Reborn as an Uchiha

Konoha, Year 25.

Within the Uchiha Compound, in a secluded courtyard far from the clan's center.

A boy of about five sat in the corridor of his home's courtyard, staring thoughtfully at the fan-shaped clan crest on the wall nearby.

His name was Katsuo. He had two surnames: Wang in his previous life, and Uchiha in this one.

He was a transmigrator!

He had died in an accident in his previous life, yet his soul, carrying all its memories, had crossed into the world of ninja and been reborn in the body of a five-year-old child.

The boy had been an orphan. His father, an Uchiha Chūnin, had died during a mission.

His mother had also been an Uchiha clanswoman, but she had not been a ninja. She had been a frail, sickly woman. Upon hearing of her husband's death, grief and the immense pressure of raising a child alone had crushed her body, and she had sadly succumbed to illness not long ago.

The child, barely five years old, had been left alone. After struggling to survive for three months on sporadic relief meals delivered to his door, transmigrator Wang Katsuo had taken over his body!

Although he had taken over the body, he still could not change its condition. A child who had gone hungry for so long, with a skeletal body so thin it was little more than skin and bones—even with a new soul, an adult soul, it could not change the fact that this body was nearly at the end of its rope!

The only thing that could keep him alive was food!

When he had first arrived in this world, he discovered that aside from some water, there was not a single edible thing left in the house!

After his mother died, the poor child had eaten everything edible in the house. Even so, he had refused to leave home and face the outside world!

The original body had already reached its limit. Even after drinking several mouthfuls of water, he still could not muster the strength to leave. He had collapsed in the courtyard corridor!

"Were you terrified and withdrawn because your parents died? Why didn't you leave the house? Why didn't you listen to your mother and live properly?"

Katsuo had not only taken over the body; he had also inherited some of its former owner's memories.

Although Katsuo was filled with a fierce desire to survive, his body had already reached its limit. He did not even have the strength to walk out the door, and the unwillingness in his eyes gradually dimmed.

Fine. Dying once or twice makes no difference anyway. Maybe I'll wake up again in the next world!

As time ticked away, although it was noon in the height of summer and the blazing sun shone overhead, Katsuo felt only coldness and darkness!

Just as his consciousness was about to blur and darkness was about to engulf him, an indifferent voice temporarily roused him!

"Food's here! Food's here!"

As the voice rang out, a simply packaged boxed meal was placed at the entrance. The visitor had no intention of entering. After setting it down, he turned and left, muttering curses.

"What kind of dump is this? Going back and forth takes over half an hour... Is this heat trying to kill me? Can't he just drag himself to the relief station and pick up his own meal box? I've got a mountain of work to do. Who has time to run back and forth like this? I'm never coming again..."

Those cold words did not break Katsuo. Instead, they briefly pulled him free from the darkness. With astonishing willpower, he summoned every last shred of strength in his body and crawled, inch by inch, toward the meal box!

He grabbed a handful of food and shoved it straight into his mouth without a second thought. Long-term hunger had made him forget basic health knowledge—after starving too long, one should not gorge oneself—and he wolfed down the hard-won, life-saving food in huge mouthfuls!

Only after finishing every last bite did he shakily rise to his feet and stagger back into the room.

After sleeping groggily through the afternoon in the stifling room, he finally recovered a little strength.

After waking, he searched the house roughly. He wanted to see whether there was anything valuable left that could help him survive!

Before long, he had searched the entire house and taken out everything useful...

One kunai, two shuriken, two Fire Release Ninjutsu scrolls, one Genjutsu Scroll, one scroll about hand seals, and a letter written by his mother.

Katsuo ignored the other items and carefully tucked the letter into his clothes. It was a mother's final advice to her five-year-old child!

She had written many things, many instructions. There had been much she worried about, all kinds of concerns, most of them involving every aspect of his future...

What she mentioned again and again in the letter was that Katsuo had to live on strongly. No matter how bitter or difficult life became, he had to keep living bravely!

Her strokes had been light and her handwriting faint, but that immense motherly love deeply shook Katsuo!

Looking at the letter, Katsuo thought of his own parents. How much pain would they have been in upon learning of his death?

They were no longer young. How would they live through the days ahead?

Whenever he thought of this, Katsuo's chest tightened painfully.

"Since I was able to come here, there must be a way back. If I gain the power of this world and use its strength, I may still be able to go home!"

With his goal and direction set, a fierce light burst from Katsuo's eyes—the light called hope!

Faintly, he felt an unbearable itch in his eyes. After rubbing them hard, they inexplicably returned to normal...

"These must be Father's inheritance, right? One Great Fireball Technique, one Phoenix Sage Fire Technique, and one Hell Viewing Technique."

Katsuo gave a bitter smile and shook his head. He did not even have chakra yet, so these three scrolls were useless to him for the time being. What he needed now was a method for extracting chakra.

Oh, right. Money and food, too...

"Money... Part of the reason Mother had died in depression was Father's death compensation... I never expected marginalized clan members to be treated so poorly. Was it because we had no value?"

Katsuo casually placed the ninjutsu scrolls in the living room. Taking only the kunai and tucking it into his waist, he staggered out the door.

According to what Uchiha Katsuo's mother had said, their family was entitled to death compensation. But no matter how many times she had asked the clan for it, she had never been able to get it. Every time she went, she had been turned away for one reason or another.

As far as he knew, someone had originally come to notify them to collect the money. But his mother had been too ill to get out of bed at the time, so they had not gone. When her condition improved slightly and she went to claim it, she discovered she could no longer receive it!

That was completely unreasonable. He needed to confront the clan and get a clear answer.

Having merged with Uchiha Katsuo's memories, he had naturally inherited the other's karma. From this moment on, he would live well in the original owner's place!