Konoha, Ninja Academy.
Yoruha gazed out the window at the falling leaves.
In his heart, he sighed:
"Twelve years. It's been twelve years since I arrived in this world. I can't believe how fast time flies."
Yoruha was a transmigrant. The moment he was born, he encountered the chaos of the Nine-Tails' attack.
His parents perished in the disaster.
Six years later, he successfully enrolled in the Ninja Academy.
There was nothing special about him compared to other students.
After entering the Academy, his grades were average, his ranking unremarkable. The only thing worth mentioning was his decent looks.
With his mediocre performance, Yoruha was practically invisible in class.
Nobody paid attention to him.
He wasn't like Uchiha Sasuke, who aced every exam and ranked first, nor was he like Uzumaki Naruto, who always drew attention for being dead last.
Yoruha had no fortuitous encounters and lived an ordinary twelve years.
He displayed nothing extraordinary to catch the attention of the Third Hokage or Danzo.
Even Root never invited him for "tea."
"AFK System activation successful. Binding to host: Yoruha."
Yoruha froze for a moment.
"The AFK System, at your service."
Yoruha frowned, suspecting he was caught in a genjutsu.
He bit down hard on the back of his hand. The sharp pain confirmed he wasn't under genjutsu.
"System, you're twelve years late."
Yoruha's tone was flat, devoid of emotion.
He had already come to terms with life during these twelve years.
Who would have thought the system would appear now?
The AFK System didn't respond to his remark.
"What a cold and aloof system," Yoruha thought.
What he didn't know was that the AFK System had no emotions or intelligence to begin with.
Seeing the system remain silent, Yoruha didn't press further.
"So, what functions do you have?" he asked.
"This system allows you to earn rewards simply by being AFK for a certain period of time," the system replied.
Yoruha chuckled. "Quite simple, isn't it?"
"So how do I use it?"
"You are already using it. The AFK System is currently at work for you."
Yoruha was slightly surprised. "I'm already using it? I wonder what rewards I'll get."
Having lived through twelve years in this world, Yoruha was well-accustomed to it.
Whether or not he had the AFK System didn't matter much to him.
Without it, he would simply drift through life. With it, he'd live a bit more freely. That was the only difference.
Shifting his focus from his mind space, he looked at Iruka, who was speaking at the podium.
"Graduation at last. I wonder which squad I'll be assigned to."
The graduation exam was approaching.
The test was on the Clone Technique.
Although Yoruha's grades over the past six years were average, passing wasn't an issue.
He had already mastered the Three Basic Techniques.
In fact, except for someone like Naruto, who was hindered by the Nine-Tails, most students in the class had already mastered them by now.
From the podium, Iruka called out:
"Now, students whose names I call, head to the next room."
"First up: Uchiha Sasuke."
Iruka called Sasuke first, as expected.
From the moment they enrolled, Sasuke had always had the best grades in the class.
His name was naturally at the top of the list.
With an expressionless face, Sasuke stood up coolly, hands in his pockets, and walked toward the next room.
The girls in the class all looked at Sasuke with starry eyes.
"Sasuke, I love you!"
They were as infatuated with Sasuke as fans idolizing a celebrity.
Naruto, sitting below, clenched his teeth as he watched the cool Sasuke on stage.
"Damn it, that bastard Sasuke."
"What's so great about him?"
Shikamaru, sitting not far from Naruto, lazily replied, "Sasuke's been the top student in the class since day one, and he's always ranked first."
"Shikamaru, one day I'm going to surpass him! I'm going to be Hokage, believe it!" Naruto declared.
Shikamaru rolled his eyes and lay down on his desk to nap.
In the class, only Shikamaru and Kiba hung out with Naruto.
Everyone else stayed away from him, including Yoruha.
The others avoided Naruto due to their parents' influence, while Yoruha simply didn't want any trouble.
A few minutes later, Sasuke returned from the exam.
As expected, he passed with ease.
Iruka had even considered letting Sasuke pass without taking the test.
Sasuke had mastered the Three Basic Techniques in his first year at the Academy.
To Iruka, Sasuke was undoubtedly the strongest student of their cohort.
As Yoruha anticipated, everyone except Naruto passed the exam smoothly.
Afterward, the Third Hokage appeared and gave a speech to the graduating students.
The talk filled the students, who had unrealistic dreams about the ninja profession, with even greater excitement about their upcoming careers.
Naruto sat dejectedly on the swing under a tree, enviously watching his classmates celebrate their graduation.
Before long, Naruto disappeared from under the tree.
Yoruha thought to himself, "He must've been tricked by Mizuki."
Yoruha had no intention of getting involved in Naruto's theft of the scroll.
On his way home from the Ninja Academy, he passed by Ichiraku Ramen.
Not wanting to cook for himself, he decided to settle his dinner there.
But as soon as he entered the ramen shop, he spotted Iruka treating Naruto to ramen.
Having been in this world for twelve years, Yoruha had forgotten many of the details.
He didn't even recall that Iruka would treat Naruto to ramen at this moment.
Just as Yoruha was about to leave, the shop owner, Teuchi, called out to him.
"Yoruha! What'll you have today?"
Yoruha frequented Ichiraku Ramen more often than Naruto.
Over the years, he'd gotten familiar with Teuchi.
Teuchi's words caught the attention of Iruka and Naruto.
Yoruha had no choice but to step inside.
"Good evening, Iruka-sensei. Naruto, you're here for ramen too?"
Yoruha's parents were both ninjas, and the money they left behind was enough to support him until adulthood.
He usually avoided coming to the ramen shop at the same time as Naruto.
In all these years, Yoruha had never run into Naruto here before.
Iruka smiled when he saw Yoruha. "Yoruha, you did pretty well today."
Naruto, on the other hand, didn't recognize Yoruha.
Yoruha's presence in class was about as noticeable as Shino's.
Naruto had no memory of him and couldn't recall who he was at all.
After sitting down, Yoruha smiled slightly. "It's all thanks to your excellent teaching, Sensei."
He spoke with a practiced politeness.
Naruto frowned as he looked at Yoruha. After thinking hard for a while, he still couldn't remember who Yoruha was.
Unable to remember, Naruto leaned toward Iruka and whispered, "Iruka-sensei, who is he? Is he one of my classmates?"
Iruka, who had been about to say something to Yoruha, was left speechless by Naruto's question.
With a twitching mouth, he glanced at Naruto.
"Naruto, this is your classmate Yoruha. You don't recognize him?"
Naruto scratched the back of his head awkwardly and laughed. "Haha, Iruka-sensei, I honestly don't remember him."
Naruto said this with complete sincerity.