Bloody Cradle

The sharp, lingering smell of medical alcohol, the flashing blue-white lights atop the ambulance, and the piercing wail of the siren formed Lin An's final memory.

In late autumn of 2025, Lin An, a graduate student in both physics and biology at Ximi University, suffered a bizarre electric shock while viewing Warring States Period bronzeware at a museum.

When he opened his eyes again, he was surrounded by the heavy scent of medicinal herbs, replacing the disinfectant smell from his memories.

He found himself wrapped in soft cotton cloth, lying in a dim yet warm Japanese-style room.

His underdeveloped retinas could only vaguely make out the warm yellow light filtering through the paper doors and the mottled shadows cast by flickering candlelight upon the earthen walls.

"Such a quiet child," a gentle female voice said, carrying a weary yet happy smile. "Unlike how much Mina cried when she was born."

Lin An felt a smooth yet gentle hand stroking his cheek.

He tried to shift his gaze, but he could only catch a strand of black hair hanging near his pillow.

"After all, he was born in such a peaceful place," another deep male voice replied, unable to hide his joy. "This residence deep in the mountains was a treasured place the clan spent a long time searching for."

Just then, a young figure suddenly darted in through the paper door. A childish voice rang out. "Mother, Mother, why are my little brother's eyes black? Why aren't they as bright as mine?"

"Because your little brother is still small, Mina," the woman answered with a soft laugh. "You can coax your father into showing you the true eyes of our clan..."

Before she could finish, a sharp bird cry suddenly came from the distance—this was not a mountain sparrow, but some sort of deliberately trained warning call.

The man's voice abruptly tightened. "Aoba, take the children into the secret room."

Lin An felt himself swiftly picked up. At the same time, the three- or four-year-old girl was ushered into the room as well.

Through his blurred vision, he could only see a pair of black eyes like his own widening in terror.

"Gen, what happened?" The woman's voice became urgent as well.

"The raven sent word that the warning barrier has been triggered." The man's voice had already moved outside the door. "Take the children inside. No matter what happens, do not come out."

The memories that followed were a chaotic darkness to Lin An.

Wrapped tightly in swaddling cloth, he felt his mother's frantic heartbeat and his sister's suppressed sobs.

Faint explosions and the clang of weapons colliding came from outside the secret room. With every tremor, the arms holding him tightened a little more.

After an unknown amount of time, he felt himself transferred into another pair of stronger arms.

A faint smell of blood and rust assaulted him.

"Take the children through the hidden passage!" The man's voice was hoarser than before. "Who would have thought that after ten years in seclusion, the Senju Clan's hounds would still catch our scent?"

"But your injuries..." His mother's voice was full of anxiety.

"It is nothing. The guards have already had the raven send word back to the clan grounds for reinforcements, but until then, we must rely on ourselves."

This was...

Handed back into his mother's arms, Lin An vaguely saw the eerie red glow in his father's eyes, the three rotating tomoe, and the word "Senju" he had just heard. His heart instantly lurched.

Sharingan?!

Ninjas???

In the body of an infant?!

Transmigration??!!

The Naruto world!!!!

At that moment, Lin An finally understood his circumstances.

I transmigrated into the Naruto world... and it seems to be the war era, where assassination attempts never stop?

From what he knew in his past life, the eras in which the Sharingan appeared on the battlefield were limited to a few—the era of the Ninja Sect, the age of turmoil, the Warring States Period, and the four world wars after the villages were founded.

Of those, the era of the Ninja Sect and the age of turmoil were the most insane and brutal, with the Warring States Period coming next.

The former had ages in which Sage of Six Paths-level powerhouses dominated the battlefield and ages in which the Mangekyo awakened freely. The latter had a sparse population, yet scarcely a day passed without war.

If he had been reborn in any of those three eras without a cheat...

Before Lin An could sort out his thoughts, an overwhelming wave of drowsiness struck him.

His infant body, not even a month old, could not resist it, and Lin An quickly fell asleep.

The conversation between his parents became his first dangerous memory in this world.

When he woke again, he was already in a violently jolting swaddle. Cold wind scraped across his cheeks, and his underdeveloped retinas could only reflect the vague glow of distant flames.

"Father, Mother, little brother is awake!" A childish voice sounded beside him, and Lin An felt a small hand gently patting his swaddle.

"Mina, hold your little brother tightly. We need to speed up."

His mother's voice came from behind him, carrying obvious exhaustion.

Lin An felt himself transferred into a pair of slender yet steady arms.

