— Brain Storage Area —
Konoha Village, Hokage Building, Conference Room.
Uchiha Chiya sat in the corner, his fingertips slowly rubbing the Konoha symbol engraved on his forehead protector.
The meeting had already lasted two and a half hours.
An atmosphere of grief and oppression hung heavily over the room.
Chiya slowly raised his head.
His Three-Tomoe Sharingan activated almost unconsciously, its faint crimson glow barely visible beneath the dim lighting.
His gaze swept across the faces before him—some solemn, others exhausted.
The shadow of war had already fallen over everyone in Konoha.
“Let’s go over the casualties.”
“Within the past ten days, along the border between the Land of Rain and the Land of Fire, we have confirmed the deaths of seventeen Chūnin and six Jōnin.”
The voice of Konoha elder Homura Mitokado was calm to the point of numbness.
The scroll in his hands slowly unfurled across the table, and one name after another entered Chiya’s field of vision.
These had once been living, breathing people.
Now they were nothing more than cold numbers.
Chiya secretly clenched his forehead protector.
His knuckles turned white from the pressure.
This was the reality of the shinobi world.
Without strength, even staying alive was a luxury.
“Chiya, what’s wrong?”
A low voice came from beside him.
Chiya turned his head and met a pair of eyes as dark as ink.
It was Uchiha Fugaku, a few months older than Chiya and his cousin.
At that moment, Fugaku was watching him with a slight frown.
“I was just thinking about the war.”
Chiya answered calmly.
The crimson in his eyes disappeared just as quickly.
“Watch yourself. We’re here representing the Uchiha clan.”
Fugaku lowered his voice, his tone leaving no room for argument.
Chiya was already accustomed to Fugaku’s nagging.
With a helpless expression, he nodded.
Just then—
A clear, sharp voice shattered the silence of the conference room.
“Enough!”
The speaker’s voice trembled slightly with emotion, while her light-brown eyes burned with stubborn determination.
She was Tsunade—the granddaughter of the “God of Shinobi” and a princess of the Land of Fire.
At twenty-four years old, Tsunade was in the prime of her youth.
Her fair face was flushed with grief, and her willow-shaped eyebrows were tightly knitted together.
Her blue robe shifted with her movements, revealing the white inner garment beneath.
Tsunade tightly grasped the heavy necklace around her neck.
It was a keepsake from the First Hokage—and the last memento left to her by her younger brother, Nawaki.
Tsunade’s younger brother had died only a few days ago.
In her eyes, the main reason for his death was simple.
His squad had not been equipped with a medical ninja who could treat him in time.
“If every squad had a medical ninja…”
Tsunade’s voice suddenly stopped.
She suppressed her emotions.
A medical ninja in every squad?
The scene seemed strangely familiar to Chiya.
He glanced at Tsunade before looking toward her two teammates.
Orochimaru wore an almost imperceptible sneer at the corner of his mouth, while Jiraiya had an unusually serious expression.
At the head of the table, Hiruzen Sarutobi took a deep drag from his pipe.
The shadows between his wrinkles seemed to grow even deeper.
Homura Mitokado pushed up his glasses and spoke coldly.
“The war is already upon us. We don’t have enough resources or time to train medical ninjas.”
“It is precisely because we are at war that we need to train them!”
Tsunade slammed her slender hand onto the table.
Her words seemed to be squeezed through clenched teeth.
“It is precisely at a time like this that we need them most! If we don’t start training them now, then when will we?”
“Even training a single medical ninja could save several, perhaps even a dozen, shinobi lives!”
“I think you simply don’t want to do it!”
The atmosphere in the conference room suddenly became tense.
Chiya’s eyes flickered.
Tsunade’s proposal had struck directly at the heart of the problem.
Training medical ninjas was indeed necessary.
But with the war already underway, Konoha’s leadership clearly favored immediate combat strength over long-term development.
Then—
A mechanical voice suddenly sounded inside Chiya’s mind.
