Preliminary Decision

The afterglow of the setting sun filtered through the window lattice, casting long streaks of light across the tatami. Kyohaku stood alone in the middle of the living room, looking around the home that had once been filled with laughter.

Everything remained as it had been that day. On the low table lay his father's unfinished ninjutsu scrolls, while the flowers his mother had arranged in a vase withered by the day. In the corner still sat the new schoolbag prepared for him. The air carried a faint scent of dust and a barely perceptible trace of blood—the latter perhaps nothing more than an illusion born from memory.

Nothing remains the same... Kyohaku sighed softly. It was both Chen Cheng's lament and Kyohaku's grief. At that moment, the two sets of memories fused perfectly, bringing twice the pain.

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

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

His first priority 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 personality change after suffering such trauma. But if his words and behavior differed too much from before, it could still arouse suspicion—especially from those who had known the original owner best.

I have to minimize the risks. The professional instincts of his past life as a forensic examiner began to take over. This environment is full of things that could trigger memories, making it unsuitable for playing a new role. There are too many witnesses, and the neighbors are too familiar with his past. The best solution is to change environments and reduce contact.

He began to calmly assess his situation, his thoughts as orderly as if he were dissecting a corpse:

Strengths: the protection of the Uchiha name, some starting capital, and the advantage of knowledge brought by his past-life memories.

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

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

Opportunities: the educational resources of the Ninja Academy, less attention if he moved away from the compound, and the ability to plan ahead using foreknowledge.

A plan gradually took shape.

He would sell this property. It carried too many memories, and too many risks. He would move to the edge of the village and find an inconspicuous place. That would reduce his contact with familiar people while also giving him a considerable amount of starting capital.

Ninja is an expensive profession. He recalled the prices of kunai, shuriken losses, and ninja tool maintenance costs mentioned in his father's notes. Not to mention future medical expenses and possible prosthetic limb modifications...

Night quietly descended, and the house gradually darkened. Kyohaku did not light a lamp. By the last fading light of day, he began searching through the house for important items.

In a drawer in his parents' bedroom, he found the property deed, a bank passbook, and some loose change. The passbook showed a deposit of two hundred thousand ryo. Together with the compensation payment, it was no small sum.

"This should be enough to get started," he murmured.

Moonlight flowed like water over the quiet Uchiha Compound. Now and then, the footsteps and voices of passing clan members could be heard outside, but no one stopped. In this clan that worshipped strength, a disabled child who had lost his parents seemed to have been silently pushed to the margins.

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

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

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

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

The new place needed to be near the edge of the village, where there were fewer people, but not so remote that it would arouse suspicion. Ideally, it would be near those "important figures of the future," where he might have a chance to observe them—or even make contact.

Obito Uchiha... He thought of that fellow clan member 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 gradually moved past the window lattice, and Kyohaku's consciousness slowly blurred. Before falling asleep, he had one final thought: First, survive. Second, grow stronger. Third... change those damned fates.

Late at night, the five-year-old child curled up beneath the covers, yet his face carried a resolve far beyond his age.

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 been writing for a little over two months, and I'm deeply grateful that everyone is reading this book, my third one. Many readers believe that a disabled Uchiha who left the Uchiha Compound would definitely be captured by Danzo and used for experiments, so I'll briefly explain my thinking while writing this. I believe there are three points. First, Danzo was still dependent on the Third Hokage at this point. He was merely a dirty-work glove handling the unpleasant tasks, and he could not afford to provoke the major ninja clans. Second, the Third Hokage had to ensure that any disabled ninja orphan survived and grew into adulthood. Even without 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 loyal to the Hokage Faction such as Shisui Uchiha and Itachi Uchiha, why could he not cultivate other Uchiha as well? The original work simply did not show it. A disabled Uchiha estranged from the Uchiha Clan could demonstrate his Will of Fire while also potentially becoming an Uchiha loyal to the Hokage—why not? Otherwise, why do you think Orochimaru could later cultivate an Uchiha? As for the Uchiha, or ninja clans in general—the 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.