My name used to be Céline.
Yes, like Céline Dion.
And I was a woman who lived under the weight of a last name and the shadow of a legacy.
A pharmacist. Brilliant, sure—but more out of necessity than passion.
I was an expert in mixing compounds, formulas, sacrifices.
An obsessed alchemist.
I burned years like scented candles lit for others, while I smelled like smoke.
I swallowed friendships, time, love, and mental health like pills without water.
All to keep the family empire standing. All so my mother could show off a perfect daughter at dinners we never shared.
And I did it.
I was efficient. Quiet. Relentless.
Until they killed me.
But it wasn't the stress.
It wasn't exhaustion.
Not an accidental overdose.
It was him.
My brother switched my pills. He knew I depended on them to keep going.
He knew what taking them meant. He knew that without them, I wouldn't even have the strength to open my eyes.
He smiled at me that morning like nothing was broken between us.
Like it wasn't the day I'd shut off for good.
Death wasn't a tunnel. No light. No peace.
It was an abrupt disconnect.
A power outage.
A terrifying silence.
But dying wasn't an ending. It was a transition.
Like someone had hit Ctrl + Z in the afterlife.
I opened my eyes.
Error.
That wasn't my bed.
That wasn't my body.
That wasn't my world.
The ceiling was metal. There were tubes, jars, flickering lights.
It smelled like formaldehyde, old chemicals, and something deeply wrong.
My fingers were thin like twigs. My arms… had they always been this small?
My head felt heavy. I didn't recognize my breathing.
My heart beat like it wanted to escape first.
And then came the memories.
Not mine.
Bombs. Mud. Screams.
An orphanage in ruins. Hunger.
Aika.
A child caught in a war she didn't ask for, taken by forces she couldn't understand, used as just another experiment.
Aika's memories and Céline's memories fused like two unstable chemicals.
And the result… was me.
A brand new mix.
A ticking time bomb in an imaginary lab coat.
Aika cried for her mother. I cried without knowing why.
Where did she end and I begin?
"No, no, no…" I whispered. "This can't be happening. Where am I? What is this?"
[YOU HAVE AWAKENED. WOULD YOU LIKE TO INITIATE THE SYSTEM?]
"Awakened"?
A message written in English appeared in front of my eyes, suspended in a blue window.
[Select an option: YES – NO]
The so-called system wouldn't disappear, so I chose YES.
[CONGRATULATIONS, SYSTEM INITIALIZED]
[YOU HAVE REINCARNATED INTO NARUTO…]
No way… No.
"NO!"
I died and reincarnated in Naruto!
Yes, just like those reincarnation manhwas.
[WARNING! KILLING INTENT APPROACHING!]
Killing intent? What the hell does that mean?
What kind of joke was this?
Reincarnation isn't real.
I looked at my hands. The effects were way too detailed.
I could swear I really had reincarnated.
I was definitely in another body—a girl's, thin to the bone.
Laughter exploded from my throat like an anxiety grenade.
This is completely absurd. But if it's not real…
Then why do I remember dying?
Did I really die?
[WARNING! DEATH IMMINENT IN 60 SECONDS]
"What do you mean death in sixty seconds?! I just woke up!"
"Can't you go any slower?!"
[NO.]
Shit. It answered me.
I stared at the blue screen in front of me, frozen.
Was I the only one who could see it?
I looked up, searching for someone.
Anyone who could confirm I wasn't losing my mind.
And then I heard it.
A slithering sound. A whisper.
Like a snake chewing on a laugh.
A figure emerged from the shadows.
Tall. Thin. More gliding than walking.
Skin like wax, eyes like golden needles.
My brain tried to explain it, rationalize it… but it crashed.
Orochimaru.
Every hair on my body stood on end.
A terrifying pressure gripped my soul.
Orochimaru?
[DEATH IMMINENT IN 40 SECONDS]
The system kept talking, but I couldn't believe it.
I had the actual Sannin standing in front of me.
This wasn't cosplay.
This wasn't a dream.
It was him—with the energy of a snake with a PhD in chemistry and war crimes.
He smiled at me like he'd just found an interesting cockroach under a microscope.
"Hm… You're alive. Curious. But… still useless. I'll have to get rid of you before you become a nuisance."
What kind of reincarnation is this?!
Who the hell throws me into this world without a warning?!
No tutorial? No intro cutscene?
Not even a height slider? No character customization?
[CONGRATULATIONS. YOU HAVE ENCOUNTERED AN SSS+ CLASS MAIN CHARACTER.]
…What the fuck.
[ATTENTION]
[A SIDE MISSION HAS BEEN GENERATED]
[MISSION: Survive Orochimaru]
[REWARD: Alliance with the enemy]
[PENALTY: Permanent death and soul erasure]
[TIME REMAINING: 21 seconds… 20… 19…]
[ACCEPT MISSION?]
[YES – NO]
"Shit—YES! YES!"
I hit the screen fast.
Real or not, I wasn't going to wait around to die just to find out.
[WELCOME BONUS ACTIVATED]
[SKILL UNLOCKED: PHARMACIST'S TOUCH]
[DESCRIPTION: Class C passive upgrade. Adapts prior pharmaceutical knowledge to shinobi context.]
[USE SKILL NOW?]
[YES – NO]
"Yes!"
I had no time. The moment I tapped YES, my body moved on its own.
I saw bottles on the table.
No labels. No clues.
My fingers grabbed three at random, going purely by instinct.
One smelled like a base. Another, acidic. The third… burned my nose.
Good enough.
A few drops. A pinch here and there.
An improvised cocktail and a prayer.
I covered my nose and smashed the mix to the floor.
A white cloud rose like a subtle ghost.
Orochimaru turned.
He frowned.
He blinked—slowly, like his body didn't believe what it was sensing.
He wobbled.
"…Who… are you?" he muttered before collapsing.
[CONGRATULATIONS. SKILL "PHARMACIST'S TOUCH" SUCCESSFULLY USED]
[REWARD: 500 USD]
"Great," I muttered. "What the hell am I supposed to do with 500 dollars in the Naruto world?"
[WOULD YOU LIKE TO DONATE YOUR 500 USD TO A WAR SURVIVORS FOUNDATION?]
[YES – NO]
"What?! No."
I selected NO.
[YES – YES]
"I already said no!"
[YES]
"Damn it. Okay, sorry, you're amazing, okay?
I was rude, I'm just frustrated. I don't understand what's going on!
Am I losing my mind?!"
[THE SYSTEM UNDERSTANDS YOUR WORDS AND FEELS COMPASSION FOR YOU.]
"…Thanks."
I stared at it, confused.
[THE SYSTEM RETURNS YOUR 500 USD.]