[Multiple key figures detected in the host’s vicinity. System activation initiated.]
His body stiffened.
His pupils contracted slightly.
The system?
Chiya was certainly no stranger to such a thing.
Could it be…
After eighteen years since his transmigration, his cheat ability had finally arrived?!
[System activation successful.]
[Character Panel activated.]
[Mission triggered: Steal Tsunade.]
[Reward: Creation Rebirth or one Advancement Card.]
Chiya took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing his excitement.
“System, display the character panel.”
[Name: Uchiha Chiya]
[Age: 18]
[Chakra: 1 Kakashi]
[Kekkei Genkai: Sharingan — Three Tomoe]
[Skills: Genjutsu Mastery, Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique, Body Flicker Technique, Shadow Clone Technique, Three Basic Techniques, etc.]
[Mastery: Complete understanding and proficient control.]
[Copied ninjutsu, shuriken techniques, basic taijutsu, and other fundamental skills are not displayed on the panel.]
Chiya froze when he saw the amount of chakra listed on his panel.
“System, system!”
“One card? What kind of unit is that?”
[Answering the host: One Kakashi is equivalent to Kakashi’s chakra reserves.]
“…”
Kakashi as a unit of measurement?
Chiya nearly broke character.
That dead meme actually came back to attack me.
But this wasn’t the time to complain.
The mission reward was what mattered.
Creation Rebirth was Tsunade’s signature technique.
It allowed the user to release the chakra stored within the Strength of a Hundred Seal and could even overcome the conventional limitations that prevented medical ninjas from fighting effectively.
But Chiya didn’t possess the long-term chakra reserves stored beneath the Strength of a Hundred Seal.
Nor did he possess an enormous chakra pool to support it.
With only one Kakashi’s worth of chakra…
Even if he obtained the technique, it seemed unlikely that he could make full use of its potential.
But the other reward—
An Advancement Card.
According to its description, it could enhance ninjutsu, taijutsu, and even kekkei genkai.
Could it be…
Chiya immediately asked in his mind:
“System, I currently have a Three-Tomoe Sharingan. Can I use the Advancement Card to upgrade it to the Mangekyō Sharingan?”
[Yes, host.]
Hiss!
Terrifying!
That was the Mangekyō Sharingan!
Just thinking about it made Chiya’s heart pound.
During the Second Shinobi World War—a period that had turned the battlefield into a gigantic meat grinder—possessing the Mangekyō Sharingan meant possessing overwhelming strength.
It meant having the power to survive.
Creation Rebirth offered limited benefits to the current Uchiha Chiya.
But the Mangekyō Sharingan was completely different.
Once awakened, it could increase his combat power by several times in a short period.
He had to obtain the Advancement Card!
As for the mission…
Steal Tsunade?
Chiya’s thoughts raced as he desperately recalled the original storyline.
Then a strange look flashed through his eyes.
He remembered!
There had been an occasion when Tsunade proposed establishing a medical ninja system, but nobody supported her.
Kato Dan had stepped forward and supported Tsunade.
That had left a particularly deep impression on her.
With that thought, an idea immediately formed in Chiya’s mind.
Kato Dan, you should just continue being a Jōnin.
Tsunade’s situation is too complicated for you.
Leave this to the righteous Uchiha!
With that thought, Chiya quickly stood up.
His voice was clear and firm.
“I support Lady Tsunade’s proposal.”
In an instant, every pair of eyes in the conference room turned toward him.
Kato Dan, who had been about to stand up and support Tsunade, had ultimately been a step too slow.
He looked back at Uchiha Chiya, surprise flashing across his face.
Hiruzen’s pipe stopped halfway to his mouth, making it impossible to tell what he was thinking.
Tsunade, meanwhile, turned toward Uchiha Chiya and slightly widened her eyes.
She clearly hadn’t expected anyone to stand up in support of her.
And even less had she expected that person to be a member of the Uchiha clan.
“Uchiha Chiya?”
Homura Mitokado’s voice was cold.
