Night of the Uchiha Clan Downfall

On the night of the Nine-Tails' Rampage, when his "parents were sacrificed to the heavens," he recovered his memories of his previous life and awakened the Sharingan—eyes destined to be born alongside grief and loss.

Only after that night did Daren Yi learn that his mother in this life, like Izumi's mother, had been a Uchiha who married out and changed her surname.

Izumi, who had also lost her father, awakened her Sharingan that night as well and returned to the Uchiha Clan with her mother.

Daren Yi, however, chose concealment and avoidance. Knowing about the future Uchiha Clan Downfall, he had no desire whatsoever to have anything to do with the Uchiha.

He even vehemently opposed Izumi and her mother returning to the Uchiha Clan. His reaction had been so intense that it caused quite a stir at the time.

Both the Security Force and Konohagakure categorized him as one of those villagers who disliked and resented the Uchiha. Even the village higher-ups, due to their concern over the strained relationship between the Uchiha and the villagers, happened to remember the name Daren Yi a little.

Standing before the mirror, Daren Yi stared blankly in silence. He had to admit that after the bloody night of the Nine-Tails' Rampage, he was truly panicking. He was afraid.

The large-scale ninjutsu unleashed at full power by an ordinary Jonin had power comparable to exploding missiles, often destroying an entire long street and pulverizing rows of tall buildings and houses.

And the Tailed Beast Bomb unleashed by the complete Nine-Tails, which stood far above ordinary Jonin, had the power of a nuclear explosion.

Thanks for the invitation—what was it like to witness a nuclear blast "up close"?

Daren Yi felt he had plenty to say on that subject!

First, the brilliant flash that turned the entire night sky into daylight had nearly blinded him. Then came the thunderous roar that made his ears bleed.

The churning air formed rings of high-speed shockwaves, sweeping every person and object, every high-rise and house, to the ground.

The once-solid earth had surged chaotically and violently, wave after wave, like ocean swells in a storm. When the devastation ended, only ruins remained, littered with horribly mangled corpses.

And when he looked up, an enormous mushroom cloud stretching into the heavens stood on the horizon, provoking humanity's instinctive fear of gigantic things in the most direct and brutal way possible!

He had never imagined that when scenes from 2D became 3D, they would be this cruel. The reality never described in detail by the anime was laid bare before his eyes.

This was a nightmare. Daren Yi suspected that everyone who had personally experienced that night had, to some degree, developed psychological problems and mental issues.

But he was different.

Daren Yi, who knew a little about psychology and mental illness, understood—

His condition was more serious!

The Three-Tomoe Sharingan was proof...

He had never been on a battlefield or killed anyone. He enthusiastically participated in public welfare and charity work in his daily life, and even the neighbors praised him as a good kid.

Yet this perfectly normal person had naturally awakened the Three Tomoe while eating at home four years ago.

Daren Yi felt somewhat conflicted. As a transmigrator without a Golden Finger, he was a little afraid of death and a little cowardly. Unsure whether he could reach the top if he stepped into the spotlight, he instinctively kept putting the matter off.

After that night, he dug out the valuable relics his parents had hidden in an iron box in the buried basement of their home.

Among them were a complete set of ninja education materials his Chunin father had carefully prepared in advance, with every explanation and note in the textbooks marked in meticulous detail.

It was clear that, as a father, he had looked forward to the warm day when he could personally educate his son. His preparations had been exceedingly thorough, and the handwritten notes beside the educational materials radiated irrepressible joy and happiness.

In a hidden compartment of the iron box, there were even some secret Uchiha Clan kunai-throwing techniques, Fire Style Ninjutsu, and genjutsu.

There was also a tightly wrapped manuscript on genjutsu principles and research insights. Its author was signed as "Uchiha Shirabe."

That original character from the TV anime, the founder of the genjutsu Izanami, a mysterious possessor of the Mangekyō Sharingan.

These things had clearly been left behind by his mother. Daren Yi had been quite surprised when he first discovered them. The Uchiha Clan certainly did not allow such things to be passed on privately, especially that manuscript...

It seemed his mother was not only somewhat mysterious, but also not someone who strictly followed the rules!

With these precious inheritances, and unwilling to draw attention or become involved with the Uchiha, much less become an officially registered ninja who had to unconditionally obey every order from his superiors, Daren Yi simply failed to enroll in the ninja academy due to his "limited ninja talent," getting "eliminated" in the entrance exam.

