Within the Simulation

The sobs have long since died, and silence reigned in its wake.

Naruto lay on the ground staring into space with a strange form of numbness settling in. An unknown amount of time passed since he was like this, and he didn’t care too much either.

‘Ha…to think I would miss that raggedy apartment.’ The blonde lamented over his predicament. If you are wondering why he hadn’t just left, he already tried.

[Exit: Denied]

The challenger must make 5 attempts or complete the quest. Otherwise, they can not go back.

This prompted a negative response.

‘5 times? If I knew such a requirement, I would have waited longer.’ Naruto crossed his arm over his eyes and lay in silence for a while longer.

He couldn’t help replaying the battle over and over in his head. The screams, blood, and the blade that struck him down clung to his memory in an iron grip.

But most of all, the kid a year or two younger than him stood above it all. Every time he thought of him, Naruto couldn’t help the emotions boiling to the surface.

‘We’re just kids! What kind of heartless bastards throws kids into a battle like this?’ He gritted his teeth in frustration. ‘I don’t understand this one bit.’

Removing his arm from his face, Naruto noticed a new screen. Guess the System heard him.

[War]

In simpler terms, war is a series of battles between two or more forces. However, war is a complex entity in itself. Leaders in wars must consider several things unless they desire losses.

Purpose

Resources

Intelligence

Capabilities

Distribution

Usually, just the thought of reading text would be met with disdain, but the desire to understand why this dreadful battle is occurring outweighed the other. Naruto went through the information without a second thought.

The more he read, the more he understood the logical side of the war, but the blonde just couldn’t wrap his head around why this battle was so cruel.

Even if you start running out of soldiers, what could make you continue to fight by recruiting children? What was the end goal?

Unfortunately, the System didn’t answer this time, but he knew the answer was within the battle itself.

While he wouldn’t get much with the common mercenary identity, Naruto bet the other identities would give him what he wanted. For now, the only thing he can do is train up his skills so he can stand above the common soldier.

Naruto sighed. “It’s as the System said. The stronger you are, the higher your chance of survival.”

The concept of war was not something for a child to understand in the first place. Even in the animal kingdom, besides the basic need to survive, the adults are the ones to go out and fight these battles.

Standing up from his position, the blond found himself at an impasse. He can’t leave without attempting the quest four more times.

This also means he has to die four more times.

This pressure from dying is soul-crushing for any person, much less a ten-year-old! Naruto looked at the screen in front of him as it seemed to distort and gain a hue of red. He knew everything was in his head, but his try on the battlefield played over and over on loop.

Naruto cursed. “Why can’t I stop shaking? Stop shaking, dammit!” Try as he might, the anxiety and trauma had caused significant damage to his mental state.

The frustration and desperation continued to pile inside him as he stared at the button to pull him back into that horrendous battle. This situation is akin to walking across a bridge onto a ledge over a fiery pit, and the bridge collapses behind you, stranding you on the ledge.

All you can do is contemplate your choices. Jump off and hope you live or stay and starve.

Naruto knew the answer. It’s not like he’s genuinely dying, but remembering his first death turned his insides. Finally, with clenched fists, he reached out to the screen.

His finger got close to the screen, and, with great hesitation, Naruto confirmed his choice.

[Entering History Quest]

Would you like to keep the same identity?

Declining to change identities, the now-familiar feeling of displacement fell over him, and within seconds, Naruto was gone.

Battlefield

The battlefield was the same as the last time he was there. Trying to suppress his nerves, Naruto tensed up and surveyed his surroundings.

This time he could keep his cool enough to see things he didn’t see before. There was no one in close proximity to him, which is probably why he was overlooked the first time.

Naruto couldn’t keep up with the fights all around him. They were all moving too fast, and there was no way a greenhorn like him was keeping track of them.

However, there was no time for this since the child soldier from before had appeared once again. This time Naruto didn’t lose his mind in panic, so he could see him coming out of the corner of his eye.

The kid’s speed wasn’t outrageous, but it was definitely faster than anyone in his class at that age. Naruto took note of the kid’s armor, which was quite bulky, but he knew it wasn’t there for looks.

Naruto took a breath as he got into his Steel Guardian stance. He recognized the symbol on the armor as the Uchiha symbol. From what he gathered, Uchiha and Senju were talented in all combat areas.

However, what really set them above the rest were the abilities passed through their blood. Uchihas, with their eye prowess, the Sharingan, see through all their enemies’ attacks, predict them, and several other uncanny abilities.

