First Draw: Did I Become an Unaffiliated Uchiha?

At this point, Hatake Kakashi believed that while ninjas with Kekkei Genkai were undoubtedly far stronger than ordinary ninjas, they were not so overwhelmingly powerful that ordinary ninjas could not compete with them at all.

For example, the Third Hokage, hailed as the strongest Hokage, had shaken the Shinobi World despite having no Kekkei Genkai. His own teacher, the Fourth Hokage, had risen from the ranks of commoner ninja to earn the title Konoha's Yellow Flash.

Among the four Hokage so far, only the First Hokage possessed the Kekkei Genkai of Wood Style Ninjutsu. Even the Second, who was also from the Senju Clan, had no Kekkei Genkai, yet he had still become a powerhouse who shook the Shinobi World.

So at the root of it, Hatake Kakashi did not believe that a ninja had to possess a Kekkei Genkai.

Meanwhile, inside a private residence in Konoha, a youth of around fifteen or sixteen wore a standard Konoha Chunin flak jacket. He had short hair, delicate features, and an excited expression on his face.

He had just finished writing his tenth diary entry. It was time for the draw.

That was right. He was Kitahara Kaede, a modern man whose soul had come from Earth.

After waking up from a single night's sleep, he had become an utterly ordinary Genin in this extremely dangerous world.

How ordinary was he? So ordinary that he possessed no Kekkei Genkai at all. Even the Kitahara Family was not a great clan like the Sarutobi Clan, which, though lacking a Kekkei Genkai, still possessed a deep inheritance and foundation.

His parents were ordinary people as well. His father had been an ordinary Chunin who had died on a mission years ago, leaving only him and his mother, Kitahara Yoshiko, to depend on each other.

In terms of talent, he was only slightly better than ordinary people. That was why he had been able to attend the Ninja Academy and, three years after graduation, naturally become a Chunin—an extremely ordinary Chunin.

Since he had no Kekkei Genkai and no particularly remarkable talent, Kitahara Kaede's original plan had been to keep a low profile in everything. Based on the major events of the Shinobi World that he knew about, he would avoid as many as possible and try to live a few more years.

It was not that he lacked lofty ambitions. In a world of ninjas like this, that was simply the cruel reality.

What could a Kekkei Genkai even do for you? You still had to be the reincarnation of the Sage of Six Paths' biological son, or else you would end up like Hyuga Neji.

The Savior's son was still the Savior, and the Scapegoat's son was still the Scapegoat.

But everything had changed ten days ago. He had obtained a Write Diary System. As long as he recorded a diary entry every day for ten consecutive days, he could draw once.

Today was his first draw, so he could barely contain his excitement. He knew very well that if he had any chance of changing this predetermined future, it could only come from this Diary System.

"Draw!"

Kitahara Kaede silently called out in his heart. Soon, a translucent roulette wheel that only he could see appeared before him. The rewards on it made his eyes widen.

Wood Style, Byakugan, Sharingan, Fuinjutsu, Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique—many resources rare even in the Shinobi World now appeared on the roulette panel.

As the pointer spun, one hope after another flashed through Kitahara Kaede's mind until it finally stopped.

"Uchiha Clan Standard Bloodline!"

Kitahara Kaede froze for a moment. It was not the Sharingan, but the Uchiha Clan Standard Bloodline?

What was that supposed to mean?

After thinking for a moment, he quickly formed a guess. Perhaps according to the Diary System's classification, the Uchiha Clan's bloodline was one thing, while the Sharingan was another.

After all, one could possess the Sharingan without having Uchiha Clan blood, like Hatake Kakashi.

But the price was being unable to shut off the Sharingan normally. Kakashi's chakra reserves had become the subject of many jokes, and they had even become a unit of measurement—the so-called Ichi-kari.

Many people even believed that his mana pool was tiny. In reality, while Hatake Kakashi's mana pool was not especially large, it was nowhere near as low as it appeared.

The reason for that was that an unclosable Sharingan constantly consumed the chakra within his body, forcing him to become an assassin-type ninja.

Though becoming an assassin-type ninja was not necessarily a mistake for a ninja, that was only true in the early stages of Naruto. In the later stages, fragile assassins were cannon fodder.

Those ninjas all seemed to have become Body Cultivators, each with a more absurd physique than the last.

But having the Uchiha Clan Standard Bloodline was different. In other words, from a genetic standpoint, Kitahara Kaede might now have become an unaffiliated surviving member of the Uchiha Clan.

Theoretically, he could even awaken his own Sharingan.

He felt the chakra within his body increasing at a speed he could clearly perceive.

In a short time, his chakra had increased by more than double.

Since he had begun cultivating, Kitahara Kaede had never felt such abundant chakra.

But thinking about it, that made sense. The Uchiha Clan were descendants of the Sage of Six Paths, after all. While they could not compare with the Senju Clan, who had inherited the Sage Body, that was only in comparison to the Senju Clan.

Compared with other Ninja Clans, their chakra reserves were still plentiful. Otherwise, Uchiha Madara could not have fought Senju Hashirama for so long.

Not to mention that Kitahara Kaede had only possessed an ordinary person's bloodline before. He did not even count as being from a ninja clan.

By the time night fell, Kitahara Kaede had fused with more than half of the Standard Uchiha Clan Bloodline. His total chakra had risen by over ten times from its original amount, no worse than that of an ordinary Jonin, directly breaking through the limit he had once thought impossible to reach.

Moreover, at his current age, he had only just entered the period of rapid growth in strength. His chakra reserves would continue to increase in the future, and the potential of the Standard Uchiha Clan Bloodline was still far from fully developed.

Most importantly, the quality of his chakra had improved by an unknown amount compared with before.

It could be said that both its quality and quantity had undergone earth-shaking changes. Casting the same ninjutsu now would increase its power by at least one level.

He could even feel that his talent had improved. His memory had clearly increased, as had his comprehension. Kitahara Kaede, who had originally only been average, could now be called a genius within a small range.

How small was that range? Small enough that only he himself knew about it for now!

Kitahara Kaede then tested the improvement in his various abilities with a few techniques. He had originally only barely reached the threshold of Chunin, but now he could absolutely rival a Tokubetsu Jonin and would not fear an ordinary Jonin.

Kitahara Kaede felt that the terrifying pressure that had weighed on his heart for years had finally been fundamentally relieved.

Even in a world filled with danger, he now had a chance to cast off his identity as cannon fodder and stand at the pinnacle of the Shinobi World.