"Suzuki-kun..."
Suzuki turned away from the dusty sparring ring and looked down at the little girl nervously pulling at the sleeves of her jacket. Her pale lavender eyes were wide with genuine worry, which immediately brought a soft, reassuring smile to his face.
"It's fine, Hinata. Don't worry about me."
"Do you really think you can win?" another voice chimed in. It was Ino Yamanaka, crossing her arms with a huff. She sounded doubtful—after all, his opponent was the legendary Sasuke—but beneath her typical loud bravado, there was a strange, undeniable anxiety in her tone.
"I will certainly try my best," Suzuki replied calmly, rolling his shoulders to loosen the tension. "I won't give up easily, at the very least."
Hearing those grounded, practical words, the kids standing around him nodded in silent agreement. They all knew exactly how stubbornly hardworking Tanaka Suzuki was.
Yup. Tanaka Suzuki.
That was his name now. He had been reincarnated into the brutal, hyper-lethal world of Naruto, specifically placed right into the exact same Academy class as Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and all the elite clan heirs.
But unlike them, he possessed absolutely zero protagonist privileges. He was an orphan. His parents had been completely average, unremarkable Chunin who had passed away on a routine, hazardous border mission years ago.
Was there anything special about his bloodline?
No. Absolutely nothing.
If he had been born into the Hyuga, Akimichi, or Nara clans, he might have been able to live comfortably under the massive, protective political umbrella of clan politics. But as the son of civilian-born ninjas, he was left with nothing but a modest bank account, three basic E-rank academy jutsu, and a single, highly dangerous C-rank inheritance: the Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique.
Was it an overpowered jutsu? Frankly, no. In the grand scheme of the world, it was a notoriously slow attack with a terrible hit rate. But it possessed massive, destructive area-of-effect damage. Since it was the absolute only offensive tool he had inherited, he practiced it relentlessly until his throat burned.
Fortunately, his deceased parents had left him one other crucial asset: property.
In a militaristic hidden village like Konohagakure, owning private real estate was incredibly rare. Using his pragmatic, modern adult intellect, Suzuki heavily leveraged that property instead of letting it rot. He lived in the absolute smallest, draftiest room of the building and converted the rest of the layout into a highly popular rental guesthouse.
Unlike other landlords in that era who relied on verbal agreements and handshakes, Suzuki drafted a professional, modern lease contract. His sheer professionalism, cleanliness, and fair pricing made his guesthouse incredibly popular among the traveling merchants who frequented Konoha.
But that was only his first income stream. His second was far more hands-on: charcoal.
By paying a fair, steady wage to the village's civilian orphans to collect scrap wood and hiring crippled, retired ninjas who could no longer take active combat missions, he established a thriving charcoal supply shop. He quickly became the primary distributor for the village's high-end BBQ restaurants, which was exactly how he had befriended Ino and Choji's families early on.
But the charcoal business wasn't just about making money. It was a disguised training method.
Creating premium, smokeless charcoal required perfectly sustained, incredibly precise fire and temperature control. By using his chakra to bake the wood instead of normal fire, he ruthlessly trained his Fire Release every single day without drawing any unwanted suspicion. Because of this daily grind, his charcoal was the highest quality in the village, and his chakra control had reached a terrifyingly precise level for an Academy student.
As for Hinata sticking to him like a shadow... well, Suzuki knew he had inadvertently stolen a massive plot point. The original storyline dictated that Naruto was supposed to save her from bullies in the snowy park, sparking her lifelong crush.
But Suzuki had simply happened to walk past that park first. Seeing three brats violently beating up a crying little girl, he didn't give an inspiring, loud speech about his "ninja way." He just brutally beat the bullies into the dirt. He might have only been a Chunin's orphan, but he trained like a madman. He easily overpowered those civilian kids in seconds.
Because of that intervention, Hinata had latched onto him instead of Naruto.
Honestly, Suzuki felt it was an absolute miracle he had lived so smoothly up to this point. Getting close to the Hyuga heiress—practically village royalty—and befriending the Ino-Shika-Cho trio gave him incredible social armor.
But Suzuki knew better than to rely solely on children for protection.
He knew the apocalyptic crises that were coming to this world. However, the fate of the entire shinobi world? That was Naruto and Sasuke's problem. They were the prophesied demigods. As a self-proclaimed 'Mob-B', Suzuki had absolutely no intention of punching Madara Uchiha or saving the moon from falling. He didn't have the talent, the broken genetics, or the Tailed Beast for it.
His primary concern was the immediate, localized danger. Specifically: Danzo Shimura.
The Third Hokage was generally benevolent, but Danzo was a paranoid, warmongering rat who viewed every orphan in the village as potential, brainwashed cannon fodder for his black-ops Root division. As long as Sasuke hadn't killed Danzo yet, Suzuki knew he had to make himself completely "unkidnappable."
That was the true, underlying genius behind his businesses, and the reason he recently enrolled in the Konoha Hospital's medical ward volunteering program.
He didn't just open a charcoal shop for money; he did it to become a beloved, indispensable local employer. By hiring orphans and crippled veterans, he became a highly visible public figure among the civilians. By volunteering at the hospital—sorting herbs, cleaning bandages, and assisting the staff—he built a stellar reputation with the medical personnel and the Jonin who relied on them to survive.
He wove himself so deeply into the public, economic, and medical fabric of Konohagakure that if he simply "vanished" in the middle of the night, there would be a massive, unavoidable public uproar. The wealthy merchants, the disgruntled veterans, the hospital staff, and the elite clan heirs would all start asking very dangerous questions.
It was the perfect shield against a rat who only operated in the shadows. Probably, in Danzo's twisted eyes, everyone in the village was nothing but a tool. Suzuki refused to be a broken tool that could be discarded in the dark.
Reincarnating into this world was terrifying. Suzuki was intensely envious of the kids born with golden spoons and Kekkei Genkai. But he wanted to live freely, without any invisible cages placed upon his body. Despite how ordinary he was, he would keep struggling. He would become the absolute strongest in his own way!
"Suzuki Tanaka! It is your turn! Step up onto the stage and face Sasuke Uchiha!" the Chunin instructor barked, snapping him out of his thoughts.
"....."
"Hmph."
Sasuke Uchiha merely snorted, walking gracefully toward the center of the ring. The emo prodigy didn't even bother to look at Suzuki, treating him like an insignificant pebble on the side of the road.
Suzuki took a slow, deep breath. He stepped onto the dirt, ready to face this psychopathic, brother-obsessed genius. He didn't plan to win this spar—that would draw too much attention—but he needed to show exactly enough competence to secure a solid Genin team placement.
But just as he raised his hands to form the Seal of Confrontation, a cold, mechanical voice echoed perfectly within the confines of his mind.
[Report. An external, chakra-based surveillance frequency has been detected scanning the host.]
[Signature identified: The Telescope Technique.]
[Do you want the Manager to intercept, analyze, or block the surveillance feed?]
[Yes / No]
"....."
Suzuki completely froze mid-stance, his eyes widening by a fraction of an inch.
...Eh?
The Third Hokage was currently watching him through his crystal ball? And the corporate Manager in his head could literally hack ninjutsu?!