The Arrival of the Ferocious

My name was Uchiha Chen, and I was a transmigrator.

But I had never thought that being a transmigrator was anything particularly noble or extraordinary.

I had merely once stood from a godlike perspective, possessing a broader view and more information than the natives. That was all.

Life, love, battle, raising children, running a Ninja Village, interacting with Hikari—I took every encounter in my life seriously.

When I resolved to awaken my own Rinnegan, one question had lingered in my mind.

What did I have that made me stronger than the original protagonists, Naruto and Sasuke?

Was it because I was a transmigrator who knew information they did not?

Was it because I was lucky enough to awaken ocular powers beyond their common sense?

None of those were reasons for me to steal the spotlight from the two protagonists with a clear conscience.

The reason protagonists were protagonists was not merely because they possessed great power, but because they held convictions they would uphold at any cost!

That was what they called Nindo.

I had never denied Naruto and Sasuke's Nindo, just as I had never denied the Will of Fire!

The only reason they stood against me and lost to me so miserably was that their perspective was narrower, their intelligence insufficient, and their understanding inadequate. They had wasted more than ten years because of that.

Setting all that aside, their resolve to protect the ninja world was absolutely no less than mine!

If I did not possess the determination to stake everything on the convictions I wished to uphold, then I had no right to claim that I would lead Naruto and Sasuke, take Uncle Madara and Obito with me, and challenge the Otsutsuki clan!

Twin Flowers, the technique my little brother had traded his life for, allowed me to transcend the limitations of non-reincarnated beings and forcibly meet the physical requirements for awakening the Rinnegan.

What remained could no longer be determined by the body alone.

When I decided to awaken these eyes as someone other than a protagonist,

I had already decided what attitude I would use to face this extraordinary moment!

I might die here.

I might lose everything I had gained so far.

But even so, I would not hesitate!

Without destruction, there could be no rebirth. Break, then rebuild; destroy greatly, then establish greatly. Enlightenment brought new life. Live without fear, love with freedom!

So that those I loved could gain the freedom to be unconstrained by any external force, to never compromise for anything they did not desire! I was willing to pay with my life to obtain the power of guarantee necessary to achieve that goal!

This was my Nindo, and the great vow I had made from the moment I entered this world!

What I was about to do was like clearing out years of constipation. It might feel a little excessive.

But... I still had to do it. Since I was not the protagonist, I had to risk my life even more than one!

"On the brink of death? Of course I knew that."

Chen's expression became unprecedentedly solemn.

Before setting out, Chen had inscribed a technique into his right eye, set to activate with a delay.

Chen lowered his head and glanced at his watch.

Eight o'clock in the morning.

It was when the sun shone brightest over the ninja world.

It was also when Chen usually began his workday.

"About time..."

"Sizzle!" The next second, Chen's right eye suddenly lost its luster and turned desolately white!

"!?" This unexpected scene left Madara and Obito rooted to the spot.

"Chen, what did you do!?"

"I inscribed Izanagi into my right eye and set it to activate with a delay, Uncle Madara. Just like when you escaped Senju Hashirama all those years ago."

Blindness would not affect the awakening of the Rinnegan. Madara had proven that fact over the latter half of his life.

Once the eyes were awakened successfully, the lost light would return, and the ocular powers would not be lost.

The problem was...

"Why would you do something like that? You don't need to fight anyone here!"

"Fight? Of course I need to fight." Chen spoke solemnly. "I have to fight myself."

"Fight yourself?"

"Yes. I have to make sure I have no way out from here on!"

"If my subconscious believed that I could use Omodaru to reverse time and restore my life force, then some part of my mindset would inevitably cling to luck. What should have succeeded would then fail. Destroying this right eye first is necessary!"

"Going all... out?"

"That's right. Like this."

As soon as he finished speaking, Chen drew the Kusanagi Sword from his waist. Before Madara and Obito's shocked eyes, he turned the blade around and drove it into his own chest!

"Wait!"

Madara came to his senses and tried to stop him, but he was one step too late!

"Crack!" The Kusanagi Sword pierced Chen's heart.

Chen's handsome face instantly twisted into a mask of agony. He staggered to steady himself, then gritted his teeth, clenched the hilt with both hands, and twisted it fiercely!

"Crack!" That twist completely destroyed his own heart!

"Crack!" Through the Life Link of Twin Flowers, a gash tore open across the chest of the Hashirama Clone within the Demonic Statue!

It was no exaggeration to say that his injuries were comparable to Obito's when Kakashi had pierced his heart, and even worse than Sasuke's had been back then!

Madara was deeply shaken. This brat had a ruthless streak in his bones. He had a family, yet he could still go this far. I truly admire him...

Obito was equally moved. If Rin and I had two adorable daughters, I couldn't do something like this! Chen, you were born to accomplish great things.

Chen pulled out the blade and collapsed onto the ground, his blood soaking the earth beneath him.

"Huff, ha, huff, ha..."

Chen panted heavily. In the vision of his remaining eye, the figures of the two men flickered in a blur.

"I came prepared to stake everything on this, with the resolve to succeed or die trying!"

"Uncle Madara, Obito, if I am lucky enough to survive today, please make sure to keep this from Hikari! If... I die..."

