The Hokage Sign-in System

"It was Uchiha Itachi from Anbu."

"Itachi is our family's informant in Anbu. How could it have been him?"

"When the Patrol Squad was attacked yesterday, I saw his Sharingan. I'd recognize the Mangekyō pattern anywhere."

Uchiha Rei spoke slowly. His voice was quiet, yet his words stirred a tempest. Uchiha Itachi's Mangekyō Sharingan was a family secret, known to only a handful of people.

For a moment, the Assembly Hall fell silent. Then the uproar erupted like gunpowder catching fire.

"How could it have been him?"

"Uchiha Itachi? Hasn't he always been loyal to the village?"

"Why? Why would he attack his own family?"

Amid the clamor, Uchiha Rei's expression grew calmer by the second. He didn't want to keep pretending. The blood of the three squad members who'd died yesterday had yet to dry, and he himself had nearly met his end in Yellow Springs. He already had a plan to escape the Night of the Uchiha Clan Downfall and leave Konoha, this place of trouble and strife. But in the end, he'd been poisoned and forced to stay.

If I can't leave, then I won't. Uchiha Itachi, Uchiha Obito—I'll show you what a good show looks like.

"Where is Itachi now?" a clan elder asked in a low voice.

Uchiha Fugaku retorted, "That's not something you should be asking."

"Then where does he stand?" another voice interjected. "With the family? With Konoha? We have the right to know the truth."

"Itachi... is indeed carrying out a special mission."

"He's a double agent," Uchiha Fugaku explained. "For the sake of the family, he took on the darkest of missions. But his hands have also been stained with the blood of our own."

"A double agent? So he can kill his own people just to win Konoha's trust? Who will be next? You? Or me?"

"Who is he loyal to, then? The Hokage, the Clan Head, or..."

"He's already personally attacked our people!" someone shouted. "Maybe we should give up on Itachi!"

"Perhaps this brat is lying to us." An elderly clan member turned his gaze on Uchiha Rei, his tone full of cold suspicion.

Uchiha Rei only smiled, without a trace of warmth. I'd planned to lie. Then you would have believed me. But I tell the truth, and you start doubting me. People only want to hear what they're willing to believe.

"I can confront Uchiha Itachi face-to-face," he said coldly, "if he dares to show up."

The Assembly Hall fell silent once more, as still as stagnant water. No one spoke.

The most important thing now was no longer to argue, but to find Uchiha Itachi.

But where was he?

Outside Konoha, beneath the deep darkness of night, a long-haired figure in a black robe and a tiger-striped mask appeared without a sound, drifting through the forest like a ghost.

"How ridiculous," he sneered, his voice sinister. "You couldn't even deal with a patrol squad."

Facing him, a shadow in an Anbu uniform crouched silently atop a telephone pole, watching the ground like a motionless crow. It was Uchiha Itachi, his expression cold, his Mangekyō Sharingan quietly unfolding.

"You got involved later, didn't you?" Itachi asked coldly. "You had a chance to stop him, but you let him go."

"His Fire Release is strong. I didn't want to alert him." Obito asked, "Why are you going after him now?"

"Because he wants to leave Konoha."

"I think he's already figured out our plan," Itachi said warily. "Better to kill the wrong person than let anyone slip through. Unfortunately, we didn't kill him. He's still alive."

"He didn't see our real faces," Obito said dismissively. "He doesn't know who we are. He won't find out anything."

His form began to blur as Kamui's spatial power swirled around him, pulling him into the void. "Beneath the light of the Mangekyō, every threat will vanish."

Uchiha Itachi stood motionless atop the telephone pole, his figure blending into the night.

"So it really was... the Mangekyō."

Standing at the end of a street in Konoha, Uchiha Rei's left eye flashed red, then quickly dimmed, leaving no trace.

After leaving the Uchiha Clan Assembly Hall, his emotions had churned with excitement, but outwardly he remained as calm as still water.

This was the Mangekyō Sharingan, the embodiment of the Uchiha bloodline's power—and the trump card he now held.

Without the Mangekyō, he wouldn't have the confidence to kill Uchiha Itachi.

Now, with the Mangekyō, he finally had the right to say no.

In the end, the world of Naruto was a game of eyes.

Naruto was also known as Black Zetsu Finds Mom, or The Legend of the Eyes in the Five Great Villages' Brawls. Eyes were the strongest mechanic in the Naruto world.

He hurried into a deserted patch of woods. After confirming that no one was nearby, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

"System," he thought.

A familiar yet cold electronic prompt rang in his ears.

[Sign-in System activated.]

[Welcome to the world of Naruto.]

[The host may sign in at any location imbued with the aura of opportunity.]

[One successful sign-in is available per day. Some special locations can be signed in at repeatedly.]

[The greater the opportunity, the greater the reward.]

As the prompts ended, a virtual panel appeared before him.

He skimmed the text, gradually understanding.

Konoha and his own home held no aura of opportunity, so he couldn't sign in there.

But the Uchiha Clan Assembly Hall he'd just visited was one of the "places of opportunity" the system had mentioned.

He'd already signed in there successfully and received the Mangekyō Sharingan!

Konoha, the heart of the Naruto world, was full of opportunities where he could sign in.

But at that moment, he had no time to lose himself in fantasies about the future.

"I'm poisoned."

If he didn't find an antidote soon, even his newly awakened Mangekyō would be useless.

"The system only lets me sign in once a day."

"If I want to survive, I have to find a crucial location before my next sign-in."

His thoughts raced as he searched for a place in Konoha connected to "detoxification."

There were three ways to neutralize poison.

The first was to find a medical expert skilled in Medical Ninjutsu, someone like Tsunade.

The second was to have a special constitution, such as the Senju Clan's Sage Body.

The third was a powerful Dojutsu that could directly ignore or control poison.

"That place..."

A flash of inspiration struck. He remembered a forbidden zone that had been forgotten for many years.

He set off at once and soon reached his destination.

Beneath the forest lay an abandoned Underground Medical Base left behind by Orochimaru before he defected.

It was said that Orochimaru had conducted many Human Experiments here. As a famous surgeon from Konoha, he might have left behind many opportunities.

Unfortunately, Konoha or Root had already recovered all the wealth Orochimaru left behind. The entire laboratory was empty. There was nothing there.

Fortunately, with nothing inside, Rei was able to enter the laboratory easily. Now all he had to do was wait until dawn to sign in.

"At least no one will interrupt me while I sign in..." He sat against the wall, using chakra to suppress the poison as he waited for daybreak.

It was almost midnight. He was just about to summon the system and sign in when he suddenly heard faint footsteps.

His eyes flew open, and his pupils narrowed.

Someone was coming.

He wasn't the only one who had entered Orochimaru's abandoned laboratory.