Naka River (2)

Chapter 25: Naka River

Four-year-old Senju Hashirama squatted by the Naka River, watching the flowing water in silence.

Perhaps it was because of his tender age, or perhaps because Senju Hashirama was simply too focused...

As he squatted there by the Naka River, quietly observing the current, he failed to notice that on the edge of the forest on the opposite bank, there was actually a strange child.

As for Uchiha Shin, he was currently wondering whether he should take this opportunity to finish off the four-year-old Senju Hashirama once and for all, saving himself the trouble of dealing with this guy once he grew up.

For a moment, Uchiha Shin felt a sudden surge of impulse.

After pondering for a brief moment, Uchiha Shin secretly shook his head, finally abandoning this plan that seemed so tempting.

It wasn't that Uchiha Shin lacked the resolve to strike, or that he feared triggering a full-scale war between the Senju Clan and the Uchiha Clan.

Since he had transmigrated into this ninja world, acting without scruples and being as cold as a winter wind toward his enemies was exactly what a ninja should do.

After all, being kind to an enemy was being cruel to oneself.

Throughout five thousand years of history in his previous life, how many famous and great historical figures had paid with their own lives to practice this eternal truth?

This was a principle Uchiha Shin understood well.

However, Uchiha Shin was thinking about much more than that at this moment.

The Ōtsutsuki Clan that had yet to arrive, the unresurrected Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, the Sage of Six Paths Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo whose lingering consciousness remained hidden in this world...

The descendants of Ōtsutsuki Hamura who guarded the shell of the Ten-Tails on the moon, plus Black Zetsu, who was stirring up trouble in the ninja world to resurrect his mother...

And even the three ancient, scheming Sages lurking in Mount Myōboku, Shikkotsu Forest, and Ryūchi Cave.

These figures, whether in the light or hidden in the shadows, could all be considered Uchiha Shin's future enemies.

After Uchiha Shin's soul transmigrated into this world, he had neither a system nor a golden finger.

How was Uchiha Shin supposed to deal with these potential enemies in the future?

By talent? By potential?

One had to know that the Uchiha Clan were the descendants of Indra, and Indra's bloodline originated from the Sage of Six Paths.

Even the Sage of Six Paths himself only possessed half of the Ōtsutsuki Clan's bloodline.

Even if Uchiha Shin's talent and potential were exceptional, his bloodline could at most revert to that of Indra, or perhaps one step further to that of the Sage of Six Paths.

By then, Uchiha Shin would merely have the capital to compete with the Ōtsutsuki Clan and those other potential enemies in terms of talent, potential, and bloodline.

As for becoming an equal match, Uchiha Shin felt that would be difficult.

One had to realize that even if you fall behind by a single step at the start, you don't know how many steps you'll have to chase later; the time, energy, and effort required...

Uchiha Shin didn't even dare to imagine it.

To give a simple example, it was like the son of the richest man versus the son of a commoner; because of the massive gap in their starting families, could the commoner's son ever catch up to the rich man's son?

Is that even possible in reality?

Unless one was blessed by the gods, moving with the speed of lightning, perhaps there might be a slim chance.

Uchiha Shin understood clearly that he was not the protagonist of a novel; the heavens were not his father, he didn't have an old master in a ring to guide him, nor did he have a young lady from a top-tier family in this world secretly pining for him.

Heh, all Uchiha Shin had were the foresight and memories from his previous life, along with a perspective and way of thinking different from the natives of this world.

Therefore, the only thing Uchiha Shin could do now was to be a butterfly flapping its wings.

Perhaps only in this way could he snatch chestnuts from the fire, fish in troubled waters, and gain what he wanted to eventually stand toe-to-toe and trade blows with those potential enemies.

But everyone should understand that the growth of individual strength, beyond one's own talent and potential, is actually a process of accumulation over time.

Therefore, to shorten the time required for this accumulation process:

Uchiha Shin must obtain the Rinnegan, and he must also obtain the nine Tailed Beasts.

He even had to master Sage Mode, which utilized natural energy.

However, regarding the Sage Mode of the three great holy lands, Uchiha Shin had always maintained a high level of vigilance, both in his previous life and now.

Therefore, the best method was to develop his own unique Sage Mode based on the principles of the three holy lands.

The first unique Sage Mode he developed himself would surely be the most compatible with him.

Secondly, Uchiha Shin wouldn't have to worry about hidden traps being planted within the Sage Mode by some entity, leaving his life in someone else's hands.

So, even though Senju Hashirama was very weak right now, for the sake of the Rinnegan, he could not be killed yet.

Thinking of this, a sudden idea occurred to Uchiha Shin.

Since they had already met, it would be unreasonable not to say hello.

He picked out a relatively flat and round pebble from the ones he had gathered earlier.

"Plop!"

"Plop!"

"Plop!"

With a light flick of his arm, the pebble in Uchiha Shin's hand went spinning toward the opposite bank of the river.

"Five skips!"

"Perfect..."

"Haha..."

Senju Hashirama, who had been mourning his cousin while lost in thought, finally had his train of thought broken by the commotion coming from the river.

Just as the four-year-old Senju Hashirama was about to look up to see what was happening, a flat, round pebble flew directly past his left ear.

Only then did Senju Hashirama realize that there was a child on the opposite bank skipping stones across the water.

"Hey, you brat on the other side, throw that pebble I just tossed over back to me."

"That's my lucky stone."

Uchiha Shin found an excuse and shouted at Senju Hashirama across the river.

"Brat?"

"Damn it!"

Hearing Uchiha Shin call him a brat, Senju Hashirama's previous sorrow instantly turned into anger.

A child's emotions come and go quickly, even if that child happens to be Senju Hashirama.

Anger was one thing, but for some reason, the four-year-old Senju Hashirama didn't know why he still subconsciously turned around and picked up the pebble Uchiha Shin had thrown.

"You guy, you don't look much older than me!"

"And you call yourself 'this lord'?"

"I think you're the brat here!"

Senju Hashirama tossed the pebble in his right hand while shouting back, his face flushed with anger.

"Less talk, brat. If you've got the guts, throw my lucky pebble back perfectly."

"As long as you can do that, I'll admit you aren't a brat."

Seeing that he had successfully grabbed Senju Hashirama's attention, Uchiha Shin smiled inwardly, though he continued to stoke the fire with his words.

"Who... who says I can't do it...?"

"You just wait, I'll show you right now..."

Children fear nothing more than being looked down upon, and the four-year-old Senju Hashirama was naturally no exception.

Because it was his first time skipping a stone, the four-year-old Senju Hashirama possessed no technique whatsoever.

Relying purely on instinct, he put all his strength into his arm and hurled the pebble toward the opposite bank.

"Plap!"

"Plap!"

Perhaps due to the angle of his release, the pebble only skipped twice on the surface of the Naka River before plunging straight into the water.