The Uchiha Filial Piety System

"Look at Uchiha Itachi! He graduated from the Ninja Academy in just one year, became a Chunin at ten, and has already awakened the Three-Tomoe Sharingan!"

"Then look at Uchiha Shisui! I don't even need to tell you how talented he is. The name Body Flicker Shisui is famous throughout the entire Ninja World. By now, he's probably already entered the ranks of Kage Level shinobi!"

"Itachi and Shisui both endured the clan's training. Compared to the hardships they went through, what does this little bit of training amount to?"

Uchiha Jin's gaze bore into the sweat-soaked Uchiha children like an awl, his voice full of regret that they weren't living up to their potential.

Mm!

Uchiha Jin wasn't lying. After all, every sentence was true when taken on its own. The art of language was sometimes just that plain and simple.

"Now look at yourselves!"

"Do you know what's happening to our Uchiha Clan right now? Do you know how those despicable people in the village are plotting against us? And you dare complain that this little bit of training is tiring? At your age, how can you even sleep at night?"

"Three extra hours of training today, geniuses! Heh!"

As a fitting conclusion to his speech, Uchiha Jin thoughtfully assigned the Uchiha children another extracurricular task, his heart brimming with boundless hopes for their future.

"Yes!"

The Uchiha children seemed to be venting all their grievances. Despite having endured three hours of grueling training, they still responded with all their might.

That was right!

Uchiha Itachi! Uchiha Shisui!

You're all Uchihas, so why are you two the only ones who are so amazing?!

Although Sasuke felt proud that his older brother was being held up as an example of excellence, he couldn't help feeling ashamed of his own weakness and helplessness. A blazing fire of resentment began to burn fiercely within him, too.

Coach... no, Instructor! I want to get stronger too! Aaaaaah...

Mm!

Uchiha Jin sighed, reflecting that Talk no Jutsu really was the 'Uchiha's natural enemy,' but with a sharp pop, his figure vanished.

A hundred meters away, inside a small wooden cabin, the smoke slowly cleared. A lazy figure flopped into a reclining chair with practiced ease, lifted a glass of freshly squeezed juice with ice in his left hand, and took a contented sip.

"So it's been three years already!"

Thinking of Sasuke, who now looked a little like he did in Jin's memories, Uchiha Jin couldn't help feeling wistful.

"The Konoha F4, Itachi, Obito, the night of the massacre... Although I knew what was coming, the pressure of it being right around the corner..."

"Lord Madara, why did you have to die so early?"

The wistfulness in Uchiha Jin's eyes quickly faded, replaced by unconcealed regret and pain.

Uchiha Madara was actually dead!

Uchiha Madara, who was as renowned as the God of Shinobi, Senju Hashirama, who had helped pacify the Warring States era, and who had awakened the Rinnegan after faking his death in the Battle of the Valley of the End!

When he truly realized this, the pain in Uchiha Jin's heart was so intense that he could barely breathe.

Aaaaaah...

"This feels worse than being killed!"

Don't get the wrong idea.

Uchiha Jin wasn't some die-hard fan of Uchiha Madara, nor did he care about the Uchiha Clan's honor or future. He certainly didn't have any special feelings for someone he'd never even met.

In fact,

as a transmigrator, Jin had gone from the stable, nine-to-nine-six grind of his previous life to being reborn in a world where one careless mistake could get you killed... At first, he'd refused!

Damn it!

Was it really necessary for the computer to explode in protest just because he'd shouted himself hoarse in the online flame wars? Still, at least he'd died with a clean conscience.

But... being transmigrated into the Naruto world was bad enough. He'd even been reborn as a member of the Uchiha Clan, a tragedy waiting to happen, at the awkward point in time just after the Nine-Tails Rebellion.

Damn—it was a plant!

If only he'd arrived a few years earlier. With his knowledge of the story, even without a cheat, his skills as an online flame-war champion might have given him a one- or two-in-ten chance of turning things around... maybe.

