Starting Out by Protecting Konan

Rainy Night.

Cold rain lashed against the ground with a rhythmic, heavy thud.

The boy clutched his chest, from which blood flowed incessantly, and struggled toward the village not far ahead. His face was deathly pale, his body drenched in blood, and his legs trembled with every step. On his shoulder, a Konoha forehead protector, scarred by numerous kunai marks, swayed rhythmically with the wind and rain.

BOOM!!!!!

An explosion erupted behind the boy.

Troublesome... the boy cursed under his breath. A sharp, searing pain radiated from his chest—a combination of the puncture wound, the biting rain, and the wind. An ordinary person would have already succumbed to the agony.

"Pursue him. Don't let that brat escape. Lord Danzo said that if we dig out his eyes, we'll have a chance to climb another rung up the ladder," a Root ninja said, his tone flat, devoid of any human emotion.

Beside him, a shorter Root ninja paused for a moment, though his pace never faltered. He asked with a hint of confusion, "Isn't this guy just a ten-year-old kid? Why is Lord Danzo targeting him specifically?"

"The Uchiha are busy dealing with their own internal turmoil, and that demigod from Amegakure has reached an agreement with Lord Danzo; they won't stop us from killing Konoha shinobi. Besides, our orders are to extract the eyes of every Uchiha child. Don't ask so many questions; it won't end well for you," the first Root ninja replied in that same monotonous tone.

The shorter ninja fell silent for a moment.

Then, he spoke.

"Captain, he ran into the village."

"Search slowly. Even though he used a single-tomoe Sharingan to dodge the lethal strike of my kunai, he's still just a child. My blade pierced his lung; he can't possibly make it out of this village alive..."

The two Root ninjas, washed by the relentless rain, slowly stepped into the dilapidated village.

Inside an abandoned house in the village.

"Damn it..." Uchiha Chiba opened his mouth, gasping for air.

"Konoha... Uchiha... I should have known..." Uchiha Chiba violently ripped the Konoha forehead protector from his shoulder and threw it as far as he could.

As it turned out, Uchiha Chiba had been a veteran Naruto player. In a duel one day, he was perfectly dismantled by a "Leg Shadow" player using a religious ninja build with pink cherry blossoms and red perseverance. The resulting rage caused his hardware to overheat and explode along with his OPA5 amplifier... When he opened his eyes again, he had arrived in the world of Naruto, as a piece of Uchiha cannon fodder during the Second Shinobi World War.

Perhaps it was a side effect of his transmigration.

Uchiha Chiba could feel his damaged organs gradually knitting back together. However, because he was still young—only about ten years old—his chakra network had been shattered. He currently possessed only enough chakra to perform two C-rank ninjutsu, and it would take at least a year for his reserves to stabilize and regenerate.

As for the ninjutsu he could actually use, aside from the basic Three Body Techniques, he only knew the Uchiha clan's signature C-rank Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu and the C-rank Phoenix Flower Jutsu.

"A ten-year-old Chunin... the talent of this body is truly terrifying..." Uchiha Chiba felt the air leaking from his chest subside slightly, and his breathing became a bit more comfortable. At the very least, the agonizing pain had dulled.

In the original story, the Uchiha genius, Uchiha Itachi, graduated from the Ninja Academy at seven, awakened his Sharingan at eight, and became a Chunin at ten...

Uchiha Chiba's talent was, if anything, even greater. When was Itachi a genius? That was after the Second Shinobi World War, when Konoha had abundant resources and the Uchiha clan was stable. Uchiha Chiba, however, was born before the war began. His parents died in the conflict, and the original owner had relied on his own grit to kill enemies and scavenge supplies on the battlefield just to reach the rank of Chunin...

THUD!!!!

A kunai slammed into the wall of the abandoned house.

"Stop hiding. What's the point? I've punctured your lung and crushed your chakra network. You're just a child. Come out, and I'll ensure you die without pain." The cold Root ninja pushed open the rotting wooden door and stepped inside, followed by his shorter companion.

Uchiha Chiba opened his eyes.

A single-tomoe Sharingan slowly spun.

Two... Jonin? Damn it. Even without these injuries, I couldn't kill a single Jonin... Is this really the end? Uchiha Chiba closed his crimson eyes, letting them return to normal. He sighed, the cold air stinging his raw lung.

Seeing that Uchiha Chiba did not emerge, the cold Root ninja formed hand seals.

"Water Style: Water Bullet!"

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

BOOM!!!!!

The collision of water and fire erupted with a violent hiss. A cloud of steam billowed out, the searing heat rushing toward Uchiha Chiba's face. The sudden intake of hot air caused his lungs to spasm, triggering a wave of intense pain.

"Why bother?" The cold Root ninja drew his short blade.

Suddenly, a cry of terror echoed from the corner of the room. It was faint, but none of the ninjas present were mere cannon fodder. In an instant, everyone—including Uchiha Chiba—turned their gaze toward the corner.

A girl with purple hair stood there, biting her lip, her eyes filled with terror as she looked at the three of them.

Konan?

Uchiha Chiba's eyes flickered. This was the only beauty of the Akatsuki, a character whose design was always top-tier. Before he transmigrated, every Konan he played in the game was at a national-top-tier level... Cough, getting off track.

Uchiha Chiba's Sharingan snapped open.

"Good chance! Genjutsu: False Surroundings!"

"Wha—" The cold Root ninja was caught off guard for a mere split second, but that was all the opening Uchiha Chiba needed.

Genjutsu won't kill him... and there's another Jonin behind him... Damn it. Consider this my last good deed, fulfilling a dream of mine... Uchiha Chiba leaped in front of Konan.

Konan was also only about ten years old, not much different in age from Uchiha Chiba.

"What's your name?" Uchiha Chiba pulled a kunai from his pouch and held it across his chest. He stared fixedly at the shorter Root ninja behind the leader. Strangely, the shorter one seemed lost in thought and made no move to attack.

"Ko... Konan," the young girl replied, her voice trembling. It was clear she was terrified, though she was trying her best to act brave.

"I'm Uchiha Chiba. Sorry for dragging you into this. In a moment, I'm going to shatter the wall behind me. While I fight them, take the chance to run," Uchiha Chiba said, his expression grave as he watched the cold Root ninja. The man's body was already returning to normal; as expected of a Jonin, he had broken through the Sharingan-enhanced genjutsu in barely a dozen breaths.

"Then... what about you?" Konan looked at the boy who stood a head taller than her.

"I'll probably die, but as long as you live, it's fine. He's awake. Get ready to run, Konan. Goodbye." Uchiha Chiba tossed an explosive tag onto the wall behind him, then stared coldly at the two Root ninjas.