The Senjus had not only their strong bodies, but each possessed extraordinary talents in one or two combat areas. The name “Senju” represents them perfectly as a clan of a thousand talents.

Naruto was at a disadvantage on either side, but his only consolation was that the kid hadn’t unlocked his Sharingan yet.

Unlocking the Sharingan was hard as very few unlocked it outside of combat due to the required stimulation. Just the awakening draws a toll on the body, but to use it in battle soon after leaves the user in an exhausted state.

This predicament would not be overlooked by the enemy leading to the death of these clansmen. The clan rectified this by giving ruthless training to simulate the conditions needed to awaken the Sharingan.

Back to the fight, Naruto felt his heartbeat quicken and started to feel out of breath. As he began to get dizzy, the youth was quickly approaching. If nothing changed, Naruto would be cut down like last time.

Naruto couldn’t accept this result and bit his lip, drawing blood and bringing everything back into focus. Just in time as the youth began his assault.

With a swing of his arm, the youth’s kunai cut through the air like butter towards Naruto’s jugular. Seeing this, Naruto ducked under the attack into the youth’s side and struck out for the first time.

Steel Retort

The quick counterattack rushed towards the youth’s side. However, even without the Sharingan, the youth’s eyes were still exceptional, allowing him to follow Naruto’s strike and attempt to dodge.

The blonde’s attack grazed the youth, drawing a wince out of him, and he immediately retreated. The kid held his side in pain while still holding up his guard.

Naruto was breathing hard; even though he wasn’t exhausted physically, mentally was a different matter. In a battle, a warrior must take care of not only their physical state but also their mental state. It’s similar to the exhaustion a scholar feels after taking a test.

Time waits for no man, so ignoring his exhaustion, Naruto went for a frontal assault. Unfortunately, this was only his second run, and have not yet learned situation awareness.

If he had, Naruto would have never forgotten there was more than one person on this battlefield, and the enemy didn’t care for playing fair.

Midstride, unbearable pain came from his back, causing him to collapse instantly.

“Agh!” Grunting out in pain, Naruto turned his head to see what caused it and saw two kunai sticking out of his back. Before he could react, a shadow came over him before everything went black.

Back into the Simulation

Naruto appeared gasping as the pain from dying subsided. The pain wasn’t any better than the first time, but his mental state wasn’t in complete disrepair as it was then.

After taking the time to calm down, the blonde went back into the quest.

Third Try

Naruto paid better attention to his surroundings and was not blindsided by the enemy again. Unfortunately, he was still killed when both his opponents joined up to kill him.

Thankfully, he fought longer this time, so Naruto saw many tangible results, unlike his first two tries. The young shinobi could fight wholeheartedly against the small youth but could only defend against the youth’s older counterpart.

Interestingly, Naruto received far more progress in his style when fighting against the older Uchiha than the younger one. Naruto concluded that fighting against foes stronger than himself would benefit far more than enemies at his level.

Fourth Try

Naruto knew that no matter what he did, the older Uchiha would show up. He decided to go to another area to fight rather than face two Uchihas at once.

Choosing the direction with the least amount of action, another youth around the same age as the Uchiha youth from earlier came to be his opponent. This time, he was a Senju.

As the two stared down, Naruto realized something that made him almost slap himself for his stupidity.

Observe!

How could he forget such a helpful skill? Focusing back on the situation, Naruto used his skill.

[Observe]

Name: Young Senju

Level: 10

Title(s): None

Class: Genin

Clan: Senju

Relationship: Enemy

Naruto noticed how vague it was compared to before. Guess the System didn’t want him to rely on this skill when training. Fighting against the Senju was different from fighting the Uchiha, but it wasn’t any easier.

While the Uchiha had incredible reflexes and eyesight, the Senju had equally strong bodies and stamina. Naruto’s blows were not as effective against the Senju as the Uchiha.

As Naruto was fighting the Senju youth, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. An older Senju!

Said person was rushing toward them, and Naruto knew there was no escaping.

Fifth Try

After the fourth try, Naruto saw the amount of progress he’s made could count for almost half a month of progress outside.

[Steel Guardian]

Stance Mastery Progress: 42.5%

Steel Sweep Mastery Progress: 28%

Steel Impact Mastery Progress: 38%

Steel Guard Mastery Progress: 35%

Steel Retort Mastery Progress: 20%

Steel Retort made the most progress due to his already low mastery of it, but the other techniques rose almost as much. Observation had also leveled up to 5, and now he unlocked a skill along the way.

