A Tsundere's First Encounter

Uchiha Tokimitsu squatted beside the Naka River, staring blankly at the ceaselessly flowing water before him. Ever since he had transmigrated into this world and, at the age of two, escaped the "Mystery of the Womb" and learned to walk on his own, this had become his habit. He had kept it up for nearly three years now.

He didn't know how an ordinary, muddle-headed office worker from the real world—someone who had merely died trying to save a drowning child—had suddenly ended up in this manga world of the Japanese. Was this the legendary transmigration?!

"What a fucking ridiculous world."

Uchiha Tokimitsu sighed.

The Naruto World—or perhaps Eye Legend, or the Ninja World—was made up of a small number of superpowered people, namely Ninja, and an overwhelming majority of ordinary mortals. Among Ninja, Kekkei Genkai Clans stood at the top, Secret Jutsu Clans and Ninjutsu Clans formed the backbone, while unremarkable Civilian Ninja made up the bottom rung. Under the command of their clans and hidden villages, they provided the Ninja World's major patrons with all manner of services, from plowing fields, pulling weeds, catching cats, and collecting trash to murder, arson, and attacks on foreign nations.

Yet at its root, ever since Otsutsuki Kaguya descended upon this world, the main thread running through it had always been a second-rate melodramatic family feud. After the brothers Otsutsuki Hagoromo and Hamura sealed away their mother, this world relied on a power that surpassed the phenomena and physical laws of its era—Chakra. Indra and Asura, along with their families, slaughtered one another endlessly along the lines of bloodline... Especially after the establishment of the One Village, One Country system, Ninja warfare escalated to an entirely new level. Compared to the clan- and school-based conflicts of the previous two thousand years, it became far bloodier and crueler, inflicting even greater harm upon ordinary people.

Perhaps the joys and sorrows, rises and falls, successes and failures of the Ninja World's mortals were no more than a grain of dust to the Otsutsuki and their descendants. Yet that grain of dust was enough to ravage this world until it was lifeless and barely breathing.

Fortunately, it was still Konoha Year 28. The First Great Ninja War had already settled into dust, while the Second Great Ninja War was still brewing.

It was still a long way from the Uchiha Clan is Exterminated.

Uchiha Tokimitsu sighed again.

It was getting late.

The sun was setting. Unwilling to depart, it desperately scattered its final rays, but its light could no longer bring even a trace of warmth to Uchiha Tokimitsu's icy heart. The forest across the river seemed even deeper and gloomier beneath the sunset, as though it were stirring restlessly, ready to devour anyone it chose. Uchiha Tokimitsu tugged at his clothes and wrapped his thin garment more tightly around himself.

Time for dinner~

He rose, dusted himself off, and slowly headed toward the "home" of this life.

Thankfully, perhaps he had accumulated a little virtue before dying in his previous life. Even after being reborn, he did not have to join the Myriad Heavens Orphanage, Konoha Branch. At least both his parents were alive in this life. His father was a Konoha Military Police Force Jonin Squad Leader with considerable standing in both the clan and the village, a respected powerhouse in the Ninja World. His mother was a Chunin trained by the clan who specialized in Sealing Jutsu. With her excellent skill at making Sealing Scrolls, she had earned a thriving income. Although Clan Ninja had to pay taxes on their earnings to the clan, over the years, the Tokimitsu family had become one of the Uchiha Clan's wealthiest households.

Compared to his previous life, where he had struggled out of a small town's mire only to be derided as a "small-town test-taking machine" and a "phoenix man," this life was far better. As a member of Konoha's strongest clan, Uchiha Tokimitsu possessed all the traits of a winner in life—handsome, rich, and high-born. He had started halfway down the Ninja World's track from the moment he was born—if not for the threat of the night when the Uchiha Clan is Exterminated hanging over his head like the Sword of Damocles.