Madara cut him off in an unquestionable roar. "I will use Impure World Reincarnation on you, then find a way to bring you back with the Reincarnation of Life. The three of us came out together, and not one of us will be left behind!"

Suddenly, Chen's expression became strained, and his breathing grew more ragged. "Huff, huff, ha! Th-this is going to be difficult..."

Madara's deep, murderous voice rang out. "Don't speak! From now on, no matter what happens, it has nothing to do with you. You only need to do one thing: stay alive, then stand back up before me with the Rinnegan!"

His gaze slowly lifted and settled beside the Space-Time vortex in the sky, upon the pair looking down arrogantly at the earth.

Chen had also noticed the visitors above. But the shadow of death had swallowed his entire mind, leaving him no attention to spare for anything else!

Heh, they really came at the perfect damn time... I, Uchiha Chen, didn't have a protagonist's fate, but I did have a protagonist's debuffs!

But fortunately, I wasn't alone! The two beside me would be the most terrifying opponents as enemies, and the most trustworthy companions as allies!

Next, I would have to fight myself...

And you would likely have to protect me while fighting formidable enemies.

Buy me some time. Please, Uncle Madara, Obito!

"Click!" Momoshiki's Byakugan swept across the land below.

"An apparent Ten-Tails shell has been discovered."

"Three lower lifeforms, hm? Oh? One of them is about to die?"

At this most critical moment, Otsutsuki Momoshiki and Otsutsuki Kinshiki arrived!

The ferocious descended!

A confrontation between heaven and earth.

Madara looked at the bloodied Chen and thought, Chen, I tried to stop you just now because you cannot awaken the Rinnegan through suicide.

Being near death was not the main objective. What was truly needed to awaken the eyes was to face an unavoidable death, feel intense unwillingness, and harbor a powerful wish and desire to survive. Only then would the special Spiritual Energy required for the Rinnegan surge forth from the mind.

Because suicide was deliberate on a subjective level and impure in motive, it would weaken the reaction chain for awakening the eyes, preventing the necessary special Spiritual Energy from being expressed effectively.

Still, Chen... if it was you, I would gladly look forward to a miracle.

Madara said in an unquestionable tone, "Obito, immediately draw Chen into your Space-Time Ninjutsu! Then stay by his side and do not leave him for even a step. I remember there was another one from the same period called Urashiki. He also possesses Space-Time Ninjutsu and appears and disappears unpredictably. Be especially vigilant against him!"

"What about you?" Obito asked.

"I'll stay and meet them." Madara said.

"Don't let your guard down. Before those people, even an Impure World Reincarnation body isn't absolute insurance."

After warning Madara, Obito swiftly drew Chen into his Space-Time Ninjutsu, then slipped inside himself!

"Don't even think about escaping!"

"It doesn't matter. Let them go, Kinshiki."

A domineering, sinister smile curled across Momoshiki's lips. "As long as the shell of the 'big one,' the Ten-Tails, remains here, that will do. If we wish, we can pursue those two who fled and dispose of them whenever we please."

"That is true." Kinshiki said.

"Whoosh!" The Kamui dimension settled into place.

Obito stood atop a cube, guarding Chen with full vigilance.

Just then, Chen's world sank into dark chaos.

The tearing pain from his chest spread into his neck, shoulders, and back.

With his blood circulation obstructed, his breathing became rapid and his face turned pale.

Fortunately, he had experienced a similar sensation once in his earlier years.

In his heart, he thanked Hikari for the stab she had once given him, allowing him to rehearse this critical state between life and death in advance.

This body, equal to Senju Hashirama's, possessed tremendous cellular healing power. Even with his heart pierced, it would still perform Creation Rebirth with astonishing restorative force.

That was why I had to twist the blade after piercing my heart, making certain it was destroyed more thoroughly in order to trigger this near-death state.

Even after going this far, its healing power would slowly repair the cells of his heart. That was the foundation for him standing again.

Of course, that depended on his will being firm enough to endure the long process of repairing his heart.

Chen still had confidence in that.

Soon, he entered hemorrhagic shock. His blood pressure began to plummet, his entire body feeling as though it had fallen into an ice cellar, while his consciousness gradually blurred...

Suddenly! Chen's consciousness sank through the ocean of dark chaos. A face rose from below, parallel to his own upside-down face.

When he saw the face clearly, Chen's left eye widened!

"Jin..." Chen called his name.

That was right. The face before him, with its short hair and features somewhat resembling both Tobirama and Izuna, belonged to his younger brother, Uchiha Jin!

Blood crawled from his pitch-black eye sockets down his cheeks. His voice was resentful and ferocious. "Big Brother, didn't you say you would protect me for my entire life?"

Chen knew that the real Jin would never blame him.

So he remained lucid enough to realize that the Jin before him was the Inner Demon born from his remorse and guilt, suppressed for years, coming to claim his life at the moment he was at his lowest.

Chen's memories were pulled back once more to the autumn of Konoha's seventy-third year.

Upon the barren earth of the Outer World, Madara's Rinnegan stared at the two figures above with blade-like sharpness.

Madara stood beneath the Demonic Statue, his long hair drifting in the wind.

His Rinnegan, sharp as blades, stared at the pair above.

"Kinshiki, Momoshiki—the two among the Otsutsuki trio that Chen showed us in his genjutsu."

"Come at me, Otsutsuki."