Year 50 of Konoha.
In the Land of Fire, at the training grounds of the Konoha Military Police Force in the Uchiha Clan's district.
Two members of the Uchiha Clan were sparring.
Uchiha Genya held a short sword and clashed with a Kunai.
His attack was blocked. Uchiha Inabi immediately abandoned close combat, took a step back, and formed Hand Seals.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
A blazing fireball roared out from Inabi, but Genya showed not the slightest fear.
Gripping his sword in reverse, he dodged the Great Fireball Technique with the Body Flicker Technique. At the same time, the short sword in his hand was already at his opponent's throat.
Seeing this, Inabi could only raise his hands in surrender.
"I still can't beat you."
Genya put away his short sword, and the two Tomoe in his eyes slowly faded.
"It's only because I have the advantage of the Sharingan. When it comes to Ninjutsu, I'm still not as good as you."
Inabi said cheerfully, "The Sharingan is one of our Uchiha Clan's abilities, too. At your current speed, you're probably getting close to Senior Shisui, aren't you?"
"Have you thought about applying for the Jonin exam?"
Genya shook his head without answering, though his thoughts had drifted far away.
That's right. Genya was also a transmigrator from Blue Star.
In his previous life, he'd tried to cosplay a speed bump while crossing the street, only to get run over by a hundred-ton truck and sent to another world. After that, he became a member of the Uchiha Clan.
He was still at the Ninja Academy when the Third Great Ninja War broke out. Without a doubt, he was forced to graduate early and became one of the proud cannon fodder sent to the front lines.
His parents died in the war, which directly led to him awakening the Sharingan.
A transmigrator's parents really did have a dangerous job.
Perhaps because he'd lived two lives, Genya had an exceptionally strong soul. In terms of Chakra talent, that meant he was particularly gifted in Yin Release.
As a result, awakening his Sharingan on the battlefield was as easy as eating or drinking. Even the slightest stimulus caused his visual prowess to keep growing.
He had now awakened the Two-Tomoe Sharingan, making him something of a prodigy within the clan.
Of course, Genya didn't think his talent amounted to much.
Compared to a prodigy like Itachi, who entered the academy at six, graduated at seven, became a Chunin at ten, and joined the Anbu at eleven, an ordinary talent like Genya could only be called "pretty good" among the Uchiha.
Besides, Genya was only particularly talented in Yin Release. His aptitude for most Ninjutsu involving the five basic nature transformations was quite ordinary.
Of course, "ordinary" meant ordinary by the standards of the Uchiha Clan.
Thanks to the Sharingan's ability to copy techniques, learning Ninjutsu wasn't difficult for Genya, but he struggled a little with techniques above B-rank.
However, he had a real gift for Illusion Techniques and Taijutsu. Combined with the Body Flicker Technique, he could just about fight at a Jonin's level.
Seeing that Genya wasn't responding, Inabi didn't say anything more.
He knew his childhood friend had been like this ever since his parents died. On the battlefield, he was the quiet, ruthless type, and Inabi had long since gotten used to it.
"Whether you like it or not, you still have to take the Jonin exam. If we have a few more Jonin in the Uchiha Clan, the village will have to think twice before messing with us."
The Third Great Ninja War was over, but the position of Fourth Hokage had ended up going to Namikaze Minato.
The Uchiha Clan had already been at odds with the village, and this only sent the entire clan into an uproar.
During the war, the Uchiha had been sent to the Land of Water front, where their abilities were ill-suited to the battlefield. In the end, they suffered devastating losses.
What made it even more infuriating was that the Third Hokage hadn't even offered them the token compensation or public recognition. He had completely disregarded the Uchiha Clan's contributions.
This suppression enraged the clan, too. The hawks crushed the doves and seized the upper hand.
But the rift within the Uchiha Clan wasn't their biggest problem—not yet.
Genya knew the story well. The Uchiha and the village were already on extremely tense terms, and during the coming Night of the Nine-Tails, Namikaze Minato and his wife would soon die in battle.
Then the Sharingan pattern in the Nine-Tails' eyes would turn the village's attention toward the Uchiha, making the clan a powder keg ready to explode at the slightest touch.
After that, the traitorous son's Clan Massacre Night would arrive.
And there was no need to mention Danzo, that old schemer lurking in the shadows. Genya knew of several clan members who had gone missing without a trace while carrying out missions during the Third Great Ninja War.
He didn't need to guess who was behind it. It had to be Danzo!
Genya even suspected that if he awakened the Three-Tomoe Sharingan, he might "disappear" during some mission, too.
Genya could only scoff at Inabi's way of thinking.
The Uchiha's predicament was that there was no one in the clan capable of standing up and speaking for them.
Fugaku might have been able to. With his Mangekyō Sharingan, all he had to do was show some backbone. Even Danzo wouldn't risk launching the Clan Massacre Night if it meant exposing Root to a Susanoo attack.
If someone says you have a weapon of mass destruction, you'd better actually have one.
And you'd better make them believe you're willing to use it.
Unfortunately, Fugaku was far too timid. He kept backing down until he'd pushed himself and the entire Uchiha Clan to the edge of a cliff.
It just went to show that even if you had a Mangekyō, people would still scheme against you as long as you were a coward.
Uchiha Genya had even started making plans to defect soon, as soon as he found an opportunity.
The Uchiha might be unwelcome in Konoha, but their bloodline should be in high demand in the Other Ninja Villages.
Kumogakure in particular was desperate to recruit Kekkei Genkai users. They'd steal, kidnap, or even outright seize them if that was what it took to obtain a powerful Kekkei Genkai.
If he defected to them now, he might even get to live like a stud.
As a transmigrator, Genya felt no attachment to Konoha. Given that his parents' deaths might have had something to do with Root, he'd be more than happy to see Konoha destroyed.
The Uchiha, who had raised him, were about the only people he felt even a little affection for. But he was a nobody, with no power to change the clan.
Every Uchiha who had awakened their eyes shared one obvious trait: nothing short of death could change their minds.
To keep from going down with the Uchiha ship, Genya had long since prepared a way out.
His only regret was that he seemed to have transmigrated without getting any kind of cheat.
Otherwise, who would want to skulk away like a stray dog and defect?
Just as Genya was about to head back and rest, an unfamiliar voice suddenly rang out in his mind.
[Ding! System loading complete!] [Newbie gift package detected. Open?]
Genya stopped in his tracks.
Excellent. The defection plan was officially off. Now even Sarutobi Hiruzen dared to claim the Konoha that belonged to him!