Uchiha Sosuke

His consciousness wavered for a moment. Sosuke shook his head hard and refocused his gaze on the one-armed instructor at the podium.

He flipped through his textbook absentmindedly and sighed to himself. An overwhelming sense of helplessness welled up inside him.

Before he knew it, he had been in the Hokage World for a week.

After his initial struggles, he had more or less accepted the fact that he had transmigrated.

But if he had to transmigrate, why couldn't he have ended up in the peaceful Konoha of a later era? Why had he landed in the Warring States Period, where human life was treated like grass?

Here, children not even ten years old had to go to war. Rumor had it that fewer than three in ten survived.

Even a prestigious clan like the Uchiha faced an extremely harsh environment for its younger generation.

The reason was simple: the Uchiha weren't the only great clan in the Land of Fire.

"Sigh." Propping his chin up with one hand, Sosuke gazed at the classroom, feeling helpless as he pondered what his future might hold.

The ninja world wasn't exactly peaceful.

The Uchiha were constantly at war. In the Eastern War Zone, they fought the Senju; in the Western War Zone, they faced threats from clans like the Fuma, Sarutobi, and Shimura.

The Hyūga Clan eyed them hungrily from the southwest, while the Uzumaki overseas occasionally sent troops to harass them.

The various factions were openly locked in endless conflict, and lurking in the shadows was Black Zetsu, the ultimate schemer of the past thousand years.

If his calculations were right, Ōtsutsuki Isshiki, who had descended to Earth alongside Kaguya thousands of years ago, was currently hiding in some temple, eating vegetarian food and praying to Buddha.

"Surviving isn't easy."

The outside world was harsh, but fortunately, Sosuke had a way to fight back against disaster.

"System."

He called out softly in his mind. The next second, a pale blue screen appeared before his eyes.

No one else in the classroom could see it.

[Name: Uchiha Sosuke]

[Age: Six]

[Physical Strength: Below Average]

[Spiritual Strength: Genin]

[Chakra: Below Average]

[Special Ability: Sharingan (One-Tomoe)]

[Ninja Tools: None]

[Summoning Beast: None]

[Points: 0]

The system had quantified his personal information, including his age, special abilities, and physical strength.

Of his three basic attributes, only his spiritual strength had reached the Genin level.

The reason was simple: when he had transmigrated, his soul had accidentally fused with another, causing his spiritual strength to grow rapidly.

In just one week, it had risen from below average to its current "Genin" level.

Sufficiently strong spiritual energy meant that his Genjutsu would be exceptionally powerful, and that his chakra would also surpass that of an average ninja.

Chakra was produced by combining spiritual energy with physical energy. Strengthening either one increased the total amount of chakra a ninja could refine.

At least he wouldn't be a ninja who ran out of chakra all the time.

As for his Sharingan, which had awakened unexpectedly, it was probably related to the fusion of the two souls. At his age, it was an extraordinary achievement.

In terms from his previous life, he was basically a six-year-old genius who had gotten into Harvard or Cambridge.

If the news got out, the entire Uchiha Clan would be shaken.

Even a prodigy like Uchiha Itachi hadn't awakened his Sharingan until he was eight, while Uchiha Madara hadn't managed it until he was in his teens.

Of course, how early someone awakened their Sharingan didn't determine everything. Unfortunately, not everyone understood that.

Once the clan learned about it, they would surely invest a great deal of effort in him. There were pros and cons to that, and it all depended on what Sosuke chose to do.

His gaze slowly shifted, finally settling on the "Points" entry.

He had studied it for a long time, but still had no idea what these so-called Points could be used for.

He had a few guesses, but unfortunately, Sosuke had no chance to test them.

"Never mind. I'll take things as they come."

"Sosuke!"

A rough shout interrupted the boy's thoughts.

Frowning instinctively, Sosuke turned to look out the window. If there was anything he disliked about his current life, the annoying guy standing there was definitely one of the reasons.

Years ago, his parents had died on the battlefield. As was customary in the clan, young Sosuke had gone to live with his uncle Takeshi.

The clan regularly paid out compensation, so at least he shouldn't have had to worry about his living expenses.

But that wasn't what happened.

For some unknown reason, his uncle treated him terribly. He pocketed the compensation money and regularly beat Sosuke.

Unable to take it anymore, Sosuke had eventually started sleeping at the academy, finally escaping that demon of a household.

If his own uncle treated him that way, then his cousin Uchiha Tetsuya was even worse.

The Uchiha Clan provided very generous benefits, especially when it came to compensation payments. It was more than enough for children who had lost their parents to live comfortably.

With no worries at home, the clan's ninja could fight hard on the front lines. But who would've thought that some people would set their sights on money bought with the lives of those children's parents?

Watching his cousin come out of the classroom, Uchiha Tetsuya sneered. He didn't actually need the money. He could earn enough by taking on a couple of low-ranked missions.

He had no interest in the old generation's grudges. The boy simply enjoyed the thrill of bullying someone. Every time his cousin looked furious but dared not speak up, it filled him with delight from head to toe.

As his older cousin liked to say, making life miserable for others was the greatest pleasure of all.

Rolling his neck, Uchiha Tetsuya slung an arm around his cousin's shoulders. His gaze was full of malice. "Sosuke, you little punk. You've gotten a lot tougher lately. I've come looking for you a few times, and you've dodged me every time."

In the past, a few punches were enough to make his cousin tremble and hand over a month's worth of living expenses.

It had practically become muscle memory. He hadn't expected to misjudge things this time.

When Sosuke put an arm around his shoulder, Uchiha Tetsuya didn't realize anything was wrong. But as the arm pressed down hard and forced him to bend over, alarm suddenly rose in his heart.

Unfortunately for him, Sosuke's knee drove into his solar plexus with all his strength.

To make sure his cousin couldn't get back up, Sosuke grabbed him by the hair and slammed his right fist into his right cheek.

One punch. Then two. Then three.

Only after Uchiha Tetsuya's eyes rolled back did Sosuke let go, allowing his cousin to crumple to the ground.

"He's not all that impressive after all." Sosuke dusted off his hands, his gaze utterly indifferent.

There was no point trying to talk to a bully. You just had to be more ruthless than he was.

The clan forbade private fights, let alone public brawls at the academy.

Anyone else would have been punished. But one principle held true in every world:

Geniuses always received special treatment, in one way or another.

After gathering himself for a moment, Sosuke's tightly shut eyes snapped open. The eerie red glow left everyone present holding their breath.

"H-he awakened the Sharingan!!!"

He awakened the Sharingan at six?!

In an instant, the news sent shockwaves through the crowd.