Transmigrated to Uchiha, Targeted by Root from the Start

Year 48 of the Konoha era.

Late at night.

On the outskirts of the Uchiha clan compound, inside a cramped wooden shack.

Uchiha Shingetsu's eyes snapped open.

A violent, searing pain exploded from the depths of his mind, as if someone had forcibly crammed a stranger's entire life into his memories.

"Konoha?"

"Uchiha?"

"The Nine-Tails' attack ended three years ago?"

Shingetsu sat on the bed, his expression shifting bit by bit.

He had transmigrated.

And he had transmigrated into the world of Naruto.

What was worse, his current identity was that of an orphan within the Uchiha clan.

Nine years old.

His parents had died during the Nine-Tails' attack.

No backing.

No resources.

Only a dilapidated wooden shack and the meager monthly allowance distributed by the clan.

If that were all, it might have been manageable.

What truly made Shingetsu's scalp tingle was the current timeline.

Following the Nine-Tails' attack, the suspicion held by Konoha's higher-ups toward the Uchiha clan had been brought completely out into the open.

The Uchiha had been driven to the edge of the village.

The Military Police Force had been isolated.

The conflict between the clansmen and the villagers was deepening by the day.

And in just a few more years, that night of annihilation which would seal the fate of the Uchiha would arrive.

When that time came, the entire Uchiha compound would be turned into a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.

The elderly, women, children—none would be spared.

Only Uchiha Sasuke would be left behind.

"In other words, if I do nothing, I will also die on that night in a few years."

Shingetsu took a deep breath, his gaze gradually turning cold.

When others transmigrated, they were either geniuses or possessed Kage-level bloodlines.

But him?

He started as an Uchiha orphan.

And his future was tied to a package deal of genocide.

What kind of hellish difficulty was this?

Just then, a faint sound suddenly drifted in from outside the window.

An ordinary person might not have heard it at all.

But Shingetsu had inherited the ninja basic training memories of this body.

That was not the sound of the wind.

It was footsteps.

There was someone outside.

And there was more than one.

Shingetsu's body tensed instantly.

He did not get up immediately, instead pretending he had noticed nothing, remaining seated on the edge of the bed with his head bowed, as if lost in a daze.

Outside the window.

Two dark shadows landed silently atop the courtyard wall.

They wore masks without any markings, their auras were cold and sinister, and their movements were clean and precise.

Root.

Shingetsu recognized their identities almost instantly.

Konoha's Anbu had their own habitual ways of operating.

But Root was different.

They were more like tools stripped of all emotion.

At this hour, the only ones who would sneak to the edge of the Uchiha compound in the dead of night to target an orphan were Danzo's men.

"Target confirmed."

"Uchiha Shingetsu, nine years old. Parents died in the Nine-Tails incident. No direct relatives."

"Sharingan not yet awakened."

"Chakra levels average."

"Low recovery value."

"Shall we take him?"

A hushed voice reached Shingetsu's ears.

Recovery?

A flash of coldness crossed the depths of Shingetsu's eyes.

In the eyes of Root, the Uchiha were not people.

They were experimental materials.

They were eyes to be transplanted.

They were consumables for future Izanagi.

Another Root ninja said indifferently, "Lord Danzo has ordered that since the Uchiha clan is restless lately, we need to collect more samples."

"The target has no relatives; even if he goes missing, it won't cause much of a stir."

"Take him."

As the words fell, one of them vaulted directly through the window.

His movements were light, his landing nearly silent.

But the moment he entered the room, Shingetsu had already lowered his head, hiding the killing intent in his eyes.

He was no match for them right now.

At least, not on the surface.

The intruders were official ninjas.

And he was merely an Uchiha orphan who hadn't even graduated from the Ninja Academy.

A head-on collision meant certain death.

But Shingetsu was very clear about one thing.

A ninja's battle was never just about chakra and ninjutsu.

Information, environment, and psychology could kill just as easily.

The Root ninja walked behind Shingetsu, his voice icy.

"Uchiha Shingetsu, come with us."

Shingetsu slowly looked up, his face showing just the right amount of panic.

"Who are you?"

The Root ninja did not answer.

He reached out to grab Shingetsu's shoulder.

At that very instant, Shingetsu threw himself backward.

A kunai hidden in his sleeve slid into his palm.

Puchi!

The kunai pierced directly into the man's wrist.

