"Am I going to die again? This is so frustrating. I was so close to getting better."
As Zeyu lay facedown on the ground, time seemed to slow. So many things came to mind.
How he had made it this far, how he had kept himself alive on the front lines of the war.
The terror he had felt time and again, the constant threat of death.
When powerful people fought each other, ordinary people felt suffocated just standing nearby.
And throughout this life, because he had wanted to stick with the main cast, he had often stood on the front lines, enduring that chill of being on the brink of death.
So many nights, he had been unable to sleep, his whole body tense, whenever he thought back on it.
He knew what Sasuke had meant by those words.
He had warned him during the Uchiha Clan Massacre.
"Sasuke probably saw his clan members being killed with his own eyes," Zeyu thought.
What Zeyu didn't know was that because of his warning, Sasuke had seen not only his clan members being killed but had also called out to him for help before they died.
Despair wasn't the most painful thing. Seeing hope after despair, only to be unable to grasp it—that was the deepest despair of all.
Sasuke would never forget that expression.
When he rushed home, he saw his beloved older brother kill their parents with a blade, right before his eyes.
So Itachi hadn't even needed to use the Sharingan to replay the events of that night for Sasuke. Sasuke had awakened his Sharingan on his own.
Itachi had been a little surprised at the time. He knew his younger brother, Sasuke.
He was just a little kid who hadn't been through any trials. If none of this had happened, he should have been able to live a happy life.
But that wouldn't do. He had to grow stronger, strong enough to protect himself, his friends, and the village.
"Don't end up like me, Sasuke," Itachi thought.
But he still had to keep up the act. Only hatred could make someone grow stronger quickly enough to nearly defeat Itachi, awaken the Mangekyo, and transplant Itachi's eyes to unlock the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
Of course, how could a Three-Tomoe Sharingan possibly defeat the Mangekyo?
He could keep acting later.
What Sasuke truly couldn't let go of was learning the truth afterward.
His brother could abandon Konoha and even his clan, but he couldn't abandon Sasuke.
He had paved the way for Sasuke with his own life. In the end, he had even died at Sasuke's hands, and he had prepared something like Kotoamatsukami, too.
But for all the thought his brother had given him, he hadn't even said goodbye to their parents in the end. He had given up that chance for Sasuke's sake.
Itachi had told him that after using Izanami to defeat Kabuto and release the Impure World Reincarnation.
"Sasuke, if I had faced you from the very beginning, never underestimated you, and told you the whole truth..."
"Maybe you could have changed our parents. Maybe you could even have changed the Uchiha Clan."
"Unfortunately, in the end, I never got to apologize to our parents."
Because of Zeyu's warning, Sasuke had returned a little early. Itachi hadn't had time to say much more to their parents, and he hadn't heard them entrust Sasuke to him.
The moment the door opened, the resolve he had struggled to summon and the tears that had nearly fallen vanished.
He had been forced to kill his parents right in front of his younger brother.
That had always been a wound in Itachi's heart that wouldn't heal.
When Itachi released the Impure World Reincarnation, Sasuke had heard this and remembered it. He hadn't interrupted Itachi's final words, focusing instead on sharing those last moments with his brother.
After hearing the words, "I will always love you,"
Sasuke made up his mind.
Zeyu had to die!
Another name had been added to Sasuke's kill list. It was a tribute to the brother who had loved him.
[Host detected to have no vital signs] [Mission interrupted] [Collecting soul] [World restarting] [Rating for this run: B] [Returning to starting point]
In the dark, otherworldly space, Zeyu slowly opened his eyes.
Seeing the mission pop-up he had seen countless times before made him feel utterly drained.
"Ugh, I died again." Zeyu simply fell backward and closed his eyes, unwilling to deal with it.
But there was nothing in this space—not even a way to lie down. The moment he fell backward, he flipped over twice.
The mission window, which offered no other options, followed Zeyu and reappeared in front of him, irritating him to no end.
"Ugh, I really want to give up and coast." Zeyu shook his head and sighed.
But sighing wouldn't change anything. There was nothing he could do in this space. Even dreaming was a luxury.
"This time it was because of Sasuke. I should've known better than to get involved. Ugh, the real problem is that you can't rely on anyone else. I have to get stronger myself." At the thought, Zeyu was furious enough to explode.
