Uchiha at the Start, Madara Uchiha is My Uncle?

"Hiss—my head hurts!" Uchiha Sou snapped his eyes open. A violent headache, as if someone were driving a spike into his brain and twisting it, tore at his consciousness with every pulse.

Cold raindrops pelted his face mercilessly, mixed with an overpowering stench of blood and moldy earth that left him gasping for air. He struggled to sit up, his mind reeling at the sight before him.

Strange memories flooded his mind like a bursting dam. The Warring States period... the Uchiha Clan... the Senju Clan... endless, ceaseless slaughter... parents dead early... adopted by the clan leader, Uchiha Madara... today, the clan's transport team had been ambushed by the Senju...

"I... transmigrated? And it's the hell-difficulty Naruto Warring States period?!" Uchiha Sou, or rather, the current Uchiha Sou, was completely stunned. He forced himself to calm down, trying to organize the chaotic influx of memories.

BOOM!

A violent explosion erupted nearby, accompanied by shrill screams and the sharp clashing of kunai, instantly dragging him back to reality. Instinct took over; he rolled and scrambled behind a thick tree trunk in a pathetic display of survival.

SPLAT!

A cold senbon needle grazed his scalp and embedded itself into the ground where he had just been lying. Cold sweat soaked his back. He peeked out cautiously, and at a single glance, his stomach churned violently.

Severed limbs were scattered everywhere, and the muddy ground was stained a grotesque dark red. Several ninjas bearing the Uchiha crest were locked in a frenzied slaughter with enemies wearing the Senju crest. The roar of Fire Style, the whistling of ninja tools, and the wails of the dying wove together into a symphony of death.

This wasn't the anime on a screen; this was a real, flesh-and-blood battlefield!

A young Uchiha clansman was impaled by stone spikes erupting from the ground via a Senju Earth Style jutsu. He was hoisted high, eyes wide, blood gushing down the stone pillar.

"Hahaha! Die, Uchiha scum!" A tall Senju ninja laughed hideously, his blade hacking down toward another wounded Uchiha.

Fear! An unprecedented, paralyzing fear gripped Uchiha Sou's heart, making it impossible to breathe.

Run? Where to? The original owner of this body was merely a genin who hadn't even awakened his Sharingan; running blindly on a battlefield like this was a shortcut to death!

Just as he fell into despair, a cold, familiar roar erupted like a thunderclap:

"Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame!"

A sea of flames surged out of thin air, instantly swallowing the arrogant Senju ninja and his nearby companions. They didn't even have time to scream before they were reduced to charcoal.

As the flames dissipated, two figures descended upon the high ridge at the edge of the battlefield like gods—or perhaps, like reapers.

The leader, his long black hair dancing wildly, had three tomoe slowly rotating in his scarlet eyes. He surveyed the battlefield with disdain, his entire body radiating a suffocating, powerful chakra and killing intent.

It was Uchiha Madara in his youth!

Beside him stood a young man with similar features and equally sharp, though slightly gentler, eyes—Uchiha Izuna.

"It's Lord Madara! Lord Izuna!"

"Reinforcements! Reinforcements are here!"

The surviving Uchiha erupted in cheers of relief.

Uchiha Sou watched the two figures, his heart pounding. In his memories, these two were the original owner's idols and guardians. Especially Madara—though his temper was volatile, he was quite protective of his own kin.

"Trash! You can't even handle a simple ambush?" Madara snorted, his gaze sweeping over the gruesome battlefield before landing on the pale-faced Uchiha Sou hiding behind the tree. He frowned. "Tsang, if you aren't dead yet, get out here! An Uchiha ninja can die in battle, but they cannot hide and die like a rat!"

Uchiha Sou jolted and scrambled toward Madara. Big boss, you are my uncle now! I have to cling to this thigh to survive!

Izuna was gentler, quickly issuing orders: "The wounded are to retreat to the rear. Everyone else, follow me to counterattack and wipe out the remaining Senju!"

The battle turned instantly with the arrival of Madara and Izuna. Their powerful Fire Style and elusive shurikenjutsu quickly slaughtered the remaining Senju ninjas.

Uchiha Sou slumped to the ground, gasping for air. Watching Madara cut through the enemy like a reaper, he felt a profound sense of shock.

Is this the pressure of top-tier combat power? In the face of absolute strength, human life is cheaper than grass.

The image of the clansman impaled by the stone spikes flashed repeatedly before his eyes.

A cold chill rose from the depths of his heart, accompanied by a fierce... craving.

If I had such power, would I no longer have to wait helplessly for death like I did just now? Would I be able to master my own destiny?

Just then, he felt a slight burning and soreness in his eyes. His vision seemed to become exceptionally clear; he could see the subtle tremor in Madara's wrist as he sheathed his blade, the fleeting exhaustion on Izuna's face, and even the trajectory of dust particles drifting in the air.

He instinctively raised his hand to rub his eyes.

Izuna noticed the small movement, walked over, and patted his shoulder. His tone was concerned and slightly appreciative: "Scared, aren't you? It's impressive enough that you survived an ambush of this scale on your first time. It seems the intense emotional stimulation is helping your eyes adapt to chakra. This is the precursor to the awakening of the Sharingan. Feel this realization between life and death well; it is the source of our Uchiha power."

Sharingan? Awakening?

Uchiha Sou was slightly startled. Is it because of the extreme fear and the intense desire to survive?

However, what surfaced in his mind was not the worship and reliance on these two uncles from the original owner's memories, but a cold, clear thought from a modern soul:

"Power... is this the only truth for survival in the ninja world?"

"Uchiha Madara... Uchiha Izuna... the future Valley of the End, the Infinite Tsukuyomi, the founding of Konoha, the clan's annihilation..."

"If I am destined to live in this hell, then I..."

His gaze swept over Madara's indomitable back, brushed past Izuna's gentle yet firm profile, and finally settled on the muddy, blood-soaked earth.

A strange sensation sprouted in his heart, as if everything before him was no longer just a cruel reality, but a complex game of chess from which there was no turning back. And he, it seemed, could faintly glimpse a thread... of causality?

He took a deep breath of the cold, blood-scented air. In those eyes, still youthful but already harboring a vortex, a flash of unfathomable light flickered.

"Can I... try to become the one who plays the game, rather than... the piece?"