In recent years, due to the explosive growth of its resident population, the Konoha Ninja Academy had been forced to expand and increase enrollment multiple times. It had even introduced entrance exams and repeatedly raised their difficulty.

Yet admission slots remained exceptionally scarce, and no one cared in the slightest about eliminating an "ordinary person."

Stop overthinking. Just work properly and live properly. Haven't I already gotten used to 996 and 007 in my previous life?

Even after transmigrating, I still have to work!

Daren Yi raised a hand and lightly patted the face in the mirror, comforting himself. His expression remained as calm as ever.

More precisely, he had no expression at all—like a laid-back middle-aged office drone, polished smooth and round by life, unshaken by anything and unmoved by waves.

"Tap tap..."

Suddenly, faint footsteps, almost too quiet to hear, drifted in from the long street outside the window. They seemed to be coming from far away.

In a flash, Daren Yi appeared by the window of an unlit room facing the street and silently looked into the distance.

Two ninjas wearing Konoha Anbu uniforms and animal masks were pursuing a young girl.

The girl in purple appeared to be badly injured. Under the moonlight, she fled soundlessly in panic, her face filled with confusion, incomprehension, terror, and grief.

Though she was still some distance away and the streetlights had long since been turned off in the middle of the night, Daren Yi, with three tomoe spinning in his eyes, still clearly saw the Uchiha Clan Crest embroidered on her clothes and that unforgettable face.

What a coincidence. Izumi...

So tonight was the night of the Uchiha Clan Downfall.

Daren Yi watched his childhood sweetheart get caught and killed with his own eyes. Yet he merely formed a hand seal without expression and made no further move.

Before she was killed, the girl looked toward this familiar childhood street. Who knew what she remembered? A sweet, satisfied smile appeared on her face.

She no longer resisted or called for help. She simply let the kunai pierce her throat, silently falling into her happy memories.

Her killer, her childhood sweetheart, and even the victim herself felt no sorrow for her. It seemed only the tear mole beneath the corner of her right eye mourned her.

"Something seems off?"

The Anbu ninja pulled out the bloodstained kunai and questioned his companion. Though it was phrased as a question, there was not a trace of emotion in his tone, numb like a machine.

The other Anbu ninja carefully examined the body as well and confirmed, "No problem. She destroyed her Three-Tomoe Sharingan before she died."

The two then silently cleaned up the scene and left with the body.

Daren Yi lowered the hand that had formed the seal. Two streams of bloody tears flowed from the corners of his eyes as his Three-Tomoe Sharingan evolved without surprise. The three tomoe connected, twisting into three sickles, their blades facing outward and their handles linked together, as though yearning to reap something.

Together, they resembled a twisting flame—either burning the world or burning himself.

"My condition has gotten worse again!"

Daren Yi looked at the translucent panel floating before his eyes like a hallucination and muttered calmly to himself.

As a severely mentally ill person who had transmigrated, wasn't it perfectly normal to imagine that he possessed a "Golden Finger"?

The only abnormal thing was that this Golden Finger actually seemed usable!

Deep Blue Stat System

＋Physique

Physique Reserve Energy: 100%

＋Spirit

Spirit Reserve Energy: 100%

Mental State Abnormality Degree: 37%

Chakra Strength/Recovery Speed Increase: 370%

Yin Release Ninjutsu/Genjutsu Strength Increase: 370%

Tentatively, Daren Yi pressed the plus sign before "Physique" on the transparent panel labeled "Deep Blue Stat System."

He discovered that as the number in "Physique Reserve Energy: 100%" decreased, his physical strength—including the strength he could clearly feel, the agility of his limbs, hearing, vision, sense of smell, and more—rose frantically.

When the line became "Physique Reserve Energy: 0%," his "Physique" stat had become "Physique: Enhanced 300%," while the plus sign before it had dimmed.

Daren Yi immediately filled up the "Spirit" stat with great enthusiasm. After a series of operations, the panel's attributes had changed to:

＋Physique: Enhanced 300%

Physique Reserve Energy: 0%

＋Spirit: Enhanced 500%

Spirit Reserve Energy: 0%

Mental State Abnormality Degree: 37%

Chakra Strength/Recovery Speed Increase: 370%

Yin Release Ninjutsu/Genjutsu Strength Increase: 370%