaced on his face. “That guy again!”
Afterward, his expression could not help but change slightly.
“Right, Masahiko-sensei. The class you teach seems to be the class that monster is in…”
“It’s nothing. No matter who he is, he’s still my student.”
Masahiko smiled gently. “Still, thank you for the reminder.”
“You’re going to have headaches from now on.”
The gate guard laughed.
Masahiko smiled without answering, set down the ink bucket, and walked into the school.
He refined the first rule of the “villain guidelines” he had summarized for himself—
This image was not only his outward appearance, but also his inner image, such as his personality.
In front of Naruto, he had to properly carry out his “villain” role. In front of everyone else, there was no need to be like that.
For the time being, this was all he had thought of.
But.
Today’s situation was undoubtedly a very good first step!