Naruto: I Copy Skills

A/N: Get the story to 50 powerstones before Sunday for a double release next Monday. All content in this story is purely fictional. You will not be Reincarnated in the Naruto world in real life. 

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'I'm spending my last moments in jail, huh? I thought there'd be more to my life. Goro Obachi, a rising star in the boxing space, died in jail as a simple convict… Damn. That's not how I thought my story would go.'

The previously warm pool of blood that surrounded Goro's body had gone cold. All the noise around him had become a blur, along with his vision.

'If only I could copy the skills of great fighters like Pike Tryson or Lloyd Payweather... Maybe my boxing career wouldn't have been so pitiful that way.'

Goro's vision began to dim, the single burnt-out light in his cell fading. His sight worsened progressively until there was nothing left but pitch black.

Emerging from the deep darkness, a faint blue light appeared, barely distinguishable. It grew larger as it drew nearer.

'Am I hallucinating? I swear I just died!'

[New Skill Unlocked: Copy]

'What's that annoying voice in my head?'

[Beginning Transmigration]

'Transmigration? Heh... I wish.'

A blinding light illuminated the darkness, turning everything white before fading, replaced by other colors slowly seeping into view.

Goro found himself sitting in a classroom among other children, with a familiar-looking teacher at the front, wearing a displeased expression.

"Goro! This is the last time I'll be telling you to wake up! The exam is tomorrow and you've been slacking off for the whole year! If you fail, you only have yourself to blame!" the man yelled.

'That looks just like Iruka from the show Naruto. It can't be though. Am I dreaming?'

Completely disoriented, Goro pinched himself, hoping to wake from what he believed to be a dream.

'Ah, shit. It seems this is actually real... So that voice was also real then? I transmigrated…?'

"My bad, sensei..." Goro muttered under his breath, still uncertain of his reality.

"You always apologize and do the same thing again! Well, I guess tomorrow is the day of graduation, so you'll see where being lazy gets you in life. As for you, Naruto, you've already failed the graduation exam twice! If you two can't take your exams seriously, you'll never graduate!" Iruka yelled.

'No way... he responded… I've been transmigrated to the Shinobi world! Looks like I'm in the same class as Naruto and the graduation exam is tomorrow. I— Argh!'

A sudden jolt of pain in Goro's head interrupted his thoughts. It felt like a dam had burst, sending a flood of new memories from the prior owner's mind into Goro's.

'It appears the owner of this body had health issues that prevented him from staying awake. In the end, he died from a heart attack. How tragic. It's convenient that we share the same name. That way, things won't be confusing.'

"Don't tell me you're sleeping again!" Iruka shouted.

'Gosh, this guy is annoying. I can't catch a break.'

The class erupted into laughter as Goro seemed to have dozed off again right after being awakened.

Goro wasn't one to get irritated by children, but the emotions of the body he was inhabiting had mixed with his own. His eyes scanned the classroom, stopping on one girl in particular. His heart raced at the sight of her.

'Hinata Hyuga... Why is my heart racing like this? Don't tell me the prior owner had a crush on her... She ended up with Naruto though, so the previous owner didn't stand a chance. Ahh! This feeling is driving me nuts! I'll just confess and get this over with.'

Hinata looked puzzled as she caught Goro staring. Realizing he was gawking, Goro quickly looked away back to Iruka.

"No... I'm not sleeping..." Goro responded, fed up with the repetitive questioning. Iruka's gaze lingered for a moment longer on the sorry excuse for a student before resuming his lesson.

'All these jerks in this class think I'll fail. From the memories that flooded into my mind, it seems the past me really was a slacker. I don't know how to perform the clone jutsu, and my knowledge of chakra and taijutsu is very limited. I definitely need to get stronger if I want to survive Orochimaru's attack on the village and live a fulfilling life for once. But first, how am I meant to pass tomorrow's graduation exam?'

As Goro pondered deeper, a blue screen materialized before him.

[Calculating best options to pass... Complete! Options: N/A]

'Huh? That's the system that brought me here, isn't it?'

[Calculating best options to pass with skills... Found! Option: Copy]

'Let me try my luck and see if I can communicate with the system. If I can, that'll be helpful, but I don't know the extent of its knowledge. In any case, if I can use it in conjunction with my own knowledge of the world, it'll be quite useful. System, what do you mean by Copy?'

[Copy is a skill granted to you based on your dying wish. To use copy, you must absorb the deceased's skills immediately after their death. The more skilled an opponent, the more time it'll take to copy.]

"Class is over, you may now leave. Good luck on tomorrow's exam," Iruka announced, interrupting Goro's conversation with the System.

'I'm able to talk to the system, so that's good, but first I need to deal with my immediate issues. I need to get rid of these emotions I have for Hinata. The best way is to get rejected. That way, I'll know I have no chance with her. System, has my mind merged with the previous owner's mind? If so, why am I the one in control?'

[Your minds have indeed merged, but your will supersedes the will of the previous owner. This means your likes, dislikes, and interests have become synonymous. To put it simply, your will was stronger, so you're in control.]

Setting his sights on Hinata, Goro stood up from his seat and rushed towards her.

"Eek," Hinata yelped in fear.

'What's she screaming about? I need to go look in a mirror. I'm not that ugly, am I?'

Determined to get the rejection over with, Goro confessed, "Hinata, I just wanted to confess my feelings for you. I've had a crush on you for a while and I believe it's the right time to tell you."

'It's best to keep things short and simple to avoid misunderstandings. Go on. Reject me.'

Hinata's face turned a deep shade of red. Refusing to meet Goro's eyes, she clasped her hands together tightly.

"Um, I..." she began, her gaze darting around. "I don't share your feelings... sorry!" she exclaimed, quickly gathering her belongings and running away.

'That was way too loud... I wasn't mentally prepared for that reaction.'

"Ohh, man, you're having the worst week ever! You've just been rejected and tomorrow you're going to fail!" a boy with a grey coat exclaimed, slinging his arm around Goro's shoulder.

'Kiba... What does he want?'

"Don't worry, man, it happens to the best of us. But honestly, trying to get with the Hyuga clan heir? Come on! She's practically royalty, you stood no chance!"

Goro removed Kiba's arm from his shoulder and faced him. "I'm not stressed about it," Goro said calmly.

Kiba scratched his head, then pointed to Goro's cheek. "How do you explain the tears then?"

Without needing to touch his cheeks, Goro felt the tears streaming down his face. Wiping his face, he walked past Kiba, exiting the classroom. He was more interested in talking with the system than a brat there only to mock him.

'System, I'm far too weak to successfully kill anyone, and even if I do, there's the issue of covering up the crime. Do I have to be the one to kill the enemy, or can I just copy the skills from any corpse?'

[Killing isn't required; it's only necessary that the corpse is freshly deceased. The maximum amount of time that can pass before the corpse's skills can be copied is a one-week period.]

'This is good. I can go to the Konoha cemetery and copy skills from a ton of bodies. That way, I'll be more than qualified to pass tomorrow. It'll also help me in my goal to attain power.'

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Reminder: Get the story to 50 powerstones by Sunday, for a double release next Monday.