Konoha, Year 41.
After the Second Shinobi World War came a baby boom. At this point in time, a new batch of "leeks" happened to be enrolling in the Ninja Academy.
Five and a half years old, Kakashi was already welcoming the new students as the student representative.
"Hey! Kakashi..."
The child-form Goggles, Uchiha Obito, moved closer to the child-form dead-fish-eyed broomhead.
Kakashi pushed Obito away with some distaste and said irritably, "Idiot, stay away from me."
Usually carefree, Obito now seemed to have some unspeakable matter on his mind. He fidgeted awkwardly, neither leaving nor speaking.
"Obito, is there something you want to say to Kakashi?" A girl with purple markings on her cheeks moved closer.
This was Miss Nohara Rin, the only member of Minato Squad who would die in the Third Shinobi World War.
"Idiot, spit it out if you have something to say! The Hokage and the others will be here soon!"
The Ninja Academy did not have particularly strict rules. Each term lasted half a year, and new students were admitted every term.
The length of study was also random, generally depending on the situation on the battlefield.
"If there's no war, you can study for a few more years. If war breaks out, graduate early and go."
After all, no matter how beautifully you dressed it up with fancy words, the Ninja Academy...
was ultimately just a training institution for assassins.
As if he had made some kind of decision, Obito leaned close to Kakashi's ear and said:
"Kakashi... One of my clansmen is enrolling today. He..."
"He's a terrifying guy! He especially likes picking on me!"
"Don't let his behavior fool you. He's a really, really bad person!"
"And... I heard the clan is sending him to the Academy this time specifically to deal with you... Ouch!"
Clack...
A pebble rolled down from the back of Obito's head, making a crisp sound.
"Goggles, talking badly about people behind their backs isn't a good habit."
With some background music and falling cherry blossoms, this really would have felt like a cheesy pure-love drama.
Unfortunately, there were neither.
"Damn it! My name isn't Goggles! I'm Uchiha Obito!"
"Okay, Goggles. I understand, Goggles."
The boy speaking had short, curly black hair and a pair of lively, bright eyes. His smile radiated pure innocence.
Goggles... Obito instantly turned red with rage. If Nohara Rin had not been holding him back, he would have charged forward and fought Uchiha Jing to the death.
Uchiha Jing was the boy's name, the same as the subordinate of the Second Hokage.
He had originally been an orphan of the Uchiha Clan and had been adopted by Uchiha Jing's wife.
To commemorate her deceased husband, she had given him this name.
Hmm... It had to be said that the people here really did have this sort of hobby.
Just like Sasuke Uchiha later borrowed the name of Sarutobi Hiruzen's father, Sasuke Sarutobi.
In their tradition, this represented respect and remembrance.
Of course, for Fugaku to do something like this probably meant he was expressing submission.
Yes, Uchiha Jing knew how the future would unfold. After all, on the day before he transmigrated, he had still been arguing all night with others on a forum over the "Konoha timeline."
In the end, both sides had presented a mountain of evidence, and neither had convinced the other.
It was too chaotic. It couldn't be sorted out. It really couldn't!
They had originally agreed to rest for a day before continuing the battle, but Uchiha Jing had broken his promise.
Fine. He would see just what the hell was going on with this timeline!
Looking at the three children in front of him, Uchiha Jing felt somewhat emotional.
As an outsider, he could have joked, "Obito Uchiha can't hide his tears."
But as an Uchiha...
it wasn't funny.
If he did not know that the fundamental cause of the Uchiha Clan's destruction was a problem left over from the village's founding, killing a single "Runtu" would not stop events from unfolding.
Uchiha Jing had wanted to kill him for a long time.
"Jing, don't bully Obito!"
An elderly woman held a baby in her arms. Even at such a young age, he already had the beginnings of a dumpling nose.
This baby was Uchiha Jing's sworn younger brother—the future Body Flicker Shisui.
"Sigh~"
"Grandma, I was just giving him a friendly nickname. Look how fierce he is. He looks like he's about to rush over and hit me in the head~"
"Ah!!! Rin! Let go of me! I'm going to beat him to death!"
"Beautiful miss, let him go. I'd like to see how he plans to beat me to death."
Watching the two quarrel at the school gate, Kakashi helplessly shook his head.
