Night was as dark as ink, and the bright moonlight spilled over the barren mountains.
The waterway in the distance shimmered beneath the moonlight. The small boat carrying Itachi and Obito had long since disappeared among the mountains.
The mountain wind howled, making the Black Cloak with Red Clouds flap loudly.
Uchiha Kou stood on a jutting rock, gazing up at the full moon. The look on his face was as desolate as the barren mountains.
He felt the sorrow of a doomed man mourning the fate of the Uchiha Clan, and the bleakness of knowing his own future was fraught with hardship.
He sighed, deeply, as if trying to expel all the pent-up frustration in his chest.
To be honest, as a transmigrator, he felt he'd made a pretty miserable showing of himself.
Uchiha Kou was a transmigrator. In his previous life, he'd been an ordinary high school student.
During the college entrance exam, he'd gotten so excited when he reached the final question that he'd dropped dead in the exam hall, one day before his freedom was due to arrive.
When he opened his eyes again, he found he'd transmigrated—to the Naruto world, where a person's life was worth less than Pakkun's!
Back then, he'd lain in his swaddling clothes, staring at the ceiling with just one thought in his mind:
I'm screwed. Completely screwed.
No, transmigrating into Naruto was bad enough, but couldn't they at least have given him a system?
He wasn't asking to soar straight to the top. Even a daily login system would've done! Just let him check in every day and get a few rewards!
But what did he get? Nothing! Not even a starter pack!
And the worst part? His surname was Uchiha!
The moment he learned that, Kou felt like the sky had fallen.
Transmigrating into Naruto and getting the Uchiha name—who wouldn't envy a start like that?
A huge supply of chakra, plus the Sharingan, a valuable old-school power that was still useful even in Boruto: Naruto Next Generations. A setup fit for a celestial dragon, the ultimate lucky start!
But if he'd had a choice, he'd rather have been an ordinary person in Konoha.
The reason was simple: that infamous kill line, the darkest in the Ninja World, and the favorite little game of the naturally wicked white-haired loli.
A wholesome family game, told from Itachi's point of view: Uchiha Match.
Under normal circumstances, he might've laughed at that dark joke and played the part of a naturally wicked Senju brat for a few seconds.
But now...
Kids, this isn't funny!! (Seriously.)
Itachi and that Masked Man lurking in the shadows—two murderers teaming up? The thought was too horrifying to bear!
Me, fighting Itachi and the father of the Rubik's Cube (Obito)? For real?!
When he found out he was the same age as Kakashi and Obito, and that Itachi wouldn't be born for several more years, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
With a transmigrator's knowledge of the future and the Uchiha bloodline on his side, he'd figured surviving to the end would be a piece of cake.
No, why stop at surviving to the end? How could a transmigrator's ambition be so small?
Master Senjutsu, unlock the Mangekyo, awaken the Rinnegan, become a Six Paths being, create a world with Rin... Ahem, sorry, wrong series.
In short, he'd punch Prisoner Madara and kick the aliens' asses. A blissfully invincible life was waiting for him!
He had plenty of time. He could even take things slow!
Woohoo! He'd never had such a promising start!
This one's in the bag. Just follow Kou's lead!!
Back then, he'd lain in his crib, waving his chubby little fists and brimming with confidence about the future.
But as he grew older, reality poured over him like a bucket of ice water, chilling him to the bone.
Among the Uchiha Clan, a family packed with geniuses, his talent was merely above average.
He wasn't a dead last, but he wasn't someone people looked up to, either.
After accepting that, he'd felt briefly disappointed, but soon pulled himself together.
After all, he was a transmigrator! Sure, he didn't have a system or a cheat, but he had information in his head!
Hashirama Cells, the Chimera Technique, the Ryumyaku, or at worst the Eight Inner Gates... There were so many opportunities to defy fate!
Besides, the series was called Ninja Village Wars: The Legend of Eyes!
