Uchiha Isho

"Ah!"

Splurt!

"Y-you... who are you!?"

Screams echoed in Su Xiang's ears. Unable to make sense of what was happening, he slowly opened his eyes.

In an instant, it felt as if a sharp sword had pierced his heart. A wave of pain surged through his chest.

His nose twitched. He seemed to smell death, and the overpowering stench of blood filled him with terror.

"Why is it so noisy here? I should be in a hospital, right? I remember checking some electrical wires, then I think I got shocked." Su Xiang was full of questions.

His fingers trembled slightly. Then he realized his whole body was weak. He struggled to move his eyes, only to find that everything around him was pitch-black.

The cold beneath his back made Su Xiang realize he was lying on the floor somewhere.

[ Ding! Host detected. Naruto Fusion System initializing... ]

[ Initialization complete. Congratulations, Host! You have received a Newbie Gift Pack! ]

[ Ding! Host's heart is severely damaged. The system will provide one free treatment. ]

As soon as the words ended, Su Xiang felt a warm current flow into his limbs and gather around his heart.

"Uh... this feeling... it's so comfortable!"

Su Xiang looked utterly content and couldn't help murmuring. Gradually, his gaze grew hazy, and his eyelids drooped despite his efforts to keep them open.

Then sleepiness surged over him like a tide. Unable to resist any longer, he drifted off as if hypnotized.

Meanwhile, in another room, Uchiha Fugaku said calmly:

"Itachi, promise me one last thing. I'm entrusting Sasuke to you. Don't be afraid. This is the path you chose. Compared to you, our pain will last only an instant..."

Itachi had never imagined that his parents would make this choice. Tears streamed uncontrollably down his cheeks.

His heart twisted with anguish, and the hand gripping the knife handle trembled like a leaf in the wind.

A moment later, Uchiha Itachi composed himself, put his mask back on, and leaped onto a rooftop, where he met Uchiha Obito, who wore a tiger-striped mask.

The two exchanged a few words, then went their separate ways.

About the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea later, a group of Konoha Anbu wearing masks that looked like a cross between foxes and cats rushed to the scene.

The Uchiha Compound was now as silent as a graveyard. Several contorted corpses lay scattered across the corridors and open spaces, as if bearing witness to the brutal battle that had just taken place.

Blood ran down the windows of several houses like tears, dripping onto the cold ground and blooming into startling crimson flowers.

The Anbu members all stiffened slightly at the sight. If they had taken off their masks, one would have seen shock, confusion, and disbelief on their faces—but not grief.

"One team, secure the perimeter. The rest of you, come with me," the leader said in a low voice, the first to recover.

Once one team had surrounded the area, the leader pointed to another member. "You, report to Lord Hokage."

With that, he led the others cautiously into the Uchiha Compound.

After a brief search revealed no danger, the Anbu laid the Uchiha Clan's bodies in neat rows in a large open space.

At that moment, an elderly man with a pipe in his mouth and the kanji for "Fire" on his headband suddenly appeared on a rooftop.

He used the Body Flicker Technique to appear in the open space. In the few seconds it took him to arrive, not one person present had noticed him.

"How does the scene look?" he asked first.

The Anbu members were startled. They turned to the speaker and bowed. "Lord Hokage."

"Lord Hokage, aside from two surviving boys, all the Uchiha have been confirmed dead. One of the boys appears to be in worse condition."

The leading Anbu member turned to the Hokage and immediately reported what they had found.

The Hokage of Konoha, the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, took the pipe from his mouth and sighed. "Take them to the Medical Corps and do everything you can to treat them. As for the others..."

He paused briefly, then sighed again. "Find a place and give them a proper burial."

At the same time, in a dark alley, Uchiha Itachi spoke quietly to a corner.

"If you go after Sasuke, I'll sell all of Konoha's intelligence to the other ninja villages. And I'll... kill you." As soon as he finished, his body transformed into a flock of crows and scattered.

A few seconds later, an old man stepped out from the corner. White bandages wrapped around his right eye and right arm. His gaze was shrewd and deep. He was none other than Shimura Danzō, the darkness of the Shinobi World.

