Night lay over the mountains like spilled ink.
Clear moonlight fell across the barren ridges.
In the distance, the waterway shimmered under the moon.
The small boat carrying Itachi and Obito had long since vanished into the depths of the mountains.
The mountain wind was fierce, whipping the black cloak with red clouds until it snapped loudly in the air.
Uchiha Kurō stood on the protruding rock, looking up at the full moon.
The expression on his face was as bleak as the wilderness around him.
Part of it was grief for the Uchiha clan, whose massacre had still been impossible to avoid in the end.
Part of it was sorrow for his own uncertain future.
He sighed.
It was a deep sigh, as if he wanted to empty every bit of bitterness from his chest.
Honestly, as a transmigrator, he felt like he had really embarrassed the profession.
Uchiha Kurō was a transmigrator.
In his previous life, he had just been an ordinary high school student.
During the college entrance exams, he had guessed the final major question correctly.
He got so excited that he suddenly died right there in the exam hall, collapsing one day before freedom was supposed to arrive.
Then, when he opened his eyes again, he discovered he had transmigrated.
And not just anywhere.
He had transmigrated into the world of Naruto, a place where human life was worth less than a stray dog’s.
At the time, lying in his swaddling clothes and staring up at the ceiling, only one thought filled his mind.
It’s over.
I’m cooked.
No, seriously.
If I had to transmigrate into Naruto, fine.
But at least give me a system, right?
He wasn’t even asking to become invincible overnight.
Even a basic check-in system would have been fine.
Let him log in every day and get a few rewards.
That would have been enough!
And the result?
Nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
Not even a beginner gift pack!
And the worst part was that his surname was Uchiha.
The moment he learned that, Kurō felt as though the sky had collapsed.
Transmigrated into Naruto and born as an Uchiha.
If you said that out loud, who wouldn’t be jealous?
A massive chakra pool, the Sharingan as a built-in bloodline trait, and eyes so valuable they were still relevant even in the Boruto era.
A premium bloodline, elite-class starting point, lottery-winner-level luck!
But if he had been allowed to choose, he would rather have been an ordinary civilian in Konoha.
The reason was simple.
There was one execution line in this world darker than anything else in the ninja world.
A certain white-haired little menace from the Pure Land’s favorite mini-game.
The family-friendly Uchiha experience, viewed from Uchiha Itachi’s first-person perspective.
Uchiha Clan Crush Saga.
Normally, a hell joke like that might have made him laugh once, letting him become an evil little Senju brat for a few seconds.
But now… Guys, this is not funny!
Seriously!
Uchiha Itachi and the masked man hiding in the shadows, those two murderers joining forces?
That image was too beautiful.
He did not dare look.
Me, fight Uchiha Itachi and Obito, the father of all gacha suffering?
Are you serious?!
When he found out that he was the same age as Kakashi and Obito, and that there were still several years before that walking disaster called Uchiha Itachi would even be born, he could not help letting out a breath of relief.
With the advantage of being a transmigrator who knew the future, plus the bloodline advantage of the Uchiha clan, he believed that surviving until the finale would be easy.
No.
Not just surviving until the finale.
How could a transmigrator’s ambition be so small?
Learn Sage Arts, awaken the Mangekyō, unlock the Rinnegan, become a Six Paths-level existence, create a world with Rin in it… cough, sorry, wrong script.
In short, punching Old Madara, kicking aliens, and enjoying an invincible life were all waving at him from the future.
There was more than enough time.
There was still room to cook!
Woohoo!
Never had there been such a beautiful start!
This run was locked in.
Just follow Brother Kurō’s rhythm!
Back then, lying in his crib, he waved his chubby little fists and felt full of confidence about the future.
But as he grew up day by day, reality hit him like a bucket of ice water dumped straight over his head.
His talent, among the genius-filled Uchiha clan, could only be considered slightly above average.
He was not dead last, but he was definitely not the kind of person others would look up to.
After recognizing that reality, he did feel disappointed for a short while.
But he quickly pulled himself back together.
After all, he was a transmigrator!
Sure, he had no system and no cheat abilities, but he had information in his head!
Hashirama cells, the Chimera Jutsu, the Dragon Vein, and, at worst, the Eight Gates.
There were plenty of opportunities that could change his fate against the heavens!
