Namikaze Minato

Konoha, Ichiraku Ramen.

"Thanks for looking after me today, Uncle Teuchi. See you."

At the entrance to the shop, Teuchi stood with his hands on his hips and smiled. "No need to be so polite, Yun. I'm the one who should thank you for helping out on such a busy day. Keep up the good work tomorrow!"

Tomorrow?

The reason he'd come all the way from the Uchiha Compound to work here was because of tomorrow!

Ichiraku Ramen was the safest place in all of Konoha.

Whether during the Nine Tails Incident or later, when the Six Paths of Pain destroyed Konoha, this little ramen shop had never changed its appearance.

And if his little sister Izumi hadn't been helped by that lunatic, she probably would have been in grave danger too. That showed that even the Uchiha Compound wouldn't be safe on the night of the Nine Tails Incident.

What's more, with this five-year-old body and the reaction speed he'd had in his previous life, trying to fight would be practically suicide.

"Phew... Don't let me down today!"

After letting out a breath, Uchiha Yun hurried toward the Uchiha Compound.

The birth of Uchiha Fugaku's second son had confirmed the timeline for Yun: it was the year of the Nine Tails Incident, on October 10!

And tomorrow was October 10, the day the original protagonist of this world was born. That meant that after midnight tonight, his cheat would arrive.

"I'm home."

Yun pushed open the door. A girl sat in the living room, a beauty mark at the corner of her eye making her look especially cute.

"You're home pretty late, Brother. Uncle Teuchi must've had a great business day."

Uchiha Yun walked over and ruffled the little girl's hair. "There were more customers than usual today. Did you go practice again, Izumi?"

Uchiha Izumi nodded and asked, "I've never understood why you work at Ichiraku Ramen, Brother. You haven't practiced Taijutsu with me in ages."

Yun smiled without answering. Just then, his mother, Uchiha Hazuki, came out of the kitchen carrying tea.

"Yun, you really don't have to work so hard. We still have some savings, enough to get you through until you become a Genin and start taking missions."

Yun nodded. "I've saved up quite a bit over the past six months. I've already talked to Uncle Teuchi. I won't need to go in the day after tomorrow."

Hearing that, Yun's mother breathed a sigh of relief. She felt terrible about making a five-year-old child go out and earn money.

Uchiha Yun took a sip of tea, then stood up. "I'm a little tired after working all day. I'll go wash up and get some rest."

As he spoke, he ruffled Izumi's hair again. "I'll be able to practice with you the day after tomorrow, so you won't be able to slack off then."

Izumi puffed out her cheeks in protest. "I practice hard every day! You're only a tiny bit older than me, Brother, so don't let me surpass you!"

Yun smiled, waved, and headed to the bathroom. As twins, he really was only a tiny bit older than Izumi.

Night fell. The second the clock's second hand passed midnight, Uchiha Yun sat up, unable to wait any longer.

He'd been reincarnated as an Uchiha in the same year as Itachi. Who knew how he'd managed to get through these five years?

Before his cheat appeared, he'd wake up in a fright every night. More than once, he'd even thought about finding a chance to run away on his own.

But over those five years, he'd grown close to his family. His mother's words were always full of love, and when Izumi was little, she'd call him "Brother" in her sweet, childish voice...

Family—the one thing he'd never had in his previous life—had become Yun's bond to this world.

That lunatic would massacre the entire clan eight years from now, sparing neither the old nor the young. In his previous life, Yun had liked that character from the fictional world, but now that he was really here...

Why?

His family of three had returned to the Uchiha after his father died, all they wanted was to survive.

His family wasn't even qualified to attend clan meetings. They belonged to neither the Hawk Faction nor the Dove Faction. His mother went out every day and worked hard just to support her two children.

Why should a widowed mother and her two children have to die for Itachi's bullshit ideals about the village and the clan? Why?!

As someone who'd received a modern education, Yun liked the peaceful life Konoha enjoyed now. But that peace couldn't come at the cost of his family's lives.