New Skill Unlocked

[Danger Sense] – Passive – Lv 1

Gained from constant exposure to danger. This skill represents how well you can sense attacks or opponents with hostile intent. Higher levels will allow you to detect attacks from assassins or traps.

This skill was useful for obvious reasons; now, he had just the thing to warn him against enemy attacks.

Unfortunately, this did not change his situation, and Naruto now understood each battle had a time limit before a stronger enemy would appear. He would have to defeat the first enemy within the time limit if he wanted to avoid fighting multiple opponents.

After the last few tries, Naruto knew which direction the Uchiha youth came from and decided to take the initiative this time. Time was of the essence, and he needed to make every second count if he wanted to win at least one battle before exiting the quest.

So, Naruto charged toward the area the Uchiha youth would be. It didn’t take long before Naruto saw him running in his direction. They noticed each other simultaneously, and instead of stopping, they doubled down and charged at each other.

There is no room for hesitation when your life is on the line.

They quickly met and exchanged blows. If this was another Uchiha who had their coming-of-age ceremony by completing the Great Fireball Jutsu, this fight would’ve been much harder for Naruto since he had no Jutsu and only knew close combat. Naruto’s opponent was not one of the talented Uchiha youths who learned the clan’s jutsus at a young age.

Naruto’s prior experiences against this youth made the fight more manageable. Dodging under a head swipe from the youth’s kunai, Naruto finally found his opening and released everything into a Steel Impact!

Without the time to dodge or block, the youth cried out as he was struck in his abdomen with full force folding him as he was thrown back onto the ground. Retrieving a kunai, Naruto struck to end things but stopped before the blade reached the youth’s neck. The kid was too busy gasping for air to defend himself.

The blonde stared for a moment before realizing how close he was to killing the youth. Naruto sprang back from his position, his hands shaking in fright at what he was just about to commit.

Shaking, Naruto said, “w-what was I…what am I supposed to do?” He knew what he was about to do and what he was supposed to do. But Naruto could not come to terms with it. He had only sparred inside the Academy without weapons and always stopped when it was clear you’ve won.

However, as said before, there is no room for hesitation when your life is on the line.

Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu

Naruto could only turn to face a giant fireball as it struck him, and he experienced a new way to die.

Burned to death.

Simulation

Naruto was crouched on the ground shaking in pure pain. Even though there was no fire, his mind carried the burning sensation as phantom pain. The blonde released gasps and cried out for a short time before the pain subsided.

Naruto looked at the screen before him, still shaking from the pain, and finally saw that he could leave. He almost didn’t believe it. Pressing the exit option, Naruto could finally go.

[Are you sure?]

For the user’s mental stability, this quest can not be attempted for a month after the first attempt. Following attempts will only require a week before opening again.

Please be sure of your choice.

Progress

Highest Survival Time: 1:28

Enemies Killed: 0

Objectives Completed: 0/1

Side Objectives Completed: 0/3

Hidden Objectives Completed: 0/2

Give Up? Yes/No

Naruto knew the difficulty level of this quest was insane. He wasn’t raised in war or trained to be in one so early. He was a kid, for Kami’s sake!

But…the System sure knew how to push his buttons. It could have said exit or leave, but no. It’s asking if he was giving up.

He hated those words with scathing passion. Naruto remembered too many times to count being told to give up. That he shouldn’t even try.

He was a loser.

A knucklehead.

An idiot.

A dobe.

Naruto knew this. His classmates knew this. His teachers knew this. Heck, the whole village knew this.

But he still kept going. His sheer willpower became his greatest strength. He believed he could go against even the most talented with only tenacity.

He just needed to play the long game.

‘Just wait and see! I’ll become Hokage, and then you’ll have to respect me! Believe it!’

These words echoed in his head, but instead of soothing him, they made him angrier. Naruto was clenching his hands enough to draw blood, and his teeth started to grate against each other.

Naruto had a million questions run through his head. Am I going to give up? Is everyone right about me? Was there even a chance I could win?

Naruto started to speak and got louder with every curse.

“Damn it.”

“Damn it!”

“DAMN IT!” Naruto bellowed in anger as everything he bottled up inside broke free. Seething with rage, Naruto glared at the words as if they had killed his entire family.

He screamed out. “How could I give up?! If I gave up, would anyone even remember me? Would anyone even care?” Naruto fumed as he exhausted his frustration.

“I’m sick of being thrown to the side like trash! I want to be remembered. I want even my enemies to look at me with respect when I walk by. Not even the pain of death will stop me anymore.”

Naruto pressed No as he roared.

“BELIEVE IT!”

The Cry of the Beast echoes as the challenge continues!