Naka River (2)

Chapter 25: Naka River ()

Four-year-old Senju Hashirama crouched by the Naka River, quietly watching the water flow.

Perhaps Senju Hashirama was too young, or perhaps he was too focused...

As he crouched by the river, quietly watching the flowing water, he failed to notice the stranger at the edge of the forest on the opposite bank.

As for Uchiha Shin, he was wondering whether to seize this opportunity and kill four-year-old Senju Hashirama once and for all, so the brat wouldn't grow up and become a problem for him.

For a moment, Uchiha Shin felt tempted.

After thinking it over, Uchiha Shin silently shook his head and finally abandoned the plan, tempting though it seemed.

It wasn't because Uchiha Shin couldn't bring himself to do it, or because he feared it might spark a war between the Senju Clan and the Uchiha Clan.

Now that he had been transported to this ninja world, using any means necessary and being as cold as a winter wind toward his enemies were exactly what a ninja should do.

After all, mercy toward your enemies was cruelty toward yourself.

Throughout the five thousand years of history in his previous life, countless famous and great figures had given their lives to prove this eternal truth.

Uchiha Shin understood that much.

But at that moment, he was thinking about much more.

The Otsutsuki Clan had yet to arrive. Ōtsutsuki Kaguya had yet to be revived. The Sage of Six Paths, Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo, still had a remnant of his consciousness hidden in this world...

There were also the descendants of Ōtsutsuki Hamura, who kept watch over the Ten-Tails' husk on the moon, along with Black Zetsu, secretly stirring up trouble in the Ninja World in an effort to resurrect his mother...

And even the three ancient sages, who had been clinging to life for a thousand years in Mount Myōboku, Shikkotsu Forest, and Ryūchi Cave.

All those in the open, and those lurking in the shadows, could be considered future enemies of Uchiha Shin.

Since his soul had transmigrated into this world, Uchiha Shin had neither a system nor a cheat.

So what could Uchiha Shin rely on to deal with these potential enemies in the future?

Talent? Potential?

The Uchiha Clan were descendants of Indra, whose bloodline came from the Sage of Six Paths.

Even the Sage of Six Paths himself had only half Otsutsuki blood flowing through his veins.

No matter how exceptional Uchiha Shin's talent and potential were, his bloodline could at most regress to Indra's level, or perhaps, with even greater luck, to the Sage of Six Paths' level.

Even then, Uchiha Shin would merely have the talent, potential, and bloodline to barely contend with the Otsutsuki Clan and those other potential enemies.

As for becoming their equal, Uchiha Shin thought that would be difficult.

After all, if you started one step behind, you had no idea how many steps you would need to catch up. The time, energy, and effort it would take...

Uchiha Shin didn't even want to think about it.

Take a simple example: the son of a billionaire and the son of an ordinary family. Given the enormous gap between their families, could the ordinary man's son ever catch up to the billionaire's son?

Was that even possible in real life?

Unless he was absurdly lucky and everything went his way, there might be a tiny chance.

Uchiha Shin understood perfectly well that he wasn't the protagonist of some novel, with the Dao as his father, a wise old man in a ring to guide him, and the eldest daughter of this world's most powerful clan secretly in love with him.

Heh. All Uchiha Shin had was foreknowledge from the memories of his past life, along with insight and a way of thinking unlike those native to this world.

So the only thing Uchiha Shin could do now was become a butterfly flapping its wings.

Perhaps only then could he seize an opportunity amid the chaos in the future, get what he wanted, and cross swords with those potential enemies.

But everyone should understand that personal strength didn't grow from talent and potential alone. It also came from steadily accumulating power over time.

So, to shorten the time it took to build up that strength...

Uchiha Shin had to obtain the Rinnegan. He had to obtain the Nine Tailed Beasts.

He even had to learn Sage Mode using Natural Energy.

But whether in his past life or now, Uchiha Shin had always been extremely wary of the Sage Mode practiced in the Three Great Sage Lands.

So the best option was to draw on the Sage Mode of the Three Great Sage Lands and develop a unique Sage Mode of his own.

A Sage Mode he developed himself would naturally suit him best.

And secondly, Uchiha Shin wouldn't need to worry that some hidden force had been planted within his Sage Mode, leaving his life in someone else's hands.

So even though Senju Hashirama was weak right now, Uchiha Shin couldn't kill him yet—not if he wanted the Rinnegan.

As he thought of this, Uchiha Shin suddenly came up with an idea.

Since they'd already met, it would be rude not to say hello.

Uchiha Shin picked out a pebble from the ones he had just found. It was fairly flat and round.

"Pah!"

"Pah!"

"Pah!"

With a gentle flick of his arm, Uchiha Shin sent the pebble spinning across the river.

"Five skips!"

"Perfect..."

"Haha..."

Senju Hashirama had been reminiscing about his cousin while thinking things over. The noise from the river finally broke into his thoughts.

Just as four-year-old Senju Hashirama started to look up and see what was happening...

A flat, round pebble skimmed right past his left ear.

Only then did Senju Hashirama notice the child on the opposite bank, skipping stones with a pebble.

"Hey, you brat across the river! Throw back the pebble I just tossed over!"

"That's my lucky stone!"

Uchiha Shin called out to Senju Hashirama on the opposite bank, making up an excuse.

"Brat?"

"Damn it!"

Hearing Uchiha Shin call him a brat immediately turned Senju Hashirama's sadness into anger.

Children's tempers flared and faded quickly, and four-year-old Senju Hashirama was no exception.

Even though he was angry, four-year-old Senju Hashirama didn't know why.

Still, he instinctively turned around and picked up the pebble Uchiha Shin had tossed over.

"You're not much older than me!"

"And you call yourself 'this great one'?"

"You're a brat too!"

Senju Hashirama tossed the pebble in his right hand as he angrily shouted back.

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

"If you can do that, I'll admit you're not a brat."

Seeing that he had successfully caught Senju Hashirama's attention, Uchiha Shin smiled faintly to himself, then continued to provoke him.

"W-Who says I can't?"

"You just watch! I'll throw it right back..."

Children hated being looked down on, and four-year-old Senju Hashirama was no exception.

Since it was his first time skipping a pebble, four-year-old Senju Hashirama didn't know any tricks.

So, relying on instinct, he simply used all his strength and threw the pebble toward the opposite bank.

"Pah!"

"Pah!"

Perhaps his angle was off. The pebble skipped twice across the surface of the Naka River, then plunged into the water.