He was an Uchiha in this life. As long as he unlocked the Mangekyo, everything would work out!
As a child, Kou would ruffle the hair of Uchiha Kenji, who lived next door, and assure himself that it would.
However, cruel reality soon taught him a lesson.
It wasn't until he entered the Ninja Academy that he truly understood what "ninja" meant.
When a group of six- and seven-year-old kids sat in a classroom, listening intently as their teacher explained which parts of the body were vulnerable and how to kill with a single strike, Kou and the kids beside him were completely stunned.
Kenji, sitting next to him, hadn't understood a thing. He scratched his head in bewilderment.
Kou had understood. That was exactly why he was stunned.
He'd known the Ninja World was cruel, but experiencing it firsthand was so shocking that he, who'd grown up beneath the red flag in his previous life, could hardly accept it.
That was the day Uchiha Kou realized just how dark this Ninja World was.
This world... was rotten to the core.
From then on, all the wishful thinking and fantasies in his heart vanished.
Surviving in this cruel Ninja World became his first priority.
He embraced the traditional virtues of the people of Hua and trained like mad.
While everyone else played, he practiced Shuriken. While they slept, he refined chakra. While they dated, he studied jutsu.
For Kou, four in the morning in Konoha was already part of his daily routine.
After several years, he'd become the face of the Uchiha Clan's new generation at the time, second only to Kakashi.
Back then, he'd naively believed everything was going according to plan. Once he grew strong enough, he'd be invincible in the later stages!!
And then... war came.
The Third Ninja World War was a meat grinder, pulling everyone in and crushing them to pieces.
Most of his classmates from the same year died, and every member of his team died, too...
Only he survived, clinging to life through his mediocre strength and his transmigrator's meager foreknowledge.
But what did surviving get him?
He couldn't change a thing.
The so-called "information" was far too grand, so far beyond his reach.
It was so far beyond his reach that, with his inadequate strength back then, he wasn't even qualified to pursue those opportunities to grow stronger.
Without enough strength, he didn't dare approach Hiruko or Orochimaru, who were still in the village at the time. He had Uchiha blood, after all.
He couldn't afford to take the gamble that they wouldn't come after him.
Even knowing how the future would unfold, he couldn't do a thing. He could only struggle in the tide of history, watching the people he cared about get swept away one by one, powerless to stop it.
"Heh."
Kou gazed at the full moon, the corner of his mouth curling in self-mockery.
"After making such a mess of things, I might just be the most pathetic transmigrator ever."
Kou looked up at the full moon and smiled bitterly. His smile was full of self-mockery and helplessness.
He fell silent for a moment.
After a long while, a breeze brushed past, and his gaze suddenly changed.
Beneath the moonlight, a flash of crimson crossed his dark eyes.
Three black Tomo slowly appeared in his eyes, turning against their red irises.
In an instant, he drew the sword on his back and slashed behind him!
The blade tore through the air with a sharp whistle. Moonlight glinted off its surface, reflecting a cold white flash.
Both his reaction and his technique had already reached the level of a Kage.
The blade passed through the figure behind him without the feeling of striking anything solid, as if it had cut through a formless phantom.
Following the moonlit length of his blade, Kou looked at the familiar figure behind him, wearing a Spiral Mask.
The sword passed through the man's body, but he didn't seem to care. He simply looked at Kou and spoke slowly in a hoarse voice:
"What are you doing here, Kou?"
Kou looked at the familiar figure before him. His wariness didn't fade; if anything, it deepened.
Uchiha Obito.
The Ninja World's most devoted lover, the instigator of the Fourth Shinobi World War, the harshest father in the Rubik's Cube (the Naruto mobile game studio), the culprit behind countless tragedies in the Ninja World...
And also the hot-blooded idiot who'd grown up with him, living right next door.
The tragedy he'd once tried to distance himself from, then tried to change—yet ultimately failed to change at all. A friend from long ago.
And now, his immediate "boss."
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