Konoha.
Uchiha Compound.
"Uncle Shoyaki, here's the money I owed you for last month's meals!"
The boy looked eight or nine years old and wore the distinctive clothes of an Uchiha child.
His dark hair curled slightly at the tips, falling in soft arcs across his forehead. His handsome face wore an innocent smile.
Uchiha Sora raised his hand and passed the silver to Uchiha Tesho.
Uncle Tesho took the money and was about to pat the boy on the head, but halfway through, he pulled his hand back.
"Haha, Sora, you're amazing! You joined the Police Force at just eight years old! I can't casually pat your head anymore. It wouldn't be appropriate."
So you do know that patting someone's head is rude?
Uchiha Sora rolled his eyes inwardly, then took a seat at the stall to wait for his special set meal.
"Sora, I've noticed the Police Force has been patrolling more lately. Did something happen in the village?"
Clack—
Uchiha Sora snapped apart his chopsticks and said casually, "Sorry, Uncle, I'm tight-lipped. It's confidential, so I can't say anything."
Ding—
At the same time, a clear chime rang in Uchiha Sora's mind.
"Repaid Uchiha Tesho the 3,700 ryo on schedule. Trust points +2."
Uchiha Sora was a transmigrator.
He wasn't a temporary visitor; he'd been in his mother's womb when he transmigrated.
But not long after, his parents died on a mission, and he got the protagonist's double-orphan treatment.
Fortunately, he was an Uchiha. Even without parents, he wouldn't have to eat expired instant noodles or get cursed at by everyone on the street.
The Uchiha Clan supported its orphaned children, providing merchants with a monthly allowance to cover the kids' food, clothing, housing, and transportation.
The children could pay it back once they grew up. It was fine if they didn't; repayment wasn't mandatory.
Uchiha Sora was the most reliable one. He'd been doing odd jobs to pay off his debts since he was four, even when the merchants insisted he didn't have to.
His favorite saying was, "A person can't stand without trust. Pay back what you borrow, and borrowing again won't be hard."
Because of that, he'd earned the nickname Little Uchiha Shouyue in the clan.
Was Uchiha Sora just a man of noble character who refused to accept charity?
No, that wasn't it.
It was because of his cheat.
--
"Heavens Lending Platform"
This was the cheat he'd had ever since he could remember, like a loan app inside his mind.
As long as he had enough trust points, he could borrow powers that weren't his from across the heavens and myriad worlds.
But a loan had to be repaid.
If he borrowed a power to accomplish something, then when the other party needed his help, he would have to repay that karmic debt.
If he defaulted, trust points would be deducted according to the severity.
Uchiha Sora didn't know what would happen if his trust points ran out. In any case... it probably wouldn't be pretty.
By now, Uchiha Sora had accumulated 653 trust points. Five hundred was enough to borrow a powerful force from another world.
He'd held off on borrowing anything until now.
More precisely... until tomorrow.
At dusk, the moon was just beginning to show on the horizon.
Tomorrow was the full moon.
In other words...
The Nine-Tails Night!
After this incident, the Uchiha Clan would move away from Konoha's central district.
A few years later would come the clan's massacre.
Actually... anyone with half a brain could see that the village was planning to move against the Uchiha Clan.
First isolate them, then wipe them out.
Even the organs in your body knew that marginalizing a section of tissue was the first step to removing it.
Uchiha Sora didn't think the village leadership was wrong to do this.
On the Nine-Tails Night, those scarlet Sharingan were clearly reflected in the Nine-Tails' eyes. If Sarutobi Hiruzen and the others didn't suspect the Uchiha Clan, something would be seriously wrong.
Besides, the Third Hokage's faction had always been deeply prejudiced against the Uchiha.
The only reason they'd waited six years to act was that the Shinobi World was unstable. They feared that wiping out the Uchiha Clan would cost them too many forces to withstand an invasion by other villages.