Though three-year-old Uchiha Mina was being jostled badly herself, she still carefully protected her little brother's head and neck.

Three months later.

A small figure lay sprawled in a pile of grass beside a temporary camp, using a twig to write and draw in the mud.

The physique of the ninja world, combined with the soul of a transmigrator, had caused Lin An's newly acquired body to develop prematurely.

Over the past three months, he gradually learned his identity in this life: Uchiha Kosuke.

He also learned that his family was fleeing pursuit by the Senju Clan.

For reasons unknown, their whereabouts had been exposed despite living in seclusion deep in the mountains, bringing disaster upon them.

Though the journey had been rough, he had survived under the protection of his mother, Uchiha Aoba, and his father, Uchiha Gen.

His three-year-old sister Mina had also grown quickly during their flight. She could now help care for her little brother and even occasionally practiced throwing Shuriken under their parents' guidance.

Lin An... no, strictly speaking, the current Uchiha Kosuke had repeatedly called for a system or cheat in his mind, but he never received a response.

It was not until more than two months later, when he could crawl around on his own, that he gave up on the illusory fantasy of a cheat and began silently observing his parents' training, battles, and escape...

At that moment, he was using the calculus knowledge he had learned in his past life to attempt deriving formulas for Chakra extraction, circulation, and storage, hoping to gain a head start when he trained in the future.

Though he did not know whether his observations were enough to derive the correct results, he still lay beside the temporary camp every day, persistently writing and drawing.

"Little brother is drawing again!" Uchiha Mina skipped over and crouched beside Uchiha Kosuke. "What are you drawing this time?"

Uchiha Kosuke looked up at his sister.

Five months had greatly improved his vision. He could already clearly see the pair of black eyes on Uchiha Mina's childish face, eyes that resembled his own.

From what he had gathered when his mother was occasionally questioned by Uchiha Mina, Uchiha children needed to be around three years old and exceptionally gifted to awaken their Kekkei Genkai. In his eyes, the gifted Mina was not far from that day.

"Math," Uchiha Kosuke answered indistinctly. An infant's vocal system was still incapable of fully supporting speech.

Yet Uchiha Mina seemed to understand. She clapped happily. "Counting! Mina can count too! Father taught me one through ten!"

Looking at his innocent sister, a complicated emotion surged in his heart.

Though this three-year-old girl knew what danger they were currently facing, she still treated this escape as an adventure game.

Suddenly, the sound of metal clashing came again from the distance—this was already the third nighttime ambush they had encountered this month.

Uchiha Kosuke stopped what he was doing and sat quietly where he was, looking toward the source of the sound.

His gaze was deep, as though he wanted to see through the dense forest and make out the attackers' figures.

Uchiha Mina immediately tensed up and instinctively stood in front of her little brother. Her tiny hand reached for the small cloth pouch at her waist—it held miniature Shuriken her father had specially made for her.

"Kosuke, Mina, come here."

His mother Uchiha Aoba's voice came from the tent entrance.

Holding a clay bowl in one hand, she naturally rested the other near the opening of her bag as she knelt beside the children.

Three black tomoe slowly rotated in her scarlet eyes as she vigilantly swept the dark forest around them.

The milky-white milk still carried a warm scent as she lovingly and carefully brought it to Kosuke's lips.

"Kosuke, drink quickly. It is not safe here. We need to leave as soon as possible."

Before his mother finished speaking gently, the sounds of fighting in the distance were already drawing closer.

Uchiha Kosuke obediently opened his mouth and gulped down the sweet milk from the clay bowl.

Because he drank too hurriedly, the snow-white milk mixed with the dirt he had picked up while writing and ran over his tiny swaddling cloth.

"Mother, is that Father?" Uchiha Mina nervously clutched Aoba's clothes, her eyes repeatedly glancing into the depths of the forest.

"Yes. The guard uncles are asleep, so Father has to go chase away the bad people." Uchiha Aoba forced a smile and pulled her daughter into her arms. "Mina, be brave and protect your little brother, all right?"

The little girl nodded solemnly, then turned toward Uchiha Kosuke and said in a childish yet resolute voice, "Mina will protect little brother!"

"Are you full?"

Uchiha Aoba asked softly. Though she believed her son could not yet understand, his obedient cooperation still moved her.

She set down the clay bowl and wiped the remaining milk from Kosuke's mouth, unaware of the complicated look that flashed through the infant's eyes.

Asleep? Maybe only his sister would believe that...

A sharp eagle cry suddenly rang out all around them. It was the signal for the Senju Clan to launch a full-scale assault.

