Night of the Nine-Tails, Eve

Konoha.

Uchiha Compound.

"Uncle Shoyaki, here is the money I owed you for last month's meals!"

The boy looked to be about eight or nine years old, dressed in the signature attire of a young Uchiha.

His jet-black hair curled slightly at the tips, falling in soft arcs over his forehead, and a look of innocent cheer graced his delicate face.

Uchiha Sora held up his hand, passing the silver coins to Uchiha Shoyaki.

Uncle Shoyaki took the money and started to reach out to pat the boy's head, but pulled his hand back halfway.

"Haha, little Sora, that's truly impressive! Joining the Police Force at only eight years old! I suppose I can't just pat your head whenever I want anymore; it wouldn't be appropriate."

So you know that patting someone's head is rude, huh?

Uchiha Sora rolled his eyes internally and sat down at the stall to wait for his usual set meal.

"Little Sora, I've noticed the Police Force patrols have been increasing lately. Has something happened in the village?"

Snap.

Uchiha Sora broke his chopsticks apart and said casually, "Sorry, Uncle, my lips are sealed. It's classified information; I can't tell you anything."

Ding.

At the same time, a crisp sound echoed in Uchiha Sora's mind.

"Repaid 3,700 ryo to Uchiha Shoyaki on schedule. Credit points +2."

Uchiha Sora was a transmigrator.

He wasn't a temporary user; he had arrived in this world while still in his mother's womb.

However, not long after, his parents perished while on a mission, granting him the classic "protagonist's parents are dead" trope.

Fortunately, his surname was Uchiha, so even without parents, he didn't have to resort to eating expired instant noodles or being treated like a pariah on the streets.

The Uchiha clan provided for the orphans within the clan, giving monthly stipends to merchants to cover the children's food, clothing, housing, and transportation.

The children were expected to pay it back once they grew up, though it wasn't strictly enforced; there was no penalty for not paying.

Uchiha Sora was the most punctual of them all, working odd jobs since the age of four to pay off his debts, even when the merchants tried to refuse his money.

His favorite saying was that a person cannot stand without integrity; if you borrow and repay, it won't be hard to borrow again.

Because of this, he had earned the nickname "Little Uchiha Promise-Keeper" within the clan.

Was it because Uchiha Sora had noble character and refused to accept handouts?

No, that wasn't it.

It was because of his cheat.

--

"Heavens Lending Platform."

This was the golden finger Uchiha Sora had possessed since he could remember, functioning like a lending app inside his brain.

As long as he had enough credit points, he could borrow power from the heavens and worlds that did not belong to him.

Since it was a loan, it had to be repaid.

If you used this power to accomplish a task, you would eventually have to repay that karma when the other side required your support.

Once a default occurred, credit points would be deducted based on the severity.

Uchiha Sora didn't know what would happen if his credit points hit zero, but... it certainly wouldn't be pretty.

To this day, Uchiha Sora had accumulated 653 credit points, and 500 were enough for him to borrow a powerful force from the outside world once.

He had never borrowed anything yet, all for the sake of this moment.

To be precise... for the sake of tomorrow.

As the sun set, the outline of the full moon began to emerge in the sky.

Tomorrow is the full moon.

Which means...

The Night of the Nine-Tails!

After this incident, the Uchiha clan would be forced to move away from the core area of Konoha.

In a few years, the Night of the Massacre would arrive.

Actually... anyone with a functioning brain could see that the village was planning to make a move against the Uchiha clan.

First isolate, then annihilate.

Even the body knows that if you want to excise a piece of tissue, marginalizing it is the first step.

Uchiha Sora did not think the village leadership was wrong for doing so.

On the Night of the Nine-Tails, those scarlet Sharingan were clearly imprinted in the Nine-Tails' eye sockets; if Sarutobi Hiruzen and the others hadn't suspected the Uchiha clan, there would truly be something wrong with them.

Moreover, the Third Hokage's faction in Konoha had always held deep prejudices against the Uchiha.