Uchiha Yun clenched his fists. What he did tonight would inevitably affect the future. If things could be changed, then everything would be fine. If not...

In eight years... No, he wouldn't need eight years!

Within eight years, Uchiha Itachi would die by Yun's hand—before Shisui's death drove Itachi to awaken his Mangekyou.

[The Naruto world storyline has begun]

[The Information Exchange has successfully launched]

[The Rule Replication function has successfully launched]

Uchiha Yun focused and issued a command in his mind: Open the Exchange. Use the beginner's reward to select a trading partner: S-rank ninja, Fourth Hokage Namikaze Minato.

[S-rank ninja locked: Fourth Hokage Namikaze Minato]

[The Exchange's space-time flow has been adjusted]

[Would you like to activate Shadow Mode?]

Without hesitation, Uchiha Yun replied, Activate.

In a daze, the space around him blurred, then came into focus again. The wooden bed beneath him had become an armchair, and a long table stood in front of him. Seated across from him was the Fourth Hokage of Konoha: Namikaze Minato.

"Hm?"

In that instant, Yun saw Namikaze Minato frown in confusion.

Yun looked down at himself. Sure enough, he was in Shadow Mode. It was simple and straightforward—he looked just like the little black figures that committed crimes in Detective Conan. If he could melt into a puddle, he'd look just like Black Zetsu, who was determined to save his mother.

"Don't waste your effort. Your Flying Thunder God won't work here at all. And that's not all. In this space, genjutsu, ninjutsu, and even Chakra won't work."

As soon as Yun finished speaking, Namikaze Minato's body jerked. But an invisible force pressed him back into his seat, leaving him unable to move.

Enjoying the electronic distortion in his voice, Yun casually waved a hand. "How should I put it? Here, whether you're the Hokage or the Sage of Six Paths, you can't attack me. The rules forbid it... in any form."

Feeling the pressure on his body, Namikaze Minato thought for a moment, then stopped struggling.

He'd been pulled from his living room into this space in an instant. Even his Flying Thunder God was useless, and ninjutsu, genjutsu, and Taijutsu were all ineffective. Faced with such an impossible ability, he could only wait and see what happened.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Namikaze Minato asked.

Uchiha Yun shook his head slightly. "I don't want to say who I am. As for what I want, you can think about it. The rules of this space should already be in your mind."

Namikaze Minato frowned slightly. It took him a while to process the information that had appeared out of nowhere in his mind.

"So you aren't the one who created this space. It's just an Exchange, and neither side can attack the other. And... neither side can lie!"

Yun nodded. "That's right. You don't have to share anything you don't want to, and you can say outright that you don't want to. But you can't lie."

Namikaze Minato continued, "If someone lies, the space gives a warning and the trade contract becomes invalid? And talents, bloodlines, ninjutsu, and so on can all be traded as information?"

Yun rested a hand against his temple. "The things traded don't disappear afterward. The space makes a copy for me. And as the one initiating the trade, I'm not limited to receiving only what you offer."

"The extent to which fate changes is proportional to what you offer. For example... if someone who was supposed to die survives and changes the fate of even more people, then the most valuable thing I could get from you would be your talent for Space-Time Ninjutsu!"

After a moment's thought, Namikaze Minato said, "I have nothing I want to trade. And I don't want to let an unidentified person copy my talent for Space-Time Ninjutsu."

Just as Namikaze Minato started to rise, Yun immediately said, "Kushina is supposed to die today... It's already past midnight. Consider that piece of information a lure."

The moment Yun finished speaking, Namikaze Minato's gaze snapped to the markings on the long table.

[True]

The word appeared in the markings. His hands clenched into fists. With the strange space and the force of its rules suppressing him, he didn't dare gamble on whether it was true.

Yun spoke from across the table. "You only need to agree to the trade. You don't need to give me anything, and I certainly don't need you to personally teach me. If it's all a lie, then I won't get your talent for Space-Time Ninjutsu anyway."

"But if it's all true, then isn't a talent for Space-Time Ninjutsu that you won't lose worth less than Kushina's life? Or... Naruto's life?"