At the same time, the figure of Uchiha Gen, Uchiha Kosuke's father, appeared before the tent.

His face was fierce and filled with murderous intent, while blood dripped continuously from his left arm.

Yet the moment his fierce gaze fell upon his wife and children, it instantly softened with affection.

"Father!" Uchiha Mina cheered and tried to rush over, but Uchiha Aoba grabbed her.

"Gen, your injuries..." Uchiha Aoba's voice choked.

"It is nothing." Uchiha Gen shook his head. His gaze swept over the mathematical symbols on the ground outside the tent, and surprise flashed through his eyes, but the pressing situation quickly reclaimed his attention. "The Senju have dispatched three jonin. We are surrounded."

Before he could say more, an earth-shaking explosion suddenly erupted behind them.

An Exploding Tag had been triggered!

"Aoba! Take the children east! Reinforcements from the clan should be in that direction!" Uchiha Gen spoke rapidly as he pulled a Kunai from his robes and handed it to Uchiha Mina. "Mina, you are the elder sister. Help Mother protect your little brother, understand?"

The three-year-old girl solemnly took the Kunai. Though her hands trembled slightly, she nodded firmly.

Uchiha Gen then drove the long blade in his hand into the earth, spun around sharply, and his eyes once more became as keen as blades.

His hands rapidly formed seals, followed by a fierce shout.

"Fire Style: Great Fire Annihilation!"

A blazing stream of fire burst from Uchiha Gen's puffed cheeks.

The next instant, the blazing current abruptly swelled into a fireball ten meters across and surged toward the site of the explosion.

At the same time, he raised his hand and flung ten Kunai wrapped in Exploding Tags, sending them like shadows into the night.

At the final moment, Uchiha Gen turned back and looked deeply at the mother and children before charging without hesitation into the forest, where firelight scattered in every direction.

The Great Fireball he unleashed lit up the dark forest, as well as the tear-filled eyes of the woman and children.

Uchiha Aoba bit down on her lower lip and swiftly bound Kosuke and Mina to her chest and back with Chakra threads.

"Mina, hold on to Mother. We are leaving."

After the mother and two children took one last look at the twelve Crimson Fire Lotuses blooming one after another in the night, a faint scarlet gleam quietly flashed through Kosuke's childish eyes.

Uchiha Aoba's expression instantly hardened. Channeling the Chakra within her body, she lightly pushed off with her legs and vanished from the spot.

The third day of their escape.

When Uchiha Aoba brought the two children to the edge of a forest to rest briefly, they encountered a Senju Clan ambush.

The enemy showed no mercy, launching a fierce assault the instant she stepped into their encirclement.

The taste of rust spread across their tongues. Uchiha Kosuke and Mina were jolted so badly that they nearly vomited up the last sour remnants in their stomachs.

Their mother's frantic heartbeat came through her thin combat clothes, weaving together with the whistling air-cutting sounds in the forest into a deathly drumbeat.

Uchiha Mina clung to Aoba's back. Her little face was covered in sweat and fear, yet she still gripped the Kunai her father had given her tightly, occasionally turning to look at the flickering figures around them.

"Mother, watch out!" the little girl suddenly screamed.

A Kunai shot from the darkness. Uchiha Aoba nimbly twisted aside to evade it, but her shoulder sleeve was still cut open.

Blood seeped from the wound, but she only gritted her teeth and did not slow down at all.

"Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"

Uchiha Aoba formed seals with one hand and spat several fireballs from her mouth, striking several enemies trying to approach with precision.

However, more enemies poured in from every direction.

Clearly, the Senju Clan was determined to wipe out their family completely this time.

Uchiha Kosuke struggled to remain conscious amid the violent jolting. His mind raced, trying to find a sliver of survival among the knowledge from his past life.

Mathematical formulas, physical laws, biological knowledge... every piece of knowledge that might prove useful in battle surged through his mind.

Just then, he felt his mother's body suddenly jerk, followed by Uchiha Mina's terrified cry.

"Mother! You are bleeding!"

A Kunai had buried itself deep in Uchiha Aoba's right shoulder, and blood rapidly stained her clothes red.

Her speed noticeably slowed, and her breathing became ragged.

"It is all right, Mina."

Uchiha Aoba forced herself to comfort her daughter, but Uchiha Kosuke could feel her strength waning and her Chakra becoming unstable.

The pursuers drew ever closer, arrows and Kunai whistling past their ears.

Aoba fled forward with all her strength, but her injuries severely affected her speed.