But...

After the Nine-Tails Rebellion, the Uchiha Clan had already become the target of covert and open hostility from every shinobi clan in Konoha. And beneath that 'strongest Hokage,' who smiled while hiding a knife, there was also Pot Kage, watching like a hawk, always ready to sharpen his blades to weaken the Uchiha and add more Sharingan to his arm.

In this situation, Uchiha Jin couldn't possibly slip away from Konoha, this den of trouble, without anyone noticing.

Even if he managed to escape, he'd inevitably draw the covetous attention of 'Pot Kage' Shimura Danzō and all the other people in the Ninja World who coveted the Uchiha bloodline. A brutal, miserable death was all but certain.

But if he chose to stay in Konoha, the future awaiting him wouldn't be much better. After all, this was the Uchiha Clan, a family that produced 'filial sons' in droves!

First, the Uchiha Clan had collectively lost their minds and betrayed a powerful ally who could go toe-to-toe with Senju Hashirama.

Then came Kagami Uchiha, who inherited the Will of Fire and became a student of Senju Tobirama, a man who considered them an 'evil clan,' only to die young.

Now there was Uchiha Shisui, who had learned absolutely nothing from the past and had been thoroughly brainwashed by the Will of Fire.

And then there was the clan leader, Uchiha Fugaku, a so-called 'traitor' who seemed fearsome but was actually indecisive, constantly selling out the clan's vital interests.

In the future, there'd also be Uchiha Itachi, whose filial piety reached new heights. He'd completely transcended the narrow perspective of his clan, and at seven, he could already think about things from the Hokage's point of view...

And yet,

this clan was already so 'filial it could move Heaven.' The Uchiha Clan, whose members might one day 'mourn their own kin with such devotion,' had now welcomed another 'King of Filial Piety'...

The Uchiha Filial Piety System!

It automatically seized all the abilities of Uchiha clan members after they died!

That was the system's power, summed up in one simple sentence. Once Uchiha Jin realized that the Nine-Tails Rebellion had already happened, he could never again forget Lord Madara's towering figure.

Lord Madara!

How could you have died so miserably?

Why couldn't you have held on just a few more days... Damn it, you really deserved to die!

Why couldn't Uchiha Madara have lasted just a little longer? Why did he have to pull out his own oxygen tube so early? Why couldn't he have struggled with everything he had to live on, even if it meant living an ugly life?

At the same time,

as the host of the 'Uchiha Filial Piety System,' Jin quickly realized how to use it properly, but honestly had no idea what to say.

Could it be?

I!

Uchiha Jin!

Am, perhaps, probably, should be, maybe, possibly, an Uchiha myself...

Am I supposed to be filial to myself?

Forget it!

The system's setup was a bit of a mess, but as a cheat, its abilities were genuinely powerful.

Heaven knew how badly it had shaken Uchiha Jin, a rookie who'd come from a 'nuclear-peaceful' world, to arrive in this godforsaken place where people could casually hold village-scale deathmatches, and even villagers schemed against and murdered one another.

After thinking it over, the only 'act of filial piety' that could let Uchiha Jin feel secure enough to live in this world for now was personally sending Uchiha Madara to the underworld.

But Uchiha Madara had died young. With his heart aching, Uchiha Jin could only turn his attention to the useless members of his own clan.

Sigh... What a bunch of good-for-nothings!

Although Jin was also an Uchiha, after opening his eyes in a new world and finding himself surrounded by deadweights, with enemies all around him...

The village's acceptance? The blood ties with his clan?

As if!

How could his noble soul from Zhonghua be tainted by that? They were just people who'd accidentally wandered into Jin's life, seemingly familiar but actually strangers. Unfortunately, he'd probably never return to that land he both complained about and loved...

So!

Whether Konoha or the Uchiha, to Jin, they were all 'them.'

I only have 'myself'!