There's a Future Only If You're Alive

Hyuga Asana looked Uchiha Yuan up and down for a long moment, then said in a serious tone, "Yuan, whether you heard these words from somewhere else or thought of them yourself, never speak them to another person from now on."

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

"It seems your parents' death really affected you deeply. You never used to think about things like this."

"A person has to learn to grow up on their own."

"That line reminds me of something an elder told me: the price of growth is loneliness."

"Which elder?" Uchiha Yuan asked curiously.

"Not telling you. Alright, enough of that. Uchiha Yuan, I was being very serious just now—you have to work hard. War is brutal. If your strength isn't enough, you could die at any moment."

Uchiha Yuan nodded at this. He also knew the situation in Konoha was very bad.

Konoha during the Third Great Ninja War was different from the first two wars.

This time, Konoha was still fighting on multiple fronts, but compared to the previous two wars, its combat power had fallen off a cliff.

The Konoha White Fang, a hero of the Second Shinobi World War, had been driven to suicide by malicious rumors.

Of the Legendary Sannin, Tsunade had left Konoha due to her hemophobia and did not participate in the war.

Jiraiya had already learned of the Child of Prophecy from the Great Toad Sage by this time. After teaching Nagato and the other two in the Land of Rain, he wandered the world for a long stretch. He probably wouldn't have returned if Konoha's situation hadn't been so dire.

Orochimaru fought in the war from start to finish, but by this point he was already starting to go twisted, obsessed with Human Experimentation and seeking the path to immortality. To that end, he had already joined forces with Danzo.

And what good ever came from anyone tangled up with Danzo?

As things stood, the only high-end combat power Konoha could really field was the genius ninja Minato Namikaze.

It could be said that without Minato Namikaze, Konoha would have already thrown in the towel in the Third Great Ninja War.

Minato's rise was too fast. Before he was even twenty, he could face the A and B Combination of Kumogakure head-on and annihilated an elite squad of fifty Iwagakure Shinobi. The name Yellow Flash shook the entire shinobi world.

In his past life, Uchiha Yuan had heard a theory: Minato Namikaze was such a genius that if he'd lived a few more years, mastered Sage Mode completely, and polished his Rasengan technique a bit more, the Akatsuki Organization would never have been a problem.

Of course, aside from Minato Namikaze, Konoha wasn't completely without talent.

The new generation of Ino-Shika-Cho, the Hyuga Twin Stars, and the Uchiha Clan were all united against the external threat.

And then there were Konoha's special super-genin.

Before long, Might Duy, a Konoha genin, would open the Gate of Death of the Eight Inner Gates when facing the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.

Using this technique—recognized by Madara Uchiha as the strongest Taijutsu in the shinobi world—he would kick four of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen to death.

Thanks to these talents, Konoha barely managed to stabilize the war situation. But it was only barely stable. To expand their gains, they had to keep throwing numbers at the enemy.

Clearly, Konoha was already severely short on manpower.

If nothing else, forcing all students in grades four through six to graduate early last year was proof enough.

And this year, in just over two months, it would be their batch's turn to head to the battlefield.

"Asana, are you and that main house girl both going to the battlefield?" Uchiha Yuan asked.

"She doesn't have to. I'm her guard. One of a guard's duties is to go to war in place of their master.

Don't worry about me. This is actually a good thing for me. If I survive the war, I'll likely be promoted to Chunin.

Chunin are already the backbone of the village. I can apply for all kinds of different jobs, and then I won't have to stay by her side all day."

"But how are you going to guarantee you survive on the battlefield?" Uchiha Yuan asked.

"With this!" As Hyuga Asana spoke, she spread her palm, and a gentle Chakra appeared in the center.

"Is that Medical Ninjutsu? You have talent for Medical Ninjutsu?"

"It's not really talent. This Healing Technique took me almost a year to learn. It's only the most basic Medical Ninjutsu. My aptitude in this area probably isn't very strong.

Still, I have the Byakugan. With the Byakugan's help, I have a unique advantage in surgery.

Mastering basic Medical Ninjutsu plus the Byakugan—with these two traits, becoming a Medical Ninja shouldn't be too hard. And Medical Ninjas are mostly kept off the front lines, working support in the rear.

Not directly participating in combat, my chances of survival are much higher. Unfortunately, your Uchiha clan has almost no talent for Medical Ninjutsu. That path isn't for you. Otherwise, the two of us could become Medical Ninjas together and definitely survive to the end of the war."

"I'm not interested in becoming a Medical Ninja. Even if I had the talent for it, I wouldn't become one," Uchiha Yuan said.

"I knew it. Everyone in your Uchiha clan is like this. Work hard on your own! Make sure you survive! Only the living have a future!" With that, Hyuga Asana turned and left. As the main house young lady's guard, she couldn't stay away for too long.

Watching Hyuga Asana's back disappear into the distance, Uchiha Yuan looked up at the First Hokage carved on the Hokage Rock far away.