"Uchiha Jing, right? Quiet down and get ready for the enrollment ceremony. The Hokage and the others will be here soon."
Children in the Ninja World matured far faster than normal. In the original world, five- or six-year-old children could barely express themselves clearly, while the more advanced ones here had already begun killing and burning.
Uchiha Jing studied Kakashi with interest. "Dead-fish-eyed broomhead Kakashi?"
Snap—
A large vein bulged on Kakashi's forehead as he clenched his fists.
"I—am—Hatake—Kakashi!" Kakashi emphasized every word.
This was already nickname bullying, wasn't it? This nickname was even more unpleasant than that idiot's!
Obito, who had been flushed with rage, now turned a different shade of red.
"Ha ha ha ha! Dead-fish-eyed broomhead!! Ha ha ha... Mmph—"
Nohara Rin covered his mouth, nodded to the others, and dragged the blissful Obito away.
Anger, excitement, bliss... Tsk, tsk. If he provoked him a little more, he might even awaken his eyes.
Uchiha Jing walked over to Kakashi step by step, patted him on the shoulder, and put on an innocent smile. "I'll be in your care from now on, Kakashi-kun."
"Grandma, hurry and take Shisui home. See you~"
Once the children for the term had all arrived, Sarutobi Hiruzen, who was not yet too old, took the stage and began his speech.
It was the same old Will of Fire. It had barely been improved since the First Hokage passed it down—a vague, self-contradictory set of values.
The more he listened, the more bored he became. Uchiha Jing narrowed his eyes and sank his consciousness into his Mental Space.
--
Within the dark-red, cube-shaped Mental Space, a vermilion iron barrier divided it in two.
Through the sealed barrier came an intense stench of blood.
Above countless dried corpses stood a god of slaughter soaring through a sea of blood.
"Ryomen Sukuna."
His name came from the imagined Demon God with two faces and four arms. He had once been a real human who, a thousand years ago during the golden age of Cursed Spirit Users, defeated every Cursed Spirit User by himself.
He was the symbol of evil, the brutally vicious King of Curses!
Now, two souls from different space-times had converged in the Ninja World.
"Good morning, Four-Armed Freak!"
On the other side of the seal, a massive shadow loomed indistinctly, and a pair of Crimson Eyes shot out a murderous gleam.
"Brat... Didn't I tell you..."
"Don't look up at me without permission!"
Terrifying darkness surged forward, yet it could not penetrate the seal in the slightest.
Uchiha Jing smiled and looked up, completely ignoring Sukuna's threat.
He had indeed been somewhat afraid at first, but after trying it several times, Sukuna still had not managed to break through the seal and cut him down.
This was the battlefield Uchiha Jing knew well: trading insults across a screen. What was there to fear?
Besides, as he grew older, he discovered that he had gained a certain degree of control over the seal...
"Since you can hide inside my body, you should feel lucky. I heard they're already sending Goku to fight you outside."
"Who is Goku?"
Uchiha Jing raised his little hand and threw a punch with a thud.
"Someone who can blow up the Earth with a light punch like this."
Sukuna laughed angrily.
"Brat, there has never been such a powerful person, past or present. What kind of nonsense are you dreaming up?"
"Short hair, short horizons," Uchiha Jing said, curling his lip and waving his hand.
"Forget Goku. The people in this world have already taken turns beating you."
"Do you know what that means? It means a whole group of people, every one of whom can pick you up and beat you senseless..."
"Shut up!"
The Sukuna of the past would never have lost his composure so easily, but things were different now...
This damned seal left him without even the slightest chance of taking over the brat's body.
He could not even sense what was happening outside.
Damn it!
He had just killed Gojo Satoru and had not even had time to give his victory speech before being thrown into this hellhole!
Damn, was the aftereffect of Space Slash really this strong?
At the corner of the seal, Uchiha Jing saw a wisp of Black Mist seep out and immediately resealed the space.
He skillfully picked up the wisp of Black Mist and swallowed it. Some techniques related to slashing surfaced in his mind.
"Alright, that's all the rent I'll collect for today. I'll come back after I've digested it."
"Bye-bye~"
"Bastard! Come back here!!"
In the darkness, Ryomen Sukuna raged helplessly.
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