The only reason they held off for six years before acting was because the situation in the ninja world was unstable, and they feared that annihilating the Uchiha clan would cost them too much strength, leaving them unable to withstand an invasion from other ninja villages.

If not for the appearance of that one person, perhaps the Uchiha clan could have bitten a massive chunk of flesh out of Konoha before their destruction.

Who could have imagined there would be someone like Uchiha Itachi?

Killing his father, killing his mother, slaughtering his kin, and wiping out his clan—he helped the village excise the Uchiha clan without any pain.

Thump, thump, thump.

Uchiha Sora tapped the end of his chopsticks against the table, eyes narrowed in thought.

If Namikaze Minato hadn't died on the Night of the Nine-Tails, the Uchiha clan might not have reached that point.

Clan Head Fugaku had staked all his chips on the Fourth Hokage; once the Fourth died, any possibility of reconciliation between the Uchiha and the village vanished entirely.

Would it be useful to go and tell the Fourth now that Obito would attack?

Uchiha Sora had considered it, but even if the Fourth believed him...

It would be useless.

The most critical factor leading to this event was Obito taking advantage of Kushina's weakened state during childbirth to forcibly summon the Nine-Tails.

Could the village stop Obito from using his intangibility to infiltrate, or stop Kushina from giving birth?

Neither was possible.

The childbirth of a jinchuriki had already put the village on the highest level of alert.

The Fourth was present the entire time, the Third was on standby, and the Third's wife, Sarutobi Biwako, was personally handling the delivery.

Despite all that, what was meant to happen, happened.

As long as Kushina gave birth and the seal weakened, Obito would inevitably summon the Nine-Tails.

Her death was a certainty.

And...

If the outcome of the Fourth's death were prevented, he would know the mastermind was an Uchiha with a Mangekyo; would he then vent his anger on the Uchiha clan...

Regardless, one cannot pin the hopes of a clan on a single person.

Unless that person is me!

Uchiha Sora's eyes darkened as he made up his mind.

He absolutely could not sit and wait for death; once the Uchiha clan was pushed to the fringes of the village, it would truly be too late.

If it came to that, he would rather burn everything to the ground!

"Here you go, little Sora, your signature set meal!"

Shoyaki brought over a large bowl of teriyaki ramen, an extra-large glass of strawberry milk, and ten skewers of brown sugar dango.

Shoyaki sat down nearby and laughed, "Don't you get sick of eating like this? It's way too sweet."

Uchiha Sora took a large gulp of strawberry milk and licked the milk mustache from his lip:

"Uncle, savory food is just for sustaining life; sweets are everything!"

"Haha, be careful of cavities with that sweet tooth, kid!"

"I'll prepare that thing you keep talking about for you another day... right! Chocolate cake!"

"It's a deal!"

Uchiha Sora stopped eating and looked up at Uchiha Shoyaki.

"Uncle Shoyaki, do you trust me?"

Shoyaki paused, resting his chin on one hand, and smiled: "You are Uchiha Shouyue, after all; there isn't anyone who wouldn't trust you!"

"No matter what happens, you'll believe in me, right?"

This time, Shoyaki did not hesitate, nodding his head: "Of course. I watched you grow up; I will definitely believe in you!"

Is that so...

Then that is enough.

Uchiha Sora's lowered eyes were deep, with a faint scarlet glimmer emerging.

Then... let's go all out!

--

--

Night fell, The full moon gradually rounded.

Wearing a mask and existing in the world under the name "Madara," Obito stood atop the Fourth Hokage Rock Face, gazing down at the flickering lights of Konoha.

Zetsu, sporting two large aloe vera leaves, emerged from the ground.

"Madara, the location is confirmed."

"Twenty miles southeast of the Forest of Death. A large number of ninja have been coming and going recently, and they have set up a tight barrier."

After a moment of silence, Obito spoke slowly.

"It should be tomorrow or the day after. Get ready; we begin the operation."

"Understood."

Obito stared at the Uchiha Compound for a long time.

Suddenly, he turned around, his body sinking into a void-like vortex.