The Outsider of the Uchiha

The rain was bone-chillingly cold, falling in dense, slanted needles that pierced the bluestone of the Uchiha compound. It kicked up tiny specks of mud as if trying to leach the very warmth from the earth.

This was Konohagakure, a ninja village forged in blood and fire, and the Uchiha were among its oldest and most feared clans.

Their innate Sharingan was a terrifying bloodline limit capable of perceiving movement, copying ninjutsu, and even evolving alongside the user's emotions and strength.

On the tatami mats of a small wooden hut, Uchiha Arashi curled into a ball, his small frame trembling from the cold and a far deeper, more profound despair.

His fingertips clutched two old Konoha forehead protectors. The rain had long since soaked the fabric, making the leaf symbol—the mark of a ninja—look blurred and heavy, as if it would snap his finger bones.

"Arashi, your parents sacrificed themselves during a border mission. Their remains have been brought back, and the clan will arrange the funeral."

Two young men in Uchiha clan attire stood at the doorway. Their tone was as flat as if they were reading from an outdated scroll, devoid of any warmth, as if they were stating a trivial matter that had nothing to do with them.

Arashi did not look up. His gaze was pinned to the varying scratches on the forehead protectors—the marks of his parents' past battles.

His throat felt as though it were stuffed with cotton soaked in ice water, and a suffocating sensation washed over him.

He was a transmigrator, reborn into this Naruto world as an insignificant character in the Uchiha clan, an orphan who had just lost his parents.

The heart-wrenching despair a five-year-old should feel surged from the depths of this body's memories like a cold tide, threatening to drown him.

Yet, simultaneously, another set of memories clashed and roared in his mind—the memories of himself from another world, a person who had exhausted his last ounce of energy in endless 996 work shifts, only to collapse on a cold desk.

Two vastly different types of pain intertwined and tore at him, driving him to the brink of insanity.

Seeing him offer no response, the clansmen at the door exchanged a glance of indifference. They bowed perfunctorily and turned to leave, not even bothering to close the wooden door being battered by the wind and rain.

Cold rain lashed in, hitting his face and sending a shiver through him.

"Heh..." A dry laugh squeezed out of his throat, carrying a heavy sob, sounding like the self-mockery of someone on the verge of a breakdown.

Konoha, Uchiha, the Third Shinobi World War... these terms that once existed only on a screen had now transformed into a cold, cruel reality, pressing heavily upon his tender shoulders.

He knew the rules of this world clearly: ninjas relied on refining "chakra" within their bodies to perform "ninjutsu," "taijutsu," and "genjutsu."

He remembered even more clearly the deep-seated fear the Konoha higher-ups held for the Uchiha, and the bloody night that would eventually sweep through the entire clan.

At the mere thought of that massacre, a chill shot from the soles of his feet to the top of his head, leaving his entire body frozen.

Just then, his eyes were struck by a tearing, excruciating pain!

It felt as if countless red-hot needles were stabbing into his eyeballs, and his vision instantly turned blood-red.

Arashi covered his eyes, rolling on the tatami in agony. Suppressed growls escaped his throat as sweat and tears mixed with the rain to soak his cheeks.

He did not know how long it lasted before the heart-rending pain finally began to subside.

Trembling, he released his hands and struggled to crawl toward the bronze mirror by the table.

The mirror reflected a small, tear-stained face with frighteningly red and swollen eye sockets.

Within the pupil of his left eye, a single, grain-sized black tomoe was slowly rotating, imbued with an eerie crimson glow, distorting and devouring the shadows of the rain outside the window.

A single-tomoe Sharingan! It had awakened!

This was the most basic form of the Sharingan, yet it already granted him the ability to see high-speed objects clearly!

At the same time, more memory fragments from this body surfaced: his parents had been executing a top-secret Konoha mission, one that even the clan's leadership had no right to know the details of.

The clansmen's "condolences" were merely a formality. In the world of ninjas, death was an everyday occurrence; no one truly cared about the life or death of an orphan.

"You hypocritical bastards..." Arashi gritted his teeth, his young face twisted with rage. His fingernails dug deep into his palms, and he didn't even notice as blood began to seep out.

[System activated: Vegeta template]

[The host will gradually increase the template unlock progress by roleplaying as Vegeta. This template contains only the legacy of Vegeta.]

[Detected the host's intense will to survive and extreme desire for power, matching the core traits of a Saiyan.]

A cold, emotionless mechanical voice rang out abruptly in his mind, like a thunderclap!

[Template description: Vegeta, the Prince of Saiyans from the "Dragon Ball" world.

Saiyan: A battle-hungry, magical race from the "Dragon Ball" universe. A subspecies of humanity (they possess a long tail that humans lack, are mocked by enemies as "Saiyan monkeys," and can interbreed with Earthlings). They are naturally combative; once they are near death due to battle and subsequently recover, their combat power increases exponentially.

Vegeta possessed planet-destroying combat power upon his first appearance. He is proud and competitive, always taking pride in his identity as the "Saiyan Prince," with a lifelong obsession to surpass all strong opponents.

He possesses the ability to transform, allowing his combat power to multiply tenfold, hundredfold, or thousandfold.

Vegeta's core traits: Pride carved into his marrow and an extreme pursuit of power.]

[Initial progress: 0%]

[Initial rewards obtained:

Unlocked "Saiyan Physiology (Basic)"--Perfectly compatible with the ninja system. Chakra refinement efficiency +300%. Physical recovery, defense, and attack power are 3 times that of an average ninja of the same age.

Obtained "Ki Sense (Basic)"--"Ki" is the energy present in all living things in the Dragon Ball world. Vegeta can sense and manipulate Ki to strengthen attacks, defense, and even fly.]

[Newbie quest: Display the pride of Vegeta as the "Saiyan Prince."]

[Quest reward: Template progress +2%]

Arashi froze, then a smile of extreme arrogance, filled with madness and excitement, slowly crept onto his tear-stained lips.

A Saiyan? A Vegeta template?

Excellent! It was exactly the help he needed!

He was never one to place his hopes in others, nor would he be stupid enough to believe in so-called "comrades" and "Konoha's protection."

In this world of the jungle, where the strong prey upon the weak, only the power in his own hands was the most reliable guarantee!

There were six years left until the Third Shinobi World War broke out! It would be a meat grinder that swept through all five great nations, claiming the lives of countless ninjas, and even so-called "geniuses" would be no exception.

He, Uchiha Arashi, would never be one of them!

Arashi looked at the bronze mirror again. The single-tomoe Sharingan rotated slowly in his eyes. The crimson light intertwined and collided with the Saiyan fighting spirit burning deep within, making his gaze incomparably firm and cold as iron.

The hypocrisy of Konoha's leadership, the indifference within the Uchiha clan, the shadow of war... all of these would become the stepping stones for his ascent to the peak!

He would survive! He would become stronger than everyone else! He would stand at the pinnacle of this world! He would make everyone who hurt him, constrained him, and looked down on him crawl and tremble at his feet!

He stood up abruptly, walked to the door, and slammed the leaking wooden door shut, completely cutting off the cold wind and rain.

The rain continued to pour wildly outside the window, but within Arashi's heart, a raging inferno had already been ignited.