If that person hadn't appeared, perhaps the Uchiha Clan could have bitten off a huge chunk of Konoha before being destroyed.
Who could have expected someone like Uchiha Itachi?
He killed his father and mother, slaughtered his relatives and clan, and helped the village wipe out the Uchiha Clan without a fuss.
Knock, knock, knock—
Uchiha Sora tapped the table lightly with the ends of his chopsticks, narrowing his eyes in thought.
If Namikaze Minato hadn't died on the Nine-Tails Night, perhaps the Uchiha Clan wouldn't have met that fate.
Clan Head Fugaku had staked everything on the Fourth Hokage. Once the Fourth Hokage died, reconciliation between the Uchiha and the village became impossible.
Would telling the Fourth Hokage that Obito was going to attack help?
Uchiha Sora had considered it. Even if the Fourth Hokage believed him...
It wouldn't matter.
The most important factor behind the incident was Obito taking advantage of Kushina's weakness during childbirth to forcibly summon the Nine-Tailed Fox.
Could the village stop Obito from using intangibility to infiltrate the area? Or prevent Kushina from giving birth?
Neither was possible.
The village was already on the highest alert because the Jinchūriki was about to give birth.
The Fourth Hokage was by her side the whole time, the Third Hokage was on standby, and his wife, Biwako Sarutobi, was personally delivering the baby.
Even so, what was meant to happen still happened.
As long as Kushina gave birth, the seal would weaken, and Obito would inevitably summon the Nine-Tails.
Her death was certain.
And...
If he prevented the Fourth Hokage's death, would he blame the Uchiha Clan once he learned that the mastermind was an Uchiha with a Mangekyō?
Whatever happened, he couldn't entrust the clan's hopes to one person.
Unless that person was me!
Uchiha Sora's gaze darkened as he made up his mind.
He absolutely couldn't sit back and wait. Once the Uchiha Clan was pushed out of the village center, it would truly be too late.
If it came to that, they might as well go down fighting!
"Here you go, Sora! Your special set meal!"
Tesho brought over a big bowl of teriyaki ramen, a jumbo cup of strawberry milk, and ten skewers of brown sugar dumplings.
Tesho sat down beside him and said with a smile, "Don't you get tired of eating like this? Isn't it too sweet?"
Uchiha Sora gulped down a big mouthful of strawberry milk and licked the milk from his lip.
"Uncle, savory food is just for keeping you alive. Sweet food is everything!"
"Haha, you love sweets that much? Watch out for cavities, kid!"
"One of these days, I'll make you that thing you keep talking about... What was it? Oh, right! Chocolate cake!"
"It's a deal!"
Uchiha Sora stopped eating and looked up at Uchiha Tesho.
"Uncle Tesho, do you believe me?"
Tesho paused, resting his chin on one hand, and smiled. "You're Uchiha Shouyue. Is there anyone who wouldn't believe you?"
"No matter what happens, you'll believe me, right?"
This time, Tesho didn't hesitate. He nodded. "Of course. I've watched you grow up. I'll always believe you!"
I see...
That was enough.
Uchiha Sora's lowered eyes darkened, a faint scarlet hue surfacing in them.
Then... I'll risk everything!
--
--
Night fell.
The full moon grew rounder.
Obito, wearing a mask and living under the name "Madara," stood atop the Fourth Hokage Rock Face, gazing down at Konoha's softly glowing lights.
Zetsu, with two large aloe-like leaves growing from his back, emerged from underground.
"Madara, we've confirmed the location."
"Twenty li southeast of the Forest of Death. Large numbers of shinobi have been coming and going recently, and they've set up a heavily fortified barrier."
After a moment of silence, Obito spoke slowly.
"It should be tomorrow or the day after. Get ready. We'll begin the operation."
"Understood."
Obito gazed at the Uchiha Compound for a long time.
Suddenly, he turned around and vanished into a swirling vortex of nothingness.
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