Uchiha Gen

Year 54 of Konoha.

Konoha, Uchiha compound.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

Uchiha Gen finished forming his hand seals, opened his mouth, and spat a massive fireball toward the small river not far ahead.

The fireball struck the water and exploded with a thunderous boom, like an immensely powerful shell.

The Great Fireball Technique's tremendous explosive force cut off the river, sending vast clouds of steam billowing upward.

Neither flesh nor steel could withstand such power. In an instant, they would be torn to pieces by the heat and explosion.

Yet Uchiha Gen, the one who had cast the ninjutsu, showed no joy on his face.

He stood beside the river, panting from the massive amount of Chakra he had expended in such a short time, his eyes filled with gloom.

One Great Fireball Technique had drained more than half his Chakra.

Such strength far surpassed that of ordinary people. Facing a hundred enemies alone would be nothing remarkable.

But within the ninja system, it only amounted to Chunin level—and not even a particularly strong Chunin at that.

"After ten years of relentless training, this is all I've achieved. Looks like I need to start preparing to run."

Uchiha Gen lay flat on his back, staring up at the endless blue sky.

He murmured inwardly, his heart full of bitterness.

As a transmigrator who had been reincarnated into the Naruto World for a second life, he had initially been thrilled.

Not only did this world possess a supernatural power like Chakra, which could grant immortality when cultivated to the utmost level, but all the characters he had once loved were now living, breathing people in Uchiha Gen's world.

However, when Uchiha Gen discovered that he had been born into the Uchiha clan and was the same age as Uchiha Itachi, his mood soured considerably.

Everyone knew it.

At the age of thirteen, Uchiha Itachi had joined forces with Uchiha Obito and the Konoha High Command to launch the Night of the Massacre. He slaughtered every man, woman, elder, and child of the Uchiha clan, leaving behind only Uchiha Sasuke as the sole survivor to carry on the Uchiha bloodline.

Unless something unexpected happened, Uchiha Gen would also become one of the names on the Uchiha death list that year.

To avoid that tragic ending, Uchiha Gen had begun training diligently as soon as he learned to walk, determined to gain the strength to protect himself before the Night of the Massacre—or even change the tragedy that was destined to come.

But things did not go as he wished. Despite being a transmigrator, Uchiha Gen possessed no extraordinary ninja talent.

After ten years of training, the twelve-year-old he had only reached Chunin level. Forget changing that inevitable tragedy—he was not even sure he could save his own life.

"The Clan Elders said my ninja talent is actually pretty good. As my body matures, I'm guaranteed to reach Jonin level once I become an adult. If I awaken the Sharingan, becoming an Elite Jonin should be easy."

"But compared to Itachi, who awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan at eleven and gained Kage-level combat strength, what does my talent amount to? During the Night of the Massacre a year from now, I'll just be some roadside nobody casually killed by a single shuriken."

Uchiha Gen sighed inwardly.

Talent was relative. Compared to mediocre people who remained Genin or Chunin their entire lives, his talent was good. But compared to the true geniuses of the Shinobi World, he belonged among the mediocre as well.

He could not compare to Itachi, much less those Otsutsuki gods.

A year from now, all those familiar people who had grown up beside him would vanish beneath the butcher's blade.

He could do nothing but watch the tragedy unfold.

"I'll follow the original plan. Take a mission out of the village, then fake being kidnapped and going missing."

Having made his decision, Uchiha Gen slowly rose to his feet and left the small river at the edge of the compound, heading toward his home deep within the clan grounds.

Over the past ten years, aside from training, Uchiha Gen had spent all his remaining time and energy researching how to escape.

He knew the Shinobi World's geography, local customs, and other details inside out.

To flee without leaving a trace, he had not joined the Military Police Force like ordinary Uchiha after graduating from the Ninja Academy. Instead, after graduating early, he had joined a ninja squad like normal and taken missions.

In secret, he had also written romance novels under a pen name and made quite a bit of money.

After accumulating sufficient funds, Uchiha Gen had spent recent years setting up numerous contingencies for his escape.

His strength was ordinary, so neither the Konoha High Command nor Uchiha Obito paid him special attention.

At this time, Uchiha Obito had only a limited number of White Zetsu under his command. They could only be used to monitor key targets and could not keep watch on him constantly.

With the advantage of preparation, Uchiha Gen was confident that he could vanish beneath Konoha and Uchiha Obito's noses without anyone noticing.

As long as he hid for a few years, until Tsunade took office, he would be safe for the time being.

If he hid until the end of the Fourth Shinobi World War and waited for Uchiha Sasuke to become the Sage of Six Paths, he would be completely safe.

"Gen, finished training?"

On his way home, quite a few people greeted Uchiha Gen.

There were Uchiha Shoushao and his wife, who sold pancakes, as well as Uchiha Tekka and the others patrolling near the compound.

The gloom in Uchiha Gen's eyes faded somewhat. A faint smile appeared on his face as he returned their greetings.

Although Uchiha Gen's parents had died early in this life, perishing on a mission when he was still very young, he had not lived badly under the care of his clansmen.

