Chapter 1: Can being sick make you stronger?
Konoha Village.
Three days after the Nine-Tailed incident.
At the Third Hokage's house.
Naruto, who had fallen asleep peacefully under the nanny's care, opened his eyes again after hearing the nanny leave.
In his azure eyes, shock and intense curiosity flickered.
"So, I transmigrated as Naruto?" he thought.
With three days of incredibly real experiences, he could no longer dismiss everything as a dream and had to accept the reality.
Lost in thought, he turned his head, feeling his small, powerless body, and gave up the idea of moving.
As his consciousness focused, a translucent window appeared before him.
It had been there from the start, but he had dismissed it as a dream.
Now--- "Character: Uzumaki Naruto
Disease: Empty
Activate."
This must be the System, it's so simple.
Naruto looked at it from every angle but couldn't make sense of it.
And the word 'Disease' made him feel strange.
Since no artificial intelligence appeared, or an instruction manual to explain things, and he was idle anyway, Naruto clicked 'Activate'.
Instantly, a slot machine appeared, the lever automatically pressed down, revealing three items.
Naruto's eyes scanned them.
Cataracts.
Epilepsy.
Lumbar disc herniation.
"---" Naruto.
What does this mean?
Below the three options was a thirty-second countdown, and Naruto was conflicted, unsure what to do.
Darn it, couldn't there be an instruction manual to explain things?
Time ran out.
The three options dimmed, replaced by their appearance below his name, after the word 'Disease'.
The original empty space now contained three diseases: cataracts, epilepsy, and lumbar disc herniation.
Naruto was still wondering what was going on with the System when suddenly, his vision blurred, his body convulsed uncontrollably, and at the same time, he felt intense pain in his lumbar region.
This sudden turn of events caught Naruto off guard; just as he was about to scream, his vision went black, and he fell into a coma.
The next day.
Six o'clock in the morning.
Naruto woke up, his mind still groggy, unsure what had happened.
And when he remembered, he focused his consciousness, and the System reappeared.
"Character: Uzumaki Naruto
Disease: Cataracts, Reward: Vision Enhancement, Claimable
Epilepsy, Reward: Nerve Reaction Enhancement, Claimable
Lumbar Disc Herniation, Reward: Lumbar Bone Strengthening, Claimable."
Naruto observed it several times before choosing to claim, simply by focusing his consciousness on that point.
First was the vision enhancement from cataracts; the effect was not obvious, only a faint feeling that the scene he saw was slightly brighter.
Then came the nerve reaction enhancement from epilepsy; similarly, the feeling was not obvious.
Finally, the lumbar bone strengthening from lumbar disc herniation; the result was the same.
After claiming the rewards, the three diseases—cataracts, epilepsy, and lumbar disc herniation—disappeared.
The slot machine appeared and automatically pulled the lever.
Rotator cuff tendinitis.
Oral ulcers.
Rhinitis.
Thirty-second countdown.
This time, Naruto didn't hesitate and chose rhinitis.
Once chosen, rotator cuff tendinitis and oral ulcers disappeared, leaving only rhinitis, which moved to the empty space after 'Disease'.
Immediately, symptoms of rhinitis began to appear: nasal congestion, runny nose, etc.
Ignoring these sensations, Naruto carefully observed the changes in the System.
After 'Rhinitis', there was a countdown, which was exactly until six o'clock tomorrow morning.
Next to this countdown were two options: 'Close' and 'Lock'.
Naruto first clicked 'Close'; immediately, the symptoms of rhinitis disappeared, and where 'Close' had been, the 'Activate' option appeared.
After waiting a moment, Naruto clicked 'Activate' again.
After continuously testing between 'Close' and 'Activate', he concluded that this disease could be freely closed and activated.
Understanding this, Naruto then clicked 'Lock'.
Once locked, the countdown after 'Rhinitis' disappeared, and chains wrapped around it; the original 'Lock' changed to 'Unlock'.
"So that's it, six o'clock every day is the reset time. Only by claiming rewards can I continue to draw other diseases, and the duration of suffering the disease determines the quality of the reward," Naruto mused.
"I can freely close it, and if I like a particular disease, I can lock it to extend its duration."
If he wasn't mistaken, whichever part of the body contracted a disease, that part would be strengthened.
Whether it was true or not would be revealed tomorrow.
In the morning, the Third Hokage, who had snuck away from his busy schedule, shook a rattle drum by the crib.
Naruto stared blankly at the ceiling, bored.
He wished he could read books, comics, or even ads. How great it would be if he had a phone.
Seeing Naruto ignore him and just stare blankly in an adorable way, the Third Hokage chuckled.
He had a lot of things to do, so he couldn't stay too long. After giving the nanny a few instructions, he left.
Naruto was still staring blankly.
He recognized the Third Hokage but couldn't understand his words.
It seemed learning several foreign languages was very necessary; otherwise, if he transmigrated someday, the language barrier would be the biggest problem.
The next day.
Six o'clock in the morning.
Naruto, who had woken up ten minutes early, eagerly watched the countdown after 'Rhinitis' tick down to zero.
The countdown disappeared, replaced by'Smell Enhancement, Claimable'.
Naruto thought, 'Just as I expected, whatever disease I get, that's what gets strengthened.'
Naruto didn't hesitate and chose to claim.
Unlike the first three, this time the smell enhancement showed a very clear change.
Faintly, through the scent, he discovered that besides him and the nanny, there seemed to be other people in the room.
"If I choose three diseases simultaneously, there are more types, but the extent of the enhancement is also considerably reduced due to being spread out," Naruto mused.
It was hard to say which was more cost-effective; it depended on the actual situation.
A familiar scene unfolded: the slot machine appeared and pulled the lever.
Gastric ulcer.
Femoral head necrosis.
Fever.
"The stomach is a digestive organ; what's the use of strengthening the stomach? To improve digestive ability, so I can digest rocks?" Naruto mused.
Femoral head necrosis is related to bones; this is actually quite good, although it would be very painful, but--- In the crucial moment, with only two seconds left, Naruto chose fever.
Instantly, his body temperature rapidly climbed, stopping at forty degrees, infinitely close to forty-one.
The complications caused by the fever—dizziness, nausea, vomiting, and limb weakness—appeared one after another.
Anbu discovered Naruto's anomaly and immediately reported it to the Third Hokage.
After his temperature was measured, the Third Hokage was furious.
A large number of medical Ninja came over and worked until the afternoon, but the high fever just wouldn't subside. What was even more frightening was that his body temperature had already risen to forty-one degrees.
The medical Ninja were also frantic.
Naruto was unconscious, unaware of what was happening around him.
He just felt death was very close, yet it was just out of reach; he was on the verge of dying but just wouldn't die.
It was as if his last sliver of health was locked.
By the reset time the next day, six o'clock in the morning.
His unyielding high fever rapidly dropped to normal, astonishing the Anbu who measured his temperature every ten minutes.
Naruto opened his eyes, surprised by so many people around him, but didn't pay much attention.
He couldn't communicate, so it was useless to care.
He focused his consciousness on the System.
After 'Fever', the countdown was gone, replaced by 'Fire Resistance Enhancement, Claimable'.
What did fever have to do with fire resistance? Naruto blinked.