[Skill Proficiency System activated] [Chakra Refining Technique (B): Level 10 (998/1000)] [Dojutsu: Sharingan (A): Level 3 (200/300)] [Taijutsu: Uchiha Style (C): Level 9 (100/900)] [Ninjutsu: Transformation Technique (E): Level 3 (199/300)] [Ninjutsu: Substitution Technique (B): Level 10 (999/1000)] [Ninjutsu: Body Flicker Technique (A): Level 3 (50/300)] [Ninjutsu: Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique (C): Level 3 (219/300)] [Ninjutsu: Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique (C): Level 3 (117/300)] [Omitted.]
His training had just ended. Sitting in camp and looking at his status panel, Uchiha Sou couldn't help letting out a small sigh.
It was worth celebrating that his Chakra Refining Technique was ready to break through, but he still felt powerless watching how slowly his Sharingan was improving.
"I've already been grinding hard enough. Why is it still so slow? The war may be close to over, but this is the most dangerous time. And then there's the future..."
Uchiha Sou was deeply troubled. The situation was really not in his favor.
He'd once been an ordinary person from Earth, but after helping someone pad their work record one time, he'd inexplicably ended up in this somewhat brutal world.
He'd been a little excited at first to be reincarnated as a Uchiha, but once the excitement wore off, he'd wanted to slap himself.
His name was Uchiha Sou, and when he learned that, he'd been terrified.
After all, Uchiha Sou's younger brother—assuming nothing went wrong—was none other than Uchiha Kei!
Fortunately, that hadn't happened, though Uchiha Sou's childhood hadn't been a particularly happy one either.
As a staunch, old-school Uchiha with the Sharingan, Uchiha Sou's father, Uchiha Nobutada, followed the traditional Uchiha approach to parenting.
Rather than simply lecturing him, he preferred to improve Uchiha Sou's sense of combat through his fists on the training ground.
Physical methods to achieve spiritual growth—under this kind of affectionate father-son sparring, Uchiha Sou's strength had improved rapidly.
His practical use of the Substitution Technique, in particular, had reached a level of mastery.
Still, despite their less-than-harmonious relationship, Uchiha Nobutada took Uchiha Sou's education seriously.
He hit hard, but he also corrected and taught him every day, and made him read plenty of books about the Uchiha Clan.
In short, he wanted Uchiha Sou to carry himself like a proper old-school Uchiha and become a worthy Uchiha ninja.
His family life was already miserable enough. To make matters worse, when he started school, he discovered that one of his classmates was named Hatake Kakashi and another was called Uchiha Obito. He immediately realized his future might be completely hopeless.
He didn't know whether he was just incredibly unlucky or whether his otherworlder perks had finally arrived, but at his most desperate moment, he awakened both his Sharingan and his system.
Put simply, his system was all about grinding, because the thing required him to grind experience.
Any ability he'd learned, or already possessed, could be improved through his everyday training or performance in battle.
That included his Sharingan, though raising it was rather demanding. He had to keep fighting with it.
Every skill had a level, and some skills started at the lowest level, E.
The Substitution Technique, for example, had originally been E-rank. He'd painstakingly ground it up to B, and it was nearly A.
Other abilities started at C or even higher. His Sharingan, for instance, had been C-rank when it first awakened.
Uchiha Sou still didn't know what the highest rank was, since he hadn't ground any skill past A.
"But it's really getting more and more brutal to grind experience. The higher the level, the more effort it takes. The experience required stays the same, but the amount I get has dropped way too much."
Ever since getting the system, Uchiha Sou had been grinding like crazy. He even had to thank his father for relentlessly beating him up.
That had earned him the title of "genius," and it had also helped his Sharingan keep improving.
But just as he was getting into the swing of things, he ran into a bit of a "small mishap."
As one of the people caught up in this great era, he'd been summoned by a teacher at school when he was ten and given some "good news."
"You're already a Chunin, and most of the cannon fodder at the front has died. Think it's time for you to go, too?"
When Uchiha Nobutada heard what his son was being sent to do, he was horrified. In his view, the front didn't need one more body, and he naturally refused to let his son go.
But the war had reached an extremely intense stage. Konoha was already short on manpower, and had been sending six- and seven-year-old "graduates" to the front for years.
You're a Uchiha genius, but you're still holed up in Konoha at ten years old. Isn't that a bit much?
There was no fighting city hall. After his stubborn father lost the struggle, Uchiha Sou finally set foot on this vibrant, thriving land.
Honestly, if he hadn't been a transmigrator with plenty of "combat experience," and hadn't relied on his Sharingan to survive one close call after another on the battlefield, the grass on his grave would probably be several feet tall by now.
His luck hadn't actually been all that bad. Perhaps the Uchiha still had some influence, because he hadn't been sent to the Land of Grass to fight Iwagakure in the bloodiest battles.
Instead, he'd been sent to fight Kirigakure in the Land of Whirlpools, west of Konoha. But "not as bad" was only relative.
Who knew what Konoha was thinking, sending a Uchiha to fight a group of people who could use the Hidden Mist Jutsu? Wasn't that as good as sending him to his death?
Fortunately, Orochimaru was the Konoha commander in the Land of Whirlpools at the time, and he hadn't yet gone completely dark.
Once Orochimaru learned about Uchiha Sou's Sharingan, he didn't send him on any suicide missions.
For some important missions, Orochimaru even assigned a member of the Hyuga Clan to accompany him.
The situation had made Uchiha Sou uneasy. He even wondered whether Orochimaru had mistaken him for Uchiha Itachi.
But those good days were clearly about to end. Less than a year remained until the war's conclusion, and aside from Sunagakure, the other three great hidden villages were now attacking Konoha with all their might.
The four great ninja villages were gearing up and throwing themselves into battle everywhere, using physical means to argue their points. It was easy to imagine how brutal the fighting had become.
And even more terrifying events lay ahead!
For instance, the future Fourth Hokage would have been in office for barely a year when his "filial" student, Uchiha Obito, showed up with a "surprise."
The beloved Fourth Hokage and his wife would both die, departing this world together, and the Uchiha Clan would be saddled with the blame.
Then, a few years later, the Uchiha Clan's most devoted son would begin his great enlightenment. Faced with the Uchiha's "regional separatism," he would devise a brilliant solution—
Konoha had been suppressing the Uchiha all along, but setting the facts aside, didn't the Uchiha bear some responsibility too?
If the Uchiha were deeply rooted, at odds with Konoha, and even plotting a coup, why not just kill his entire family?
Then he would join forces with Uchiha Obito and Root's forces to attack the Uchiha.
"So, strictly speaking, I really don't have much time left." Uchiha Sou sighed softly. "If I don't push myself harder, I'll either have to run away or take a blade to the back."
He absolutely wasn't willing to take a blade to the back, but where could he run?
Just as he was thinking it over, a voice suddenly rang out nearby.
"Uchiha Sou, Lord Orochimaru wants to see you."
Before you continue