He had inherited all of his parents' estate, and the clan provided him with living expenses every month.

Beyond that, whenever he wished to train or study, he could seek guidance from the clan elders at any time.

Over the years, Uchiha Gen had learned skills that ordinary ninja could never acquire within the clan, including Uchiha-style Taijutsu, swordsmanship, the Shuriken Manipulation Technique, and the Great Fireball Technique.

This was the Uchiha, known as the Clan of Love. So long as they recognized you as one of their own, you could receive unconditional care.

It was precisely because he had received that care and lived well here that Uchiha Gen could not bear to leave.

Whenever he thought of these clansmen dying, rage burned in his heart.

Unfortunately, Uchiha Gen was not a protagonist like Naruto or Sasuke. Despair and anger could not grant him strength.

His talent was insufficient, and the purity of his Uchiha bloodline was not high enough. He could not awaken the Sharingan. No amount of rage could turn into tangible combat power and stop the tragedy from happening.

Under such circumstances, all he could do was find a way to preserve himself.

"Gen!"

A young girl's cheerful voice rang out.

Uchiha Gen turned his gaze toward it and saw the beautiful Uchiha Izumi waving at him from not far away, with the exceptionally filial Uchiha Itachi standing beside her.

Uchiha Izumi, Uchiha Itachi, and Uchiha Gen had been in the same Ninja Academy class and had known each other since childhood.

Yet the three had gone down very different paths. Uchiha Gen had graduated early and joined a ninja squad to take missions as normal. Uchiha Itachi had entered the Anbu, while Uchiha Izumi had joined the Military Police Force not long ago.

Uchiha Gen had once tried to influence Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Itachi, to change the minds of those two top Uchiha combatants and thereby prevent the Night of the Massacre.

But he had failed.

The weak had no voice. The strong did not care about what the weak said.

That was especially true for Uchiha ninja.

The moment they awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, obsession and arrogance had already been carved into their bones.

Against Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Itachi, who had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan and possessed Kage-level combat strength, the Chunin-level Uchiha Gen, who had not awakened his eyes, was unquestionably weak. His beliefs could not influence them in the slightest.

Thus, Uchiha Shisui had still died at Danzo's hands a year earlier, while Uchiha Itachi had still been pushed to the edge of a cliff by the mutually hostile Konoha High Command and clan.

Unless something unexpected happened, within a few months—or at most a year—he would personally launch the Night of the Massacre.

For that very reason, although Uchiha Gen knew Uchiha Itachi, they were like strangers.

Now, hearing Uchiha Izumi call out to him, Uchiha Gen smiled and nodded in response but said nothing more.

Then he brushed past Uchiha Itachi, treating him as if he did not exist.

The next day, Uchiha Gen traveled light.

As a Chunin squad leader, he took two civilian teammates to the Hokage Building, accepted a C-Rank Mission to escort a noble traveling for leisure, and left Konoha.

Whether because Uchiha Gen was lucky enough or because his preparations had been thorough enough, his plan to slip out of Konoha went very smoothly.

After completing the escort mission, while passing through a city in the Land of Rivers, Uchiha Gen enlisted the help of a group of wandering ninja he had hired at great expense and staged a kidnapping, disappearing from his two teammates' sight.

Ninja of the Shinobi World were simply that professional. Since the founding of Ninshu a thousand years ago, they had been thoroughly disciplined by nobles and daimyo from all walks of life. Once paid, they would meticulously help their employer accomplish the objective.

After Konoha conducted an investigation, it found no signs that Uchiha Gen had defected. Many of his belongings, his parents' keepsakes, and his savings had all been left behind in Konoha, while his teammates confirmed that they had encountered a sudden attack while returning after completing the mission.

Thus, both the Konoha High Command and the Uchiha clan concluded that someone had coveted the Uchiha bloodline.

They had planned it for a long time, launched a sudden attack, and abducted Uchiha Gen to use as research material for Kekkei Genkai.

At this moment, that young Uchiha was most likely doomed.

But because the situation between the Uchiha clan and the Konoha High Command within Konoha had become explosive, the investigation into Uchiha Gen's whereabouts was ultimately dropped.

Both sides intended to thoroughly investigate Uchiha Gen's whereabouts after determining the victor.

Dead or alive, they would find him.

Yet at this time, Uchiha Gen was already inside a secret base built specifically for him.

As a handsome Uchiha and an author, Uchiha Gen had some fans he could rely on as connections.

The secret base where he now stayed had been arranged for him by a noble young lady who had inherited her family.

It lay deep underground, concealed by barrier runes that hid its presence, and it contained enough supplies to sustain life for several years.

For a long time to come, Uchiha Gen would live and train here.

It was then, less than two days after he had settled in, that Uchiha Gen discovered in astonishment—

A pop-up window had appeared on the bulky computer he used to write and pass the time during his leisure, a computer with no network connection whatsoever.

'Do you wish to understand the meaning of life? Do you wish to truly live?'

'Yes/No'