Besides, wasn’t this series basically called The Legend of Ninja Village Wars and Magical Eyeballs?
In this life, he was an Uchiha.
As long as he awakened the Mangekyō, everything would get better!
As a child, Kurō rubbed the head of Uchiha Kenji, the neighbor kid who lived next door, and firmly believed this in his heart.
However, cruel reality soon taught him a lesson.
After entering the Ninja Academy, he finally understood what the word “ninja” truly meant.
When a group of six- or seven-year-old children sat in a classroom and listened seriously as the teacher explained which parts of the human body were vital points and how to kill someone in one strike, Kurō and the friend beside him were both stunned.
Kenji beside him simply did not understand.
He scratched his head with a confused look.
Kurō understood.
And precisely because he understood, he was stunned.
He had been mentally prepared for the cruelty of the ninja world.
But experiencing it personally was different.
The impact was so intense that someone like him, who had grown up in a peaceful modern world, found it almost impossible to accept.
On that day, Kurō recognized the darkness of the ninja world.
This ninja world… really was rotten to the core.
From then on, all the luck and fantasies in his heart disappeared.
Surviving in this cruel ninja world came first.
So he brought out the traditional virtue of his previous life and started grinding like a maniac.
When others were playing, he practiced shuriken.
When others were sleeping, he refined chakra.
When others were falling in love, he studied ninjutsu.
Konoha at four in the morning had already become routine for Kurō.
Several years passed like that.
He successfully became the face of the Uchiha clan’s new generation during that period, the strongest young talent of his age group after Kakashi.
Back then, he naively believed everything was moving in a good direction.
As long as he developed properly, then in the late game, he would be unstoppable!
Then… War came.
The Third Great Ninja War was like a meat grinder, dragging everyone into it and crushing them into pieces.
More than half of his classmates from the same year died.
The members of his squad died too.
Only he survived.
He survived by relying on his awkward, neither-high-nor-low level of strength.
He survived by relying on the tiny amount of foresight he had as a transmigrator.
He dragged out a miserable life.
But so what if he survived?
He could not change anything.
The so-called “information” he had was too grand in scale.
So grand that he could not reach any of it.
So grand that, with his strength at the time, he did not even have the qualifications to fight for those opportunities to become stronger.
Without enough power, he, an Uchiha, did not dare approach Hiruko or Orochimaru while they were still in the village.
He did not have the capital to gamble.
He could not bet that they would not make a move against him.
Even though he knew the general direction of the future, he could not do anything.
He could only thrash around in the current of history, watching as the people he valued were swept away one after another, unable to stop any of it.
“Heh.” Kurō looked up at the full moon, the corner of his mouth pulling into a self-mocking curve.
“If I ended up like this, I’m probably the most useless transmigrator there is.” Kurō smiled bitterly at the moon.
That smile was full of self-mockery, and full of helplessness.
He fell silent for a while.
After a long moment, a faint breeze swept past.
His eyes suddenly changed.
Under the moonlight, a flash of scarlet appeared in those black pupils.
Three black tomoe slowly surfaced in his eyes, spinning over the red irises.
In the same instant, he drew the blade from his back and slashed behind him.
The blade tore through the air with a sharp cry.
Moonlight shone across the steel, reflecting a cold white gleam.
Whether in reaction speed or execution, Kurō’s movement had already reached the level of a Kage.
The blade passed through the figure behind him, but there was no sensation of cutting flesh.
It was like slicing through a shadow with no physical form.
His gaze followed the moonlit edge of his sword and landed on the familiar figure behind him, the man wearing a spiral mask.
The blade had passed through the man’s body, yet he did not care at all.
He merely looked at Kurō and spoke slowly in a hoarse voice.
“What are you doing here, Kurō?” Kurō looked at the familiar figure before him.
The vigilance in his heart did not fade.
Instead, it deepened.
Uchiha Obito.
The most lovesick man in the ninja world.
The instigator of the Fourth Great Ninja War.
The strict father of every unfair gacha pull.
The source behind countless tragedies in the ninja world.
And at the same time, he was also the hot-blooded idiot who had grown up with him and lived next door.
He was the person Kurō had once deliberately tried to avoid.
The person whose tragic life Kurō had later wanted to change.
The person whose fate Kurō had ultimately failed to change at all.
His former friend.
And now… His direct “boss.”