The Root ninja's pupils constricted.

He clearly hadn't expected a nine-year-old Uchiha orphan to dare to resist.

Even less did he expect the boy to strike with such decisiveness.

But his reaction was lightning-fast; his other hand instantly formed a seal.

"You're courting death!"

Shingetsu did not hesitate in the slightest.

After landing his blow, he immediately overturned the oil lamp he had prepared by the bedside.

Whoosh!

The lamp oil spilled out.

The firelight exploded in an instant.

The cramped room was illuminated by the flames.

The moment the Root ninja's vision was disrupted, Shin-getsu slammed his entire body into the wooden cabinet beside him.

The cabinet collapsed, spilling a large quantity of wire and shuriken.

These were not prepared on the spur of the moment.

They were items the original owner had accumulated over time to practice shurikenjutsu.

Upon discovering someone outside the house, Shin-getsu had already calculated every environmental factor he could utilize.

The wire coiled around the Root ninja's ankles.

Shuriken flew out from within the firelight.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The Root ninja swung his blade to parry.

However, the next moment, his expression shifted.

Because the target of those shuriken was not his body.

It was the ceiling beam.

Crack!

The beam, rendered brittle by the flames, snapped violently.

The entire roof came crashing down with a roar.

Just as the Root ninja moved to retreat, Shin-getsu lunged forward.

He knew it clearly.

He only had one chance.

If he let the opponent gain distance and use ninjutsu, he would surely die.

Therefore, he had to stay close.

He had to be frantic.

He had to trade his life for his opponent's.

"Madman!"

The Root ninja growled.

He had never seen a brat like this.

Despite being only nine years old and possessing pitifully weak strength, his strikes were as ruthless as those of a dead man.

Shin-getsu's left shoulder was sliced open by a short blade, blood gushing out instantly.

Yet, his expression did not change in the slightest.

He used the searing pain of the torn wound to propel his body even faster.

He thrust his kunai toward the opponent's throat.

The Root ninja sneered.

Too slow.

He tilted his head to dodge, then backhanded a palm toward Shin-getsu's chest.

But at that very moment, Shin-getsu's other hand suddenly opened.

A lit explosive tag drifted from his palm.

The Root ninja's pupils constricted sharply.

"You!"

BOOM!

The sound of the explosion rang out in the dead of night.

Half of the wooden house's wall was blown away.

Flames soared into the sky.

The other Root ninja on the courtyard wall changed expression and immediately rushed into the burning ruins.

"Jia!"

As soon as he landed, he saw his comrade lying in the debris, a kunai embedded in his neck, his breath already gone.

And that Uchiha brat stood in the firelight, covered in blood.

His left shoulder was torn open by a blade wound.

His chest was charred black.

But he was not dead.

Shingetsu lowered his head, his breathing ragged.

He had gambled on that last move, and he had won.

The explosive tag wasn't meant to kill his opponent.

It was meant to force them to reveal a flaw.

The true killing blow was the final strike hidden beneath the cover of the explosion.

The Root ninja stared at Shingetsu, his voice cold to the extreme.

"You dare to kill a member of Root."

Shingetsu slowly raised his head.

The firelight reflected on his face.

It also illuminated the scarlet hue slowly rotating in the depths of his eyes.

A single tomoe.

The Sharingan.

The Root ninja's body stiffened abruptly.

"The Sharingan?!"

At the same time, a cold voice echoed in Shingetsu's mind.

[Host detected altering the causality of their own death.]

[Causality Trait System successfully bound.]

[Killed one Root chunin, obtained white trait: Basic Taijutsu Enhancement.]

[First awakening of the Sharingan, obtained blue trait: Mental Resistance.]

[Distributing current novice rewards.]

[Congratulations to the host for obtaining the special trait: Causality Perception.]

Shingetsu looked at the Root ninja before him, the corners of his mouth slowly curling upward.

He had originally been worried that he wouldn't survive the night.

Now, it seemed.

He wasn't the one who should be worried.

It was these people who treated the Uchiha as mere materials.

The Root ninja drew his short blade, his killing intent erupting.

"Uchiha Shingetsu, you must die."

Shingetsu gripped his kunai tightly, the single tomoe in his eyes rotating slowly.

"Is that so?"

"Then let's see you try."

Amidst the firelight.

For the first time, the youth bared the fangs that belonged to an Uchiha.