Looking toward the place where Itachi had disappeared, he said in a deep voice, "The Mangekyō Sharingan... The Uchiha Clan really are detestable. And those eyes, cursed because of their evil. Hmph!"

If Su Xiang had heard this, he would probably have slapped Danzō across the face and cursed him:

"How shameless can you get? You used Shisui's Sharingan without a shred of guilt. If anyone's evil, who could possibly be worse than you?"

Morning sunlight streamed through the window and lit up Su Xiang's hospital room. Everything gradually awakened beneath the caress of the dawn, filling the air with a fresh feeling.

"That was a great sleep. I haven't slept that soundly in ages." Su Xiang stretched and got up to look around.

Suddenly, his head throbbed. Memories that didn't belong to him surfaced in his mind. He propped his head up with one hand and murmured:

"Uchiha Isho. His parents died in an accident during a mission. He'd lived off their pension since childhood. He was withdrawn and had few friends. He was enrolled at the Ninja Academy."

The final image froze on a darkened room, where a figure wearing a tiger-striped mask had appeared without a sound. The figure suddenly drove a knife into Uchiha Isho's heart.

Damn.

This is the world of Naruto. Does that mean I've been transported to another world? Last night wasn't a dream after all. It was the night of the Uchiha Clan Massacre.

At that moment, Isho noticed that bandages covered his chest. He felt no pain, but the images flashing through his mind seemed as vivid as if he'd experienced them himself, making him shiver.

His expression twisted slightly as he cursed inwardly.

Obito, you bastard. You're vicious as hell!

After a while, Isho felt his mind had settled. Then he remembered something else.

"Right, there was a system, wasn't there?"

"System, are you there?" Su Xiang asked quietly.

In an instant, a blue screen appeared before Su Xiang.

[ Ding! The Naruto Fusion System is at your service. ]

[ Host: Uchiha Isho ]

[ Ninjutsu: Three Basic Techniques ]

[ Taijutsu: Basic Unarmed Combat ]

[ Genjutsu: None ]

[ Kekkei Genkai: Uchiha ]

[ System Inventory: Newbie Gift Pack x1 ]

[ Ninja Lottery: Standard draw, 20 Luck Points per draw; a top-tier ninja guaranteed every 10 draws. Advanced draw, 100 Luck Points per draw; an elite ninja guaranteed every 10 draws, with a small chance of getting a legendary ninja. ]

[ Note: Ninja ranks are Common, Elite, Epic, and Legendary. ]

Su Xiang blinked, then couldn't help complaining. "This original body doesn't know a single offensive ninjutsu."

But after thinking it over, he accepted it. Not everyone could be a genius like Sasuke and Itachi. Even if someone taught you a simple C-rank ninjutsu, you might not be able to learn it.

"System, other people can't see this interface, right?" Isho asked cautiously. If anyone else could see it, he wouldn't be able to explain it.

[ Ding! Rest assured, Host. Only you can see the system interface. ]

"Good."

"Hey, I only made it through high school. I could only get a security job through a relative's recommendation. I never thought something would happen while I was checking electrical wires..." Su Xiang sighed, looking troubled.

"At least I had accident insurance. But Dad, Mom, and my younger brother must be heartbroken. If only... I could go back."

His hobbies in his previous life had been reading novels, watching anime and manga, and playing video games now and then.

As an avid shut-in, he'd not only watched the anime Naruto, but loved it. He'd also watched a few episodes of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, but the updates were too slow, so he'd decided to wait until there were more episodes to watch.

However, rumors online claimed that Naruto and Sasuke would be killed off by the plot in Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, which had made him especially angry. If that really happened, then as far as he was concerned, Naruto ended with Shippuden.

"Back when I was still in school, after finishing Naruto, I'd often use the ultimate technique of the Hokage on people..." At the memory, the sadness on Su Xiang's face slowly faded, and he couldn't help smiling.

"Fine, from now on, I'm Uchiha Isho. The world of Naruto is full of danger, but with a cheat like this, I'll keep a low profile, grow stronger first, and do my best to stay alive."

Once he had calmed down, Isho accepted the truth without hesitation.