After so many lives, he either died not long after being born or played it safe, only to have everything fall apart at the last moment. It was unbearably frustrating.
Being reborn in Konoha was already a luxury, and he still had to worry about the Nine-Tails' attack. Otherwise, he'd be done for.
But during the Nine-Tails' attack, he had only been a few months old. His survival had been entirely up to fate. It was just too hard.
His odds of dying were worse than those of people in small countries and villages.
At the thought, Zeyu's face twisted in pain.
Staring at the pop-up, he couldn't calm down. In a fit of anger, he punched it.
People couldn't control themselves when their emotions were running high. They never thought about what they were doing or what the consequences might be.
The pop-up flickered twice, and Zeyu immediately panicked.
"Huh? Shit, did I break it? I didn't mean to! Little window, don't scare me! I don't want to be stuck here forever!"
Actually, Zeyu quite enjoyed the world of Naruto. Sure, he was weak and died easily, but as the saying went, you got used to it after throwing up enough. Dying here was no big deal; after enough deaths, you got used to it.
Besides, dying early meant he could start over right away. If he died later, he could at least experience life a little. Either way, it was better than being stuck in this empty space.
And if he was reborn into a good situation, he'd be set.
With his knowledge of the story and all his experience, he could steadily build up his cheat ability. It was hard to draw, but if he got something good, it would pay off a hundredfold.
After flickering twice, the system pop-up returned to normal. Zeyu immediately breathed a sigh of relief. He had thought he'd broken it and would be trapped here forever.
"Whew, looks like it's fine. That scared me to death." Zeyu patted his chest in relief.
Then he calmed down and began to pray.
"Little window, Mr. System, God! Let me draw an SSR! I don't want to be a weakling anymore. I want to get stronger! I want those ridiculously powerful abilities! I'll take everything! Beautiful girls, power!!!"
This wasn't the first time he had prayed like this, but every time he started over, Zeyu went through the whole routine to put his mind at ease.
What if it worked? Everyone needed a dream.
How could he know unless he tried?
After finishing his prayer, he took a deep breath, then tapped [Yes] without hesitation.
The same familiar flash of light, the same familiar beginning.
But this time, something seemed different.
After he was born, Zeyu finally saw his mother in this life once his eyes could focus.
She was a beautiful woman with red eyes, as lovely as rubies. She had a delicate nose, soft pink lips, and long red hair simply pinned up at the back with a hairpin. Even though she had only recently given birth, she didn't look particularly tired. A smile was always on her face, shining like the sun.
"Oh, honey, come take a look! The baby's opened his eyes!" said the woman, Rilu Yangmei, to her husband, Rilu Aihua, who was looking through a ledger beside her.
The smiles on both their faces grew even brighter.
"Oh, let me see!" Aihua said. He forgot all about the ledger and went straight to Yangmei, putting an arm around her as he looked at the baby in her arms.
That was when Zeyu saw his father.
He had black hair and dark eyes, with a short wolf cut that left some of his forehead exposed. His nose and mouth were handsome, too, and he wore round glasses. He was every bit the heartthrob—just a little thin.
Zeyu knew it was time to put on an act. He had been reborn so many times and had been a baby plenty of times, too. He had to act the part. It had become second nature.
The baby in the woman's arms stretched out his two chubby hands toward his parents as they looked at him, laughing happily while waving his hands in the air.
"Oh!" His mother's eyes lit up. She couldn't help crying out in surprise, then turned to Aihua beside her.
"Darling, have you thought of a name for the baby?"
Aihua was very happy, too. He held out his left index finger for the baby to play with, then said,
"Let's call him Zeyu. Rilu Zeyu."
The woman happily repeated the name to the baby in her arms. "Zeyu, Zeyu, you have a name now! You're Rilu Zeyu!"
"Figures. It's always the same name. I mean, it's my name anyway, but it's a little weird that every set of parents picks it." Zeyu thought.
Without hesitation, he grabbed the finger playing with him and smiled even more brightly.
The couple had never seen anything like it. They were both grinning from ear to ear.
"Darling, darling, look! The baby likes his name!" Yangmei's eyes were already full of stars. The baby in her arms was just too adorable.
"Yeah, as long as the baby likes it." Aihua was happy, too.
The couple spent a pleasant night together.