Life as an orphan was never easy.
The Uchiha Clan did provide support for its orphaned children.
But that support was barely enough to keep them from starving.
At first, Kei couldn’t understand it.
The Uchiha were one of Konoha’s great clans.
How could they be so stingy when it came to caring for their own orphans?
Later, however, he realized something.
Compared to children without a clan, the Uchiha orphans actually had it good.
There was no cruelty quite like comparison.
At least the Uchiha were willing to feed their own.
The children with no clan backing had it far worse.
Those orphans could only hope they possessed enough talent to be considered worth raising.
That was simply how this world worked.
Strength determined value.
Konoha’s compassion never reached children who had nothing to offer the village.
And even when it did…
It was because those children had the potential to become useful someday.
Just like Nono Yakushi, the legendary spy known as the “Walking Shrine Maiden,” and the children she cared for.
Her kindness was genuine.
Her selflessness was admirable.
But neither the process nor the outcome was something Kei, raised with modern values, could wholeheartedly accept.
To survive as an orphan in Konoha, potential wasn’t optional.
At the very least, you had to grow into an intelligence operative capable of serving the village.
If not…
Then perhaps you could become a shrine maiden.
Otherwise…
You were expected to leave.
If you wanted to beg for food, do it somewhere outside Konoha.
After all…
Konoha prided itself on kindness.
It simply preferred not to see people it couldn’t make use of.
Perhaps that was why the orphanage’s director was a shrine maiden.
Of course…
A shrine maiden wasn’t a witch.
She didn’t wield magic.
Officially speaking, shrine maidens served as vessels through which believers purified their souls.
Well…
That was the elegant explanation.
Anyone old enough understood what it really meant.
After all, saying aristocrats were simply buying companionship sounded far too vulgar.
The nobility preferred more refined language.
Shrine maidens, they claimed, served as intermediaries between humanity and the gods.
Through them, one could commune with the divine.
Naturally…
Only the most beautiful women were qualified to serve the gods.
The noble patrons insisted they weren’t indulging personal desires.
No.
They were praying for the prosperity of all mankind.
Just like performing a sacred Kagura Dance, they said.
The only difference was that Kagura prayed for the nation…
While this ritual sought divine guidance for an individual.
Naturally…
Such lofty ceremonies commanded lofty prices.
Kei couldn’t help admiring the aristocracy’s talent.
They managed to dress vice in the robes of virtue.
To him…
No matter how elegantly people described a “traveling shrine maiden”…
The profession wasn’t fundamentally different from prostitution.
Yet an entire village of orphans depended on women like that for survival.
Wasn’t that itself a cruel joke?
For most Konoha orphans…
That was their future.
The boys became expendable spies.
The girls became shrine maidens who earned money for the village.
Kei could only sigh.
Some traditions truly transcended fiction.
Still…
Without women like Nono, those children might have suffered even more.
That was the cruelest part.
Thinking about it, it wasn’t entirely surprising.
Years later, even Naruto Uzumaki—the son of the Fourth Hokage and heir to the prestigious Uzumaki name—would barely scrape by.
If Naruto’s childhood turned out like that…
What hope did ordinary orphans have?
Seen from that perspective…
The Uchiha Clan feeding its orphaned children was already generous.
That was simply the reality of Konoha.
There was little point complaining.
Besides…
By this point in history, the Land of Whirlpools had already fallen, and the Uzumaki Clan had been scattered.
Most Uchiha orphans accepted their circumstances with gratitude.
Kei couldn’t.
Once someone had seen a better world…
It became impossible to accept an uglier one.
A shinobi who holds the strength to kill will inevitably find the world giving them a reason to use it.
.
Kei was a transmigrator.
Like many before him, he possessed an almost instinctive sense of superiority.
How could someone like him quietly accept a life like this?
At the time, he still knew very little about his system.
He only knew it could summon people.
The problem was obvious.
Dozens of strangers suddenly appearing around him would be impossible to explain.
That would invite disaster.
Even so…
Kei eventually took what he believed was an incredibly reckless step.
Originally, his plan had been simple.
The system gave him potential.
Potential wasn’t strength.
Until that potential became real power…
He intended to remain cautious.
So after being pushed into the forgotten corner of the Uchiha Compound where the clan’s orphans lived, Kei endured in silence for several months.
His idea was to slowly improve his own abilities while saving enough Summoning Scrolls .
Only after becoming capable of protecting himself would he reveal the system’s existence.
Unfortunately…
Reality wasn’t that simple.
Even Sasuke Uchiha, a once-in-a-generation prodigy, had only grown so powerful after studying under Orochimaru.
Someone like Kei, whose talent was merely average and who had no teacher at all…
Would probably struggle just to reach the level of a chūnin without relying on the system.
People were emotional creatures.
One day, while staring into a bowl of barely edible porridge…
Kei suddenly remembered something from his previous life.
Once, late at night, he’d desperately wanted an egg pancake.
So he’d driven all over the city looking for a shop that was still open.
Of course…
At two in the morning, none existed.
A grown man…
Reduced to tears because he couldn’t buy an egg pancake.
At the time he’d thought: “I work so hard.” “I try to live honestly.” “Why can’t I even eat the one thing I want?” “This world is terrible.” “It’s all the world’s fault.” “I’m done.
Burn it all down.” Looking back…
It was embarrassing.
Still, he hadn’t believed he was wrong.
The pressure of life had simply overflowed because of one insignificant event.
Now, however…
He could only laugh at himself.
Back then, he had been full.
People only developed complicated worries after their stomachs were full.
Before that…
There was only one concern.
How do I eat enough to survive?
Kei looked down at the thin porridge in his hands.
Even the leftovers he’d thrown away in his previous life had been more appetizing than this.
Around him…
The younger children stared at the food with hungry eyes.
Inside his system…
Dozens of saved Summoning Scrolls quietly waited.
Finally…
He reached his limit.
He hadn’t crossed worlds to live like this.
He hadn’t come here just to agonize over whether children were kind to him because they genuinely liked him…
Or simply because they hoped he would share a spoonful of porridge.
This wasn’t the Naruto world he had imagined.
This wasn’t the Konoha he wanted to see.
To hell with political suppression.
To hell with suspicion.
I want to eat meat.
I want a better life.
Anyone who tries to stop me from living well…
I’ll make sure they spend their anniversary mourning instead.
Kei slowly stood.
His eyes blazed with determination.
“Then…” “Let’s begin.” “System.” “ten consecutive summons .”