“Is this your personal opinion, or does it represent the position of the Uchiha clan?”
Chiya remained calm, meeting the elder’s gaze directly.
He spoke purely from a practical perspective.
“Medical ninjas can greatly increase the survival rate of a squad.”
“Right now, several forces throughout the shinobi world are engaged in conflict. If the war continues to drag on, the medical ninjas trained by our village will eventually join the battlefield.”
“When that happens, the balance of victory will inevitably tilt toward Konoha.”
Chiya noticed the displeased expressions of the people sitting at the head of the table.
He then offered a compromise.
“Resources are indeed scarce during wartime.”
“So instead of establishing a long-term training program right now, Konoha can focus on short-term training.”
“By that, I mean using the shortest possible amount of time and the fewest possible resources to train a group of medical ninjas who are qualified to enter the battlefield.”
He paused before emphasizing his next words.
“An experienced veteran is worth more than ten inexperienced shinobi.”
“Every additional medical ninja capable of treating wounded comrades will greatly increase the survival rate.”
“So training medical ninjas isn’t merely about winning the current war.”
“In the future, it could allow Konoha to gain an advantage over the other nations.”
The air suddenly became frozen.
Hiruzen’s eyes drifted slightly, making his thoughts impossible to read.
Beside him, Danzō’s brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.
Orochimaru turned his head and stared at Uchiha Chiya.
A flicker of interest appeared in his golden, slit-pupiled eyes.
“Interesting.”
Orochimaru’s hoarse voice echoed through the room.
“When did the Uchiha clan start caring about their comrades?”
His words immediately drew the attention of everyone present.
In the Konoha of this era, many people believed that the Senju clan viewed love as a source of strength rather than relying solely on ninjutsu.
The Uchiha, by contrast, were generally regarded as placing the power of ninjutsu above everything else.
If Tsunade, a member of the Senju clan, said such a thing, it was hardly surprising.
But now, an Uchiha who supposedly revered strength had also spoken about protecting his comrades.
It wasn’t only Orochimaru.
Several other shinobi began studying Chiya as well.
Chiya could feel Orochimaru’s gaze probing him with almost predatory intensity.
But there was no turning back now.
He took a deep breath and calmly met Orochimaru’s eyes.
“Lord Orochimaru, my Uchiha clan does not lack concern for our comrades.”
“Quite the opposite.”
“It is precisely because we value our bonds with our comrades so deeply that we have chosen to distance ourselves from others.”
“Furthermore, Uchiha shinobi and comrades have also died in this war.”
“Konoha is our shared home.”
“Protecting Konoha is the highest principle of our Uchiha clan.”
“Right now, Lady Tsunade’s proposal is precisely the kind of measure that can reduce casualties among the village’s shinobi.”
Uchiha Chiya shifted his gaze toward Hiruzen Sarutobi.
“Lady Tsunade’s proposal is meant to give every shinobi fighting on the battlefield a chance to survive.”
“Isn’t that exactly what the Will of Fire represents?”
When his words ended, the conference room fell completely silent.
Tsunade stared blankly at Chiya.
For a moment, she seemed to see the shadow of her younger brother in this young Uchiha—the same unwavering gaze of someone determined to protect others.
Hiruzen remained silent for a moment.
After exchanging a glance with Homura Mitokado, he finally spoke.
“We will seriously reconsider the proposals made by Tsunade and Chiya. The final decision will be communicated to everyone afterward.”
“Today’s meeting is temporarily adjourned.”
“Dismissed.”
The shinobi gradually left the conference room.
Chiya could feel several gazes lingering on his back.
“Chiya.”
Uchiha Yashiro stepped in front of him, his gaze sharp.
“When we return, we need to talk.”
Chiya nodded.
“Yes.”
When Chiya finally walked out of the conference room, a faint fragrance drifted toward him.
He raised his head.
Tsunade was standing at the far end of the corridor.
Her arms were crossed over her chest, and she was looking at him with a complicated expression.
“Can we talk?”