Chiyo Hotaru naturally hadn't taken the Uchiha name. Like other great clans in the Ninja World, the Uchiha had an inexplicable pride in their surname and wouldn't casually give it to outsiders unless they married into the clan.
For the past few days, Shin had been quietly recuperating in his room. Chiyo Hotaru had taken care of everything. The little girl was surprisingly diligent, doing her very best with anything Shin asked of her.
Visitors had come in an endless stream, including people he'd never dealt with before. Several Uchiha Jonin had stopped by to make small talk, saying they'd always known Shin was a peerless genius, that he'd done the clan a great service, and that he should keep working hard in the future. It had all become a terrible nuisance.
Uchiha Izuna's visit had surprised Shin a little, though it had also made sense.
They hadn't talked much. Izuna mostly told him about Madara. He hadn't said it outright, but Shin could tell that Izuna probably wouldn't oppose him anymore.
As they chatted about the casualties, Izuna's expression grew somber. Of the eighty-seven Genin children, forty had died. Apart from Shin and Izuna, all three of Madara's other brothers had perished.
Uchiha Tajima had returned. As soon as he received word that the clan had been ambushed, he'd rushed back with his men, abandoning the main battlefield. The three-clan war, which had lasted two years, had temporarily come to an end. Every clan had suffered heavy losses, but the Uchiha had lost more than the others. They'd probably suffered a defeat.
Uchiha Yutaka, the Third Elder, had been severely reprimanded and stripped of his position. He'd become an ordinary Jonin, tasked with redeeming himself through service.
Finally, Izuna left, tossing out one last remark as he went: "I'll catch up to you and Big Brother."
Shin only smiled. That kid's living in a dream.
"Xiaoying."
"What can I do for you, Lord Shin?"
"I'm exhausted. Turn away everyone who comes to visit from now on. Tell them I need to focus on recovering."
"Yes, sir."
At last, he had some peace and quiet. Shin let out a long breath. Didn't they know he was still injured? He didn't have the energy to waste on idle chatter.
Once things quieted down, Shin liked to think things over. Before he had enough strength, it was always good to analyze the situation.
"If I'm not mistaken, there was an ambush like this in the original story. Everyone of Madara's brothers, including me, died that time, except Izuna. Maybe even more people died."
Shin had always had a question while reading the original story. During the Warring States Period, the Uchiha and Senju had been called the two strongest clans of their era. Their strength had been evenly matched, and they'd fought each other for hundreds of years.
So why had the Uchiha gradually fallen under the Senju's control by the time Uchiha Madara became clan head, until they were eventually defeated outright?
No matter how nicely it was put—that the two clans had set aside their differences and joined hands to build Konoha for the sake of world peace—it couldn't change the fact that the Uchiha had lost in the original story. The Senju had proposed the alliance from a position of victory. That was why, after Konoha was founded, the Uchiha's standing was below the Senju's.
It wasn't that the Uchiha hadn't fought for their place. They simply couldn't win.
Shin had initially thought it was because Senju Hashirama was so overwhelmingly powerful, but that didn't seem to be the case now. Senju Hashirama was certainly the God of Shinobi and the reincarnation of Asura, but Uchiha Madara was no weaker. In the original story, there was never an example of their fights ending quickly. It was common for them to battle all day.
Their top fighters were more or less evenly matched, so the likeliest explanation was that they lacked strength in the ranks below. Add this attack by the Hyuga, and—
If Shin's guess was right, the Uchiha of Madara's generation had suffered terrible casualties in this ambush in the original story, leaving a gap between generations. So by the time Madara became clan head, the Uchiha had fallen behind the Senju in overall strength. It was no wonder they'd lost.
"Looking at it this way, my presence yesterday actually helped the Uchiha preserve their next generation's fighting strength. And they only gave me a little maid? Aren't they being a bit stingy?"
Shin's thoughts wandered aimlessly. He couldn't move anyway, so this was one way to pass the time.
"Right, I think I got a lot of points for killing the enemy Jonin and completing the mission. I'd better check."
He opened the system screen, and a dazzling array of exchange items appeared before him. When he saw the Rinnegan, which cost a million points, he swallowed and could only stare.
With a thought, he scrolled down. Seeing that he had ten thousand points, he felt a little smug. He'd finally escaped the ranks of the poor.
Ten thousand points were enough to exchange for an S-Rank Ninjutsu. Looking at the many familiar techniques before him, he couldn't help getting excited.
"Sage Art: Goemon, Rank S, costs 10,000 points."
"Wind Style: Rasenshuriken, Rank S, costs 10,000 points."
"Wind Style: Ultra-Big Ball Rasenshuriken, Rank S, costs 10,000 points."
"Summoning: Quintuple Rashomon, Rank S, costs 10,000 points."
"Lightning Style: Chidori, Rank S, costs 10,000 points."
"Creation Rebirth, Strength of a Hundred Technique, One's Own Life Reincarnation, White Secret Technique: Chikamatsu's Ten Puppets, Yin Seal, Four Symbols Seal, Eight Trigrams Seal, Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes, Demonic Illusion: Mirror Heaven and Earth Change..."
One S-Rank Ninjutsu after another flashed past his eyes, making Shin ache with desire. Unfortunately, he had enough points for only one. That was what troubled him most.
After thinking it over, Shin suddenly remembered a technique. System, exchange Amaterasu.
Amaterasu was a Mangekyo Sharingan ocular technique. In the original story, it was classified as an S-Rank Fire Style technique, and only Uchiha Itachi and Sasuke could use it.
Shin figured that even if he awakened the Mangekyo someday, there was little chance his ocular technique would be Amaterasu. He might as well exchange for it now. Just imagining using Amaterasu with the Three-Tomoe Sharingan got him a little excited.
"Amaterasu, Rank S, costs 10,000 points. Exchange unavailable. You must first possess the Mangekyo Sharingan."
"Damn this system..."
"However, since the protagonist possesses the Three-Tomoe Sharingan, you may force the exchange for an additional 5,000 points. Insufficient points. Exchange unavailable."
"Not only is it a pain, it's greedy, too." Shin added silently, though at least he'd learned that Mangekyo ocular techniques could be exchanged for an extra five thousand points. That was something.
"By that logic, I can't exchange for Wind Style: Rasenshuriken either, since I don't have a Wind affinity..."
Shin had only a Fire affinity and couldn't learn Ninjutsu of other elements. He thought it over, then switched to the other exchange screens. Other elemental affinities cost two thousand points, and there were also Sage Mode, the Cursed Seal, and more. Sage Mode cost 50,000 points.
Shin had thought he'd escaped poverty, but now he saw he was still broke.
"Forget it. No point thinking about that. I should exchange for an S-Rank Ninjutsu first. I already have Rasengan, an A-Rank Ninjutsu, so my offense is good enough. But it'll be hard to hit opponents who are too fast. I need a technique to make up for that weakness."
Shin kept thinking. Suddenly, his eyes lit up as he recalled a technique. In the original story, it was the perfect partner to Rasengan—a golden combination. You could even say Rasengan had been created to go with this technique.
"System, exchange for the Flying Thunder God Technique!" Shin said, barely containing his excitement. It has to be available. It just has to be.
"Flying Thunder God Technique, Rank S, costs 10,000 points!"
The system's voice rang out impassively. A warm current appeared inside Shin, and his 10,000 points instantly became zero.
Shin didn't feel the slightest pain. He was overjoyed. At last, he had a true trump card. With the Flying Thunder God paired with Rasengan, he could already imagine the scene: Uchiha's Flash of Shin, resounding across the Warring States Period.
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