With his little feet slowly shuffling forward, four-year-old Uchiha Tokimitsu returned to the entrance of his hometown in this life. The people stationed atop the walls on guard duty were members of the Konoha Military Police Force controlled by the Uchiha Clan.

"Hey~ Little Tokimitsu!"

A member of the Uchiha Konoha Military Police Force enthusiastically called out from the wall as he leaped down, landing steadily beside Uchiha Tokimitsu. He casually reached out and ruffled Uchiha Tokimitsu's hair a few times.

"Little Tokimitsu, did you go slack off by the river again today~?"

Uchiha Tokimitsu swatted his hand away with a look of disgust.

"Brother Shiina, I went to practice taijutsu by the river!"

This member of the Konoha Military Police Force was Uchiha Tokimitsu's distant cousin in this life, Uchiha Shiina, a fifteen-year-old Chunin officer of the Konoha Military Police Force.

"Mm-hm~ I was up on the wall, and I saw you spacing out by the river all afternoon."

As he spoke, Uchiha Shiina reached out and ruffled Uchiha Tokimitsu's hair again.

"Heh~ I've always wondered why your hair is so thick and silky. It doesn't suit your personality at all—you act like you swallowed a Great Fireball. ψ(｀)ψ"

Yes, Uchiha Tokimitsu in this life preferred smooth hair. His thick, shoulder-length hair draped softly down his back, its ends gathered into a little tail with a golden hair tie. Paired with his delicate, adorable porcelain-doll face and that deliberately mature expression, he was the perfect model tsundere Uchiha pretty boy. (●ˇˇ●)

"Heh~ All right, all right. I'll take you home, you tsundere little Uchiha tsundere. b(￣▽￣)d"

Seeing how displeased Uchiha Tokimitsu looked, Uchiha Shiina took his little hand and said indulgently.

"Come on. Auntie Emiko should have dinner almost ready."

Uchiha Emiko was Uchiha Tokimitsu's birth mother in this life.

Uchiha Tokimitsu still wore a stern little expression, but he obediently let Shiina hold his hand.

"Captain Nakagen probably won't have to work overtime today. When the time comes, he'll assess your recent training results."

Uchiha Nakagen was Uchiha Tokimitsu's father in this life, a Three-Tomoe Konoha Military Police Force Jonin proficient in Fire Style and Lightning Style.

The long-winded Uchiha Shiina kept chattering away, gossiping endlessly about this and that without caring whether Uchiha Tokimitsu wanted to listen.

Although Uchiha Tokimitsu had been an adult in his previous life, he did not reject the affectionate closeness of those around him. After all, it constantly reminded him that he was already in another world, not trapped in a dream.

For a lonely, drifting soul, a sense of existence was important.

"I've already mastered the Great Fireball Technique." Uchiha Tokimitsu shot his cousin Shiina a sidelong glance and declared tsunderely.

"The Great Fireball~? It's just beginner-level Fire Style. When I was three, I already..." Uchiha Shiina kept babbling without pause.

"Huh! What did you say?"

Uchiha Shiina suddenly caught on and stared in astonishment at the tiny Uchiha Tokimitsu beside him.

After all, although the Great Fireball Technique was merely C-rank Ninjutsu, it was a landmark technique highly representative of the Uchiha Clan's inherited Fire Style Ninjutsu. Being able to properly use the Great Fireball Technique meant that one had already taken the first step into Fire Style Chakra training. For such an achievement to appear in a four-year-old child who had never received Ninja training was astonishing, even for a child of the Uchiha Clan.

"My, my, my~ That's incredible. Little Tokimitsu has quite the talent I had when I was young."

Uchiha Shiina excitedly scooped Uchiha Tokimitsu into his arms and gave his hair another vigorous ruffle with his left hand.

"Captain Nakagen will definitely be thrilled to hear it~"

Overjoyed, Uchiha Shiina held Uchiha Tokimitsu in his arms and grinned from ear to ear. He skipped and hopped all the way through Konoha Commercial Street and Food Street before returning to the Uchiha Clan Compound.