Initial Decision

The afterglow of the setting sun streamed through the window lattice, casting long shadows across the tatami mats. Kyohaku stood alone in the center of the living room, looking around the home that had once been filled with laughter.

Everything remained as it had been that day. His father's unfinished ninjutsu scrolls lay scattered across the low table. The flowers his mother had arranged in a vase were withering by the day. A new schoolbag prepared for him still sat in the corner. The air carried a faint scent of dust and an almost imperceptible hint of blood—perhaps nothing more than an illusion brought on by memory.

Nothing remains the same... Kyohaku sighed softly. It was both Chen Cheng's lament and Kyohaku's grief. Two sets of memories had merged perfectly at this moment, bringing twice the pain.

He slowly knelt before the table, his fingers gently brushing over the notes his father had left behind. The densely written words recorded a Chunin's understanding of ninjutsu, his hopes for life, and his love for his son.

"Since I'm here, I might as well make the best of it," he murmured in Chinese, his tone growing firm. "From today onward, I am Uchiha Kyohaku."

His foremost task was survival. And the greatest threat to his survival was not the wars of the future, but having his identity exposed. It was normal for a five-year-old child to undergo a change in personality after suffering such trauma. But if his words and actions differed too greatly from before, it could still arouse suspicion—especially among those who had known the original owner best.

I need to avoid risks. His professional instincts as a forensic examiner from his previous life began to work. This environment is filled with things that could trigger memories. It isn't conducive to playing a new role. There are too many witnesses, and the neighbors are too familiar with his past. The best option: change environments and reduce contact.

He began calmly analyzing his current situation, his thoughts as methodical as if he were dissecting a corpse:

Strengths: the protection of the Uchiha name, a sum of startup funds, and the cognitive advantages brought by memories of his previous life.

Weaknesses: the body of a five-year-old, a disabled leg, no one to rely on, and insufficient understanding of the original owner's behavioral patterns.

Threats: the risk of having his identity exposed, the wars to come, and the fate of the Uchiha.

Opportunities: the educational resources of the Ninja Academy, reducing attention by leaving the clan grounds, and using foreknowledge to make preparations in advance.

A plan gradually took shape.

He would sell this house. It carried too many memories, as well as too many risks. He would move to the edge of the village and find an inconspicuous place. That would both reduce contact with familiar people and provide him with a considerable sum of startup funds.

Ninja is an expensive profession. He recalled the prices of kunai mentioned in his father's notes, the wear and tear on shuriken, and the costs of maintaining ninja tools. Not to mention future medical bills and possible prosthetic modifications...

Night fell quietly, and the house gradually darkened. Kyohaku did not light a lamp. By the last of the daylight, he began searching through the house for important belongings.

In a drawer in his parents' bedroom, he found the deed to the house, a bankbook, and some loose change. There were two hundred thousand ryo in the account, and with the compensation payment added in, it was no small amount.

"This should be enough for startup funds," he muttered.

Moonlight flowed like water over the quiet Uchiha clan grounds outside the window. From time to time, the footsteps and voices of passing clansmen could be heard, but no one stopped. In this clan that revered strength, a disabled child who had lost his parents seemed to have been invisibly pushed to the margins.

That's fine too, Kyohaku thought. Less attention means more freedom.

He ate some dry rations for dinner, then spread bedding in the small room beside his parents' bedroom. This had once been his room, and childish drawings still hung on the walls.

Lying down, he stared at the ceiling and continued refining his plan:

Tomorrow, he would go to the Konoha Administration Department to inquire about selling the house. His reason would be—he needed money to treat his leg injury, and living alone in such a large house was too lonely. A perfectly reasonable excuse.

The location needed to be near the edge of the village, with little foot traffic, but not so remote that it would invite suspicion. Ideally, it would be near those "important figures of the future," where he might have a chance to observe or even come into contact with them.

Uchiha Obito... He thought of that fellow clansman who had also been marginalized. If I remember correctly, his home is somewhere near the eastern side of the village. That would be a good choice.

The moonlight slowly moved past the window lattice, and Kyohaku's consciousness gradually blurred. Before he fell asleep, his final thought was: First step: stay alive. Second step: become strong. Third step... change those damned fates.

Deep into the night, the five-year-old child curled up beneath the blankets, yet his face bore a resolve far beyond his years.

His new life would begin with his first decision tomorrow.

Thank you all for your comments. I'm an old reader and a new author. I've only been writing for a little over two months, and I'm deeply grateful that everyone is reading this book. This is my third one. Many readers think that a disabled Uchiha who leaves the Uchiha clan grounds would definitely be seized by Danzo for experiments, so I'll briefly explain my thinking while writing this. I believe there are three points. First, at this point in time, Danzo was still subordinate to the Third Hokage. He was merely a black glove who handled dirty work, and he could not afford to provoke the major ninja clans. Second, the Third Hokage had to let any disabled ninja orphan live and grow into adulthood. Even without giving them much attention, he still had to uphold the Will of Fire. Third, whether it was Danzo or, more importantly, the Third Hokage, if he could cultivate Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Itachi as Uchiha loyal to the Hokage, why could he not cultivate other Uchiha as well? It simply was not shown in the original work. A disabled Uchiha estranged from the Uchiha clan could both demonstrate his Will of Fire and possibly be cultivated into an Uchiha loyal to the Hokage—why not? Otherwise, why do you think Orochimaru could later raise an Uchiha? As for the Uchiha, or rather the ninja clans—Senju, Uchiha, and Hyuga—the policy was the same. From the Second Hokage to the Third Hokage, and even through Orochimaru and Tsunade, the stance remained one of suppression.