"Yeah. A child only grows up and has a future if they live. But now, so many children don't have a future anymore. Hashirama Senju, is this the Konoha you wanted?" Uchiha Yuan murmured to himself.

The meaning of a clan is to protect its own family.

A village is made up of clans. The meaning of a village's existence is to protect every person in it.

But if even children have to step onto the battlefield, then what exactly are they protecting?

And what did Hashirama Senju create Konoha for?

Uchiha Yuan didn't just turn around and go home. Instead, he started training by the small river.

After all, he had a Golden Finger. According to Hyuga Asana, they had a little over two months before graduation. Two months meant over sixty rounds of the Text Game. That should make him a lot stronger, right?

For the next several weeks, every day after school, Uchiha Yuan would run to the small river to train.

Exercising three hours a day earns one chance to spin the roulette and enter the text game world.

Every five days of exercise also adds 1 extra point to Physique.

After nearly three weeks of training, Uchiha Yuan had entered the game nineteen times.

Eighteen of those times, he only received a reward of 1 Stat Point.

Once, he got some extra rewards.

That time, the game world Uchiha Yuan entered was "Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf," and he even became a member of the Goat Village. He scraped by for a full six months before dying from eating grass that had been sprayed with pesticide.

This time, besides gaining 1 Stat Point, Uchiha Yuan also obtained two items.

The first was an Explosive Paper invented by Big Big Wolf, which had blown him up once in the game.

The second item was Licking Goat Afei's dumbbell.

Uchiha Yuan threw the dumbbell away directly—it was useless. The Explosive Paper came in ten sheets; he tested one, and its power was a bit stronger than an Explosive Tag. He stored the papers away, thinking they might catch someone off guard later.

As for the nineteen stat points gained, he allocated them immediately. Now Uchiha Yuan's panel looked like this:

Chakra Amount: 25

Physique: 24

Eye Power: 40

Vitality: 7

Nature Affinity: 3

Level: lv9 (9/10)

Stat Points: 0

Worth mentioning, nine days ago, when Uchiha Yuan leveled up from lv8 to lv9, he got another white box.

The contents of this box were better than last time. Last time it was an Explosive Tag, but this time it was a small box of Soldier Pills, twelve in total.

"Once I enter the game this time, I'll get stat points again to go from level 9 to level 10. A big level-up like this should come with something good, right?" With that, Uchiha Yuan closed his eyes and spun the roulette in his mind.

The next second, the roulette vanished, and a line of text appeared before Uchiha Yuan's eyes.

"You have logged into the Arad Continent."

"An hour ago, to escape the pursuit of the Calat, you leaped from the Heavenly Realm and landed on the legendary Arad Continent."

"You are astonished that there really is a continent beneath the Heavenly Realm—you had always thought it was just a legend."

"Help!"

"A woman's cry for help comes from the forest ahead."

"You think it over and decide to go check it out."

"You defeat the monsters in the forest and rescue the woman."

"The woman says her name is Seria. She writes you a letter of introduction and tells you to find the blacksmith Linus. Before she leaves, she says to you, 'Today is also a day full of seventy thousand.'"

"You don't understand what 'full of seventy thousand' means, but you don't pay it much mind. You take the letter and find Linus."

"After reading the letter, Linus assigns you a task."

"Your adventure begins."

"First, you enter the Dark Forest and defeat a small Gobl, then go deeper into the Dark Forest to defeat a large Gobl. Next, you are to challenge the Thunderous Ruins."

"Linus thinks your strength might not be enough to handle Thunderous Kairo, but you believe Kairo is just a goblin—even if he uses lightning powers, he's still a goblin, nothing to fear."

"You charge into the Thunderous Ruins alone."

"You kill Thunderous Kairo, take his valuable pelt, and sell it for a good amount of money."

"You're very happy. You return to the Moonlight Tavern and order the drink you usually can't bear to buy, even treating a down-and-out drunkard to a glass."

"Your generous act catches the attention of someone with ill intent, but you are unaware."

"As you leave the tavern, you are followed."

"You are cornered in an alley, and you die!"

"Game over!"

"Gained Stat Points x2, gained the attention of Sword Saint Arganzo."

After reading through this game session, Uchiha Yuan's mouth twitched. He didn't even know where to start complaining—there were way too many points to mock.

The most absurd part was that he didn't die in the Thunderous Ruins, but got targeted and killed for spending money too lavishly. It was way too sudden.

Still, Uchiha Yuan was quite satisfied with this session's gains. At the very least, he had 2 Stat Points. As for the attention of Sword Saint Arganzo, who knew what use that was? Uchiha Yuan didn't care much.

Then, Uchiha Yuan allocated both stat points to Chakra Amount.

The level on the panel rose from lv9 to lv10. Uchiha Yuan focused his mind and claimed the level-up reward. A golden box appeared in his hand.

New book, please collect and recommend. Thank you for your support.