Young Kaede

Spring passed and autumn came; a year had gone by.

Inside Uchiha Kaede's home—

"Kaede, you can only play by the door! Don't go past the gate, understand?"

A gentle female voice warned him as he sat at the entrance. Uchiha Kaori was clattering away in the kitchen, cooking.

"I know, Mother."

A soft, childish voice came from his lips.

He sat on the step by the door, gazing into the distance.

"Sigh... Hokage? Uchiha? This is all a trap—"

He, who was used to screwing over his teammates, realized this time he seemed to have been screwed over instead.

Now a year old, he had learned to speak. From his parents' conversations, he pieced together his current identity, where he was, and roughly what time period this was.

This was the world of Naruto—a cruel yet captivating place. It should have been something to be happy about. But when he learned he'd been born into the dangerous Uchiha clan, excitement and fear warred within him.

Excitement, because there was a real chance he might one day pilot a giant mecha. How cool would that be?

Fear, well, there was plenty of that. Setting aside the distant future, the Second Shinobi World War still raging was enough to terrify him.

His father, Uchiha Mingye, had only recently taken clansmen to the front lines. He was genuinely afraid that this rotten fate would pull a "parents die, power skyrockets" move and forcibly hand him a cheat code.

And this seemed to be a common curse of the Uchiha clan.

Though he retained memories of his past life, right now he was Uchiha Kaede—the child of Uchiha Mingye and Uchiha Kaori. A member of the Uchiha clan, a current resident of Konohagakure, just another person in the ninja world.

In this first year of his new life, he had never once left the house. His parents had a fierce protective instinct, terrified he might suffer any harm.

The only people he'd seen were neighboring clansmen and his parents' friends who came to visit. The one person of any status he'd met was an elder of the Uchiha clan.

His parents' overflowing love and genuine devotion made him start seeing them through the eyes of a newborn child.

He had already thought through the realities he needed to face.

"But what do I do now? My dear system, where are you? Have pity on me, show up already. I'm waiting so anxiously.

Tsk... Could it really be that there's no system? None at all..."

He raised his hand to look at his own tender arm, then looked down at his stubby little legs. Aside from a green bear-head birthmark on his right forearm, he had nothing going for him.

"First, set a small goal: grow up safely, don't die young. At least I was born before Itachi—otherwise, wouldn't I have to worry about that obsessive bastard stabbing me in the back?"

He thought bitterly to himself.

"Kaede, come eat."

His mother, Uchiha Kaori, called him from the kitchen.

"Coming!"

He shuffled slowly into the room and sat across from his mother.

"Mother, when will Father come back?"

"Kaede is so thoughtful, already worrying about your father. Don't worry—with his strength, he'll come home safely."

Uchiha Kaori's eyes crinkled with a gentle smile, but the fleeting shadow in her gaze betrayed her.

"The cruelty of war in the ninja world—one misstep, and even a bloodline-limit user like an Uchiha can die on the battlefield. Mother is just trying to comfort me. It seems even she, who knows Father's strength, isn't very confident."

He grew even more worried, hoping his cheap father would return safely.

Maybe the Sage of Six Paths heard his wish.

"Oh? Eating right now? I wonder if there's any left for me?"

A familiar voice came from the doorway.

"Mingye?"

Kaori stared at the figure in the doorway. The bowl slipped from her hands, and she threw herself into his arms.

"I'm glad you came back safely."

Her eyes reddened as she carefully examined her returned husband, afraid he might be injured.

"The front lines are intense. The Land of Rain and..."

Uchiha Mingye caught the look his wife gave him and stopped mid-sentence. They deliberately avoided the topic, unwilling to let Uchiha Kaede be exposed to words like "war" at such a young age.

"What a lovely pair of parents. Maybe only a madman like Uchiha Fugaku would drag a four-year-old Itachi onto a battlefield."

He thought maliciously to himself.

"How long can you stay in the village this time?"

"I'm escorting the wounded and the dead back. Maybe tomorrow, maybe the day after, I'll have to return. The situation at the front is very bad."

His parents spoke in low voices, keeping their distance from him. But they didn't know he was born with sharp senses—he caught every word without missing a beat.

"Did many clansmen die?"

"Yeah. The Land of Rain is directly facing the Land of Fire, the Land of Wind, and the Land of Earth. All the nations are fighting each other. The front lines are brutal. Quite a few clansmen have died. I was sent to escort the bodies this time because some of the dead were clansmen who had awakened their Sharingan."

"If you have time, go help out next door!"

Speaking of the clan's casualties, Uchiha Mingye was filled with grief.

"You mean..."

Uchiha Kaori covered her mouth, tears wetting her eyes.

"Ah! They're all dead. I barely managed to retrieve their bodies."

"Obito is so pitiful—younger than Kaede and already lost his parents. Maybe we should..."

Kaori grabbed her husband's arm, looking at him with hope.

"That stubborn old woman will never agree to us adopting Obito."

Mingye shook his head and replied.

"I'll visit them often. She was the one who delivered Kaede, after all."

She knew her husband was right; the stubborn Obito's Grandmother would never agree.

"That's enough. Such is the world of shinobi!"

Mingye looked at his son eating in the distance. He was truly worried that the next one to die on the battlefield would be himself—when the clan brought his body back, how sorrowful would his wife and child be?

"Obito?"

Hearing that name, his eyes narrowed slightly. He recalled the man who had overturned the entire shinobi world for love, whose madness was born from his devotion.

But...

"MMP, slaughtering the clan for a woman—doesn't that mean he'd come for me?"

Malice surged in his heart. He thought about telling his parents to bring Obito over, then snap—choke him to death.

One and done.

"But messing with the flow of the plot isn't a good thing for me right now."

After all, Obito was just a tool Uchiha Madara had chosen from the Uchiha clan for his perceived talent. Without Obito, there would inevitably be another "Obito" tool to take his place.

If that happened, he'd be thrown into a blind spot, and the danger factor would instantly hit MAX.

"Dear little Obito, I'll be watching you."

A flurry of thoughts stirred in his mind.

After finishing dinner in peace, Kaede had already gone to sleep, unaware that his father had quietly placed a wooden kunai by his pillow.

"Tomorrow is Kaede's birthday. What a shame I can't be by his side as his father. I really am a lousy father."

"Mingye, don't say that. Kaede is very understanding—he won't blame you."

Kaori gently embraced Mingye.

"Consider this kunai his birthday gift. Kaori, I have to go."

"Stay safe. Come back in one piece."

The village's orders had just come down not long ago—summoning the clan's shinobi to the front lines again. Uchiha Mingye, who had only just returned, had no choice but to lead his clansmen back to the battlefield.

Stepping out of the house, Uchiha Mingye joined the Uchiha shinobi who had been waiting and hurried toward the village gate to assemble.

"Mingye-sama, what's the battlefield like?"

Behind a head of wild black hair and a neat black robe was the fiery Uchiha clan fan.

A young Uchiha asked Mingye a naive question.

"It's a terrible hell—and also a shinobi's final resting place."